Teeth dug deep into her lip.
Kira willed them away.
But they wouldn't budge.
She was turning into a vampire. For good this time.
Her body had rejected her, had kicked her out. Somehow, Kira had been pushed over the edge.
She screamed, a loud, frustrated cry.
It hadn't worked. She had been sure it would work. That choosing would be key. That her powers would obey.
But Kira had been betrayed by her own fire. Abandoned by it. Even now, her fingers felt colder. Her toes were like ice.
A small smolder still lit her heart, but it was flickering, fading.
How long before it was gone?
Before she was gone?
No, Kira opened her eyes. The world was sharper around her, clearer, as though she could see even the molecules of air hanging invisible around her. She had seen like this once before, in a dream, in a life she never wanted.
Kira stood, lightning fast.
She had to get to the wall. It didn't matter that there were vampires, that Aldrich was waiting for her, ready to strike.
She was in transition, and the UV radiation of the wall was the only thing that could save her.
Kira reached out with her mind, searching for Luke, wishing he could somehow hear her. But there was no wall, no connection to his mind. There was only emptiness.
So instead she whispered, "I'm sorry," knowing no one was close enough to hear. But somehow, the words would find him. He would find a way to understand why she had broken her promise. He would find a way to forgive her.
But before she could run, a scent tickled her nose.
Sweet.
Innocent.
Childlike.
Kira covered her mouth, holding back the urge with sheer will. Her entire body stilled, glued to the spot while her still conscious mind waged war against the shadows clouding her judgment. She refused to turn into an animal.
A steady beat thrummed in her ears, a delicate thud, a pitter-patter of small feet, or was it the pump of a small heart?
The noise. The smell. They grew, louder, stronger, harder to ignore, until Kira's entire brain was taken over by the two senses.
But her feet held still, immobile, somehow still under her command.
"Kira?"
She sucked in a breath. She recognized that high-pitched voice, still not hit by puberty.
"Kira?"
Should couldn't turn, couldn't look at him. She would break.
"Get out of here," Kira croaked. Her voice was harsh, unrecognizable.
"It's me. TJ. Luke told me to come after the meeting, he told me to go with all the other kids. I tried to tell him I'm not a kid, that I can fight, but he wouldn't listen. But I couldn't leave, not without Patrick's teddy bear. He's my best friend, Patrick, and I know how scared he gets, I know he needs his teddy…"
Kira tuned him out. She couldn't listen to anymore. Couldn't bear the strength in his little voice. It called to her. It would taste so good, such earnestness, it would sing.
But it was Luke's brother, the part of her that was still there yelled, Luke's little brother.
Her palms twitched. Her fingers stretched, getting ready to strike.
But as she whipped around, ready to grab him by the throat, another person Kira was afraid had died awakened inside of her.
"Get out," she bellowed, screamed at TJ, instantly falling back down, crawling away from the look of confusion and fear written all over that little boy's face.
And before she knew what she was doing, Kira jumped. She pushed off of her feet, springing through the window behind her, not caring as glass cut deeply into her skin.
Instincts took over. She landed cat-like on her feet and took off at a sprint, running for the wall.
The conduits were there. Their blood swam into her senses, pushing her forward.
But another girl pushed her forward too, a conduit girl struggling to get free, pushing her toward a wall of fire that would burn her alive or save her.
Kira didn’t know which.
She just knew she had to keep running.
And she did. She flew—her feet moving faster than ever before, pounding against the pavement. Trees swished by her, blurred and barely there except for the variations of green in the peripheral of her eyes.
She saw no one. No conduit teams, no vampires. Was the battle still raging? Had someone won? Was she the only wild card left?
And then she was on the main road, charging farther and farther out of Sonnyville, closer and closer to—
Blood.
A giant pool of blood.
It drifted into her senses, pulling her forward, enticing her. Kira could sense it at the wall—conduit blood, Protector blood.
And without a doubt, she knew one taste was all it would take. One taste and she would be gone forever. But the vampire in charge of her body didn't care, had no thought except for the blood, had no goal except to drink it.
Kira was trapped. She fought against it, but her efforts were futile. She had lost control. Her only hope was that the blood lay outside the wall, beyond Sonnyville.
As she approached, her laser vision took over, zooming in on the blood, locating it.
Just beyond the wall, there was a car resting undamaged in the middle of the road. Burnt tires mixed with the sweetness of the blood, filling Kira's senses. And the blood was there, pooling next to the driver's seat, dripping free from two holes in a blond man's neck. He was leaning upside down, draped out of the car and onto the pavement, dropped there by a vampire who wanted to leave Kira a message.
The conduit inside of her screamed, cried out, prayed please no.
The vampire controlling her kept running—vision slipping in closer, focused on two puncture wounds. Her teeth ached to fill the void.
And then the wall was there.
Kira slammed into it, lifting off of her feet, flipping over onto her back with the force of the blow. The sun dug into her. UV burned her skin until it started to flake, to crack with the heat.
Her voice cried out, whimpering in pain.
Her soul sang, triumphant.
The flames awakened inside of her heart, called out by the wall, almost like a familiar friend. The conduit inside of her started pushing, fighting the vampire away.
The blackness started budging, more resistant than usual, leaving a permanent residue inside of her limbs. Kira couldn't clear it all away. The shadows were lurking, and her fire, even with the wall, wasn't strong enough to remove them entirely.
But it was enough for the moment.
Kira was in control again.
The teeth biting into her lip shrunk, slightly at first, until they were dulled down, only somewhat sharper than normal. The strength in her arms ebbed, and she dropped completely limp to the ground. Her skin, crackled from the fire, now called for the sun and began to seal closed, smooth and tanned once more.
But it was only temporary, and Kira's heart sank with the truth of that statement. Her own fire wasn't enough anymore. Her fire, which had been strong enough to kill any vampire that crossed her path, to break through their immunity even, wasn't strong enough to crush the one vampire she needed to end—the one inside of her.
Without the wall, she would fall. And there was no magic cure, no way to save herself. There was only death. Maybe that had been her only option all along—she was just too stubborn to see it.
And then Kira remembered—the boy, the car, the blood.
She stood, slowly, achingly, fighting against sore limbs. But she preferred it to the zip, to the lightning speed, because this was human—almost.
Blinking, Kira tried to bring back her vision, and it came slowly, but the world looked fuzzy. The clarity was missing. The perfect sight was gone. But she could see enough.
"Luke?" Kira cried, her mind running on overdrive. The boy in the car was dead, but was he Luke? The blond hair could look familiar. His back was to her, but his long build could be Luke's. His neck
looked a little too stocky, his fingers a little too fat, his stomach a little too soft.
And then Kira took note of the collar around his neck, the buttons running down the center of his shirt, and she breathed, sighing in relief.
No way was that Luke. And when she said that to herself, she could finally see this man, see all the ways he definitely was not her Luke.
But he was someone's friend, someone's husband, someone's father even. And now he was dead. And it was all Kira's fault.
The battle, the one she was hiding from, the one she couldn’t fight, it was all about her. It was about her saving Tristan, about her potential to fall, about her fight with Aldrich.
And staring death in the face, she yelled in frustration, because she was even more trapped now than ever before. Four feet forward, three feet back, fifteen to the left and five to the right. The wall. Her box. Her prison.
"Aldrich!" Kira cried out.
No answer.
"Aldrich!" she yelled again, ripping her vocal chords with the force of her scream. She wanted him there, wanted him to watch her die, wanted him to know that in the end Kira was strong enough to do the only thing she could—to keep the shadows at bay, to keep herself from falling, and to keep the conduits safe from her destruction.
But before she did, Kira closed her eyes, holding back the tears threatening to spill from her eyes. Before she let death take over, she wanted to say goodbye. Her mother and father would still have Chloe. Tristan hardly remembered her, and Pavia would keep him safe.
But Luke, he would be alone. And she chose him, she wanted to be with him, but fate had never been on her side.
So Kira opened her mind, feeling for the path inside his head. She didn’t want to be alone when she died. She wanted to be with him, safe and sound in the comfort of his love.
But he wasn't there.
Confused, Kira searched for his thoughts, for their connection. Had the darkness broken them? Broken their bond like it had broken everything else inside of her?
But no, the path to his mind was open, but where was Luke? He was blank. There was no love, no strength, no resolve bubbling down her limbs, bringing her joy like it normally did. There was just eerie silence.
Her heart began to pound as a sinking fear settled in.
What had happened to Luke?
Eyes shooting open, Kira scanned the ground around her, but there was no sign of him. She walked around the perimeter of the wall, as far out of the UV radiation she dared move, but he wasn't there.
And she couldn't leave without saying goodbye. He was her strength, her rock—she couldn't do this without him.
Reaching into her pocket, Kira dialed his number.
Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
Click.
No voicemail. No message. Not even the sound of his voice to make her feel better.
Kira tried again, but it was more of the same.
She clicked on the keypad, texting him, but she had very little hope of any response. She looked up again.
The car. The conduit.
It was odd. The two of them there, on the other side of the wall. Strange. Why would any conduit have driven through the wall, willingly bringing himself into vampire territory?
The answer was simple. He wouldn't.
But something else could—someone else could.
And Kira remembered the smell of burnt tires. She looked closer at the ground, where black streaks stamped the concrete.
This car wasn't driven over the other side of the wall. It was forced there, kicking and screaming. And there was only one person in the world who could do that.
Aldrich.
Aldrich with his telekinesis.
Kira's head snapped up, alert. He was out there somewhere, she was sure of it. He was watching her, silently laughing at her struggle, gleeful with the knowledge that she was at the point of no return.
And Luke had to be with him—unconscious, but not dead, because she could still feel him on the other side of the bond, still knew he was breathing, but his mind was still.
Just like a movie was playing in her head, Kira could see what had happened. Luke had run from her grandparent's house, searched the town square and his own home for TJ. But TJ had been at Patrick's house, had been getting his best friend his teddy, and Luke would have never thought to look there.
No, he thought his brother wanted to join the fight with the grown-ups. So Luke found a Protector with a car and hopped inside, driving aimlessly through the town looking for TJ to no avail. And then the two of them decided to search closer to the wall. And as soon as they hit the main road, Aldrich sensed them, and took control, using his mind to drag the car across the barrier.
He knew exactly who it was, exactly what he was doing. And somehow, he knew that Kira had chosen Luke, that Luke would be the key.
Kira envisioned it. Luke must have known. They probably tried the car door, but the stubborn locks remained shut, held by Aldrich's mental control. The glass wouldn't break. The windows wouldn't roll down. They had been trapped, knowing that death was near.
As soon as they crossed the wall, Aldrich struck, killing the Protector and knocking Luke unconscious, waiting for Kira to come. Probably arranging the car and the conduit's body just for her. And Kira had played right into his plan, but she had no other choice.
And now Luke needed her.
"Aldrich," she said softly, calmly, "I know you're there. Come out so we can end this."
There was no answer. He wanted her to beg.
Kira knelt down, seemingly tying her shoe, and pulled out the pocketknife. She would need this soon. Hiding it in her palm, she stood again, tucking the knife into her back pocket.
Time to start the show.
"What do you want?" she called into the trees. "I'll do anything to save him!" The crack in her voice was real. The shake in her hands was real too.
"Please, just let me see him," Kira whimpered.
But there was still no response.
"Aldrich," she cried, letting the tears fall down her cheeks. Her body mirrored their movement as she slipped to her knees, a beggar.
"I'll do anything," she said one last time.
And then she heard it. Leaves rustling, branches breaking, footsteps.
A body flew from the trees, landing roughly on the asphalt with a smack. And this time, it was Luke—limp, immobile. Dead almost, but the bond in her head gave Kira hope that somehow he was still alive.
She started to run for him, but stopped herself. She was in a cage, trapped inside the fire. But he needed her, Kira struggled, she had to do something.
And then a voice sounded.
"It's simple," Aldrich said, still hiding in the forest, "I want you to try to save him."
Kira searched for the vampire, but Aldrich was nowhere in sight. And she refused to fight a ghost.
"Show yourself," she demanded. Her hands had balled into iron fists and the sun had already started strengthening, gathering in her core. The shadows were there too, just waiting to strike.
And then more leaves, more branches breaking.
Kira followed the sound.
Aldrich stepped free of the woods and Kira stepped back in horror.
Chapter Seventeen
This was not the Aldrich Kira remembered.
Not the tall, elegantly dressed, arrogant jerk. Gone was his slicked back light-brown hair, his calm and cruel demeanor. The only parts of him she recognized were the cold, almost black, midnight blue eyes.
The man before her was a monster.
And Kira had made him that way.
His skin was burnt, charred black and crusted over. His hair was singed off, replaced by blood-red scalded flesh. His nose had melted away, turned into a stub, and his ears looked completely gone.
His body hunched over, unable to stand straight because his back was so terribly injured. He moved with a limp, his vampire strength seemingly tapped out. And his clothes were baggy, ill fitting,
hiding what Kira knew was a broken body.
Her hand came up and clamped over her mouth, catching the gasp she had let escape.
Unable to look anywhere else, Kira caught his eyes, the one part of him that remained unharmed. And they looked at her, calculating and full of hatred.
"What's wrong, Kira? You don’t want to look at your masterpiece?" he asked coolly, shuffling closer to Luke's body.
She shivered. "I never meant for that to happen." And she didn't.
"No, you just meant to kill me and be done with it," he said, smiling.
"No worse than your plans for me." Kira returned his overly sweet grin, pushing any feelings of sympathy for Aldrich to the side. He was a monster, and now his body just reflected what was in his heart.
"No matter." Aldrich shrugged. "A decade from now I will be fully healed and back to my former self. I don't think you'll be as lucky."
He knelt down, and brushed the hair off of Luke's face.
Kira's body jerked forward in protest. "Don't touch him."
Aldrich's head snapped in her direction, and his eyes flashed an icy blue. "Make me."
Kira stepped forward, closing in on the edge of the wall, but then she stopped. She couldn't go any farther without losing herself, without falling. She was trapped.
Frustrated, Kira lifted her hands, flinging Punisher flames at Aldrich. She could kill him from here. She didn’t need to move.
But a tree branch smacked her forearms, throwing her palms to the side and her flames exploded aimlessly into the trees opposite Aldrich, useless.
He cackled, sending a shiver of pure anger down her spine. One way or another Kira would end him. Her fingers crunched into a fist.
"This is too much," he said, glee evident in his voice. "Our dear Kira trapped in the very fire she yearns to hold onto, unable to fight for her love." He slid a nail down Luke's cheek, staring Kira straight in the eye as he rubbed a stubby finger over the cut and brought it to his mouth, tasting the blood that leaked from the fresh wound.
Kira bit her lip, trying not to lose control. The power inside of her surged, begging for release. But it was clear that Aldrich was goading her. He wouldn’t kill Luke, not yet, not before he was done playing games.
The Complete Midnight Fire Series Page 77