Icarus; The Kindred (A Paranormal Romance)

by J. S. Chancellor

  Smart girl. I like her.

  "Dr. Swanee had to take care of something. Anyone feel like telling me where we are in this session?"

  "We're—" Shining Star starts to answer me, but it isn't in his best interest to speak. My patience today is riding a bit on the tenuous side.

  "Shut up and sit down. You," I point to his girlfriend, "answer the question."

  "We're covering hostile subjects, Covenant Slate." She sits up properly in her chair as she speaks.

  I nod and circle Liv. "Thank you. Has she been given anything?"

  "Truth serum." Shining Star apparently has some balls.

  I whip around and pause for about two seconds before I point at him and then place my finger over my lips. Moving my hand makes everyone jump.

  "How long ago?"

  "About ten minutes ago," a skinny blond boy from the back of the room answers.

  I close in on Liv and give her a good once over. She doesn't appear to have sustained any serious wounds.

  "You know, I've changed my mind about you," I saunter over to our favorite student and pull him up, seductively, by his collar. He grins, which makes this so much more fun. His girlfriend looks positively beside herself. She probably can't decide whether to hate me or fear me and how to accomplish both without getting herself killed.

  "Take her place." I let go of him to help Liv to her feet, completely understanding now why people hate it when I drink. Helping someone walk is a pain in the ass.

  His face falls. "But—"

  "No, it's all right. Extra credit. You want to make Covenant sooner than the rest of your fellow classmates, right?" Um, this will actually get him expelled. Or killed if Trinity gets involved. It all depends on who finds out first.

  He still seems hesitant, but sits down in the chair.

  "Take turns. Whoever can manage to get him to confess his first wet dream gets an automatic ten points on their final grade."

  The kid looks like he's going to shit his pants. His girlfriend pipes up as I struggle to get the door open.

  "Where are you going?"

  The blond kid from the back practically leaps to start the questioning. I smirk, wondering if he has something for the girl.

  "Not far. Why don't you go second?" I laugh under my breath as we make it awkwardly into the hall.

  "There's something deeply wrong with you, you know that?" Liv coughs out.

  "Yeah, I know. Charming isn't it?"

  She smiles and clings to me. "I'm so glad you're here."

  "Me, too. Now, any idea where Damian might be?"

  She shakes her head and her eyes threaten to close on me. I'm still feeling the last traces of the alcohol that I childishly decided to consume—which makes us quite a pair.

  I lean against the wall to take a breath. She weighs a tad more than I do, though not by much. If I weren't impaired, this wouldn't be a problem.

  Now, how did I know you were lying? It could have been the nagging feeling in my gut. Or maybe I didn't have a clue and it's the phone call I just got from Callmadus that's just now bringing this to light.

  "Great," I mutter.

  "What?" Liv mumbles.

  "Trinity knows I'm here." You're the brilliant one who left the door open.

  He laughs. Yes, well, you did make the choice to drink—just like I knew you would. You fell into this way too easily. You're losing your touch, babe.

  It was a trap. Son of a bitch. I was bait to lead Jacelynd to him. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. And what better place than somewhere none of us can use our powers?

  "Don't let him get to you, Jessi," Liv says with moderate clarity.

  "We've really got to get out of here." I decide ignoring Trinity is the best way to get him to stop talking.

  Footsteps, lots of them, are coming our way.

  "Do you hear that?" Liv asks.

  I nod.

  "Where's Quinn?"

  "He isn't here. Come on, you'll see him soon enough." Or our maker. I personally prefer Quinn.

  I pull Liv along with me. We slowly make our way out of the wing of classrooms and into a locker room. I sit her down on one of the benches. "I can't carry you out of here and both of us together will bring too much attention. How lucid are you?"

  She shrugs. "Depends on what's chasing me."

  "Fair enough. Listen carefully to me." I point to a door behind us. "This is a service entrance. It's rarely used. It's full of spiders and all kinds of creepy shit. Do you think you can make it through there and out to the side yard?"

  "She could, but she won't be doing it alone." Jace's voice is a comforting, if not mildly irritating, sound. I turn to see him resting against the wall of showers.

  "This was a trap. Trinity knew we were coming."

  "I'm not surprised." He's as calm and reserved as usual. "I found Damian. I need you to get Liv—"

  "No. Liv can do this. You're not going out there alone."

  Liv watches in mute amusement as we argue.

  "I'm sorry, this isn't a discussion," Jace says politely.

  I nod. "Yeah, I know. I'm coming with you regardless of what you say."

  Liv starts to open her mouth but Jace catches it and waves her silent before she can say anything.

  He steps closer to me, and though my pride doesn't really want to mention this, I feel mildly intimidated. He leans into me, grabs me tightly by the front waistband of my jeans and whispers into my ear, "Those gloves covering your hands don't change the fact that you aren't in any position to continue this. The only glove big enough to cover the wounds you risk sustaining if you stay here is a body bag. I'm not arguing this. I'm asking you to please trust me. Like you once did."

  As he pulls away, I gasp. His eyes are smoldering and I don't mean in a sultry, lascivious way—I mean they are blazing like green flames, dampened only by the brilliant white that encircles his pupils. It only lasts for a fleeting moment before they return to their normal color.

  "There are—" I start.

  "Trust me," he says articulately.

  "Okay." I quietly relent and turn partially when he takes my arm. I am still facing away from him when he speaks.

  "Liv, go on ahead and stop. Jessi will catch up with you in a second." He waits until Liv has stepped beyond the rusted door before continuing, "Is it so hard for you to believe that someone else could care about your well-being? That I have no ulterior motive?"

  I don't answer him right away. "Have you ever woken up from a dream that you can't remember the details of? Just the feeling of it is left? I know what you are saying is true, but my life has been anything but the beautiful picture you've painted for me. You keep telling me you understand, but I don't think you do." I turn and face him. "Our son is here, Jacelynd. I spoke with him, and it doesn't matter that I have no memory of his birth. He's my child and every part of me knows him. Do you have any idea how hard it was to send him away from here—to Trinity, for his own good? When all I want to do is get him as far away from Trinity as possible? I don't know how to trust anyone and I'm doing good to get where I am as it is. You're hiding something from me and at the same time asking me to forget what little of a life I know and ignore what is now instinctual for me by placing all of my faith in you. How can I? You lied to me when you let me believe I could be wounded by sunlight. You lied to me when you let me believe I was talking to Trinity."

  He seems to register what I'm saying but I can't really tell with him. His expression gives nothing away. "He is here? Our son?" he asks softly.

  I nod and though I don't invite them, tears come quietly and without fanfare. "He looks like you."

  Jace exhales and kisses the top of my head gently. "The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you." He strokes my hair as he speaks. "We'll find him, I promise."

  I bury my face in his chest, mainly to regain my composure, but all it does is wrench embarrassing sobs from wherever my pride has run off to. Why am I falling apart now? Why can't I ever do this kind of thing in a private place, like a normal pe
rson? Say, at the grocery store. In the produce aisle. Not while we are fighting for our lives.

  Jace reaches down and pulls the gun from where I have it tucked into my belt behind me. I hear him release the clip and slam it back in place. "Do you realize this isn't loaded?"

  "What?" I look up. "I took that from the guard at the front gate." I pull out the second pistol and check it. Sure enough, it's empty. "Trinity. I don't know how, but he knew I'd go through the front gate. Jace, he's anticipated our every move."

  "He hasn't anticipated my every move, I promise you that." After a brief show of uncomfortable restraint in Jacelynd's eyes, he unbuttons his shirt, and not in a come-hither kind of way. More in a life-shattering-news kind of way and my insides turn. He presses his hand on his chest. "This isn't a tattoo. This is a promissory note. Payable to the guardians of the gate."

  "A promise for what?" I ask, horrified.

  "My immortal soul—in exchange for the powers to both find you and rival Trinity. I'm only sorry I waited so long. That's why your dreams changed a year ago. I've spent a year trying to remind you of who you really are. Of us."

  I don't have anything intelligent to say, but this isn't the kind of revelation you respond to by gawking at in silence. "When you said you'd given your life for mine, you were serious."

  "I thought you'd left me here," Liv says sleepily.

  "No. You feeling well enough to do this? If I need to go get Quinn, I will."

  Liv shakes her head. "Let's just go. We can talk about how many places hurt on my body later. I've been hit places I didn't think you could aim for."

  A little part of me wants to laugh, but now isn't really the time. Or the place. "I know the feeling."

  I remember, from my donor's past, of course, watching Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom with my father. Somewhere in that movie is a scene where they have to go through a tunnel of snakes and horrific insects. I can't begin to tell you how much this place reminds me of that scene.

  Liv, being the more girly of the two of us, squeals quietly.

  "Sorry. We don't have far to go. At least we aren't crawling." I move to reposition Liv at my side.

  "I think I can walk on my own," she says.

  I let go only to catch her before she falls. "Maybe not so much."

  She giggles. "Oh. Just like old times." Then a sob catches in her throat and before she can cry out, she laughs again. "Except I was usually the sober one. You always said carrying me around was a pain in the ass."

  "It is," I tease.

  "Jacelynd never gave up," Liv says, suddenly serious. "He rarely slept. He never smiled or laughed. He would never have considered going on with his life without you. He spent every waking moment trying to find you."

  "I know," I say reluctantly, "and I've been a jerk to him since the day he found me."

  She shook her head as she stumbled over a stone, then grabbed me harder to steady her unsure footing. "He doesn't think that. None of us does. He's trying not to overwhelm you. You don't remember what he's like and he doesn't want to come on too strong."

  I laugh to myself. If this is him in moderation, I can't wait to see him full-throttle. "Really?"

  "Yeah, but Christ, you should have seen him the morning he found you and Blake were missing. I think he forgot himself for a moment."

  "He didn't take it too well?" Not that I thought he would have.

  She inhales. "No. I thought he was going to kill Blake when he got his hands on him." She paused. "Blake is still among the living, right?"

  "Yes. Alive and well." For now, anyway.

  "Voices," Liv says.

  I stop but hear nothing. "What?"

  "Voices. Listen."

  "No Liv, you're hearing our echoes. Truth serum will mess with your perception for a while. You'll feel better once we get something on … " I pause, because now I hear them, too. "Shit."

  "Where are they coming from?"

  I listen carefully, but they sound more like they are coming from beside us. I press my ear against the cold damp wall and whisper, "On the other side of this wall." Then I realize whose voice I'm hearing and my stomach drops. Trinity is here.

  "What's going on?" Liv asks.

  I put my arm back under her shoulder. "We can't stay here," I say sharply.

  "Jessi, you're scaring me."

  "You'll have real reason to be scared if we don't move." I fear for Jace and it isn't a light feeling of concern—it's awful and nearly enough to make me disobey his wishes. I couldn't make out much more than the displeasure in Trinity's voice. I certainly couldn't understand what he was saying. But, whatever it was, it wasn't to our benefit.

  "Liv, I can't promise you there won't be assassins outside of these doors. I need you to get away, run to the wood line the best you can. I can take care of myself, and the boys' help would be greatly appreciated if things don't go my way."

  Liv nods as we come to the metal door that will lead us out of Callmadus. I close my eyes and grimace, debating my next move. I decide I have to tell Jace.

  Trinity is here.

  I press open the door and breathe a sigh of relief to find us alone on the other side.

  Trinity laughs, Sweet to try and warn him. Won't do any good, though. He already knows where I am. Hmm. He's rather quiet at the moment. Could have something to do with his inability to pull himself up off the floor.

  My chest seizes with fear, but my gut is telling me that Trinity is just trying to get to me. He can't be telling the truth.

  I have more faith in him than that. Pity the same can't be said for you.

  I look around and though the coast looks clear, I don't trust it to stay that way for long. "We have to run. Don't stop. Don't look back. Do you hear me?"

  She nods, and before either of us has chance to second-guess our choice, we run full-tilt across the open field. It's larger than it appeared from the doorway.

  Liv makes it across, though barely, before her energy gives. She grasps an oak, her breath coming quick and uneven. I am about to say something about how easy that was, a laugh poised on the tip of my tongue, when I feel it—the Earth as it is pulled from beneath me in an unbelievably painful fall. Something's not right. I reach out to touch the ground when a solid kick makes contact with my ribs. I'm not one for screaming usually, but this hurts like a bitch.

  I roll over, fully expecting to see one of the guards, or maybe even Trinity having finally lost his cool, but the face that smiles down at me leaves me breathless. Okay, well, that might be the collapsed lung.

  She laughs, "You've always thought you were stronger than you really are. Not so powerful now, are you? Not quite the Covenant Assassin you're supposed to be."

  "Iris," I rasp. "Right now isn't exactly the best time for a family reunion."

  She has me pinned down pretty well. Actually, I'm kind of impressed. Then again, she is related to me. And I am made of awesome.

  "You think you're funny, don't you?" she hisses.

  I would say something glib now, but damn if ribs aren't terribly important things to have intact. "Iris, please." I can't breathe all that well right now. I'm completely powerless. I can't so much as conjure a mental fart, let alone a witty comeback. This is as deep as shit can get for me.

  She smiles sweetly before taking the dagger she has clenched in her fist, which I have somehow overlooked, and swiftly stakes my hand to the ground. "Since you asked so nicely."

  I scream again, but this time it's internal, too. Trinity responds, but I can hardly understand him through the blinding pain.

  Do you seriously think I'm going to buy that? It did sound frighteningly real. Kudos on the theatrics.

  I move my head enough to see that Liv has managed to get away.

  "I've lived my whole fucking life in your shadow." Iris leans over me, hate radiating from her. "Does that hurt? I'm sorry." She twists the knife, and relishes my response. "Sucks to feel how a mortal feels, doesn't it? Every little scrape and cut. You know," she rips the knife out of
my hand and plunges it into the side of my chest, "had you not been so stubborn, had you just taken Trinity's blood back at the estate, you wouldn't be feeling this way. You wouldn't be weak enough to kill. You just have to do everything the hard way."

  I have no shame. I am crying now, though the actual execution of the act sounds more like choking because of the blood that's rising in my throat.

  Trinity! Please don't do this, don't let her... I can't say anymore, because I am screaming and crying both in my head and struggling to do so audibly. I push against her but it's pointless.

  Iris causally takes her phone from her pocket with the hand that isn't covered in my blood and dials a number. "She'll take your blood now. We're in the east yard."

  A long pause ensues and my sight threatens to give.

  Jace. Run. Please. Don't come. He planned … My thoughts are fractured, my body not making the full connection with what is going on. I should have listened to him. I'm sorry, love. So sorry.

  Iris has a nasty scowl on her face. "She was nearly off property, Trinity. You'll thank me for this later."

  "What the hell have you done!?" Trinity roars. It's odd to hear him in person after having just heard his thoughts. If I weren't in the throes of dying, I might enjoy the look of pure terror on Iris' face. She lets the phone fall to her lap.

  "Go!" Trinity screams.

  Iris scrambles to her feet and runs back toward Callmadus.

  Trinity's hands are warm as he cups my face. His expression makes me sick. He seems fearful, as if he hadn't the slightest idea this was coming.

  "Why?" I force the question and it erupts as barely a whisper. I don't care how pathetic I sound. As dark and underhanded as Trinity is, I never thought him capable of this. Not when it came to me.

  "You have to take my blood, Jess." He brings his wrist to his mouth, but I turn away from him with the last little bit of strength I can muster, crying out in the process because this is so different than merely suspecting him guilty of burning me. There was always some part of me that believed he was innocent, that wanted to trust him. This time, he is here in the flesh and the betrayal hurts nearly as badly as my physical injuries.