Scorch (Midnight Fire Series)

by Davis, Kaitlyn

  And then Kira took note of the collar around his neck, the buttons running down the center of his shirt, and she breathed, sighing in relief.

  No way was that Luke. And when she said that to herself, she could finally see this man, see all the ways he definitely was not her Luke.

  But he was someone's friend, someone's husband, someone's father even. And now he was dead. And it was all Kira's fault.

  The battle, the one she was hiding from, the one she couldn’t fight, it was all about her. It was about her saving Tristan, about her potential to fall, about her fight with Aldrich.

  And staring death in the face, she yelled in frustration, because she was even more trapped now than ever before. Four feet forward, three feet back, fifteen to the left and five to the right. The wall. Her box. Her prison.

  "Aldrich!" Kira cried out.

  No answer.

  "Aldrich!" She yelled again, ripping her vocal chords with the force of her scream. She wanted him there, wanted him to watch her die, wanted him to know that in the end Kira was strong enough to do the only thing she could—to keep the shadows at bay, to keep herself from falling, and to keep the conduits safe from her destruction.

  But before she did, Kira closed her eyes, holding back the tears threatening to spill from her eyes. Before she let death take over, she wanted to say goodbye. Her mother and father would still have Chloe. Tristan hardly remembered her, and Pavia would keep him safe.

  But Luke, he would be alone. And she chose him, she wanted to be with him, but fate had never been on her side.

  So Kira opened her mind, feeling for the path inside his head. She didn’t want to be alone when she died, she wanted to be with him, safe and sound in the comfort of his love.

  But he wasn't there.

  Confused, Kira searched for his thoughts, for their connection. Had the darkness broken them? Broken their bond like it had broken everything else inside of her?

  But no, the path to his mind was open, but where was Luke? He was blank. There was no love, no strength, no resolve bubbling down her limbs, bringing her joy like it normally did. There was just eerie silence.

  Her heart began to pound as a sinking fear settled in.

  What had happened to Luke?

  Eyes shooting open, Kira scanned the ground around her, but there was no sign of him. She walked around the perimeter of the wall, as far out of the UV radiation she dared move, but he wasn't there.

  And she couldn't leave without saying goodbye. He was her strength, her rock—she couldn't do this without him.

  Reaching into her pocket, Kira dialed his number.

  Ring.

  Ring.

  Ring.

  Click.

  No voicemail. No message. Not even the sound of his voice to make her feel better.

  Kira tried again, but it was more of the same.

  She clicked on the keypad, texting him, but she had very little hope of any response. She looked up again.

  The car. The conduit.

  It was odd. The two of them there, on the other side of the wall. Strange. Why would any conduit have driven through the wall, willingly bringing himself into vampire territory?

  The answer was simple. He wouldn't.

  But something else could—someone else could.

  And Kira remembered the smell of burnt tires. She looked closer at the ground, where black streaks stamped the concrete.

  This car wasn't driven over the other side of the wall, it was forced there, kicking and screaming. And there was only one person in the world who could do that.

  Aldrich.

  Aldrich with his telekinesis.

  Kira's head snapped up, alert. He was out there somewhere, she was sure of it. He was watching her, silently laughing at her struggle, gleeful with the knowledge that she was at the point of no return.

  And Luke had to be with him—unconscious, but not dead, because she could still feel him on the other side of the bond, still knew he was breathing, but his mind was still.

  Just like a movie was playing in her head, Kira could see what had happened. Luke had run from her grandparent's house, searched the town square and his own home for TJ. But TJ had been at Patrick's house, had been getting his best friend his teddy, and Luke would have never thought to look there.

  No, he thought his brother wanted to join the fight with the grown ups. So Luke found a Protector with a car and hopped inside, driving aimlessly through the town looking for TJ to no avail. And then the two of them decided to search closer to the wall. And as soon as they hit the main road, Aldrich sensed them, and took control, using his mind to drag the car across the barrier.

  He knew exactly who it was, exactly what he was doing. And somehow, he knew that Kira had chosen Luke, that Luke would be the key.

  Kira envisioned it. Luke must have known. They probably tried the car door, but the stubborn locks remained shut, held by Aldrich's mental control. The glass wouldn't break. The windows wouldn't roll down. They had been trapped, knowing that death was near.

  As soon as they crossed the wall, Aldrich struck, killing the Protector and knocking Luke unconscious, waiting for Kira to come. Probably arranging the car and the conduit's body just for her. And Kira had played right into his plan, but she had no other choice.

  And now Luke needed her.

  "Aldrich," she said softly, calmly, "I know you're there. Come out so we can end this."

  There was no answer. He wanted her to beg.

  Kira knelt down, seemingly tying her shoe, and pulled out the pocketknife. She would need this soon. Hiding it in her palm, she stood again, tucking the knife into her back pocket.

  Time to start the show.

  "What do you want?" She called into the trees, "I'll do anything to save him!" The crack in her voice was real. The shake in her hands was real too.

  "Please, just let me see him," Kira whimpered.

  But there was still no response.

  "Aldrich," she cried, letting the tears fall down her cheeks. Her body mirrored their movement as she slipped to her knees, a beggar.

  "I'll do anything," she said one last time.

  And then she heard it. Leaves rustling, branches breaking, footsteps.

  A body flew from the trees, landing roughly on the asphalt with a smack. And this time, it was Luke—limp, immobile. Dead almost, but the bond in her head gave Kira hope that somehow he was still alive.

  She started to run for him, but stopped herself. She was in a cage, trapped inside the fire. But he needed her, Kira struggled, she had to do something.

  And then a voice sounded.

  "It's simple," Aldrich said, still hiding in the forest, "I want you to try to save him."

  Kira searched for the vampire, but Aldrich was nowhere in sight. And she refused to fight a ghost.

  "Show yourself," she demanded. Her hands had balled into iron fists and the sun had already started strengthening, gathering in her core. The shadows were there too, just waiting to strike.

  And then more leaves, more branches breaking.

  Kira followed the sound.

  Aldrich stepped free of the woods and Kira stepped back in horror.

  Chapter Seventeen

  This was not the Aldrich Kira remembered.

  Not the tall, elegantly dressed, arrogant jerk. Gone was his slicked back light brown hair, his calm and cruel demeanor. The only part of him she recognized were the cold, almost black, midnight blue eyes.

  The man before her was a monster.

  And Kira had made him that way.

  His skin was burnt, charred black and crusted over. His hair was singed off, replaced by blood-red scalded flesh. His nose had melted away, turned into a stub, and his ears looked completely gone.

  His body hunched over, unable to stand straight because his back was so terribly injured. He moved with a limp, his vampire strength seemingly tapped out. And his clothes were baggy, ill-fitting, hiding what Kira knew was a broken body.

  Her hand came up and clamped
over her mouth, catching the gasp she had let escape.

  Unable to look anywhere else, Kira caught his eyes, the one part of him that remained unharmed. And they looked at her, calculating and full of hatred.

  "What's wrong, Kira? You don’t want to look at your masterpiece?" He asked coolly, shuffling closer to Luke's body.

  She shivered. "I never meant for that to happen." And she didn't.

  "No, you just meant to kill me and be done with it," he said, smiling.

  "No worse than your plans for me." Kira returned his overly sweet grin, pushing any feelings of sympathy for Aldrich to the side. He was a monster, and now his body just reflected what was in his heart.

  "No matter," Aldrich shrugged, "a decade from now I will be fully healed and back to my former self. I don't think you'll be as lucky."

  He knelt down, and brushed the hair off of Luke's face.

  Kira's body jerked forward in protest, "Don't touch him."

  Aldrich's head snapped in her direction, and his eyes flashed an icy blue, "Make me."

  Kira stepped forward, closing in on the edge of the wall, but then she stopped. She couldn't go any further without losing herself, without falling. She was trapped.

  Frustrated, Kira lifted her hands, flinging Punisher flames at Aldrich. She could kill him from here. She didn’t need to move.

  But a tree branch smacked her forearms, throwing her palms to the side and her flames exploded aimlessly into the trees opposite Aldrich, useless.

  He cackled, sending a shiver of pure anger down her spine. One way or another Kira would end him. Her fingers crunched into a fist.

  "This is too much," he said, glee evident in his voice, "our dear Kira trapped in the very fire she yearns to hold onto to, unable to fight for her love." He slid a nail down Luke's cheek, staring Kira straight in the eye as he rubbed a stubby finger over the cut and brought it to his mouth, tasting the blood that leaked from the fresh wound.

  Kira bit her lip, trying to not to lose control. The power inside of her surged, begging for release. But it was clear that Aldrich was goading her. He wouldn’t kill Luke, not yet, not before he was done playing games.

  Aldrich stood quickly and walked around Luke's body, closer to the wall. "I wonder what will make you break?" He asked, reaching out as if to touch her cheek. His hand stopped just shy of the invisible line, not crossing into the UV radiation currently burning into Kira's skin, filling her with hope and strength. She may be trapped, but it was a cage that Aldrich couldn’t break into.

  She remained silent, not giving in to his taunt.

  "You know," he said, drawing his hand back. His eyes lost focus as his brain sifted back, bringing up a memory. "I knew what was happening the moment you let me go. I saw the fight in your eyes, the battle raging inside your veins, I could feel the shadows flood your heart. I knew in that moment, that no matter what happened, I had won. Because there is no going back, Kira. Once you've tasted the darkness, there is no stopping it."

  "But there is," she said quietly, not really believing it herself.

  "What? Are you talking about Tristan? Yes, yes, I've heard all about how you saved him," he drawled, "I'm afraid it's all anyone can talk about. I'm rather sick of it, to be honest."

  "Because you lost that battle," Kira said, smug, letting a grin curl her lips.

  Aldrich's eyes flashed, his crackled flesh tensed up. "What battle? Tristan is a fool who fell in love with a girl who could never love him back."

  Kira's hand shook. Fire pressed against her palms, aching to be let out, but she held it steady, letting her powers bubble up and strengthen, waiting for the right time. "That's not true."

  "It’s not? Then where is he? Why is Luke our special guest and not Tristan?"

  "I loved him enough to let him go, something you'll never understand."

  "Such sentimental drivel," Aldrich said, chuckling to himself, "you still don't understand, Kira. I tried to tell you before, but you just don’t understand."

  "By all means, enlighten me." Kira crossed her arms, trying to keep the conversation going as long as possible. In the back of her mind, Kira was just waiting for the right moment to strike. Because he would falter, he would lose control, and the moment he did, Kira would attack. She had to. There was no other way for this to end, there never was.

  "You're a realist, Kira," he sighed and Kira rolled her eyes. Not this again, she thought.

  "So what?"

  "Realists can't chose love, they don't know how. Love is for the believers, love is the ultimate faith—that invisible idea people will build their lives on. But a realist just doesn't understand that—they need the facts, the logic—they can’t take the leap. They don't know how to put love first."

  "While I'm really enjoying the psychobabble, can you just get to the point?" Kira asked.

  "The point is that I know you will fight me because if you don’t I will kill this boy," he stepped closer, his voice deepening, "The point is that I know you will fall because as much as you say you are in love, you don't really know how to believe in it," he looked at her, his eyes turning black, his burnt face glowing in triumph, "The point is I will win and you will lose, as much as you tell yourself differently."

  Kira leapt forward, rage pushing her movements. Fire flew from her hands, surging toward Aldrich in a wave of crushing heat. He was wrong. Kira had loved Tristan and she loved Luke now, and no one would use fancy words to try to take that away. She wasn't some unfeeling robot. She wasn't.

  And Kira would show Aldrich just how wrong he was.

  But as soon as Kira crossed the line, her fire wavered, losing its heat and the darkness crept forward, breaking through her skin, pushing the teeth back out, spreading a numbing cold throughout her body.

  Her anger rolled away, replaced by a deep hunger she had yet to give into. Luke's blood surged into her thoughts.

  She wanted it.

  She wanted one taste. Just one.

  No!

  Kira threw herself backwards, back into her prison, and fire surged through her body. She panted and let the flames take over, let them chase the shadows away, another temporary fix, but a fix nonetheless.

  The blood pounding in her ears began to slow.

  A high-pitched squeal replaced it, flooding her senses, and clapping hands brought a surge of hatred back into her heart.

  Slowly, Kira stood and turned around, meeting Aldrich's smirk with a glare. That didn’t prove anything, no matter what he said.

  But he didn't try to speak—his eyes did the talking for him. Hot white with barely a hint of blue, they were practically alight with his excitement. Aldrich thought he was winning.

  And in the back of her mind, Kira agreed.

  To her right, the passenger side door of the car broke off, screeching loudly. Kira couldn't help but stare as it scraped along the ground in her direction, lifting up over her head to land behind her, just inside of the wall.

  Her gaze raced back to Aldrich, to his wide, victorious eyes.

  The metal behind her crunched, bending in on itself, making a semicircular cocoon.

  Kira's heart began to race. There was nowhere she could run. She was trapped.

  The scuffle of metal on concrete sent fear into her heart—it was getting louder, closer, until a coolness stung her arm.

  She was being pushed forward. The door had her trapped and all Kira could stare at was the almost invisible line of the wall, the slight quiver of heat that showed where the blast of UV ended.

  The spot expanded, growing larger until it took up her entire line of vision.

  Kira tried to reach for her back pocket, for the knife she had kept hidden, but the metal was too close, was closing in on her, trapping her.

  And then the hunger lurched in her stomach, a craving for the conduit blood resting just a few feet away, waiting for her.

  Digging her feet in the ground, Kira tried to resist. But she couldn’t fight it—none of it.

  Luke's finger twitched. He was w
aking up.

  Waking up just in time to feel Kira's bite.

  But then the door dropped to the ground, clanging loudly, stopping Kira millimeters from the edge of the wall.

  "It would be so easy," Aldrich said slowly, "but I want to see you break yourself."

  Luke moaned and rolled to the side. His eyes remained shut. His body stilled. It was almost as if he was reminding Kira that he was still there, still alive, still worth fighting for.

  She stepped back into the fire, her mind running on overdrive.

  It was time.

  She whimpered.

  Kira wasn't ready to say goodbye.

  Not to life and not to Luke.

  But Aldrich was right. She was a realist. She would fall. She couldn’t make that leap. She had tried giving up her Punisher powers and it had failed, because some part of her really didn’t believe that happiness was in her future, really didn't believe that love would cure everything, really didn’t believe that her life could be one dream come true.

  The moment she was born, she had been doomed. Her life wasn't a fairytale, it was nightmare. She was a force of destruction, a killing machine, death to any vampire who dared cross her path.

  And the last thing she would do on this earth was destroy this man who had taken so much away from her.

  Aldrich stepped back, kneeling over Luke's body, keeping eye contact with Kira the entire time. He lifted Luke, holding his slackened body upright. Luke groaned in protest. His eyes started to flutter.

  Aldrich tilted Luke's head to the side, exposing his neck. Fangs extended, pushing through his closed lips and a sinister grin widened his mouth.

  He was goading her, urging Kira to make her move, to fall.

  Kira brought her hands behind her back and reached into her pocket, flicking the knife open and letting the cool metal touch the fragile skin at her wrist.

  She was going to die.

  But she was taking Aldrich with her.

  Breathing deeply, Kira bit her lip, trying to keep the pain from her face as the razor blade cut deep into her skin, searing flesh and veins. Blood dripped down her fingers, slipping to the ground below, and the shadows followed it. The moment she chose death, made the ultimate sacrifice, the vampire inside of her vanished, leaving only fire in its place.