by Cheree Alsop
I nodded. “Good to know who we can trust.” I tipped my wings in time with Kale. We rose high above the city, riding on the currents that pushed the clouds along. I appreciated Kale’s silence. It was comfortable just flying. Sometimes that was all I needed to clear my head. Thoughts of Skylar, Alana, and Jayce drifted with me. I wanted to kiss Skylar again, to feel her fingers on my skin. Being away from her reminded me of how much I enjoyed having her near.
“Who’s the girl?” Kale asked.
“Taking back giving me my space?” I retorted, throwing him a searching look.
He held up his hands. “I’m not trying to be nosey. I just know that look. You miss someone and I can tell it’s not Alana. She’s a sweet girl, but you’ve been absent a lot since she’s awoken.”
I debated whether to tell him. Keeping Skylar a secret felt like a way to protect her. Yet I owed Kale; every time I looked at Alana, I was reminded that she wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t for Kale and the Galdoni Center. I glanced at him. “You know Skylar Jamison?”
He nodded. “She works the night shift. Nice girl. Human.” He glanced at me.
“Is there a problem with liking a human? You seem to do well enough,” I replied defensively.
Kale smiled, banishing the anger that filled me. “I love Brie; she is my girl and she’s human. I just didn’t take you for the type to trust humans after everything you’ve gone through. Your attitude about them hasn’t exactly been welcoming.”
I rode the wind in silence for a few minutes. Finally, I said, “She makes me feel like a real person when I’m around her, like I matter, and not just to anyone, to her. I matter to her and it makes me want to be better.”
I glanced at him in time to catch his searching look. He nodded. “The right kind of love asks us to expect more of ourselves and to accept more of ourselves. When you find that person who sees all of you, your flaws, your idiosyncrasies, the little things you hate about yourself, and they love you more because of them, you know you need that person in your life.” A knowing smile touched his lips. “And when it’s hard to breathe because she isn’t at your side, and you feel like your heart will never beat the same unless you are near her, then you truly are lost because the only way you will be found again is when you are with her.”
“That’s how I feel.” The words escaped me before I knew I had said them. I avoided his gaze, focusing instead on the ground that rushed below. Sunset was coming. Skylar would be heading to the Center. “I can’t stop thinking about her. We haven’t known each other long, but she’s different.” I glanced at Kale.
He smiled. “I can tell you’re different, too.”
I nodded without speaking. There was nothing to say.
Kale let out a breath, tipping his wings on the graceful evening breeze. “All I can say is I’m happy for you, Saro.” He really looked it. It showed in his eyes, his smile, and the nostalgic look on his face. “Change is hard but inevitable. We were taught to expect the unexpected, but love sweeps you off somewhere so unexpected you don’t know where you’re going to land.” He nodded at the streets below. “Speaking of landing, I think that’s our destination.”
A building sat where nothing should have been. Kale and I landed behind it in a small, empty parking lot. The walls of the building were white. It stood several stories high and it felt like we were walking toward a hospital. Windows that caught the sunset stared down at us, silent sentinels hiding whatever lay within the building.
“On second thought, we should probably try the roof,” I suggested. “We’ll be a bit less conspicuous than barging in through the back door.”
“Good thinking.”
Chapter Twenty-five
We landed on the roof and tried the door. It was locked. Kale was about to kick it in, but I lifted a hand. I found a discarded piece of wire near the roof’s edge and straightened it out. Five seconds later, the door creaked open.
“I forgot about your previous employment,” Kale said.
I shrugged. “Employment implies that I got paid. Jake’s due for a little payback.”
He smiled. “Maybe this place will be our link back to him.”
“I sure hope so.”
We walked quietly down the stairs. Sounds met us, voices, beeping like the Galdoni Center, and the near silent scuff of our shoes on the clean white cement stairs. I didn’t spot the camera until it was too late. I let out a slow breath and tapped Kale on the shoulder. At his look, I pointed to the small camera mounted in the top corner above the door we had entered.
“Guess the element of surprise is out of the question,” he said. He lifted his phone to call for backup. The door below us slammed open.
“I thought I smelled a coward,” Blade said. He glared up at us, his green eyes flashing. Men crowded behind him, but his form blocked the doorway and they didn’t look eager to push past. Blade wore armor much like he had in the Arena. Scales had been worked in gold along his chest and shoulders; it fit with the dragon helmet he used to wear, but he had discarded it. Instead, spikes ran up his shoulders and followed a golden harness that attached to his wing joints. The spikes that tipped his joints looked deadly.
“SR029. Of all the Galdoni Kale could side with, he chose the only one I killed who refused to die.”
I glowered at him. “I could say the same about you. How’s your side?”
I wondered if he felt the throb of the scar I had given him. Mine burned with a searing heat, reminding me of the pain of my improvised stitches and the fever that had almost taken my life.
“You’re on my territory, SR029,” Blade growled. “I’ll tear your limbs from your body and—”
“Leave him alone,” Kale barked.
Blade’s face twisted in a dark sneer. “Come down here and fight like a Galdoni, Kale. Or are you waiting for your human friends to save you again?” He spat the word human as if it was poisonous.
Kale took a step down. I grabbed his shoulder. “Not like this. I know you want revenge, but this isn’t the way,” I growled in his ear. “We need to find out what this place is. I’ll distract him while you check it out.”
He shook his head. “Go back up to the roof and enter through one of the windows. Report to me as soon as you know. We’ll get out of here when you have an answer.”
I wanted to argue. Leaving him with Blade seemed like the stupidest thing I could do. Neither of us should leave the other. That left only one option. “We’re going together.” I took a step back.
Kale glanced at me, then back down at Blade. If it was either of us against the Galdoni, we might have had a chance, but the armed men who crowded forward at each step Blade took left no doubt as to the outcome of such a foolish risk. He nodded. We backed up slowly.
Blade’s eyes widened. “Leaving? You cowards. Fight me!” When we continued to retreat, a vein on the side of his forehead bulged with anger. “Fight me!” His voice echoed up and down the stairs.
I reached the door and threw it open. Kale and I took to the sky.
“There!” Kale pointed to a window on the second floor that appeared to be a walkway. I tucked my wings and dove after him. I lifted an arm to shield my face as we burst through the glass. I rolled once and came up on my feet. Footsteps sounded down the hall. A shadow passed the window.
“This way,” Kale shouted.
We ran down the hall lined with doors. “We don’t have time for your lock picking,” he said. I was about to bash the door in with my shoulder, but he turned the knob and it opened. We rushed inside, then stopped at the sight of an empty bed. Padded handcuffs were still attached to the bars. A file sat on the table. I opened it. Pictures of a black-haired girl with cream-colored wings had been stapled to the left hand flap. Notes on the girl filled the right. I shoved it beneath my shirt.
Kale ran down to the next room; I opened the door across from it. Each was empty, but we found two more files before Blade caught up to us.
“Now I know what you came for,” Blade said. A glimmer o
f cold glee lit his eyes. “You want the girls.”
“You know about them?” Kale asked.
“Of course,” Blade responded, angling himself between us and the exit. “I also know about the paper trail.” He pointed at me. “SR029 was working for Jake, one of the slimiest human’s I’ve ever known. What does that say about you?” he asked me.
Kale held up a hand before I could respond. “We know Saro was stealing the papers, but not why. What makes those documents so important?”
Blade’s dark eyebrows rose. “Each investor with AC was entitled to a girl Galdoni of their own. I thought you’d figured that out.” Footsteps pounded up the hall. Guards appeared around the corner. Blade stopped them with a look.
Kale and I exchanged a glance. We needed more information. We had to keep him talking. “So why steal the papers, then?” Kale asked.
Blade chuckled. “The founders of Advantage Corp got greedy. Why give up the girls when they can keep their little experiments to themselves?”
“No papers, no female Galdoni,” I said.
Blade clapped. “Well done, Saro, is it?” he asked, twisting the name. “You should try one. You might find a female Galdoni to your liking.” He winked. “Oh, I forget, you already have one, don’t you?” His smile deepened. “You probably shouldn’t leave her alone. Bad things can happen.”
My heart did a backflip. Alana was in trouble. Blade wasn’t trying to fight us, he was distracting us! I dove at him. Blade ducked to the right. Kale had anticipated the move and connected with a haymaker that sent Blade reeling. The men down the hall raised their guns. Bullets tore into the walls around us. Kale and I ran for the window. We jumped, clearing the glass. I opened my wings and pushed hard. The sound of bullets tearing through the air drove me higher. Kale’s shadowed form ghosted at my left. Neither of us spoke. We directed our focus toward the Galdoni Center.
***
Flames danced on the horizon. We passed several dark forms, Galdoni heading back to Blade. I wanted to attack them, to finish what they had started, but my thoughts were occupied by the burning building. Skylar and Alana were there. I had to help them.
I could see Skylar on the roof where she had no doubt been waiting for the sunrise. She leaned against one of the railings. Flames reached from the gaping doorway that led up from the twelfth floor. She had no way down.
I tipped my wings. Windows shattered. Each floor looked consumed by fire. Galdoni flew to and from the building, trying to save anyone they could find. Thoughts of Alana trapped in her bed crowded my mind. My heart raced as fear of the fire engulfed me in its deadly orange grip. I couldn’t go inside. The flames were too much. I couldn’t face the fire again.
“Third floor,” Kale shouted. “You get Alana. I’ll find Brie. She said she was visiting the children. I need to make sure the sixth floor is clear.”
“Got it,” I shouted back over the roar of the flames.
Kale pulled his wings in. He turned slightly so that the glass wouldn’t catch his wings. He shielded his head with his arm. The slight crash made by the broken window was lost in the hungry roar that devoured the building.
I had to save her. I had to fight my fears and fly into the building.
I repeated the words over again in my head. I was running out of time. My heart thundered in my ears. I couldn’t breathe. The smoke would be too much. My hands ached as if I had burned them again. I couldn’t think.
One image surfaced, a vision of Alana in her bed unable to run from the flames that lapped around her. She had been shot because of me. She wouldn’t die because of me.
I tucked my wings and dove.
Air rushed past my face. I turned as Kale had, but not far enough. The glass shattered around me. I felt it pull at my right wing. I rolled on the floor and came up on my feet, slightly dazed from the landing. The fire had ruined the electricity to the building. Dark shadows warred against two emergency lights that flickered on either end of the hallway. I ran down it, shouting Alana’s name. Smoke snaked down my throat, threatening to choke me.
“Saro!” a male voice responded.
I stumbled into Alana’s room in time to see Jayce pick her up in his arms. Alana’s eyes were wide with fright. She was struggling to breathe through the smoke. Jayce’s face was white with terror.
“I don’t know where to go,” he said.
I grabbed his shirt. “To the balcony.”
He carried her back the way I had run. I checked the rooms we passed. Most were empty. The charred remains of a Galdoni in a bed near the end drove a dagger through my heart. I led Jayce through the room to the balcony. Fire exploded around us as the flames found oxygen containers. I shielded Jayce and Alana with my wings. The ceiling began to collapse. The heat beat against us.
“Take her,” Jayce shouted. “There’s no time!”
He held her out, willing me to save her and leave him to the flames. I couldn’t do that.
I grabbed them both just as there was a loud explosion behind us. We fell from the balcony, plummeting toward the ground. Time slowed. Figures ran around below; the lights from three fire engines cut through the darkness beyond the flames. Sirens met my ears; their wailing sounded like creatures in pain. I opened my wings.
I kept my wings at a sharp angle so they wouldn’t break with the sudden force. Even so, the weight nearly snapped them. I bit back a cry as they caught the air, slowing our descent before we slammed into the ground. The friction tore at my hands. I struggled to hold onto Jayce and Alana. I could feel the gauze tearing my skin instead of protecting it. I clenched my teeth and tipped my wings, bringing us to a stop on the grass.
I let them go and forced my wings down.
“Where are you going?” Jayce shouted.
“To get Skylar,” I replied.
I sped upward as the heat from the building beat against me. I passed Kale on his way down with two children in his arms. They were crying and clutched his shirt in terror.
“Where’s Brie?” I shouted.
“Safe on the ground.” The relief in Kale’s voice was stark.
“Are there more children?” I asked.
“Goliath just left on the other side with three. I couldn’t find Koden,” Kale answered.
I nodded. “I’ll get him.”
I sped to the top of the building. Skylar stood on the railing. Tears streaked her cheeks. When I landed, she ran to me.
“I knew you would come,” she said. I could feel her shaking. I wrapped her tight in my arms. “I knew you wouldn’t forget me.”
“Never,” I whispered into her hair. I tightened my hold. I jumped off the roof just as it caved in. Two seconds later and Skylar would have been engulfed in the flames and ash that rose high into the air. I tightened my grip. She leaned against me.
“There’s someone we have to get out of there,” I shouted above the roar.
“Let’s do it,” she replied. Soot colored her cheek and her hair stood up on one side. I had never loved her more.
Chapter Twenty-six
I turned in a tight circle that dropped us to the sixth floor. Skylar followed me into the room. “Koden!” I called.
Skylar took up the name. “Koden, where are you?” she yelled.
The fire was so hot. I dropped into a crouch and Skylar did the same. Every breath I took burned in my lungs, filling them with smoke. We didn’t have any time left.
I threw couches over, ignoring my damaged hands through the rage that filled me. Blade knew about this. He had stalled us long enough to ensure people would be killed in the Galdoni Center. He had to pay.
“Koden!” Skylar ran to the corner.
I hurried after her. A beam fell from the ceiling. I stopped short before it crushed me. Sparks rose, blanketing the air in flaming red dots. I ran to the wall and worked around the beam in time to see Skylar kneel at the side of a motionless form. I fell to my knees beside her and gathered the boy up in my arms. Skylar shrieked when another beam fell, pinning us against the w
all.
There was no way out. Skylar held my arm, her eyes wide with fear and reflecting the fire around us. I might have been destined to burn because of all I had done, but Skylar and Koden didn’t deserve that. I handed the unconscious boy to Skylar.
“What are you doing?” she asked, panic in her voice.
I grabbed the fallen beam that blocked our way. Fire raced along the gauze, eating through it to my skin. I gritted my teeth, but the pain was too much. A yell broke from me as I lifted the beam. I threw it to the side, clearing the path. Adrenaline coursed through my veins, chasing away the pain from my hands. I took Koden from Skylar and led the way through the debris. Someone must have set off explosives on each level of the Galdoni Center for such mass destruction. Blade would pay; he had purposefully distracted us. All who died were on his head.
We reached the balcony. I was about to hand Koden to Skylar so I could pick her up like I usually did. Before I could move, the entire north side of the Center fell. Skylar screamed. I grabbed her hand and dove off the building. We plummeted through the smoke and debris. I couldn’t see. I needed to fly, to get us away before the building crushed us.
I opened my wings. A sharp yell tore from my lips as my grip tightened on Skylar’s. She hung in the air, suspended with only my burned hand keeping her from plunging to the ground. I tried to shift Koden, but my grip on his body was precarious. I could feel my skin giving way beneath the tattered remains of the gauze. I couldn’t get to the ground fast enough. I was going to lose Skylar.
“Kale!” I shouted.
Suddenly he was there, catching Skylar around the waist. “I’ve got her,” he reassured me. “You can let go.”
I had to will the damaged muscles in my hand to respond. Tears blurred my vision at the pain.
Kale grabbed my shoulder. “Easy,” he said. “Let’s get to the ground.”
He kept one hand on my shoulder as we rode the wind down. When we landed, I dropped to my knees and lowered Koden to the grass. “Come on,” I spoke quietly, watching him for a response. His curly blonde hair was singed, and his red wings were dark with soot. “Breathe!” I shouted.