by Wendy Knight
Every cell in his body screamed in protest, his mind fighting to control the revolt. He needed her. He needed to touch her. He needed to hold her, to smooth the frown lines away. Please don’t go.
“Nyx. We need to talk.” Keven had appeared from behind her, but Cole hadn’t seen him through the inky black wings. Nyx swept them close to her so Keven’s big frame could get past.
“What’s up, Buttercup?” She smirked. Keven paused mid-thought, mouth just starting to open, to roll his eyes at her. She giggled. Cole would give anything to make her laugh at something he said. To make her remember that she wasn’t always the big, tough, practically undefeatable weapon she was now.
To make her remember she was his.
But she wasn’t his. Not anymore.
Too bad his heart didn’t quite get that.
“Cole, you survived out there on your own. You can help too. Come on.” Keven jerked his head back toward the tunnel he’d just appeared from, as if that explained it all. Cole nodded, handing RayAnna the brick in his hand.
“What about me?” RayAnna grabbed his wrist, her eyes wide and terrified in her pale face.
“Kyle is still here. And Matt.”
“Sisi’s on her way too,” Keven offered helpfully as one of the girls Cole had seen wandering their underground lair came in, long dark hair tugged up in a ponytail.
RayAnna ignored them all, her bottom lip quivering. Cole knew, from the stories she’d told him when she’d finally started talking, that she had been the student body president and captain of the debate team. But the invasion, the war, the death… they had crushed her. Now she was just a spark, fighting to reignite her soul.
“Come with me.” He pulled her to her feet, and she shrank behind him, her fingers so tight in his that he started losing feeling in his hand.
“Don’t let her hurt me,” she whispered.
Ahead of them, sparks of electricity shimmered across Nyx’s wings as her hands fisted at her sides. And then, “You realize that when they merged their DNA with mine, they not only gave me wings, a deadly allergy to the sun, and the ability to shoot burning blood from my hands, but also the gift of incredible hearing.”
RayAnna whimpered, her fingernails digging into Cole’s skin.
Keven cleared his throat, glaring at them all over his shoulder.
Enika sat on the bench in front of the cafeteria style table, swinging her legs like a little girl. Just a week ago, she hadn’t smiled in months, and she cried in her sleep. Now she was smiling, her curly hair tied in a messy bun, and her cheeks had a healthy glow. It was like Nyx had brought her back to life. “Hey, Enika. I’ve been looking for you,” Nyx said, the coldness gone from her voice and the tension from her shoulders.
“Sure you have.” Enika bounced up and tugged playfully on Nyx’s wing. “I’m sure you’re not avoiding me because I’ve been trying to get you to play Rock Band with me.”
Keven paused, frowning in confusion. “We don’t have TVs, let alone video games. If we did, trust me, I’d be playing them.”
Enika shrugged. “Don’t need video games. I have the songs all memorized, and our little bird here can sing and play the drums. Remember the talent show two years ago?”
Keven glanced at Cole, who shrugged. “I must have missed it.”
Cole remembered it. He’d played the guitar. It was before he told Nyx he loved her, but after everyone in the school knew it. Before Enika, Nyx had been shy. Friendly, but shy. Enika had never been shy. And she dragged Nyx along on all her extroverted activities, until Nyx forgot all about that old thing called shyness.
Now she wasn’t shy. She was just cold and distant.
But she grinned, smacking Enika with her wing. Enika didn’t seem to notice the weirdness that was her best friend having a wing. She just laughed and danced out of the way. Always a dancer, his little sister. She fell into step beside him and laid her head on his shoulder.
“Surviving without me?” Enika peered up at him with those brown eyes, an impish smile hiding just behind them.
“Barely,” he drawled. “Honestly, I’m not sure how the world keeps turning without you there to push it. We’ve been lost without you.”
Nyx grinned over her shoulder, her bright blue eyes sparkling. Her smile was for Enika, but Cole would have done anything, given anything, to have her smile like that at him.
And then those blue eyes shifted to him. Just for a second, and then she turned away so she didn’t run into the wall, but in those few seconds, Cole’s knees shook and his mouth went dry.
I love you.
Keven shoved aside the door to Nyx’s chambers and ducked through the doorway. Cole froze. He’d never been in her rooms before. He only knew that she was the only one in the compound who had private quarters. It seemed like an invasion of her very soul to go in without her express invitation.
But she was sweeping through the doorway after Keven, and Enika was tugging on his arm, sensing his uncertainty because she knew him better than he knew himself. What could he do, but follow?
It was pitch black, which was fitting. Trying to read Nyx was just as hard as trying to see in the dark. Keven lit a lamp, holding it high, but Nyx was already down the stairs, striding across a room that looked remarkably like her old bedroom. Before the invasion. Before her abduction. She plopped on her bed, kicking her tattooed legs. Enika sat next to her. “Sit, Cole,” Nyx said quietly, a small smile playing around her lips. She patted the bed next to her, because it was the only space left. RayAnna gave a small whimper as she followed him across the room. She didn’t sit on the bed though. Instead she slid down to sit on the rug at his feet.
“We’re all settled, Keven. Speak.” Nyx grinned at Keven’s exasperation.
And Cole’s heart shattered.
RayAnna. I have RayAnna now. RayAnna needs me.
Phoenyx does not.
“Last week, we were attacked twice. Did you notice that? And by larger herds than normal.”
Nyx nodded wisely. Cole watched her from the corner of his eye. “I did notice that. Since I was the one killing them.”
Keven paused, seeming to pray for patience. He was Cole’s age, which meant a year older than Enika and Nyx, but the invasion and being commander of their little compound seemed to have aged him. “My point, smart one, is that you can’t keep fighting them alone. You’ll be overrun and we’ll all get slaughtered.”
“Well, isn’t that a bright and sunshiny bit of information to start the night with.” Enika leaned back on her elbows, raising an eyebrow. “Although… if we hate the sun, then I guess it is actually bright and sunshiny. Hmm…” She tipped her head to the side, pondering.
Nyx laughed quietly, falling silent when Keven ran a hand over his face. “This is serious, Nyx.”
She sighed, leaning forward. Her dark wing brushed Cole’s side, and he could feel the heat humming through them. His hands ached with the need to touch the wing, to touch her. Anything, just for a second. “The problem, Oh Cap-i-tan, is that you can’t kill them. Even with your vast and infinite knowledge,” she swung her arm wide and Keven rolled his eyes, “of all things war and weapon, you can’t kill them. The only thing that can is me. So… unless we can figure out how to roll me up and stick me in a bullet, I think we’re stuck.”
“We need to clone you. But I’m not sure the world could handle more than one of you.” Enika’s eyebrow quirked, challenging Nyx, but Nyx had fallen silent, nibbling on her thumbnail. That was a sure sign the girl was plotting something. But before Cole could ask, Keven interrupted his thoughts.
“What about the others?”
“The others?” Enika sat up so quickly she nearly knocked herself off the bed. Cole held his breath, waiting for this story that Nyx refused to tell. But it didn’t come.
“I don’t want to talk about it.” Nyx whirled away, the breeze from her wings in such a small space was hot and dry. “You said it was my story to tell, Keven.”
Keven closed his eyes, shaking h
is head. “Yes. I did.”
“Good. Then we’re done here.” Nyx was on her feet and stalking from the room before the rest of them even realized the meeting was over.
Cole expected Enika to stay with them that night. She looked heartbroken. But she shook her head, giving him a small wave as she started for the tunnel leading up to the jail — where Nyx perched like a beautiful gargoyle, watching the silent city. “She’s not going to be a brat and get away with this.”
CHAPTER NINE
“SO. THERE ARE OTHERS?” ENIKA ASKED, climbing out of the window to sit on the ledge next to Nyx. Nyx couldn’t look at her. Instead she focused on the silent city, scanning the shadows for red, glowing eyes.
“Yes.”
Enika nodded. Nyx could just see her in her peripheral vision. “Okay.”
Nyx swallowed, nearly choking herself, because she needed Enika. She thought she didn’t need anything but hope, until hope had brought her what she wanted and the thought of losing it scared her more than a whole army of Pys did. “I’m sorry. I know I hurt you—”
“Yeah. You did.” Enika traced the curves of the cement ledge in front of her, watching the sky. “But I understand. I just—I just wish you trusted me—”
“I do.” Nyx cut her off, which was rude, she knew, but it had to be done. “It isn’t about trust, Enika.” Finally, she could meet her friend’s eyes. “It’s about pain. It hurts too much. I don’t want to think about it. And to tell you what happened, I’d have to think about it. But it has to come from me, you know? It can’t come from Keven. It just can’t.”
Enika sighed, sliding her arm around Nyx’s shoulders as she leaned against her. “You think too much.”
Speaking of thinking… Nyx had an idea. It was a crazy one, but all the best ideas were, weren’t they?
“What’s up with the mumus you always wear? You have this supermodel body and you’re wearing a tent. All. The. Time.”
Nyx raised an eyebrow. “Random much?”
Enika shrugged, lifting Nyx’s black dress with two fingers like it might contaminate her.
“Well… Have you ever tried finding cute shirts that you can fit wings through? No? I have. And it’s hard.”
Enika nodded, tapping on her bottom lip, eyes staring blankly toward the mountain. They sat in silence for several seconds, until Nyx thought maybe Enika was mad at her again, or she had fallen asleep — which was just dangerous this high up on such a small ledge.
And then Enika nodded, as if agreeing to herself, and also proving that she was not asleep — but Nyx had to wait to see if she was mad again.
“Remember how I wanted to be a fashion designer? And I made us all those coordinating outfits?”
Nyx smiled at the memory. “Yeah. You were really talented.”
Enika nodded in agreement. Completely humble, she was. “Yes. I was. And now I’m going to make you better clothes because hanging out with you and your mumus are making me look bad.”
Nyx laughed, hard enough that she nearly fell off the roof. “I’m so sorry. I feel terrible.”
Enika smiled, eyes sparkling. “You should.”
Still smiling, Nyx leaned back on her elbows, her wings wrapped around her while she stared at the sky. The moon had found its way through the clouds and it lit up the whole valley. But not her. The moon didn’t hurt her.
Enika disappeared for almost an hour. When she finally appeared through the window again, she was scowling. “There are no notebooks in this whole compound. And, like, one pencil that seems to be for emergency uses only. What is this place, prison?”
Nyx fought to keep from laughing. “Prison. Yes. I will find you a notebook and paper. You keep watch and do not fall off the roof. Got it?”
“Yes ma’am.” Enika saluted her, scrambling back toward the window so she was safely away from the ledge. “Just watch the sky. Dawn isn’t far off.”
Nyx, with her back to Enika, smirked. Like she didn’t watch the horizon in fear every night. She stood, stretching her wings, smiling as the flames sizzled through them, waking them up, tingling like her foot did sometimes when she sat on it for too long. And then she jumped, felt the wind wrenching at her hair, her clothes, her wings. Felt her eyes tearing, but she didn’t close them because then she would miss the beauty that was flying. Before she hit the ground, she snapped her wings wide. They caught her and jerked her back — she dangled momentarily in the air, the toes of her boots just brushing the ground, before she pumped her wings and soared through the sky.
“I hate it when you do that!” Enika yelled, her voice gliding in the darkness with Nyx as she flew.
If I’m supposed to be human, why does flying feel so right?
It was a question she couldn’t answer. One she knew she must, but not yet. The answer scared her.
NYX HAD BEEN ALMOST everywhere in their abandoned city — the furniture store, the grocery store, the hardware store, the weapons store… about a gazillion times. But she had never been to the office supply store. She landed in the parking lot, trying not to notice the cars — dead, silent — some with their doors still standing open and blood splattered on the ground around them. She kept her eyes on the glass windows of the store, focusing on the bright red letters screaming, “SALE!” Like there was still such a thing as money. Or an economy. Or a population.
This store, unlike so many of the others she’d been to, hadn’t been looted. Apparently, when one is running for one’s life, office chairs and pretty pens are the last thing one thinks to grab. The door wasn’t locked, either, which Nyx appreciated because shattering glass was loud, and making that much noise in the silent, dead city was straight up creepy. The little bell jingling over her head nearly scared her out of her wings.
“Big tough alien girl, aren’t you?” she muttered to herself as she wandered up and down the aisles, looking for art supplies. It didn’t take her long, probably less than five minutes, to load up on notebooks and pencils and erasers and sharpeners. But by the time she made her way to the front of the store, she could see them, staring at her through the windows.
They were beautiful. So beautiful they made her half-human self look homely, plain. They were the reason humans had fairy myths and legends — with their small, pale, perfect bodies, huge eyes, shimmering hair, sparkling tattoos.
And wings. Magnificent wings.
They were blue, unlike Nyx, who was just pasty pale like a human who hadn’t seen the sun in years. Their hair was blue, and the sparks from their flames were blue, while Nyx’s hair was black with blue streaks, and her sparks where white.
They’d been to earth, before. Thousands of years ago. They were also the reason humans believed in Dracula — the myth was based on them and the way they drained their victim’s blood — not some ancient, blood-thirsty king who impaled millions. They had long, sharp teeth, but human blood didn’t satisfy them. It didn’t give them the immortality they craved. Only the Garce did, which is why they had left Earth alone all those millennia ago.
Because human blood didn’t give them eternal life.
And now they stood here, in front of her, in her town, mere miles away from the compound. If they got in, they would kill everyone within minutes. There was no way to fight them, except with the sun.
“What do you want, Akit?” Nyx remembered her. Too well, remembered her. She’d given Nyx her own DNA.
The smallest one purred, fluttering forward, big, violet eyes too sweet, too wide. They almost hid the maliciousness. But not quite.
“We want you to come home.”
“I am home,” Nyx snarled. “Go away.”
“We belong together. You’re one of ours now.”
Nyx dropped her bags, letting the fire snap and crackle from her hands. She was bigger than they were. Faster too, if they moved anything like they had when she’d escaped.
“She misses you.”
Nyx winced. Their words felt like they’d shoved their sharp little nails into her heart and twisted. Selenia.
She’d been the one to turn Nyx. She’d twisted her own DNA with Nyx’s when Akit’s hadn’t worked. Between the two of them, they’d created a half-breed.
“You’re part of me now, pretty little human. You’re mine now.” She stroked Nyx’s black hair, and it seemed to follow her hand, turning blue wherever her fingers landed, and spreading. Nyx struggled, whimpering. A day ago, she’d been dying. Now, she felt like she could live forever.
Except that Selenia was about to take that needle that was the size of a baseball bat and shove it into her stomach. Implant her child. That child would grow and grow until she burst out of Nyx’s body, full-grown.
That was probably where the myth of Athena had come from, as well.
Nyx swallowed. Her entire body trembled, and her own voice screamed in her head. Help me! Someone, please help me!
But there was no one. No one could help her or save her.
She had to do it herself.
There are three of them. I can’t fight them!
No. No, she couldn’t fight them. But she could run. She could lead them away from this place, away from the compound. Away from Enika. And Cole.
She spun and raced back into the store. The Pys behind her didn’t make a sound, they didn’t crash into the aisles or knock over office furniture with their wings like she did, but Nyx knew they were there. They wouldn’t kill her, because killing her would hurt Akit — somehow, their shared DNA connected them when they were close to each other, and if she hurt, Akit would hurt. Selenia too, if she ever ventured out of the ship.
Wait. Nyx scrolled back through her thoughts, trying to find the thing that had caught her attention in all her panicked, rambling thoughts.
If she hurt.
Hurt. Blood.
Blood. Garce.
The Garce packs were close and closing in, she and Keven had been talking about it just a few hours ago. She skidded to a halt, long enough to grab a letter opener, before she took off again. She hit the back door hard, knocking it open, wincing at the metal against metal screech. She ripped open the package, freeing her weapon, and whirled to face them as she sucked in a breath.