Guild of Truth 01 - Silent as the Grave

by Mary K. Norris

  Red began to cloud Cali’s vision. She scanned the area for something to use. With every grunt from Felix her blood boiled hotter and hotter. She was sick of Collette harassing them. She was tired of having to constantly look over her shoulder because Collette was obsessed with someone who had no feelings for her. Collette had stood over her while she’d been helpless at Vander’s and promised her nothing but pain. Well, no more.

  Her gaze caught on a fire extinguisher held safely behind glass. Bracing herself for the pain, she thrust her elbow back and shattered the casing. A high-pitched wail came from overhead, and Cali grinned at the sound of it.

  She pulled the tank from the glass and approached Collette from behind.

  Her neck tingled. “Joel, Sydney, come back to the cage.” She sent the message out, hoping it’d find its target. Then she directed all her focus on the fire alarm blaring from the speakers. She stared at Collette, willing the sound to pitch higher and higher in her ears. She wanted Collette to feel all the pain that she’d dealt them. Her rage was a brilliant fire inside her that she unleashed without mercy.

  Collette screamed. Her Illusions vanished. She fell to her knees, cupping her ears and ducking her head as far into her chest as possible. But Cali didn’t stop. Covering her ears wouldn’t help. She wanted Collette to hear everything, all of it, as loud as it would go.

  Blood leaked from Collette’s ears. It took her a moment before she noticed Cali standing over her. She looked up at her, dazed, and Cali waited, waited for the recognition.

  It didn’t take long.

  The hate and anger boiled to the surface, but beneath that she saw a flicker of fear and Cali smiled down at her.

  “Who bested you now?”

  Collette squinted in confusion, as if she was having difficulty hearing the words.

  Cali slammed the bottom of the fire extinguisher into the back of her head. She collapsed like a doll.

  She ran to Felix. He was holding himself up on one of the armrests, staring at Collette’s unmoving body.

  His gaze jerked to Cali as she came closer. She was breathing heavily, her limbs trembling. She couldn’t believe what she’d done.

  “Feel better?” he asked, a spark of pride lighting his eyes. “I hear taking out your rival can be very therapeutic.”

  She held up both her hands. “That’s seven, you know.”

  He stared at the fingers she held up. “Seven?”

  “All those guards she had wailing on you? They count.”

  Felix’s jaw went slack. “Those should all count as one,” he said indignantly.

  “Nope.” Cali kissed him gently on the mouth.

  Felix hissed from the split in his lip.

  “Holy fuck.” Joel and Sydney stopped at the sight of Collette. Joel glanced from Cali to the blood in Collette’s ears. His hand rose to his own as if in sympathy. “Remind me never to get on your bad side.”

  “We have to go,” Sydney interjected. “The cops are here. They’re full on S.W.A.T. teaming the whole place.”

  Shouts came from the set of double doors Cali and Felix had entered through. Cali dashed to close them but there was no lock. “Joel,” she shouted.

  “I got it.” He pressed his hands firmly against them. “Let’s go.”

  Cali ran alongside him. “How long will that last?”

  Pounding and more shouts came from the other side.

  Joel gave her a cocky smile. “We’re about to find out.”

  The beating grew louder, the door shaking on its hinges, but somehow it stayed closed. Cali marveled at the world she’d been incorporated into and left the arena without a backward glance.

  Epilogue

  “Cali, I swear, if you light my house on fire … ” Felix left the threat hanging as she laid out the fireworks along the sidewalk in front of his house.

  “Nightfall isn’t for another hour at least,” said Niella as she tore into her hamburger.

  “I’m making sure we’re prepared,” Cali defended.

  It was the Fourth of July, and the guild was gathered at Felix’s where he’d wowed everyone with his ability to burn the shit out of everything he put on the barbeque. Joel had blessedly taken over.

  The events at the Kratos Building had come and gone. The newspapers had a field day ripping apart the company piece by piece. Their stocks dropped exponentially, and Cali thought for sure they’d go under, but some executive in a different branch made the statement that Vander Donahughe had been running his underground events behind the rest of the company’s back.

  Kratos wasn’t as destroyed as Cali would have wanted, but the building closest to them was now abandoned. She’d take any victory she could.

  She grabbed a beer from the cooler and made her way over to Sydney. She’d been affected the most after everything that had happened. She was a lot quieter than usual and visited the hospital where all Vander’s victims were said to have been dispatched. Cali went with her most times, which meant she knew who Sydney was searching for and not finding.

  The man with eyes of ice.

  He wasn’t among the rescued, and it sat like a bitter stone in her stomach to think that perhaps Vander had been able to transport some of his prisoners before the police had arrived.

  Collette had been one of many who were taken to the hospital. She had joined Kevin in his lush hospital room as the world waited for them to come out of their comas.

  Cali didn’t feel sorry for the Illusionist. She was with her Mirror Mate. That was where she belonged. She wouldn’t suffer anymore, and she’d never be able to harm another.

  She bumped shoulders with Sydney to draw her attention. Felix had been rubbing off on her. She found she engaged in more physical contact with others than she would have previously. “You okay?” She lifted her beer and Sydney tapped it with her soda can.

  “I’m fine.”

  “What were you thinking about?”

  Sydney ducked her gaze. Cali took a sip from her beer and watched as Joel and Felix threw a football back and forth, Niella making snarky remarks about their form. “That guy again, huh?”

  Sydney’s fingers tightened around her drink. “The authorities never found Vander. He could have gotten away, could have taken some people with him.”

  “I know. Joel said he’d look through their database again. If we spot any kind of strange activity, we’ll go after him. We’re the Guild of Truth, remember? It’s our sole purpose to vanquish the Guild of Power.” She exaggerated her voice, lowered it to a deep rumble.

  A reluctant smile graced Sydney’s face, and Cali bumped her on the shoulder again.

  “Now enjoy the day. Fourth of July is for celebrating. Dump that soda and get a beer.” She finished off her own drink and chucked the can at Felix.

  “Hey.” He dodged it and rushed her. His arms banded around her, locking her own arms down against her sides. “I cry foul,” he whispered into her ear.

  As for Felix, there was a darker edge to him now. One Cali only noticed when he dropped his guard around her.

  They had rehashed the match Vander had forced him into again and again. Cali told him about her sneaking suspicion that his opponent had been nothing but an Illusion, yet Felix still felt the guilt. He told her it didn’t matter if the person he’d Erased was real or not, the fact remained that he would have done it either way.

  His lips skimmed her ear, bringing her back to the present. Her heart thundered. She grinned at him and licked his jaw. “Pansy,” she teased. She’d help him get over his guilt. She’d do everything in her power to protect her man.

  “At least I’m not soaking wet,” he said calmly.

  Cali tilted her head. Felix dropped her back on her feet just as a water balloon burst above her head.

  Water drenched her hair and shirt. The white tee stuck to her black bikini, and Felix admired his handiwork, eyes flashing with desire.

  “You jerk.” She raced for the nearest balloon barrel and went after him.

  He disappea
red through the side gate. Cali hesitated before pursuing him. She tucked another balloon into the back pocket of her shorts and dashed after him. He was waiting in the middle of his backyard for her.

  She stopped a scant foot away. “Got any last words?”

  He crossed his arms. “I’ve got plenty, but the most important ones are ‘better luck next time.’” He waved his hands and the two water balloons she held vanished.

  Her fingers curled as if she could hang on to them. “You cheater.” She pounded a fist into his broad chest.

  He laughed before grasping her shoulders and kissing her. “You want to know my second most important last words?” He spoke against her still tingling lips.

  She kissed him again. “Mm?”

  He trailed his mouth over to her ear. “I love you.”

  Cali’s lungs couldn’t get enough air. A stupid, giddy smile came over her, and she couldn’t have stopped it even if she wanted to. She cupped his perfectly healed face and smashed her mouth to his. “I love you too,” she breathed into him. “You know what I love even more?” she purred.

  Felix growled low in his throat. “What?”

  “You soaking wet.”

  She smashed the balloon in her back pocket on the top of his head.

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