Maybe not.
I find my hand’s still squeezing Lucy’s tightly. Anxiety fills me to the brim, making me tremble in a bad way, and I feel nervous hysteria bubble up my throat in the form of a laugh. He’ll find me and zap me, but I can handle that. What I can’t handle is someone hurting Lucy and Raziel wouldn’t hesitate to hunt her down the minute he got off duty.
I turn to her. “I’m sorry, Lucy, this was a bad—”
Lucy leans forwards and our lips meet, hers demanding, mine nervous as she steals my words away from me. Her fingers trail heat down my cheeks as she wraps her arms around my neck, twining fingers through my hair. I shouldn’t, oh how I shouldn’t, but if I’m going to lose her anyway, why the hell not?
So I kiss her back. She moans low in her throat and I push her up against the wall of the booth. I cup her face in my hands, sliding my tongue along the seam of her lips. She trembles beneath me, opening up, giving me access. My tongue delves deep. I memorize the taste of her, sweet and spicy, our breaths tangled inside one another.
I’m surrounded with heat, a fire burning me so deep that it almost hurts. I let my hands trail downwards, my mouth following. I kiss her jaw, nibbling on her earlobe. My lips caress the spot where her pulse jumps beneath her skin and she arches against me. My heart aches. I can’t live without this. Maybe we should run away, leave this city behind, leave my Pack and set out on our own.
Wait, is that an option?
She breaks away with a shuddering gasp and I come up for air. Her face is flushed and her chest heaves with each breath. I kiss her chastely on the lips, then twine my fingers through hers again. “Let’s make a break for it. If anything happens…well, this is gonna sound cheesy, but know that I love you.”
Her eyes widen at that bold announcement. Then she nods sharply and we emerge from the photo booth without taking a single photo. Our coins are left behind on the seat for some lucky kid to find. I duck through the crowd, focused on the exit, focused on making it out of there without being caught. Lucy runs at my side, lean like a sight hound and twice as graceful.
And she’s mine.
We burst out of the arcade and into the equally stuffy night. I don’t stop, I just keep running. Our feet pound the pavement as I lead her through the backend of the city, sliding through alleys and over fences in peoples’ backyards, barely avoiding a protective Rottweiler.
We don’t stop until we’re back at her house. The driveway is still empty, but we still head around back. She bends over, sucking down air, her skin shiny with sweat. I lean against the house and catch my breath and try and calm myself.
We made it. We’re safe. I know Raziel—if he would’ve seen us, even in passing, he would’ve nailed me. I wrap my arms around Lucy in a bear hug. “That was interesting,” I say once I’ve caught my breath.
She chuckles. “You wanna come inside?”
“I really shouldn’t…” I want to, yes. I really want to. But I shouldn’t.
“We could watch a movie until Mr. Rockwell gets home?” She sounds so hopeful and I can’t ruin our strangely wonderful night. I can still taste our kiss, lingering firelight on my lips.
“Let’s do it.”
We cuddle up on the couch and watch a very fake-looking zombie flick. As a woman screams and dies, her heart ripped from her body but somehow still beating, Lucy laughs, albeit a little devilishly.
“I love it when you laugh,” I say. “It’s so musical, lyrical. It makes me want to write a song about you.”
“Do you? Write songs, I mean?”
It’s my turn to laugh. “I’ve never strummed a guitar in my life and I’m pretty much tone deaf.”
Her grin is almost as nice as her laughter and I nuzzle closer.
A little past eleven, I hear gravel crunch on the driveway. I’m out of my seat in less than a second and she follows me to the back door. It slides open soundlessly.
“See you soon?”
“As soon as I can.” I seal the promise with a kiss and duck outside. I wait until I see lights get flicked on inside, the shadow of a man cast across the doorway, then I sneak around the side of the house and flee on four paws into the night.
How can Lylan ever expect me to give this up?
Chapter 17:
Lucy
The memory of our kiss is engrained deep within my soul, a loop of tape going round and round in my head. Even days later, I can smell the earthy, musky smell that is Iofiel, clinging to me like a ghost. His smile is sweet and innocent, his laugh beautiful. He’s mine.
And he loves me.
That fact alone is enough to perch me way up here on cloud nine, far above the peons down below. I’m so high, they look like ants from up here. I’m positively floating.
How can someone so good happen to someone like me? I’ve never done anything to deserve attention like this. I’ve been shuffled around from home to home. I’ve been hated, feared, mistreated. I’ve stolen, cheated, lied. I’ve hurt people—hell, I’ve killed someone. I can barely begin to forgive myself for that, but the Big Guy up top obviously thinks I’m worth it. Or else he’s playing a cruel trick on me.
Either way, I’m loving it while I can.
“You wanna go see a movie? I think Idyllic comes out tonight.” Caddie’s voice is a fly in my ear, jovial and laughing. I blush at the thought I was just caught almost having and shake my head to chase them off. Maybe later. In private.
Caddie shoots me a strange look and I smile. “Sure, why not? It’s Friday, after all.”
“Fiiiinally. This week has just dragged.”
Sync bobs at Caddie’s left shoulder. She’s giving me the silent treatment, which pisses me off even more than if she’d just say something bitchy. How many times do I need to apologize? I said I was sorry.
Maybe I have outgrown her.
The thought, though fleeting, makes my heart ache, but I refuse to look at her. Caddie continues to somehow have our conversation all by herself, with me nodding my head and making soft sounds to encourage her as we walk to the Holt Theatre. I lose myself in thought once again.
With every boy that passes, my heart leaps into my throat. Hope courses through my veins long enough for me to realize that—no, you idiot, it’s not Iofiel—and then it sinks back down. Lying in wait to pounce again.
But still, maybe he’ll see us walking and stop, just to say hi. Maybe he’ll lace his fingers through mine and place a gentle kiss on my cheek. I stuff both hands in my pockets so I don’t look like a fool with my fingers crossed. Then I cross them anyway.
Idyllic is sold out, so we go for a romantic comedy. We don’t even make it half an hour. Turns out, whoever directed this piece of crap needs shot and buried in a shallow grave. So much face-action that half the crowd is groaning and the other half is probably making out along with the on-screen couple. It’s Sync who makes the first gagging sound—leading the path up the exit ramp with her blue glow.
“What a waste of eight bucks. And the popcorn was practically tasteless.” Caddie throws her hands up in the air, dramatic all the way.
“We didn’t buy popcorn, Cads,” I say around a smirk.
“Well, even if we had, the movie still would’ve sucked.”
I whole-heartedly agree. But at least then I wouldn’t be hungry. I rub my stomach as Caddie launches into a spiel about how much makeup the lead actress had caked on. Sync’s quiet, hovering between Caddie and me, unreadable in her robot way. Part of me wants to break down, tell her I’m sorry, and beg her to forgive me. I want to end the rift spreading acres of distance between us, but I can’t. Maybe it’s my stubborn pride, but I’m not ready. Maybe she hasn’t learned her lesson yet. Maybe I haven’t learned mine.
I roll a kink out of my shoulder as we turn the corner, feeling a mix of anger and sadness, both at Sync and at myself.
And then I feel it. Just the barest trickle of cold on the breeze, bringing with it the crisp smell of winter. Winter is months away. I sneak a glance to Caddie, who’s rapping one
of Elysium’s softer songs, throwing in a couple curse words to make sure she’s ‘hip’ enough. Nope, she doesn’t feel it.
But it’s enough to coil fingers around my heart, a tendril of fear, squeezing until I ache. I reach for Caddie’s arm and she pauses and looks to me with a furrowed brow because I’ve interrupted her train of thought, but anything I could possibly say to her evaporates off my lips as the first Wraith appears at our backs. Its empty eyes stare holes through us and it hisses.
“Oh, shit,” says Caddie.
That about sums it up.
We bolt, the Wraith at our backs. I can feel its ghostly fingertips, like ice touching the back of my neck. I suppress a scream—I won’t give it the pleasure—and swallow down gulps of air. Our feet pound the pavement and I lurch to the left, hauling Caddie down the alley after me. I slip in something slimy and nearly land on my ass and Sync plinks into my back hard enough to hurt.
The Wraith throws back its head in a static-sounding howl as we burst from the other end of the alley. I slam on the brakes as three more Wraiths pace in front of us, gaping grins eating away at my nerves.
“Fuck!” I spit and spin on my heel, only to be grabbed by the one who chased us. I jerk away. “Back off, you Faerie bastard!” I kick out at it, but my boot goes right through its spectral leg. Then its hand clamps around my wrist, wrenching me closer, and I can smell its foul reek climbing up my nose. I hold my breath, but I know I won’t last forever. God…
“Bullshit!” Caddie’s voice is a shriek behind me and I turn, just as a huge, flaming fireball slams into the Wraith trying to suck out my soul. It screams, writhes, and puffs into a cloud of murky black dust, scattering in the wind. “You okay?” she asks as I gape at her, trying to pick my jaw up off the floor.
“How did you—“
“Expel the energy. Focus on it. Visualize the soul coming from your hands. Like this!” She scrambles back a step, lobbing another ball of flame. She misses and it slams into the side of the brick building.
“Look out!” I yelp as she ducks a grab from one Wraith, sending it into oblivion, but the other two expect it. They latch on to Caddie and she screams. They squeal and rattle and suck her in. Her eyes are wide, afraid, and her hands grasp at empty air, the fire at her fingertips mere smoke.
I don’t have the chance to think—one wrong move and Caddie’s dead—so I just move. My feet slam against the concrete as I rush them, holding my hands out, willing energy to boil up and bitchslap the fuckers who have my friend.
“Hey, asshole!” I bark and the Wraith holding her looks almost comical as I grab its face with both hands. Energy buzzes deep within me, my core lighting up and sizzling, and I close my eyes and breathe out.
Release.
Chapter 18:
Iofiel
The surge blasts through the city a little after nine, the energy raw and wild around the edges. It slams into me with the force of a freight train and I snap my head towards the source. My thoughts are on Lucy, my beautiful Lucy. No. Not her. Please don’t let it be her.
Because I know what happens when we get surges. And like clockwork, a transmission comes through, loud and clear, a niggling voice in my head. I open the link and Lylan’s tone is strong, excited. “Power surge on Harper Street. Two of them this time. Get there, pronto.” And the line goes dead.
My heart sinks, drops, plummets to its suicide. It lands in a bloody heap at the bottom, nerves twitching as my mind screams at me to do something, anything. What are the chances that it’s not Lucy? Slim to none. Goddamnit! What am I supposed to do?
Save them, my heart pleads and I bolt across the street, nearly getting hit by a hover car in my frenzy. All four feet pound the ground, my footsteps a wild, staccato beat. I’m a black blur etched with steel as I curve down the street and into the open. My heart throbs with an ache at the scene painted before me: Lucy yelling, her blonde friend lobbing an overhand fireball at one of the Wraiths that have them boxed in. It’s obliterated into a puff of black dust and Lucy goes to the other girl’s aid as they face off with the last beast.
Lylan will be here in a matter of minutes. He’ll take them away, take them to our queen, and who knows what will happen to them then. I can’t let him take her, but… I begin to pace, a whine rippling through the air. What can I even do? Panic makes me blind and deaf, but I can see my Pack closing in on my GPS, little blue dots circling the lonely red ones. The targets. My targets.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I have to save Lucy—the ten ton weight on my heart lifts at this realization. I’m not happy here anyway. I’m not allowed to love her. What if we ran away together? What if we could have a real life, away from the Pack, away from everything?
I’m already running. Lucy shouts something and I feel the burn as a ball of white energy scours past me, singing my fur. I latch onto the Wraith and shake, my fangs ripping into putrid flesh. Lucy forms a fist with one hand, a soft glow emanating off of it, and she punches the Wraith square in the gut. It shrills and implodes and I drop to the ground to avoid getting Wraith particles up my nose.
I glance up at Lucy, then over to her friend, whose eyes are wide in awe and maybe a little shock. But there’s no time. The Pack is closing in. With my eyes closed, I will my human form to ripple to the surface—baggy blue jeans, tight leather jacket, scruffy dark hair—and the girl gasps.
“What the heck—”
“There’s no time,” I say, reaching for Lucy. I grab her hands in mine, holding them tight enough that my knuckles bleed white. “We have to get out of here. The Pack’s on their way. They’ll rip you away from any semblance of a life that you have; they’ll drag you to our queen, and I…I couldn’t live with myself if I let that happen. Please, we have to go!”
“Where are we going?”
“I don’t know,” I tell her, squeezing her fingers in mine. I place a kiss on her knuckles. I’m gonna get fried for this. Then I turn and take off at a run, calling over my shoulder, “This way!” Their mouths are set in little grim lines as they chase after me. We run like racehorses down the track of asphalt and city smog. My legs burn as I push myself harder than I’ve ever pushed before. I have to save them. I have to save us. I still want there to be an ‘us’, so badly it hurts.
“I’m so confused!” the blonde girl blurts out, her arms pumping at her sides. She’s fast and fiery-hot. “Luce, what the heck is going on?”
I catch Lucy smiling out of the corner of my eye. “Remember that boy I told you about? This is Iofiel. Io, this is my best friend, Caddie.” A pause, then wryly, “My soul donor.”
“Damn, girl. You didn’t tell me he was this hot.” Caddie’s tone is approving.
I can’t help the laugh that bursts free. “Hah, thanks for that.” She cares more about the fact that I’m hot, versus the fact that I’m a cyberhound? Crazy girl, but I like her already. My GPS bleeps and I turn my mind to see the little dots have gathered together…to find their prey missing. And officially on the run.
Oh yeah, Lylan’s pissed.
“We’ve got company! This way!” I hurtle over a “Do Not Enter” sign, leading the way through a construction site. Yellow machines with claws sit like idle monsters, waiting for their prey to walk into their trap. I barely duck a beam jutting out at shoulder height and I hear Lucy give a bark of laughter behind me.
Sync whizzes past me, her glow a welcome beacon in the night. We slow down but nerves course through me like the blood through my veins. A vision of Lylan ripping Lucy apart, her blood spraying across metal piping, floats through my mind and I shudder.
“I’m sorry,” I say, turning to them. I don’t know what I’m expecting—wide-eyed fear as they run for their very lives—but Lucy’s excited, her blue eyes gleaming. And Caddie looks ready for a fight, fists at her sides as she dances in place like a wound-up racehorse. Eager.
“For what?” Lucy asks. “You saved our lives, Io.”
“We’re not out of the red yet,” I say. I see the metal rungs o
f a ladder leading up the side of a building. I motion towards them with my chin. The girls scamper up the staircase with me pulling up the rear.
Caddie peers over the lip, teetering dangerously close to the edge. “Not tall enough. Can we get any higher?”
“Over here!” Lucy climbs the next set of steps with agile grace and I can’t help it—I watch her ass sway with each step she takes. Off, boy, I mentally chide and shake my head. Now is not the time for thoughts like those.
The top of this building is covered in useless crap and a set of birdcages crusted with dried poop and feathers. “Stay low.” I creep towards the edge. From up here, I can see everything—including the rage on Lylan’s face as he storms into the construction park with the hounds on his tail.
Shit.
I look around, but the only way down is to hop over to the next building. Caddie and Lucy stare at me and I back away from the edge. Maybe they won’t know we’re up here. Hah, right, and pigs fly. I snort.
My GPS beeps softly and I see the Pack get closer and closer on the screen and I just stand there for a moment, shock flooding over me. Of course. Goddamnit! My fucking GPS is going to lead them right to us!
I can’t stay here. I can’t be with them.
I spin towards Lucy, determination setting my heart afire. “You guys have to get out of here.”
“What?” Her eyes snap to mine. “What about you?”
“They know where you are because of me.” I run fingers through my hair, then pull her into my arms. “Just go.”
She stiffens, her body suddenly all angles as she fights against me. “I’m not leaving you behind, Iofiel.”
“You really don’t have a choice. If I come with you, they’ll just follow us. They’re relentless bastards who won’t stop until they get what they want. I have to get them off your trail.” I look at her, feeling so torn. “Please, Luce… I don’t want them to catch you. Let me do this.”
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