A Flare Of Power

by Elodie Colt

  “Piece of cake. I’ll knock them out in no time.”

  “Okay, go!” A huff of wind, and Jared was gone, the low fence no barrier for him. “Scott, stay in the car and keep your phone close.” Scott nodded, and Chris, Josh, and I followed to where Jared had vanished into the darkness.

  A second later, muffled sounds rang through the open space, and two figures slumped to the ground. One was knocked out, and Chris didn’t hesitate to break his neck with his bare hands. The other was trying to scramble up, but I quickly smacked my elbow in his jaw before he could make a noise, splitting the lower part of his jawbone in two.

  “Over here,” Josh whisper-shouted, and I followed the direction he was pointing at a few feet away.

  We hurried over to a crumpled figure on the ground—a woman, just like Scott had predicted. An arrow protruded from her neck, the tip sticking out on the other side. She wasn’t hurt as Scott had assumed—she was clearly dead. I knelt down and plucked the arrow out to examine it.

  “An arrow from Haylie’s crossbow,” Chris muttered in surprise. So, this explained Haylie running off with a backpack.

  “She assumed the area was guarded and came from the backyard. She took out this one, but the other two must have caught her,” I concluded with gnashed teeth.

  “She’s in there. I can hear her,” Josh whispered with a nod to Lauren’s house.

  “Do we have a plan?” Jared wanted to know, jumping from one foot to the other in excitement.

  I hesitated before answering, considering our options. The house was huge—a three-story building with massive glass windows. I couldn’t see through them, as dark curtains obscured my view. The light was on on the second floor. This was probably where we would find Haylie, Lauren, and their kidnappers. We didn’t know how many and which kind of Roes would await us in there.

  My gaze fell on a set of glass doors leading to a deck in front of the swimming pool. I indicated for the others to follow, and we silently made our way along the fence, crouching low. When we reached the doors, I yanked on the doorknob.

  Locked. Fuck.

  “How do we get in?” Jared asked, but before any of us could answer, a muffled cry came from above.

  “Lauren!” Chris panicked, nearly shouting loud enough to give away our position. “There’s no time, we have to get in. Now,” Chris exclaimed and sprinted for the doors. I wanted to stop him before he made a rash decision, but a second cry tore through the air.

  Unmistakably Haylie’s. That made my decision in a split second.

  Chris swung back his arm, shattering the glass easily with his elbow. Now that noise certainly alerted to our presence, but it didn’t matter anymore. Time was of the essence.

  We all stormed inside, momentarily blinded by the complete darkness. Before we reached the first floor, more shouts rang out, and heavy footsteps pounded toward us, announcing battle. I elbowed my way through the others, shoving Jared behind me.

  Something solid connected with my jaw, and I stumbled sideways, hitting the wooden railing with my ribcage. Didn’t see that one coming. Damn those Racers. Fighters were powerless against them, unless they got a good hold on them first.

  Jared reacted instantly, leaping over me and bouncing on the attacker. A moment later, said guy lay on the floor.

  We continued our way up, only to meet another one, this time thankfully not one as swift on his legs. Chris gave him a kick to the shin, followed by a set of punches to his kidney. The guy slumped down with a moan but managed to pull out his gun. Jared didn’t waste any time and grabbed his wrist, the rifle pointing to the ceiling. The kid was a fast learner.

  A shot rang out and debris from above trickled to the ground. I rushed forward and drove my foot into the guy’s neck, placing it at a strategic point so it would snap off the staircase. A satisfying crunch told me I’d done my job. Bolting up the stairs, I ran through the first set of doors on the right.

  “My, my, my… Look who we have here,” a malicious and sharply accented voice teased.

  It belonged to a woman with long black hair, clothed in an equally black dress flaring out at the bottom. When she slowly turned around to reveal her features, I heard Chris gasp behind me.

  “Aitana…”

  I came to an abrupt halt. I’d never met the woman Chris often spoke about. As far as I knew, she’d killed one of Chris’ best friends on their first mission, running off before anyone had a chance to catch her. Chris had a hard time getting over it. He’d sworn to kill her one day in return. Well, he could count on my help.

  A sweet smile crept over her exotic face. “I wondered when I would see you again.”

  A whimper from behind her caught my attention. I spotted Lauren to the left held captive by a Hunter. Her back was pressed against him, a knife positioned on her throat. Its blade already pierced her skin, a drop of blood running down her neck. Bruises and cuts covered her face.

  On the other side was Haylie. She seemed unharmed, but unlike Lauren, she had two Hunters holding her in place. Both had her arms in a strong grasp under her elbows, giving her no option to flee. Her look was one of determination, her nostrils flaring as if she’d bolt into action the second she got the chance to do so.

  She sent me a pleading look, shaking her head as if to say, why did you follow me? I sent her an equally determined look, telling her, I’ll always come for you. Gathering from the gritting of her jaw, she understood.

  “Let them go!” Chris shouted in a dark voice he only reserved for his enemies, but his command fell on deaf ears. Aitana barked out a laugh, her eyes glinting with humor.

  “Oh my… That’s not how this is going to work, my dear.” If her amused tone was anything to go by, she enjoyed every second of our helpless situation.

  “What do you want?” Chris retorted, his hands fisted at his sides while throwing fearful glances at Lauren.

  “Your Natural, of course. What did you think?” Aitana asked rhetorically. “Although…” she continued, folding her fingers in front of her, “the plan changed, as it seems. I promised not to harm her friend if she came alone.” After a dramatic pause, she added, “She didn’t.” Her words sounded like she’d hoped it would turn out exactly as it had.

  The Hunters hated ‘humans,’ as they called them. They were undeveloped and meant to be destroyed. In their opinion, evolution created Roes to replace the primitive population. They were too shortsighted to see that all Roes were just as human as the rest. Aitana was looking forward to killing Lauren just for the sake of having one less annoying human on earth. The only reason they didn’t wipe out the entire population at once was fear of turning the mass of humans against them.

  “She came alone and left us in the dark about what she was about to do, but we traced her as soon as we noticed she was missing. Keep Lauren out of this,” I tried to reason with the crazy woman, despite my increasing rage. I needed to handle the situation professionally, or one of the girls could get hurt. I cursed inwardly for being the one to sort this out. Jimmy would know how to handle the situation. I wasn’t a diplomat and preferred to settle things by force.

  “I don’t care what the reason is,” Aitana snapped, all false sweetness in her tone gone. “We had a deal.”

  “The fuck we had. You blackmailed me. I wouldn’t call that a fair deal, you bitch! If you touch her, I swear to you...” Haylie shouted from behind, fighting against the restraints, but the two guys holding her didn’t even flinch.

  “What? What would you do, Natural?” Aitana spat, whirling around to face Haylie with a sneer of distaste. “Destroy the house with your little ability? Create an earthquake and bury us all beneath the debris?” She let out a crazy laugh. “Your ability to wield gravity is still in baby shoes, and it hasn’t even been activated yet. You’re no worthy opponent for me.”

  Haylie blinked in shock, her fight against the two men behind her momentarily forgotten. “How do you know about my ability?”

  A good question, and one I feared the answer to. Th
e sweet smile on Aitana’s face returned. “Oh, I have my sources.”

  That was bad. Very bad. I glanced in alarm at Chris who shot me an equally anxious look.

  “You say you don’t fear me? Well, as far as I remember, you already ran from me once,” Haylie shouted back. I frowned. What was she talking about?

  “I was weak back then, and I didn’t expect any distractions. Thanks to you, we left a mess and had to suffer the consequences,” Aitana hissed.

  A deep growl came from Haylie, a sound I’d never heard before coming from her. Her anger nearly came at me in pulsating waves. I secretly hoped she could keep herself in check before losing control and allowing the Bluster to overtake. However, Haylie was distracting Aitana, which allowed me to assess the situation.

  There was one Hunter on Lauren. I assumed he wasn’t very skilled in combat. His awkward stance and his nervous glances told me he felt unsettled. A newbie, probably. No match for me.

  The two clasping Haylie were a different matter. One of them was a Fighter. He was one hell of a rock with dark blue veins running through the muscles of his neck. The other one didn’t look like easy prey, either. Another Fighter? No, he wasn’t sporting as many muscles, but he was lean with long limbs. A Racer, probably. Of course, Aitana would use her strongest soldiers to keep the Natural in check.

  Then, there was Aitana, who was a Racer, as far as I knew from Chris, flanked by another woman who looked more like a man. This one was bulky with wide shoulders and strong neck muscles, her face so androgynous, I would have mistaken her for a man if it weren’t for the two tiny bulges that were her breasts.

  A Fighter.

  Female Fighters were rare and usually more dangerous. The extra amount of testosterone produced in the body didn’t mix well with estrogen. They were unpredictable and easy to snap. No idea what goal evolution had wanted to achieve with that creation.

  So, it was four against five—not counting Lauren and Haylie. At least, I hoped I could keep them out of this. And Josh wouldn’t be of much help, either.

  “Consequences?” Haylie screamed in disbelief, yanking once again in an attempt to shake the two guys off her. “You killed my sister!”

  Shawna. The woman Haylie had told us about whose companion had stabbed Shawna with a knife. Aitana had been in on this. Fuck.

  Aitana quickly regained her composure. “Technically, I didn’t. It was my partner who swung the knife, if I remember correctly. It was necessary, but I’m not here to chat with you about my motives. I want to get this over with.” She turned back to me and the others. “I’ll give you the opportunity to end this peacefully. The Natural comes with me, and I won’t harm her little human friend.”

  “Don’t listen to them. You can’t trust them, Haylie!” Lauren shouted in desperation. Haylie gave her a warning look as the Hunter behind Lauren poked her skin with the tip of his knife, daring her to make one wrong move.

  “You want Haylie to come with you? Why? As far as I know, you kill Naturals. Why keep her alive?” I asked in hopes of winning more time and paced to the left. Haylie’s crossbow was lying in one corner, and I counted on Chris to bolt for it when the time was right to attack.

  “Why would I tell you?” Aitana countered.

  “You tried to kill her once already. Why the change of mind?”

  Aitana chuckled. “We never tried to kill her.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Haylie exclaimed. “As far as I remember, I was nearly stabbed as well as scorched when you attacked me.”

  Aitana rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Think again. Did one of us try to stab you to death? No. And Dorian never aimed at you, he just hadn’t counted on you being such a fool as to fling yourself in front of that stupid boy. Thankfully, he pushed you out of the way.”

  That boy. Ricky… They’d never wanted to kill Haylie but get rid of the rest of us. I clenched my fists in an attempt to stay in control.

  “We wanted to incapacitate you, not kill you.”

  That left Haylie slack-jawed, and I could see the confusion on her face as she tried to put the puzzle pieces together. I knew what she was thinking, and her next words proved me right.

  “But you killed Shawna because she was like me. You—”

  “We were stupid back then,” Aitana snapped. “Now we know…” She broke off before revealing the reason she wanted Haylie alive.

  “What?” Haylie prodded.

  Aitana huffed. “As if I’d tell you.”

  “Well, you can’t have her,” I intervened to regain Aitana’s attention.

  “Dylan, let me go, I can’t let them hurt Lauren!” Haylie yelled in panic.

  I spread my legs, probing with my hands behind me to grab a heavy, golden Buddha statue on the shelf. “Only over my dead body,” I growled in a deadly voice, giving her a look that would tell her how serious I was.

  “So it may be,” Aitana replied, and with a flick of her hand, two Hunters shot at us.

  One was the female Fighter flanking Aitana, and the other one of the two holding Haylie. Yep, he was a Racer, as I’d feared, but this time, we were prepared.

  The Racer came for Chris who quickly bolted sideways to grab the crossbow, while the female Fighter came for me. I withdrew my arm and smacked her with the statue in my hands. The bulky woman didn’t see it coming as it hit her shoulder, taking her off guard. Jared raced forward to grab her from behind and gave me the opportunity to aim a couple of punches at her torso.

  A loud shatter resounded, and I turned to see Chris tumbling to the floor between the remains of a glass table. Chris had shot an arrow at his attacker, which was sticking out of his gut, but apparently, it hadn’t been enough to take him down.

  “Jared, help him! I’ve got this,” I shouted.

  The Fighter in front of me kicked out, and I stumbled. A fist connected with my jaw, but I reacted quickly and grabbed the wrist before it could withdraw. Smashing the edge of my hand into her elbow, I twisted her arm in a painful angle, causing the woman to cry out in agony. Just as I wanted to end her life, I heard Aitana shout,

  “Kill her!”

  At first, I thought she meant Haylie, but the command was meant for Lauren. The guy behind her adjusted his knife and started to cut on one side. Haylie’s agonized scream tore through the room, and a loud bang erupted. Even the woman currently caught in my grip whipped around to look at the source.

  Haylie’s eyes flashed once, then a rumble shook the building, making the ground vibrate below us. I watched her as she flung herself backward, taking the massive Fighter at her back with her. The guy weighed nearly three times as much as her, but he wasn’t prepared for what she had in store for him.

  They both crashed back into the wall, his hands still circling her arms. There was a slurping noise like someone getting stabbed, and the guy’s eyes bulged as blood pooled out of his mouth.

  It took me a second to realize what had happened. A curved, metallic coat hook on the wall stuck out of his right chest just a few inches above Haylie’s shoulder. My heart nearly faltered. Dammit, that was too close for my taste.

  “No!” Aitana shouted and stormed off in Haylie’s direction.

  There was no time for hesitation, and I took out the female Fighter struggling to get out of my grip but failing miserably with one mangled arm. I aimed to strike my elbow up her nose with enough force to snap back her neck. Once done, I let her dead body drop to the floor.

  Meanwhile, Chris had switched places with his attacker who was now lying in the debris of the once whole glass table—dead. He rushed forward to take care of the guy behind Lauren, while Jared started off to help Haylie.

  I dashed forward just as Aitana threw Haylie across the room, but I wasn’t fast enough to catch her and watched in horror as her body collided with a bookshelf. She tumbled to the ground, books falling all around her. I was about to come to her aid, but she was already back on her feet. Aitana tried to dodge me in an attempt to get to Haylie again, but I quickly blocked her with my leg. She
stumbled, and I grabbed her hair from behind.

  “Try to race now,” I warned her and gave her hair another yank, which made her hiss out in pain.

  Chris quickly took out his opponent with another arrow and shouted for Josh to take care of Lauren before coming to my aid. Aitana may have been an outstanding Racer, but not even she stood a chance against two Fighters and a Racer. Soon, she was encircled by us, and I switched places with Jared who grabbed her from behind, keeping her in place.

  “Now,” I started. “Why don’t you tell us about your plans? Why do you want Haylie? It looks like you need her alive.” Aitana just grinned, not in the least bit concerned about her being outnumbered. “I’d suggest you don’t test my patience, Racer,” I snapped, lowering my head to level my eyes with hers.

  Aitana’s gaze swept behind me to land on Haylie as if she hadn’t even heard me, a cruel smile forming on her face. “You will die like your mother died. I’m looking forward to the day I’ll witness it,” she drawled in a low voice. There was a moment of silence, and I threw a panicked glance in Haylie’s direction.

  She was shocked, still leaning against the bookshelf for support. Aitana knew way too much about Haylie and her life. I would need to find out what sources she’d been talking about.

  Haylie’s face twisted into pure anger before her eyes flashed with the Flare. Only this time, it wasn’t just an activation of her ability.

  The Bluster was coming to the surface.

  Aitana laughed maliciously, and then everything happened very fast. Haylie launched forward, determined to get to Aitana, but the Racer was quicker, thanks to her ability. She snatched out her hand, grabbed a letter opener from a stack of office utensils on the desk behind her, and plunged it into Jared’s thigh. Jared howled out in pain and lost his grip on her, giving Aitana the chance to escape. A huff of wind, and she was gone.

  Then, an outcry of rage resounded, making my blood freeze, and I sensed what was happening before my eyes fell on Haylie again.

  “Where is she?” she growled in a deadly voice that was not her own, her hands fisted at her sides as she searched the room for the woman who had just escaped. One look into her eyes, and I knew the Bluster had her completely under control. There was no kindness, no love in those jaylior eyes I came to know so well. Now they were burning like the pits of hell, mirroring the rage and agony from within.