by Sarah Denier
“So that’s the method of your madness? You’ll turn Leo for an advantage?”
“It’s not madness, it’s genius!” She steps out from behind Leo, dramatically marching over to me. I don’t care, at least she isn’t touching him anymore. “Who will they send, tainted Half bloods?” She laughs in a twisted psychotic way. “When we’re finished, I’ll dance in their blood.”
I hear her erratic breathing before I see Lena awake. Her face is a collage of bruises. Her long brown hair matted with dirt and sweat. Her eyes scream at me since her gagged mouth cannot. Her frightened face sinks my heart. I know it shows weakness but I don’t care. I can’t stop the tears from rolling down my face.
I do the only thing I’m capable of doing for her, I plead for my aunt’s life. “Please, let her go. Do what you want with me. Just please let Lena go!”
“Does this remind you of anything?” Lena turns away from her hand as Alexandria grabs a handful of her hair. “Perhaps, the death of your mom?” A deviant smile stretches across her face.
Six months ago, that would have torn me apart but I’ve felt worse. Been through worse. Thought worse of myself. It’s nothing but a low blow at this point.
“Does it bother you that he told me, when we were alone? Dating the man who murdered your mother, you can’t write that kind of idiotism.”
No, it doesn’t bother me, it crushes me. I can’t believe Leo would tell her such private things. I’d spit on her if I thought she was close enough.
“If that’s all you have, than I over estimated your originality.”
Alexandria shifts her weight from one leg to the other, reaches behind her back and pulls forth the longest jagged knife I’ve ever seen. She traces the blade along Lena’s quivering arm, over her shoulder and rests it between her collarbone and neckline.
Lena swallows hard as tears flee from under her fluttering eyelids.
“N—no!” I scream. I’m trapped within myself, helpless. “Kill me! Please, please!” I look to Leo who remains unresponsive. “Wake up!”
“He won’t help you. He’s in transition. I thought we’d have a little mythological fun in the mean time. You see, when the so-called founding families first started their precious little clans, they were not the saints they’d have you believe. They didn’t turn from temptation they just hid it better. But they bred their descendents without the knowledge of their true power. We are the offspring of Angels, for Christ’s sake!”
Her outburst twitches the knife against Lena’s neck. Lena’s eyes widen with panic.
“I don’t get it. What do you actually achieve in the end?”
She smiles. “Everything. And it all starts with your contribution.” She glances behind her and nods her head.
From the dark, an average looking boy steps forward. The black trench coat he is wearing is much too big. His hair is snow white and hangs just above his shoulders. He looks like a child barely over eighteen. The dark circles under his green eyes give him an ominous look. His face is hard as stone as he walks over to Leo gently touching him on the back of his neck. In response to the boy’s touch, tremors pulsate through Leo’s body. He stretches his neck out before bringing his hands up to meet his temples. The sound of his breathing fills the room. As he slowly lifts his head, his empty hazel eyes rest upon my face.
“Oh, no, Leo.” I sigh through heavy breath. Everything in the world suddenly feels so wrong. Like a poison has spread and infected everything I’ve ever known. “How can you be so evil?”
“It’s in my blood. Bomani was a fool for walking away. Everyone wants to believe Olam and Bomani died together but they didn’t. Olam killed his brother and from the other side Bomani continues to punish us. Not anymore!”
“Please just let Lena go. I’ll do whatever you want, please.”
“I don’t think so. Leo’s too close to completing the change and since it has to involve an act of God, I’m going to need you both. Once Leo claims Lena’s life you and I can have a little fun.” She arches her brow.
“Fine! Kill me! Give it your best shot!” I lash out.
I can’t take it anymore. She has everything she wants and I’m defenseless against her. I won’t stick my tail between my legs and thank her for killing me quickly.
“You’re so afraid that you have to arm yourself and paralyze me.”
Abruptly it occurs to me. If my synchronization with Leo’s heartbeat is legitimate and not just a trance effect then Alexandria can’t kill me without killing Leo. And while she saves him, I can escape with Lena. It’s not fool proof but it’s all I have. I have to get on my feet.
“I’ll show you fear.” She hisses. She passes the knife off to one of her lackeys and stands in front of me. “Let’s see what you’re made of.” She says slapping my face. I wince. “Let her down!”
I expect the white haired boy to come over and do his mojo thing but he isn’t the one who obeys.
Leo pushes himself out of the chair. His empty eyes lock on to mine. With four steps, we are face to face. One by one, he loosens the straps around my arms and legs. My breath catches in my throat as he reaches his hand out and touches on a pressure point behind my left ear. My nerves burst to life with a flush of prickling pain. The sensation of his touch etches its way under my skin. I savor the feeling.
Enabled with the use of my body I slide off the wooden board and down to the dirt.
Just as Leo backs away, violent screams erupt from Lena’s gagged mouth. As I turn to her, Alexandria’s boot comes down hard against my shoulder. I buckle and fall back down.
“This is what you wanted. Get up, mutt!”
I push up from the ground, every muscle in me protesting. I stand as straight as possible trying to anticipate her next move. I step forward and right into her left jab, rocketing pain against my chin. I stumble backwards.
“Whose pathetic now, maggot?” Alexandria hollers.
Being my first real fight, just one significant blow to her would suffice.
I gather myself and advance towards her. She comes up on me quick, grabs me by my ponytail and introduces my face to her knee before pushing me back down. My nose throbs as blood trickles down from the gash sliced across it. My eyes sting with tears and I wince in pain.
I turn around onto my knees and see Leo, sitting in the chair in front of me. He looks down on me with distance in his eyes. His body relaxed and unfazed by my beating.
As foolish as it is I allow myself to believe some part of the man I know is still behind his eyes. If he were, I’d imagine him snapping out of his trance and saying something heroic before saving the day. But this is why I’m here. I wanted to believe I could be great and save the man who has saved me countless times. I wanted to think that for once something would work in my favor. That bad things did not have to consistently happen. But even though I have failed, at least I tried. And even if I die here, in this underground hell, it won’t be in vain. I will have faced fear, learned some major life lessons and risked everything on a single emotion. Nothing I wouldn’t do again.
As I contemplate my fate a calming wave of release embraces me. I look up at Leo and with every ounce of energy I have left I open my mind and reach out to him.
I’m sorry I lost you. I’m sorry I failed.
A flicker of emotion crosses his face. It’s so fast I can’t be sure I didn’t imagine it. Was it anger, pain, sorrow? I smile at him, kneel on one knee and rock back with my weight to stand up straight.
“You’re exhausting my kindness. How many more times do you think I’ll let you back up? You know what, it doesn’t matter. I’m bored with you.” She dismisses me with an arrogant wave of her hand.
“First thing first child.” Akil says stepping out of the darkness.
Alexandria rolls her eyes and turns back to Lena. With her guard down, I charge at her. I make it three feet before the white haired boy encloses his arms around me. For someone young, he is excessively strong. He pins my arms behind my back.
Lena begins to thrash ba
ck and forth in the chair as Alexandria pulls her head back by her hair. She screams through the gag in her mouth but I get the impression it’s not because of Alexandria. She must have had a vision.
“Damn it Leo! Do something!” I scream to him.
He remains unconcerned; bored even. Like he’s at a party everyone would consider cool, except for him.
“Now is the time, Leo.” Akil says handing Alexandria’s knife over to Leo. Leo stands and takes the knife.
“No! Please! No!” I shriek and desperately try to break free of the boy’s hold.
“Do it!” Akil commands.
I can’t bear to look at Lena’s terrified eyes. I wish so badly that I could look away. For some reason I just can’t.
Leo raises the knife. Just as he’s about to bring the blade down across my aunts throat, a cool breeze rushes past me and I’m knocked to the ground. One by one the torches are extinguished. In the dark, screams and commotion erupt. I hear footsteps and the thud of bodies as they hit the dirt. Frightened I feel my way towards a wall as fast as I can. I sit unable to do anything but listen.
Hands scoop under me from out of the darkness. I swing my fists wildly but connect with nothing. I’m lifted up into the air and cradled.
“Move!” Leo’s voice commands.
I have no idea what has happened but I’m overly relieved to be safe in his arms. I bury my head against his chest, grateful neither of us is dead. I hold on tight as he begins running though the tunnel. From behind I hear a second pair of feet thumping against the dirt. I peek over Leo’s shoulder and by the dim light of passing torches I see our pursuer. It’s the white haired boy from the room. He runs behind us with Lena slung over his shoulder.
I’m confused. Wasn’t he just Alexandria’s do boy? Isn’t he the one we’re running from?
“He has Lena!” I say fearing for my aunt.
“He’s with us.” Leo retorts.
After ten minutes, it feels like we’ve gone in circles, back tracking our steps. Apparently Leo thinks so too. He slows down to a stop and places me on my feet.
“Stand against the wall and focus on your breath.” Leo says to the white haired boy as he does the same.
As soon as the boy sets Lena down, she storms angrily over to me. “What the hell is wrong with you? Were you trying to get yourself killed?” She screams. “‘Cause I could kill you myself.”
I stare at her, dumbfounded. “Are you kidding me? She was going to kill us!”
“Jesus Kimber, have you no sense?”
“Excuse me but I was the only one able to do anything.”
“I didn’t get her.” The white haired boy speaks out.“She was too fast. She slipped right through my hands.”
“Damn it Wes! Now that Akil is dead there’s no telling how far Alexandria will go!” Leo slams his fist against the stone.
“Why couldn’t you have just kept your mouth shut and stayed where you were?” The boy, now named Wes, scolds me.
“Like I’m supposed to read your mind and automatically know there’s a plan.” I stand with a hand on my hip. I don’t know what it is with him and Lena but I’m not taking all the blame.
Wes steps right up into my face. The toes of our shoes nearly touching. He looks older up close. I don’t flinch though I know he would have liked me to.
“Why don’t you go sit back in your castle, princess.”
“Back off!” Leo says shoving Wes back. “It’s done. We’ll get out of here and worry about the rest later.”
As Leo navigates us out of the tunnels no one speaks to each other. Tension is too high. We hurry back to the hotel where Lena and I grab what little things we’ve brought. The goal is to escape from Giza before Alexandria has time to retaliate.
We hail a cab to bring us to Cairo and because I had requested earlier that the pilot stick around, we jump on the Learjet and head home.
Chapter Twenty Seven
I TRIED TO sit alone and collect my thoughts on the plane but Leo wouldn’t have it. He insisted I remain in sight. Even after doing a sweep of the plane, twice, he acted as if Alexandria could materialize in mid air. The mere thought that she might actually scared me.
I learned a little about Wes, whose dislike for me seemingly grew with each glare. He is nineteen and comes from Indiana. At sixteen, he almost drowned in his family’s pool. Soon after, his family sat him down and opened his world. Before that day he knew nothing of his family’s heritage. Much like Leo, he studied trance meditation and the art of pressure points.
I should have tried harder to stay awake but my energy was waning and I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I fell asleep to the sound of the three of them comparing abilities.
I woke up once when the plane hit turbulence. I became acutely aware that my head was resting in Leo’s lap and his arm lay gently across my stomach.
He had been whispering about Alexandria and right in the middle of warning Wes and Lena to not let me out of their sight. I wanted to protest but I kept quiet and listened.
Since Leo had killed Akil, they expected Alexandria to be on a rapid rampage. They didn’t know when, how, or where it would happen but they all agreed on who. I was the most likely. I was the loose cannon that would end up doing something stupid.
Leo proclaimed his plan as simple. He would go back to the Grigori and strike a deal to insure my safety. A deal like that would cost us both a whole hell of a lot. Leo would undoubtedly return to working for the Grigori and I would end up owing someone somehow. I didn’t like any of it so, just like they predicted, I came up with my own plan.
Our first week back had gone by without sight or word from Alexandria. But the silence would not last for long. I was healing quickly from my last run in with Alexandria, thanks to Leo’s blood donation, and I wanted to stay that way. If Alexandria is coming for me, I have to be prepared. The last thing I want is another ass kicking and since I couldn’t ask Leo or Mike for help I turned to the only other person I could.
Wyler agreed to take me to the gym he uses on campus and even though I did not follow up the request with an explanation, he agreed to teach me how to defend myself.
He started by teaching me about relativity and the right way to exert my energy. He said it was a lot like playing chess but since I couldn’t grasp that theory, he taught me by example.
Since Lena had moved in with me, while Leo and Wes stayed at the beach house, I could barely breathe without her telling me when to exhale. And even though I am aware Lena could see Wyler, I still haven’t told her I befriended the boy on the beach. Maybe it is stupid to hold on to a version of yourself the world had outgrown but with Wyler, I am who I remember myself being. I smile and laugh and forget that deep down I’m bitter and lonely. I’m not willing to give those things up just to marry one world with the next.
I lie, again, to Lena telling her I am going out with the girls to see the latest vampire flick everyone is talking about.
I meet Wyler outside the campus gym as the sun kisses the horizon goodnight. I grab the duffel bag out from the back seat and walk up to the doors. Like always, I absorb the tranquil effect his warm smile provides me. Visually I appreciate the depth of his cut off sleeves showing the right amount of skin and muscle. His calves are amazing too. He holds back his short curls with an over sized blue headband.
“Are you canceling on me?”
“No.” I smile and playfully roll my eyes. “I need to change.” I hold up the duffel bag.
A question seems to circle his mind before he dismisses it saying, “Change and meet me on the treadmill. We need to get your endurance up.”
“Yes sir!” I say saluting him.
I last fourteen minutes on the treadmill before my breath catches in my lungs. The harder I work to breath the harder it is to push myself. Wyler tells me to keep going, insisting that I have to break my breaking point.
Six more minutes pass before I slam my hand down on the emergency stop button. Wyler gives me a two-minute cool off while prepp
ing the punching bag.
Guzzling down half the water in my bottle turns my stomach. I walk over to the punching bag bloated and sick. With one glance, Wyler rushes me to the bathroom, not a minute too soon.
“Let me guess, cold water?” He asks from outside the bathroom stall.
A moan is all I can muster.
“Downing cold water while you’re over heated can shock your system. Hence, the reason you’re hugging the toilet.”
I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand and push myself up.
“Well gee; wish someone would’ve said that sooner.” I readjust my ponytail and open the stall door.
His brow creases with sympathy. “You look bad.” He stifles a laugh.
I push past him, find the sink and swish my mouth out with water.
“Why don’t we get out of here, grab dinner or something?”
I avert my eyes past my reflection and look at him through the mirror. “No, I need to learn this stuff.”
“Why?”
And there it is, the inevitable and elusive question. How many times before had he wanted to form those three letters into that one word? Now there was no going back.
My shoulders slump. I turn from the mirror and face him. “I don’t want to lie to you.”
“Then don’t.”
I shake my head and shrug my shoulders. I can’t force the words out of my mouth. I rub the back of my neck, my nerves askew.
“Are you afraid of someone ‘cause, Kimber, you can talk to me. I’m going to help you, no matter what.”
“Then help me without questioning me.”
He steps back, wounded by how closed off I am. How closed off I have to be. If he could just understand without me having to say it, he would thank me for my discretion.
“I guess…It’s just…I’m not the kind of guy who forces himself into your life. I’m grateful for what you did for me but I’m not here because I feel like I owe you. I’m here because I care about what happens to you. And when a friend asks me for help, you bet your ass I’m going to be there.”
“And I appreciate it, really I do, but what happens on the other side of you and I is not something I’m comfortable talking about. I’m asking for you to understand that”