Souljacker

by Kodilynn Calhoun

  “Here they come,” Caddie sing-songs, spreading her hands wide. I can see the gleam of flame sparkling across her fingertips. “Maybe we could win.”

  “No. You can’t win against the entire Pack, and even if you did, they’ll call in reinforcement. Are you listening to me?”

  “I’m not leaving you behind.” Lucy’s voice is a whisper.

  “Here goes nothing!”

  “Caddie!” I yell, but the flaming ball is flying through the air. I hear a muffled yelp from below, then a series of snarls and the clatter of shoes against metal flooring. Shit. Shit. Shit. “Hop across to the farthest building. We’ll find our way down.”

  Lucy’s eyes widen, but she nods and darts ahead. Caddie hesitates, as if she’s trying to decide to conjure up another fireball or not. I grab her roughly by the shoulders and shove her ahead. “Move!”

  “Sir, yes sir!” she barks, leaping across the gap between the buildings. She lands on the other side and Lucy helps her to her feet. I follow them and we take off, jumping buildings like we’re pros at this. My heart’s speeding, wild, untamed.

  One more building.

  I can see the gleam of ladder rungs hanging off the side, welcoming us down to the ground. Lucy and Caddie vault across with a laugh, like this is just some big adventure for them, and I cast a look over my shoulder before taking a breath.

  I leap.

  And as I careen through the air, my body is picked up by an electric current. It seizes me in a death grip. I open my mouth to scream, and maybe I do, but I can’t hear it. I collide with the rooftop. My body twitches and jerks as fifty thousand volts are poured through my system, numbing me to the pain of my fall.

  I barely register Lucy’s pale face hovering above me. I want to tell them to run. I want to tell them to save themselves. But I can’t say anything. Please, God, not Lucy… My eyes squeeze shut as my body twists in on itself and I can only focus on the mind-shattering pain.

  Chapter 19:

  Lucy

  Iofiel’s scream of agony rises up, a siren breaking the silence around us, but I can only gape down at his body as it convulses. Caddie’s shrieking at me to do something, but what can I do? Electricity crackles in the air around us as another cry erupts from his throat, this time more wounded animal than human.

  Holy slag, he’s going to die. What am I supposed to even do? Panic rises in my throat, sour as bile. “Lucy!” I turn on Caddie and she’s pointing to Iofiel, tears in her eyes. “Touch him! Take the energy!” Then she folds her hands over her face, unable to watch and I don’t think. I just react.

  I place my palms on Iofiel’s chest and feel the energy zinging around, livewire hot beneath my hands. I close my eyes and breathe in, slowly. The Need rears its head, gulping down the electric current like it laps down soul until I can feel my hair stand on end with the static. My hands burn and Iofiel’s spasms slow.

  God, I don’t know how much I can take. The energy’s building inside of me like a storm, black clouds and arcing lightning, and I feel a wave of nausea roll over me.

  His cry peters out and he bucks up once, then collapses. The smell of burnt hair fills my nose and I peel my hands away from his chest, balling them into fists, as if that will keep this feral energy inside of me. I’m shaking so badly now, but my eyes are on Iofiel.

  Motionless.

  Caddie peeks out and leans close. “L-Luce, he’s not breathing,” she says, touching the pulse at his throat. She glances up at me, her dark eyes so wide. “Do something, please.”

  “Like what?” I pull on the ends of my hair, fingers clamping around the plastic extensions. I tug until pain sparks along my scalp. Anxiety twists in my stomach, making it coil and ache, and I can only stare down at Iofiel, his face so still.

  I can’t lose him. I can’t! “No…”

  “Shock him!”

  “What?” Is she crazy?

  “Like, one of those…what do you call them? Defibrillators? Use your hands as paddles and redirect the energy through them!”

  I suck my bottom lip between my teeth, gnawing on it. Will that even work? But he’s not breathing—I have to try. Clapping my hands together, I lift his shirt up, revealing a scarred torso. Where his cyborg arm meets his body is seamless, somehow, but the metal gleams dangerously. “But what about the metal?”

  “He’s dead, Lucy!” Her voice borders on hysterical and I blink back a rush of hot tears.

  “Not if I can help it.” I place my hands on his chest, one above his heart and the other just below it, and focus on the energy. Please, Io. Come back to us. The electricity jolts down my arms and out my hands, right into him. His body jerks up off the rooftop, only to flop down again.

  “Io, please.” I do it again. No reaction.

  “Come on, you asshole. You can’t just leave me,” I snarl and this time, he sputters, gasping in breath. I can feel his heart flutter beneath my hands and this time, tears burst free. He looks up at me, dazed, and I cup his face. “You scared me to death.”

  Caddie pulls away, staying low but peeking over the lip of the building. She looks to me and shakes her head; the cyberhounds must still be milling around. I can’t hear anything besides the rush in my head and I huddle over Iofiel, crying noiselessly. He shakes as he holds me, both arms wrapped around me in a way that reminds me of Mom, once upon a time.

  Caddie comes back over with her hands balled into fists. “I’ll kick their furry asses,” she growls and I can feel the heat washing off of her.

  “Just… Just wait,” Iofiel says, placing a hand on her wrist. He closes his eyelids, but his eyeballs jump around behind them, as if he’s searching for something. Then he frowns. “I can’t see them.”

  “Of course you can’t. You’re on top of a roof.” I glance up at Sync, who looks puzzled.

  Iofiel smiles at her. “No. I have a GPS in my head piece. That’s how they know we’re here. But I can’t open it now. It’s like…it’s just gone.” He looks down at his mechanical arm, then picks it up by the wrist with his other hand. “I can’t move it.” His voice rises in excitement. “The Shockchip must have shorted out my system. Lucy, do you know what this means?”

  “You’re screwed?” I ask, my lips hitching at the corner in a half-smile.

  “They can’t track us.” He takes both my hands in one of his and presses my knuckles against his face. “We’re safe. If we can just get out of here…” His smile’s replaced by a frown, but Caddie motions with her hand for us to stay put as she creeps across the rooftop to stare down below.

  We stay like that for a long time: Caddie crouched, watching; me sitting on my legs until they’re numb; Iofiel just gripping my hand like it’s his lifeline. Then Caddie lets out a low breath, her bangs fluttering in her face. She crawls over to us, a grin on her face.

  “They left.”

  “What?” Iofiel’s voice is sharp. “They wouldn’t just abandon the search. Our queen will punish them.”

  “They did, they left. I heard something about you managing to kill your GPS. That they’ll have to track you the old fashioned way.”

  “We should go.” I point to the ladder, only feet away.

  “No, that’s what they’ll expect.” Iofiel searches my face. “Let’s stay up here. We can take turns standing guard, but let’s face it—we need sleep.” Then, a pause. “Are you okay, Lucy?”

  “I’m okay. But you’re not.” I frown at him, touching the side of his face. The glow of his cyborg eye has burned out, leaving only the dull gleam of metal. “Why would you risk everything? We’re not worth it. Now you’re a wanted man and—”

  He stops me mid-sentence with a kiss, just enough to steal my words and thoughts, then pulls away. “I’d do it a thousand times over. I love you, Lucifer Swift. If this is the only way I’ll ever be able to be with you, then so be it.” His next kiss says he means it and I feel a prickle of heat wash across my face as Caddie taps me on the shoulder. Io merely grins.

  “That’s all fine and dandy, but w
hat are we going to do now? We can’t go home.”

  “I haven’t figured it out yet, but I’m working on it.” Iofiel runs his hand through his hair, which looks silvered by the moonlight. “Let’s stay here for the night. In the morning, we’ll figure out where to go. Okay?”

  Caddie nods. “That’s fine. It’s like a sleepover, without the sleeping bags.”

  “And on top of a roof,” I say, a trickle of fear quivering in my stomach. I reach out a hand to Iofiel and he takes it, placing a kiss on my palm and my heartbeat doubles. This is just fate, I tell myself. We’ll be fine, we’ll be okay.

  But I don’t believe me, not one bit.

  “We’ll be okay, Luce,” he murmurs, looking straight into my soul with those eyes of his. “I promise, I’ll protect you, no matter what.”

  “If you say so.” But I feel the tiniest bit better. Caddie groans at our display of affection, but she’s grinning like a madwoman. She knows what this means to me, what he means to me, even without me saying it.

  We curl up in the corner of the roof, my head on his chest and our hands clasped together between us. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, but just being here, being with him. It somehow makes it worth it, in a twisted way.

  At least until Caddie starts snoring.

  Chapter 20:

  Iofiel

  My eyes flutter open to the glare of sun, a beam of light draped across my face like a warm silken sheet. I blink at the haze of dust floating across my vision, then crane my head so that my hair shades my eyes. And the sight of Lucy takes my breath away.

  Damn.

  She’s curled up, using my cyborg arm for a pillow, her lashes so dark against her pale, pale skin. She breathes slowly and I just watch her sleep. My smile’s so wide that it almost hurts. I use my free hand to brush hair out of her face, letting the black strands frame her jaw and trickle down past her chin.

  This is mine. All mine. If I was uncertain before, I’m certain now: I made the right decision to save her. To save us.

  I stroke my fingertips down her cheek and her eyelids flutter open. Our eyes meet and I smile. “Hi.”

  “Hi.” Her voice is softened by sleep.

  “You’re gorgeous, you know?” I can’t help myself.

  “Thanks.” Then she blushes and pushes herself up, patting her hair down, as if she’s afraid she has bed head. I grin at her wild attempts to look cute, but she doesn’t have to do anything. She’s beautiful, just the way she is. “I’m gonna go find Caddie.”

  I nod and stretch, easing the kinks and aches out of my tired limbs. Electricity surging through your system kind of fucks with a man. My body feels worn out, used, but I stand anyway and make my way over to the girls. Caddie and Lucy are sitting Indian-style in the middle of the roof, Sync resting between them.

  “What’s for breakfast?” Caddie chirps as I ease down next to them.

  “Um.” I hadn’t really thought that far. I try and reach for my wallet with my right arm before remembering it doesn’t work. I fish it out with my free hand and open it to reveal a couple of twenties and the Pack debit card. “Guess we’ll be eating and running.”

  “That’s always fun. Let’s do it already. It’s starting to get hot up here and I have to pee!”

  Sync blazes the trail first, scouting out for possible cyberhounds before deeming it safe to follow her. We climb down the ladder one by one and drop to the ground. Safe. For now.

  I have the urge to change forms, to sniff out the dangers that lie ahead of us, invisible to these eyes. I feel the familiar prickle of magic across my skin before I remember that my cyborg-half doesn’t work. I won’t get very far.

  I let the shift recede, paranoia crawling like a beetle across my neck. If they see us, all we’ll be able to do is run…or turn and fight them.

  But that’s life, I guess. Can’t live life without the risks.

  We trek to the next town over and grab a meal of pancakes and maple sausage links, drenched in pure syrup. We down a glass of milk each and I pay and leave our tip on the table.

  “Why don’t you guys use the restroom while I pull some money? We’ve gotta do this fast. As soon as I access my account, Lylan will know where we are, so we’re drawing the money and running like a bat out of hell, okay?” They nod, Caddie grinning like the Cheshire cat. Then the girls zip off to the back of the diner and I head for the dusty-looking ATM machine out front.

  I take a deep breath in and hold it. I swipe my card, enter my passcode, and wait. For half a second, I fear that Lylan’s one step ahead of me, that he’ll have locked out my account, leaving us stranded with no transportation, no funds for this wild trip. Then the screen blinks and shoots out bills, as many as I can withdraw at one time.

  I pinch my card between my finger and thumb. He’ll know now. They’ll be on their way.

  I lay the card down on the ATM and turn away. Lucy, Caddie, and Sync are waiting for me, hopeful looks on their faces. I hold up the wad of money and they grin. It feels like we’ve gotten away with something big. And we have, really. Our lives.

  I stuff the bills into my wallet, stick the wallet in my pocket, and look at them. “Ready for this?”

  “As I’ll ever be,” Lucy says with a sort of sad smile.

  We take off.

  My metal arm flops uselessly and I have to grab it with my free hand to keep it from flapping against my side. Caddie streaks ahead of us, a reckless grin lighting up her face. “This is kind of fun!” she calls over her shoulder.

  “You’ve gotta be kidding me.” Lucy groans.

  “We’re like…superheroes, yanno? Running from the Big Bad Villain.”

  “Usually superheroes don’t run away from their problems,” I point out. “Superheroes face the Big Bad and save the day.”

  “We’re kid superheroes, then. We need training, man. Can’t kill the baddies without the proper training!” But she doesn’t say anything else.

  We lapse into silence, the only sounds being our breaths and our shoes clapping against the asphalt. I glance over to see Lucy’s brow furrowed, lost in thought. I want to reach out to her, but I think she just needs alone time. I lead the group out of the city and into a stand of trees. Cover, hopefully.

  I slow down as we reach a small field and we decide to take a break. My legs and lungs burn with the effort of running and I sink down to the ground, thankful for the green grass beneath me. I stroke my fingers through the plush blades. The girls are up ahead, sitting in a semi-circle. With a sigh, I stretch out on my side, my good arm supporting my head. My eyelids are heavy, like little lead weights are attached to my eyelashes.

  I fight against it, the urge to sleep a deadly siren’s song, but blackness edges around my vision. I close my eyes and I’m lost to a void of memories and dreams, spinning around in a web through my mind.

  The next thing I know, the girls are shouting at each other. I jerk awake, bolt upright and on my feet in seconds and I make a beeline towards them. Lucy snaps something that I don’t catch, but it ends with “bitch”, and then she turns on her heel and flees. Sync’s antennae is glowing a deep red and Caddie stands there helplessly waving her arms.

  “What the hell just happened?”

  “Oh, Sync and Lucy are fighting. Again.” She glances at Sync, whose LCD face-plate flashes and blanks out. Then she turns her back on both of us. Caddie moves as if to follow Lucy, but I hold her back.

  “Let me.”

  She nods and I trace Lucy’s steps through the field until I find her. She’s kneeling on the ground, her arms around her legs with her face buried in her knees. Her shoulders tremble ever so slightly and I make sure my steps are loud as I come upon her. I don’t want to startle her.

  “Luce?”

  “Go away,” she says, her voice muffled.

  I rest a gentle hand on her shoulder and bend down next to her. My hand slides down her back, rubbing it gently, the way my Nursemaid used to do whenever I was sad. She mumbles something else, then turns her face
towards me. Tears streak down her cheeks like shining paths.

  “What happened? I thought you and Sync were close…”

  “She’s such a bitch.” Lucy snorts, then proceeds to rant about her once-best friend. Tears burst free once more and she leans into me. “I love her, Iofiel, but I can’t say anything right. She hates me and I didn’t mean to. I’ve never forgotten about her, it’s just… I’m just…” She sniffs loudly, wiping at her nose with the back of her arm.

  Her voice is soft now. “She’s my best friend. I need her. More than ever and she won’t even say two words without copping an attitude. I just can’t handle it.”

  I hug her as best I can with one arm as we’re both perched like birds on the ground. “Come on.” I grasp her hand and rise to my feet despite my leg muscles protesting. She looks up at me, confused, but she follows. I lead her back to where Caddie and Sync are and she puts on the brakes.

  “Luce, whose got the attitude now?” I chide gently. Her face crumples and I half-drag her over to the girls. Sync shoots us a look that shouldn’t even be possible for a robot and I point at her. “Sync, Lucy has something she wants to say to you.”

  Sync says nothing. Lucy just stares at me. I sigh.

  “Look. I know you guys had a falling out, but I need you to forgive each other. You need each other, whether you want to admit it or not. The truth is—who knows if we’ll ever get our lives, as we knew them, back. We have to make do with what we have…and at this moment, we’re being stalked by ruthless cyberhounds who want to give Lucy and Caddie over to the queen of the Unseelie Fae. We need each other. We need to watch each others’ backs. Do you understand?”

  Sync bobs once and Lucy sniffles again. I elbow her in the ribs and she steps forwards.

  “Sync… I know you’re pissed; you have a right to be, but I’m sorry! I really mean it.”

  “That’s what you said last time.”

  “I know!” Lucy hunches her shoulders, then softens her tone. “I know. I’m sorry. I just got caught up in life and…I don’t know. I am sorry—and I’ll prove it. What can I do to make it up to you?”