Inner Demons

by Amanda Strong

  “Yes, much,” I said, happy the dizzy spell had ended. “Sorry if I freaked you out last night.”

  He leaned back a bit, so he could look me in the eyes. “I have to admit, you did worry me. Are you still feeling lightheaded?”

  I shook my head.

  He grinned. “Good. Because I think I have an idea about how we can figure out what Sammy may have been up to.”

  I sat back further, excitement pushing away all drowsiness. “Really? How?”

  He let go of me so we could sit up. I tried to move and realized sleeping in jeans was so not cool. My legs were wrapped in bedding like a burrito. Tugging at the blanket, I tried to detangle myself. Blake watched me for a moment with a crooked grin.

  “So, what’s the idea?” I asked, finally getting rid of the blanket and kicking off the sheet.

  “You know Tonbo mentioned the ancients were disappearing?” I nodded. “Well, last night, after you… er… left me, I decided to ask Tonbo more about them.”

  I felt my face flush at the memory of acting like a two-year-old and stomping away from Blake.

  “Turns out they weren’t just random ancients taken,” he continued, like he hadn’t noticed my embarrassment.

  “Really? What do you mean?”

  “The four taken were experts in different scientific fields. At least they were long ago. One was a renowned biochemist, one a biophysicist, another a genetic engineer, and the last studied under Mendel when Tonbo did.”

  My eyes widened. “Sounds like whoever took them knew what they were doing.”

  “I agree. Same goes with Kate too. She wasn’t a mad genius by herself, but she helped Sammy develop your serum, which Tonbo considers groundbreaking. She could prove a valuable asset to someone trying to, let’s say, build a new bug army they could control.”

  “Kory,” I said, hating him more by the minute.

  “That’s what I was thinking, at least until last night. But now, thinking about what you just said, I’m wondering if Sammy is up to something.”

  “You think she’s somehow involved with Kory’s plans?”

  “I’m not saying she is for sure, but there might be a way we could know if she had anything to do with the ancients’ disappearances. Other than Tonbo’s science experiments.”

  “How?”

  “We could go to the Outskirts today.”

  I stared at him. “How will that help?”

  “We could ask some of the ancients if they’ve seen you before. You’ve never been there, so if you look familiar, then…”

  “Sammy’s been there.”

  Blake nodded, seeming pleased with his idea.

  “And even if they don’t remember seeing me, I might still be able to tell. Remember when I went to Tonbo’s office for the first time? Everything about it felt so familiar. Like the strongest déjà vu I’ve ever felt.”

  Blake nodded along. “So you might be able to sense it there too. Even better. So how about it? Up for a little field trip today?”

  “Thought you’d never ask,” I said, jumping from the bed.

  Blake climbed off a bit slower. Smiling at me, he reached for my hand. “Sam, just one thing. Don’t go too far from me, okay?”

  “Why?” I asked, not sure if he was teasing or serious.

  “Well…” He scrubbed at the back of his neck with his free hand. “Some of the ancients are a bit… intense.”

  “Okay,” I drawled back. “Should I be getting worried now?”

  “Not at all. If you stay close to me, no one would dream of touching you.”

  I didn’t argue, worried if I kept harping on how potentially dangerous this could be, Blake might change his mind.

  Instead, I squeezed his hand. “Okay, you have my word. I’ll stay glued to your side.”

  * * *

  ---------------------

  * * *

  I glanced over at Mack, happy Blake had asked him to come along. Every time I expected Blake to become catty about Mack’s presence, he surprised me with how ready to forget and move on he was. Technically, Mack hadn’t done anything wrong last night. He’d come to me as a worried friend, fulfilling his promise to help me sort through the Sammy thing. Sure, Blake had misread Mack’s actions at first, but now watching him relentlessly tease him over his lack of prowess in the air, it felt like nothing had happened last night at all.

  Other than me acting like a big baby. I sighed, pushing my wings faster. The guys were pulling ahead of me. I felt sluggish. What’s wrong with me today? Guess I’m just wiped out.

  “Is that all you got?” Mack hollered back at me.

  Blake spun around in the air, half of his wings rotating the opposite direction to allow him to continue backward as his eyes studied me.

  “Feeling okay, Sam?” Blake asked, slowing a notch.

  I caught up and playfully pushed past him, putting quite a bit of space between us. “I’m great,” I lied, hoping he wouldn’t see through me.

  He cocked an eyebrow at me and folded him arms across his chest. I pushed further away, trying to prove to him that I was just fine. He grinned as the distance between us grew. Then, in an instant, he was wrapping his arms around me, like he’d been right next to me the entire time.

  I yelped. “Holy cow! Blake, you just scared me to death!”

  “Oh, sorry. Didn’t mean too. Are you dizzy?” he asked, his eyes filling with sudden concern. “Want me to carry you?”

  With how hard I was breathing to get over my shock, I did feel a bit dizzy. I’d never seen anyone move that fast before.

  “No, I’m good. Really. You can let me go,” I said, playfully pushing against him.

  Mack had flown over to see what was up. “Everything okay here?”

  “Yes,” I said as Blake reluctantly released me. He eyed me as if he still didn’t believe I was okay. Trying to appear a lot stronger and steadier than I felt at the moment, I flew ahead of them both. It was Mack who caught up to me first. I was surprised to see Blake buzz past us. Not too far, but just far enough I wasn’t sure if he was giving us a little space or not.

  I glanced over at Mack, who gestured to Blake with his chin. “Remember what I was saying about being able to track and predict your mark’s movements?” he asked.

  “Yeah.”

  Mack glanced ahead at Blake, who was darting back and forth. Almost looking like he was scouting something out, but there was nothing but water below us. So far, there was no land in sight.

  “Few do it better than Blake,” he said.

  My eyes widened. “Is that what that was?”

  He nodded. “Who do you think killed the last bug? Sure wasn’t Kory. Looks like that dirty weasel just stayed long enough to figure out how to get the bug’s DNA. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the only reason he went on that hunting trip and got Blake all pumped up to go too.”

  I stared at Mack before glancing ahead at Blake, who had decided to dip down closer to the water. I wasn’t sure why I was surprised by Mack’s words; I’d known about Kory and Blake’s hunting trip to kill the last bug. From what I’d seen of Kory’s character, I wasn’t shocked to hear he’d probably watched Blake kill the beast, only to take credit for it.

  I gazed at Blake, who was now soaring extremely close to the swelling, black ocean. My heart warmed, watching him dip a hand in the waves. With his speed, the water shot up, leaving an enormous wake behind him. I was glad to see him enjoying himself. Things always seemed to be so serious in our lives; it was nice to see his playful side. Although he didn’t say much about it, I knew his brother’s condition weighed heavily on him.

  I’d never met a guy like Blake before. In a world where I had a hard time trusting anyone, myself included, he tried to do the right thing. His sense of duty only seemed to waver when it came to taking over the island, but even there, he’d committed himself to something he didn’t want to do for his brother. Tonbo promised he’d do everything in his power to save Jaxon, if Blake would finally relent in taking ove
r for him when the time came.

  I shook my head. “So in other words, with Blake around, I shouldn’t be worried about a few ancients today, right?”

  Mack glanced over at me, I expected him to laugh off my fears. Instead, he said seriously, “Well, as long as they see you with him, you should be good.”

  “Oh, great. Thanks a lot.”

  I was about to ask just what made the ancients so dangerous when Blake hollered back at us, “Hey, Mack, it’s your girlfriend!”

  Say what? I glanced around, seeing no one but us. Who is he talking about?

  Mack let out a hoot and dove down to where Blake flew. He soared across the water’s edge, his face pointed downward. What are they doing? Fishing or something? Is that the girlfriend Blake was talking about? Fish?

  I gasped as a pair of slender, suntanned arms reached out from the water and wrapped themselves around the base of Mack’s neck. A second later, Mack disappeared under the surface.

  Chapter 11

  After I flew to the spot he’d gone under, I glanced at Blake. I couldn’t understand why he just hovered there, grinning. Maybe I misread Blake’s feelings about Mack.

  I flew down, prepared to dive in, when Blake intercepted me, grabbing my waist. “Whoa there, partner. Mack’s fine. You don’t have to swim in after him.”

  I gaped at him, stuttering, “But someone’s got him under the water!”

  “I know.” He chuckled. “Didn’t expect Aster to pull him under so fast. I wanted to introduce you to her.”

  “Aster? Who’s Aster? Is Mack in danger?” I fired off questions, still trying to get my brain to understand what just happened. Was Aster a damsel? Who could hold her breath for a very long time under the water… like me?

  Mack burst out of the water. Catching the grin on his lips, my shoulders relaxed a bit. Oh good, he’s all right. He shook his head back and forth, his hair flying everywhere, reminding me of a wet dog shaking his fur off.

  “Darn, Aster, I’m drenched now,” he grumbled, still smiling.

  “That’s what you get for making friends with them in the first place, Mack,” Blake said. “You know how they love to play.”

  “They?” I asked. My eyes darting between the guys, I realized Aster had yet to appear. Glancing down at the water, I flew up a bit higher. With no land in sight, I could only wonder if Aster might be an Ancient.

  “Oh sorry, Sam. Aster is part of the—” Blake began to explain, but his words were cut off by a loud splash from below.

  I glanced down to see a beautiful, flawless face staring back up at me. I gaped at her eyes. And I thought Blake’s were aqua…

  Expecting her to fly up from the water with a pair of wings like us, I was shocked to see only locks of long, auburn hair covering her back and cascading down her front, floating in the water. With several braids woven through, as well as bits of seaweed and seashells, her hair was full enough to cover what might very well have been a naked chest.

  She glanced at the guys. Before anyone could say anything, she burst up out of the water several feet, her hair fanning out, her back rounding, and her body arching as she made a perfect nosedive back toward the water.

  I sucked in air, practically choking on my own spit. A silver-gray dorsal fin protruded from her lower back and a long, steel-gray tail followed after her.

  I knew my eyes were saucers. “No way! Did I just see a mermaid?” I asked after the tail fins had disappeared under the water’s surface.

  Mack scratched his head. “Yep, and a crazy one at that.”

  Blake pulled me closer. “She’s harmless, unless you’re a wuss like Mack. She’s part of the Irukas.”

  “The Iru-what?” I was having a hard time getting enough air in. It was like the world had just been turned on its head again.

  “It’s a group that was created a long time ago,” Blake answered.

  “Tonbo created mermaids? It wasn’t enough he had flying people to worry about?” I asked, my eyes bulging. “What was he thinking?”

  “Tonbo didn’t actually create them himself. Some of the other dragons were in on the development of the program. It all happened a long time ago, so I don’t know the details. They usually stay pretty close to the Outskirts, so they don’t usually cause problems,” Blake explained.

  “Not unless we want to,” a female voice said.

  I spun around to see that Aster had emerged. My face flushed, realizing she’d probably overheard me expressing my opinion on Tonbo creating them in the first place.

  I glanced down, meeting her gaze. Her aqua eyes raked me up and down, a smile playing on her lips. She appeared to be around our age, but who knew with Irukas. If they were anything like damsels and dragons, she could be a lot older than she appeared to be.

  With her chest just above the surface, I was relieved to see she did wear some kind of covering, even if it was barely adequate and showed far too much skin for me to be comfortable. The material was iridescent, blue-green in color, and clung to her breasts, leaving little to the imagination.

  “So who is this, Mack?” Aster asked, gesturing to me with her chin.

  “This is Samantha,” he answered, grinning in my direction. “You know, the human girl Blake pined over forever and never did a thing about.”

  “Shut up,” Blake muttered, smiling.

  I thought it strange Mack called me human, like the rest of them weren’t anymore.

  Besides, I clearly had wings too.

  Aster’s grin turned mischievous. “Ooh… Blake’s lover?”

  I felt my face flush. I didn’t know why the word lover made me squeamish. “Nice to meet you, Aster,” I forced myself to say.

  She giggled. “Pleasure’s all mine. Not often our kind gets to see Blake, let alone his mate.”

  Now I knew my face was scarlet. I could feel the heat radiating off my cheeks. “Not often I get to see an,” I stopped myself from saying mermaid, “Iruka.” I hoped I said it right.

  She laughed. “True.” She winked, and I honestly wasn’t sure who it was for. Her flirtatiousness made me uncomfortable.

  “So,” she drawled, pushing her long hair back behind her shoulders. With how the sun shone directly on her flimsy covering, I wished she hadn’t. “Where are you off to today?”

  “We’re going to see the ancients,” Blake answered. “Just learned some of them have gone missing. You Irukas wouldn’t have anything to do with that, would you?”

  Aster wrinkled her nose at him, frowning.

  Mack jumped in. “What we mean is—do you know anything about it? Perhaps seen something? Or noticed unusual visitors lurking around the Outskirts?”

  Aster’s frown melted into a grin as her gaze shifted to Mack, and she literally batted her lashes at him. “Nope. I only come up to play with fun dragons like you.”

  For some reason, her flirting infuriated me. Mack’s flushing irritated me even more.

  “How about Kory?” Blake asked. “You think he’s fun still?”

  Aster snorted, glancing back at Blake. “Kory is anything but. If I ever get my hands on him again, I’ll pull him down deep, wrap him up in seaweed, and laugh at his water-bloated body.” We all gaped at her as Mack responded, “Wow. Okay. What happened to thinking he could walk on water?”

  She scowled. “Last time I saw that piece of scum, he wooed half of the Irukas to follow after him. Said he had a higher calling for them.”

  “Say what?” Blake asked.

  She nodded back at him. “He sounded like a wanna-be prophet. The freaky thing is some of my closest friends actually bought it. He asked me to go too, but I told him where to shove it. I’m not joining his cult.”

  The guys chuckled as I asked, “So you don’t know where they went?”

  She glanced at me and shrugged. “Nope. Nor do I care. Kory’s off his rocker if you ask me.”

  “What exactly was he promising them?” Blake asked.

  “He said a war was coming. We just don’t know it yet,” she said. “Acco
rding to him, everyone, Irukas and ancients included, will have to choose a side.”

  Mack ran his hands through his hair, muttering, “That crazy son-of-a-monkey’s uncle.”

  “Guess we know Kory is looking for a fight,” Blake said, frowning. “Only problem is, he’s psycho enough to start one himself, just to justify what he’s already done.”

  Aster cocked her head. “What do you mean? What did he do?”

  Blake and Mack took turns filling Aster in. How Kory extracted DNA from the last bug killed, then experimented on Jaxon, and finally created a bug army.

  “Which,” Mack added, “is probably what he’s going to use to start this war.”

  “You’re convinced he’s the one who will start it?” Aster asked. “That this army he’s making is really not just for defending our kind?”

  Blake sighed. “We don’t know for sure, but I’ve known Kory a long time. And so have you, Aster. You can’t tell me he hasn’t ever been devious… slightly manipulative? After what he did to Jaxon…” Blake paused. “I don’t rule anything out anymore.”

  Aster nodded. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Kory always had a bit of chip on his shoulder when it came to you, Blake. And even you, Mack.”

  “Me?” Mack said, grinning. “Naw. I’m a nobody.”

  “Not to me,” Aster murmured as she openly blushed.

  I could only gawk as Mack seemed to return that blush with his own nervous cough. Does Aster like Mack? And more importantly, does Mack like her? How the heck did I not even know about her until today? And, I thought with guilt, why am I so bothered by it?

  “How many left with him?” Blake asked, cutting through my own thoughts.

  “A lot.” She frowned. “But not everyone. Most of us told him he was crazy and to leave us alone.”

  “Sad truth is,” Mack said, “being left alone might not be an option for anyone if Kory has his way.”

  “No joke,” I said, feeling the need to be part of the conversation. “So Kory never mentioned the bug army to the Irukas?” I asked Aster directly.

  She glanced over at me, considering my question. “No, not exactly. He said he wanted to be ready for the coming war. Be prepared. He wanted our help because of what we can do.”