Grigori Returned (The Atlas Series Book 2)

by Becca C. Smith

  Still. A part of Kala was curious as to what insidious thing the universe needed her to do in order to stop the world from ending. Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad this time. Nothing could be worse than killing Jack. Nothing. Her stomach turned at the thought of Jack’s blood pooling at her feet.

  Kala blinked away tears. “I need to see a TV. That’s how I see the visions.” Kala hid all evidence of her emotions as she stared Penny in the eye. “Let’s get this over with.”

  Talan snapped his fingers and a flat screen television appeared on the wall.

  “Does that come with free cable as well?” Kala joked at Talan’s ability to make expensive televisions suddenly appear in crappy apartments.

  “Whatever you need,” Talan answered seriously, “But you probably only need a signal to see the vision.”

  Kala sighed heavily. “Just turn it on.”

  The power light went from red to green and the sight made Kala’s heart skip a beat.

  She wasn’t ready to see.

  Kala shook out her arms and legs and rolled her neck like she was about to enter a boxing ring. Anything to calm her down. A fight she could handle. She could control. But waiting for a TV to turn on so she could watch some horrendous thing that she’d have to do: nauseating.

  The screen on the television finally came into focus. Kala tilted her head to try to figure out what she was seeing. It looked like a close-up of some kind of document.

  “Can you turn the station?” Penny asked Talan.

  “No. Be quiet.” Talan didn’t even look at Penny.

  If Kala weren’t so concentrated on the television, she would have smiled at Talan’s dismissiveness toward Penny. It seemed Penny irritated him as much as she irritated Kala.

  Kala knew that what the two of them were seeing was completely different from what she was seeing. To them, the television was playing whatever show was currently airing. But to Kala, this was how she saw her Atlas missions. Television screens. From streaming on a phone to the Jumbotron at a football game, the vision of her mission always played on repeat.

  Kala fought back tears again as she remembered the last four days and having to re-live the nightmare of killing Jack every time she was near a television. She had thought she could fight it. Stop it somehow…

  Shaking off her emotions, Kala focused on the screen.

  It was definitely some kind of document. The writing was a series of equations, and that was all Kala could make out. She wasn’t great at math, but she had taken enough classes in high school to know that these equations were way over her head. As if a camera was filming the whole event, Kala’s view zoomed out to reveal a man that she recognized: John Fortski. The scientist that worked for General Turner. Kala knew almost nothing about the man except for the fact that Turner had a lot of insanely advanced technology and she figured Fortski was probably responsible for inventing a lot of it. On the screen, Fortski was panicked, shaking his head.

  Kala cringed. Please tell me I don’t have to kill this guy. Taking out someone who basically equated to the Albert Einstein of her time made her head hurt. Although a small part of her knew it would be easier than killing Jack. Being a sniper, Kala had killed before, so she knew she could do it again, but she had lost the stomach for it after Jack.

  On screen, Kala walked into view. She was holding a gun, but she wasn’t pointing it at Fortski. Kala recognized her stance. She wanted Fortski to believe that she’d kill him if necessary, but she could see that the Kala in the vision had zero intentions of hurting him.

  They were in some kind of laboratory, filled with metal tables stacked with ongoing experiments. Only Kala and Fortski were in the room.

  There were three computers next to Fortski and vision/Kala. All of them were destroyed, their hard drives pulled out and smashed. Apparently, the documents in Fortski’s hands were all that was left of whatever was on the computers because the Kala on the TV leapt forward and grabbed the papers from his hand.

  Fortski screamed, “Please! You can’t! That’s the only copy.”

  “I know. I destroyed all the hard drives.” Vision/Kala said somberly. “I have to do this. Trust me. It’s for the best.”

  “No, please!” Fortski pleaded. “Do you know how many lives I can save with that? Thousands! Millions even!”

  Vision/Kala shook her head. “I have to.”

  “Didn’t you ever know anyone with cancer? You can save them! You’ll be destroying the cure! Do you understand? You’re destroying the only copy I have! I can’t memorize equations like this! Turner will kill you for this!” Fortski was in a total panic now.

  But Vision/Kala looked determined. Calm even. “No, he won’t,” Vision/Kala said confidently. Then she pulled out the lighter that Talan had given her and set the documents on fire.

  Fortski screamed and leapt at her, but Vision/Kala didn’t use her gun, she simply shoved him hard. The push from a god made Fortski fly across the room and smash against the back wall. There he slumped to the ground, crying.

  When the scene started to repeat, Kala turned the TV off.

  “Really?” Kala exclaimed incredulously.

  “What did you see?” Penny asked.

  The look in Penny’s eyes was a little too greedy for Kala’s taste.

  “I have the mission, that’s all you two need to know.” Kala decided against telling either one of them. Talan she trusted, but Penny was another story.

  Talan didn’t seem fazed or offended at all. Of course! But Penny… she appeared downright annoyed.

  “How can we help you if we don’t know what you’re supposed to do?” Penny practically harrumphed.

  “Just let me handle it,” Kala demanded.

  Then it truly struck her. She was going to have to destroy the cure for cancer. The cure for freaking cancer! Fortski was brilliant enough to discover the cure and the universe wanted Atlas to demolish it? Why? Why would any force of good want something like that to happen? It rocked Kala. Maybe she wasn’t a force of good; maybe the job of Atlas was evil. It certainly felt that way. Kala had to remind herself that killing Jack saved billions of lives. But curing cancer? How could destroying something so important be the right thing to do? By not letting Fortski release the cure, it would kill more people than it could possibly save. Wouldn’t it?

  Glass crashed.

  The muted THWAP of a silenced gunshot reached Kala’s ears.

  She felt the bullet smack her square in the heart.

  It took Kala a second to comprehend that a sniper had just shot her! She watched in shock as the bullet popped out of her chest and clattered to the floor.

  A rain of muted bullets followed.

  Kala screamed over the strange noise. “It’s Clifton!”

  Before any more bullets could find their way into their bodies, Talan lifted his hand. A clear dome formed over their heads, the ammunitions bouncing harmlessly off its surface.

  “I’ll get us out of here,” Talan reached out to touch both Penny and Kala.

  Kala took a step back. “I have to see who it is for sure.”

  Hundreds of bullets battered the protective dome like metal hail. It even sounded like hail. Kala remembered lying in bed listening to the frozen rain hit the roof when she had first arrived at Owen and Linda’s home. She had felt safe for the first time in her life. She was safe now too. If this was Clifton’s military team coming to get her, they were way out of their league. General Clifton was Turner’s partner, but they didn’t share the same opinion of Kala. Turner was on her side and believed in the unexplainable, whereas Clifton was bitter and jealous and wanted Kala dead because he didn’t like or trust her. And he had the power to send elite military squads to attempt to take her out.

  Through the bouncing bullets, Kala tried to see where the shooters were. She spotted them through the broken window and across the street in the adjacent building. The more she focused the easier it was to see the snipers. It was as if her eyes were binoculars. She almost lost focus it was such a
new and strange sensation, but she needed to see who she was up against.

  Her view was now close-up, as if she were in the same room with the shooters. There were four. She recognized two, and they were definitely Clifton’s guys.

  The snipers stopped after seeing Kala’s protection. They probably thought she had some state-of-the-art bullet shield. They’d never guess that a Grigori angel was using his powers to protect her.

  Within seconds, five soldiers busted down the door and entered the room, guns drawn and pointed at Kala, Penny and...

  Where was Talan?

  There wasn’t a shred of doubt that the angel was still there, it just threw Kala off as to why he’d hide himself.

  Teleporting was out of the question. Clifton had already seen Asmodeus pop into the Compound. He’d be convinced that some other country owned teleportation technology. And he’d most likely do anything to get it.

  “Kala Hicks, you are under arrest by the United States government for treason and the assassination of President Wilkins,” the lead soldier shouted. Kala noticed that her head never left his gun site.

  Kala knew the five soldiers would bump into an invisible wall in about five feet, or at least she hoped so. A remote part of her kind of wanted to see that happen. It was a surreal moment to hear a fellow soldier accuse her of treason. The one thing Kala had always been proud of was her service to her country. Killing the president had been an extremely difficult decision for her, but when he was threatening to murder thousands, Kala felt she had no choice. Little did she know at the time that President Wilkins had actually been the current Atlas and by killing him, Kala ended up stuck with the job.

  “Whose orders?” Kala yelled back.

  The lead soldier ignored Kala’s question and bellowed, “You’re surrounded. Raise your hands and walk over to me.”

  Kala sighed and noticed that Penny watched the whole situation with mild curiosity as if the soldiers were animals in a zoo. Talan stayed hidden. Kala seriously hoped he was still there and keeping the bullet-barrier up. Not that she could die apparently, but with enough bullets in her, Kala could definitely be put out of commission for a while. Or not. She had no idea. But she didn’t want to find out. Somehow being shot in the chest a hundred times didn’t appeal to her. The once was enough.

  Kala spoke more calmly, “Name and rank.”

  The lead soldier snarled, “I don’t have to answer to you. You are a traitor to this country and I should shoot you where you stand. I could always report that you died while trying to escape.” He paused, then smiled. “But who am I to deprive the Compound of a good hanging?” He was genuinely salivating at the thought.

  “You talk too much,” Kala reprimanded, “And by telling me about the Compound I know Clifton sent you. He put the order out and the public still thinks the president died in an accident.” Kala said this with such confidence even she believed it. She was trying to put out feelers as to how often she’d be evading super-soldiers. If it were just Clifton, it would be in small pockets like the men in front of her. But if Turner had decided she was a liability, then Kala would have a lot more to worry about than these guys. Dealing with Clifton was like dealing with a five-year-old bully, whereas dealing with Turner was like dealing with Napoleon, a brilliant military strategist.

  Kala could handle Clifton. She wasn’t so sure about Turner. He knew too much about her.

  The soldier looked miffed at Kala’s accusation. “If I have to repeat myself one more time, I’m going to shoot you.”

  Penny popped out of sight.

  The soldiers’ training kicked in and a rain of gunfire smacked full force into the invisible wall.

  The noise was even louder at this close range.

  Kala shouted over the noise. “What are you doing, Penny?” She knew Penny’s disappearing trick well. Penny had pulled it on her a few times. Penny’s motivation was a mystery to her. They were safely behind the barrier after all, so why disappear? If anything, it would just make the soldiers think she teleported, something Talan had just tried to avoid.

  Then Kala figured it out. She turned her head away from the soldiers to see the stack of papers and texts that Penny held dear start to disappear from view. Penny was hiding any kind of evidence of who or what they all were. It would be complete mumbo jumbo to someone like Clifton, but Kala didn’t want him to be a bigger problem than he already was.

  One by one, the soldiers stopped shooting. Kala thought it was because of the futileness of the protective barrier, or maybe they ran out of bullets.

  But when she turned to see why, her heart stopped.

  Snapping the necks of each soldier daring to try to kill Kala was...

  Derek.

  Chapter Five

  Kala’s whole body filled with happiness at the sight of Derek, her one true friend in this world, then she comprehended that three soldiers lay dead at his feet. “Don’t kill all of them!” Kala called out.

  At that point, Derek couldn’t hear. He was in the middle of a fistfight with the last two soldiers, one of which was the lead a-hole.

  Kala ran to help him, but slammed up against the barrier. Apparently, it went both ways. She screamed, “Talan! Let me out right now!”

  Kala slammed her fist against the barrier and it dissolved.

  Derek cold-cocked the soldier next to him with the soldier’s own gun. Before Derek could focus the rest of his rage on the lead soldier, Kala grabbed the man first. She lifted the lead soldier up by his neck as if he were a rag doll and tossed him across the room. The man flew fast and hard, slamming against the far wall with enough impact to shake a piece of the ceiling loose. He was out cold.

  Derek’s eyes were round at seeing Kala’s strength, but his expression quickly turned to awe. “Impressive,” he smiled.

  That smile almost brought tears to her eyes. Kala fell into Derek’s open arms and they hugged each other fiercely. “Derek,” was all Kala could say.

  After a moment, Derek gently pulled out of the embrace and affectionately moved a strand of Kala’s auburn hair away from her eye. “So. What’s up?”

  Kala shook her head and nudged him adoringly. “Nothing much. I’m a god now, so that’s new.”

  “You’re not kidding, are you?” Derek’s eyes were full of affection, but Kala could see the doubt there as well. She knew there was a part of Derek that couldn’t accept what was really going on. She couldn’t blame him. If it hadn’t happened to her, she wouldn’t be able to conceive of it either. But she needed Derek to believe. It hurt too much to have her closest friend think she was looney tunes.

  As if in answer to Derek’s question, Talan and Penny materialized inside the room.

  Derek’s gun was leveled and ready, always the soldier.

  Kala reached up and lowered Derek’s revolver. “They’re with me.”

  “I can tell.” Derek gave Talan a disapproving glare.

  Talan couldn’t seem to hide the way he felt about Kala. She guessed that existing before the age of time took the edge off caring what people thought of you. Kala knew that even though Derek was staring daggers at Talan, inside he was probably happy that she had some supernatural backup.

  Derek turned his focus to Kala. She could sense so many conflicting thoughts racing around in his brain. Kala stared back and admired Derek’s flawless features. He was well over six feet with a dark complexion, full lips, and a shaved head. Derek used to be a marine before he joined Kala’s elite crew, and he was one of the biggest assets to the team.

  A thought suddenly occurred to Kala. “Derek. Why are you killing Clifton’s men? Have you gone rogue?” Kala’s worst nightmare was coming to fruition: that because of her, Derek’s life was ruined. He’d be on the run for the rest of his days. And he wouldn’t have superpowers like her to protect himself.

  Derek holstered his gun and surveyed the room as if waiting for more soldiers to arrive. He shook his head in the negative. “I’m working for General Turner.”

  “But Turne
r and Clifton are on the same team,” Kala voiced her confusion. “Isn’t Turner going to be pissed that you took out his men?”

  Derek smiled. “After Clifton tried to have you killed two days ago, I woke up in Turner’s house. He didn’t think Clifton would ever trust me again after I went against his orders and clobbered his men.”

  “Turner’s probably right about that.” Kala remembered it well. Two days! It felt as if it had been a lifetime ago! When General Clifton had ordered Kala’s death, Derek went berserk. He took down Clifton’s men in seconds. Asmodeus had almost taken her, but Penny somehow managed to teleport the Demon King out of there. Kala figured she must have used the Demon’s own teleportation powers against him, because Kala knew that Penny didn’t have the capability herself to teleport. Derek had seen it all, but refused to believe what was happening in front of his own eyes. Kala had even told him that Asmodeus was a Demon and at that point, Derek’s alarmed response had prompted Turner to knock him out.

  “Turner told me in these exact words, ‘protect Kala Hicks by any means necessary. I will back up all collateral damage, just make sure Harry doesn’t touch her.’” Derek motioned to the dead and unconscious soldiers. “That’s what I did.”

  Talan stepped forward. “She doesn’t need your help.” He turned to Kala. “Your friend will die trying to protect you. Is that what you want?”

  Derek’s eyes never left Kala’s. “Do you want me to eliminate this guy?”

  Kala raised her eyebrow as if considering the offer, but she shook her head. “He’s right, Derek. You’ll get yourself killed. Soldiers are one thing, but you have no defense against Demons and Malaks.” Kala didn’t like Talan’s condescending delivery, but his message was true. Though a selfish part of her wanted to keep Derek close, she loved him too much to put him in that kind of danger.