Lailah (The Styclar Saga)

by Nikki Kelly

  I trailed behind her, afraid to see where she was going and who she might find next. She traveled down the long hallway; the flames that were spreading quickly through each room didn’t concern her. She didn’t seem to notice the stifling heat or choking smoke that filled every corner as I made chase.

  I finally caught up with her in the destroyed kitchen. I needed to see her face, needed to speak with her. I extended my hand to her shoulder, and just as I was on the cusp of touching her, an all-encompassing light spilled through the doorframe from the garden, striking her, and she evaporated into thin air.

  I fell where she had stood, my knees grazing the kitchen tiles and my hands spread out on the other side of the doorframe, scraped by the grit of the pebbles underneath them. The light dissolved immediately and as I shook my head back into some form of comprehensive thought, my stomach somersaulted.

  Gabriel lay several feet away, covering Hanora’s body entirely with his own. I moved my lips, but stopped as the air around me began to warp, like the atmosphere underneath a rocket when it takes off.

  In slow motion, I was forced to observe his strong arm move behind her back as he smoothed her hair away from the wounds that ran down her blackened neck. Her eyes flew open and with every frantic bat of her eyelashes her orbs grew bigger, brimming with desire. She pulled him close by the collar of his torn shirt into a long lingering kiss. I didn’t see him pull away as his lips touched hers. The moment spiraled, and the invisible hands of the clock ticking in my mind resumed normal speed.

  Suddenly, like two race cars slamming into each other head on, our connection collided. For a flicker of a second, I felt a sense of love pass through him.

  Instantly he twisted around, his surprised eyes capturing mine. I sprung my body up by the palms of my hands. As I teetered back to my feet, I resented Gabriel desperately scrambling away from Hanora to get over to me. I wanted to run far away, and this time from him.

  I didn’t have long to listen to the moan of my heart as it tore in two: I was elevated off the tiles by a tremendous hand lifting me by the back of my blouse. I squirmed as the pain of his fangs swiftly bore through the skin of my neck. It was like boiling water cracking a frozen car window, splintering down every last vein inside me. His poison was paralyzing; even my thoughts seemed to slow.

  The creature dragged me backward through the kitchen, though he was careful to weave me past the destruction toppled all around. I watched Gabriel racing to follow, but it was like he had hit an invisible force field that he couldn’t get past. He was pounding against hidden walls, unable to penetrate them. I didn’t have to see my captor to know that it was Eligio; I could feel his darkness pulsating through my arteries.

  The Pureblood was suspending Gabriel as he stole me. I wanted to blink everything away, but my eyes remained wide; I was completely immobilized.

  Suddenly, my figure fell as the creature was knocked away from me. I couldn’t turn to see what was happening. Whoever now had the Pureblood’s attention had allowed Gabriel to break through and he hurtled past me. My body bounced against the tiles, as an incredible weight struck them from behind me. I wished I could scream, move, run, anything! Jonah appeared and hauled me into the corner. Cradling me into his body, we formed a perfect ball, just as the brightness of a white sheet—just like the one before—flashed next to us.

  Patterned red and white plates rained down over us, bouncing off Jonah’s back. The porcelain clattered, shattering next to me into a thousand pieces; they might as well have been my heart. As the glow faded into nothingness, the poison evaporated from my veins. Eligio was gone and I was still here, thanks to Jonah.

  SIXTEEN

  “YOU ALL RIGHT?” Jonah was slumped beside me, panting.

  I extended my unsteady hands in front of me as life began circulating through them once more, and attempted to wiggle a finger. “Yeah, I think so,” I said, casting my gaze to him.

  He was sporting a white polo shirt with the collar pointing up, teamed with dark denim jeans that were torn and ripped from his efforts. He ran his hand through his thick, matted hair, tugging at the back as he watched me watching him.

  His eyes were cooling, reverting back to his regular shade, and the concern that edged the downturned corners of his lips brought me some comfort. Jonah cared about me, he came back and had saved me. His intense stare pulled me in. He was an itch I needed to scratch somewhere I couldn’t quite reach.

  Ignoring my common sense and desperately needing someone to embrace me, I dismissed all thoughts of Gabriel, Hanora, and everything else. Rising from my knees, I burrowed my face into his shoulder, his waiting arms wrapping around me. I let him hold me and as I looked up to his eyes I found myself edging nearer to his dry lips. He took a deep breath, nervously anticipating my next move.

  “You don’t owe me anything,” he began.

  But the sheer fact that he wet his lips told me that he wanted me.

  I met my mouth with his, and pushing my inner turmoil to the pit of my stomach, I gave him the sweetest of kisses. He didn’t need any more of a green light. Placing both his hands against my cheeks, he parted my face from his, his thumbs exerting a gentle force against my cheekbones. His expanding pupils oozed black, like a knocked-over inkpot, overpowering his hazel flecks. Taking control, he crushed his mouth against my own more fervently, and I could tell by his urgency that he had been waiting too long to kiss me.

  He was wrong; I did owe him something, and I was quite certain that this was his preferred method of payment. He was surprisingly soft and oddly he tasted sweet, like cinnamon. He was fast becoming my guilty pleasure.

  In this moment of time, where only he and I seemed to exist, I suddenly became aware that Gabriel was getting near to us. I sensed him, and then heard his footsteps growing quicker and louder, striding through the mess.

  Watching Gabriel kiss Hanora only confirmed everything that I had suspected about his feelings for me. Anything he claimed to feel for me was simply him desperately searching for someone I used to be, not who I was now. After I died, he had clearly moved on. Perhaps now I needed to as well.

  Reluctantly Jonah pushed me away, bobbing his head to the right; he had heard Gabriel too. Planting a last quick kiss on my parted lips, he removed himself, putting a decent amount of space between us.

  Gabriel came behind me. Securing his arms under my chest, he pulled me to my feet. He inhaled my hair as he clung to me tightly. Jonah stood up and shook off the shattered shards of porcelain from his shirt. I wiggled out of Gabriel’s grasp and stood next to Jonah.

  “Eligio fell back into the third dimension,” he began. “He was able to command the rift.”

  I looked to Jonah and noticed his brow crinkle with trepidation.

  “That’s new,” Jonah replied.

  Gabriel reached for my hand and pulled me back in to him. “I told you to leave. You could have been killed or worse.…”

  His eyes sprinted down the length of my body, which was still trembling. Not only was I soaked through, but now I had a mixture of Michael’s remains and several other Vampires’ covering me. This fact dawned on me quickly and, disgusted, I threw myself over to the tap, now absent of any sink, and began splashing the water, scrubbing my hands and face.

  The smell of burning paint and the fumes of the stifling smoke had evaporated; the house was no longer blazing to the ground and it was free, for now, of any enemies.

  With my back to both of them, I said through gritted teeth, “Luckily, Jonah was here for me.” I tried to drop Jonah’s name like an anchor, to emphasize my point.

  “I didn’t know you were here,” Gabriel replied quickly, keeping it clean for Jonah’s benefit. He still didn’t trust him with the secrets we were keeping. “Not until—”

  I cut him off swiftly. “Speaking of which, hadn’t you better go and see to Hanora?” My words were cutting. I tried to infuse as much bitterness as I could muster into each one. I spun around to meet his eyes in order to gauge his reaction.r />
  He looked back at me, puzzled. “She’ll be okay, she’s a Vampire. Her wounds will have healed by now.”

  Swinging in through the doorway, kicking a large chunk of plastic that had once belonged to the fridge from her path, Hanora appeared. Her skin that had blackened from the impact of an explosion was fresh and white once more. “My ears burning, love?” she said.

  Her words were delicate and decisive, and unlike me, she didn’t appear as though she had just been caught in the middle of World War Three. Her tiny frame was back to its annoyingly perfect self, her glossy waves cascading down and framing her slightly freckled creamy skin.

  I couldn’t be in the same room with her. If he wanted her, he could have her. Though the very thought made me want to throw up.

  I dug my way past the battered, broken pieces to the hallway, passing Gabriel, my head bowed deliberately. I had to see if my documents were still in the dresser upstairs. It was time to go.

  There’s nothing between Hanora and me, Lailah.

  He was quick to speak to me, but the very fact that he didn’t utter the words aloud where she could hear irritated me. I stopped for a second, my heart pounding and jealousy gushing through me.

  So to make sure he knew precisely what I had seen, I remarked: Didn’t look like that when you were kissing her. You love her, I felt it.

  As I was about to continue, Ruadhan—unaware—interrupted, bounding up to me.

  “Cessie love! What are you doing here? I thought Gabriel sent you off? We need to get Brooke and Michael, we have to make a move, folks, it’s not safe.”

  Hanora and Jonah shifted forward to meet him, but I traveled past to what was left of the stairway. As I attempted to climb it, I addressed all of them. “Michael’s gone. I’m wearing half of him.” I gestured to my grayed blouse, caked in his soot.

  At that point, the house fell quiet; the rushed conversations were immediately swallowed up by my revelation. Gabriel looked perplexed as he came after me up the stairs, but I carried on climbing.

  “Eligio ended him. Seems cutting a deal with a Pureblood isn’t always the cleverest move. Michael told him where we were, that’s how they found us.” I partly needed to inform them, but also wanted to add a hint of a warning, just in case anyone else was considering doing the same thing. Though I genuinely didn’t believe any of them would.… Well, except possibly Hanora.

  My attention flashed to Jonah briefly, who had braced his hand against his temple, digesting the news.

  I worked my way into what had been my bedroom. The wardrobe was smashed and the bed had been torn apart. I clambered over to the ornate dresser in the corner, which surprisingly was still intact, almost. As I slid open one of the drawers, it scraped against the sides. I found the envelope, removed my fake passport and driver’s license, and then banged the drawer shut.

  “Can I help you?” I asked Gabriel.

  I sensed that he was hesitating on the landing; I kept my back to him.

  He strode across the room and, confidently now, he stood behind me. “You didn’t experience me feeling love for Hanora. Our connection found one another, that’s why you felt what you did. I don’t love her and I have absolutely no reason to lie to you.”

  His words were matter-of-fact, unemotional, certain.

  “Then why were you lying on top of her and why’d you kiss her?” I asked, still facing the now shattered mirror on the dresser.

  He pulled my body in to his own, cocooning me in his warm, muscular arms. He placed his chin on the top of my head and sighed. “I didn’t, I was covering her from the light. I was ending Vampires. If the light had hit her, she would have been ended along with them. I was protecting her. And I didn’t kiss her; she kissed me—there’s a difference.”

  I felt myself waver. I didn’t have any reason to distrust what he told me and, after all, I had witnessed Hanora pulling Gabriel in to her. As my resolve began to weaken, immensely helped by how he held me so dearly, a vibration went off in my pocket. I pushed my hand deep inside and found Gabriel’s cell; I still had it.

  Hanora’s name appeared at the top of the text.

  TIME TO GO MY LOVE

  IT WILL BE NICE TO SPEND SOME TIME ALONE

  I broke from Gabriel’s grasp and chucked him his phone. A bewildered look spread across his face as he caught it. “Lailah?”

  Snatching my backpack, which still remained fairly unscathed underneath the debris in the far corner, I managed to tug out a jacket. I looked back at him as he read the message that I had seen. “She’s going with you.” It wasn’t a question.

  He nodded at me softly.

  “Well, I hope you enjoy your alone time. Thanks for your help, I’ll pay you back, but I think I’ll be leaving now.”

  I didn’t look back, I couldn’t. My insides felt as though they were being scrambled with a whisk. I jogged down to the opening of the house, ignoring Jonah and Ruadhan, and proceeded up the long driveway. I’d have to find somewhere else to wash and change my clothes; I wouldn’t stay here another minute.

  I hadn’t even made it halfway down the driveway when Gabriel caught up, standing above me with his six-foot height, preventing me from moving any farther. “Do you really think I am just going to let you walk away?”

  I stared back at him with hurt, puffy eyes. “I don’t think you get to decide, and why are you bothered anyway? You have Hanora, you’ve had her for a hundred years! You’ve known me ten minutes! All I bring you—all of you—is trouble.”

  He tried to take my hands, but I shrugged him away and stepped around him. It didn’t stop him blocking me once more and reaching for my arms. “I’m not letting you leave on your own. I’m telling you the truth when I say there is nothing between Hanora and me.” He huffed, rubbing my wrists gently.

  “Really? Well, I think she has other ideas. You won’t take me with you, but you’ll take her. Why?” I demanded.

  “Because I can’t trust her with you. It’s safer if she travels with me.” His brief explanation rushed through his lips.

  His dimples dipped and I took a mental picture of his chiseled but soft features. I was upset with him, but it occurred to me that I didn’t know if I would ever see those dimples again. I bobbed my thumb into their creases and I smiled at him as if it were the last opportunity I might have. It was most certainly night now, but that didn’t stop his glow from exuding, framing his body ever so gently.

  “You know best, I’m sure,” I said, unable to remove the sarcasm from my tone. One thing I had come to learn about myself was that I didn’t let things go easily. I certainly had no intention of changing now.

  Gabriel inhaled deeply and pulled me in, despite my obvious reluctance. He smoothed my hair and squeezed me, pressing his warm hands to the small of my back. As he breathed in my fragrance, I stole a last opportunity to remember his smell of citrus fruits.

  “Come on, Cessie! Time to go!” Jonah’s voice broke the silence.

  Gabriel didn’t move, so I gently stepped back from him and acknowledged Jonah, who was standing behind us, several bags at his feet. I had to suppress a gasp as Jonah glistened against the moonlight hanging high above us.

  A screech of burning rubber and Ruadhan was beside us in the Range Rover. Lowering down the passenger window, he joined in a little more politely. “Sweetheart, are you ready?” he asked.

  “Erm … I think I’m going to go it alone from here, but thank you. Thanks to all of you. I can’t let you risk yourselves for me any longer.”

  I shuffled uncomfortably; Brooke and Hanora had also appeared—though I didn’t actually mean what I said where Hanora was concerned. Gabriel’s body became rigid, ready to protest, but Ruadhan beat him to it. In a flash he was at my side, picking me up and placing me into the passenger seat.

  “Ruadhan, I…”

  “Little love, we haven’t got time to argue. You’re coming with me whether you want to or not.” He sounded like a father scolding his unruly daughter, as he hustled my backpack from my sho
ulders.

  Hanora moved in next to Gabriel, taking his arm in her own—sending me a message, I was sure—and gazing longingly up to his face. Gabriel’s eyes never left mine. I hoped she saw that.

  A hard wind of jealously hit me. “Fine, but not without Jonah,” I spat, and I watched Gabriel flinch.

  “No problem with that!” Jonah said, throwing his bag in the trunk.

  “Well then I’m coming, too!” Brooke shrieked, gesturing to Jonah to add her oversized suitcase into the trunk.

  Obediently he chucked her belongings untidily into the space. Within seconds, they were in the back seats and I watched Ruadhan and Gabriel exchange unhappy glances. Any other time I think there may have been a debate over the traveling companions, but right now there was no time; every lost minute was an opportunity for Eligio to return.

  As Ruadhan put the car into first, Gabriel tapped on my window. “Your cell.” He handed me the iPhone. I reached for it, skimming his skin, which made me wobble inside. “Keep it with you, call whenever you want.…”

  His wide eyes made mine run like a watercolor painting caught in the rain.

  Please don’t be angry with me, I will come back to you as soon as I can.

  I didn’t have an opportunity to reply; Ruadhan was flooring the accelerator and we made off like bandits into the night.

  As soon as he was out of sight, I regretted the things I’d said. I wanted to tell him that I loved him, that I was prepared to fight for him, for us; I wanted to tell him that I trusted him, but that wouldn’t have been entirely true. There were still things that he was keeping back and I was skeptical as to why he hadn’t shared them with me yet.

  As that thought crossed my mind, I felt a twinge of guilt; I hadn’t exactly told him everything either. I hadn’t been forthcoming about the girl in shadow; I hadn’t informed him that she had been here tonight. I could have told him, I could have explained how she appeared in my time of trouble and that I had no idea who she was.