“First rule,” William yelled to our training group after breakfast. “No abilities.” He paced in front of everyone with his hands on his hips, and I noticed how much older he looked having gone without shaving the past few days. “We all know Christoph and Adrianna can strip us of our powers, and everyone needs to be ready to defend themselves physically, even if it’s a last resort.” He looked at me briefly, and I was reminded of Helen’s class at The Institute when we thought she was crazy for having us duel. This seemed crazier. “Second rule. We’re not trying to kill each other here, but don’t hold back either. Christoph won’t be taking it easy on us if it comes to that. We have a healer and a medic team if needed.”
The name Christoph stuck in my head, and for a moment I thought I saw him standing across from me. I closed my eyes to clear my head, but when I opened them, he was standing there. He glared back at me clear as day, right next to William. My heart picked up as I looked around. Didn’t anybody see him? I opened my mouth to warn everyone to run, to shoot, to kill, but William walked right through him like he was a ghost. Before I’d uttered a word, the image disappeared like smoke.
You okay? Kara asked from beside me. She stared forward as she spoke.
I turned to her, knowing she must have seen him too, at least through my mind.
What was that? I asked.
What?
You didn’t see him?
I heard you get all worked up about it, but there was nothing there.
Even through my mind?
She shook her head. No.
“Kara and Alex will demonstrate,” William announced to the group. I tried to pay attention, but my eyes wandered in search for Christoph. The sight of him had left an uneasy feeling in my stomach.
Kara stepped forward, facing Alex with a smirk on her face. “This really isn’t a fair fight,” she said.
Alex raised his eyebrows. “We’ll see.”
No Christoph. I had imagined him. I relaxed my shoulders, and my heart began to settle as I focused on Kara and Alex. It was stress. Just stress.
“Remember. No abilities,” Mac reminded them, but I could see from the way they looked at each other, his rule wouldn’t last.
Kara was already swinging before Mac had a chance to say go. Her fist found the air to the right of Alex’s face. He was fast, even without his ability.
Kara tilted her head, impressed.
“What?” he said with a cocky grin. “You’re not the only one who’s gone through Council combat training.”
Despite their words, there was enjoyment behind their eyes as they stared each other down. They were so much alike. I wondered if they realized it.
She swung again and missed, but her punch was strong. If she made contact, she could easily knock him out. Next Alex threw a fist, but Kara grabbed his wrist and knocked him in the jaw with her elbow.
“Oops,” she said, and I noticed a hint of flirtation in her voice.
Alex opened his mouth wide, stretching his cheek muscles and shook his head. “Here I was taking it easy on you.”
Kara bounced on her toes. “Oh, sure.”
With each snarky comment the small crowd around them reacted. I caught William’s eye, and he gave me a look after watching Kara revel in her hit. He’d picked up on it too, and I pressed my lips together, trying not to smile at their strange way of flirting.
After a few seconds of circling, they lunged at each other. One slipped in and out of the other’s grasp, both dodging blows until Alex finally had Kara’s neck in the crook of his elbow. “Good thing you’re a girl. It wouldn’t be right to hit a girl,” he said loudly into her ear.
She stopped struggling, which made him loosen his grip. This time a cocky grin settled into her cheeks before she smacked him in the mouth with the back of her head. “Good thing you’re a boy,” she said. “I have no problem hitting boys.”
The people around me laughed, including William. Even
I couldn’t help but smile.
Alex licked the blood off of his upper lip and disappeared. “No abilities,” Mac grumbled from the sidelines, but
Kara didn’t let it distract her.
When Alex appeared at her side she was ready. With her eyes closed she blocked every blow as Alex snapped in and out of place trying every angle. First her palm knocked him in the chin. He disappeared. Then an elbow to the throat. He disappeared. A knee to the gut.
I’d never seen Kara fight like this, and I couldn’t look away. Everything was so fast, impossible to predict. The next time Alex reappeared it was from a distance.
“All right,” he said, feigning indifference. “So you win. Who’s next?”
Sam pushed Paul into the center of the crowd. “We are,” he said, throwing a few fake punches into the air.
Nics rolled her eyes. “Oh, give me a break.”
“All right,” Kara said. “I’ll take you, Sam. Alex gets Paul.” Sam’s smile dropped. “Wait, what?”
“This is going to be good,” William laughed next to me. Neither one of them knew what they were doing. Sam’s long lanky arms threw awkward punches, and Paul was slow without his ability to fly. By the time it was over, tiny Kara had Sam on his belly in a chokehold crying for mercy.
Nobody could keep from laughing.
I tried to relax and have fun that night, but I couldn’t get away from the image of Christoph standing in the middle of our camp. I hadn’t told anyone and wasn’t planning on it, but it was haunting me.
“Whoa, don’t mess with Kara,” Sam said as we huddled around our little fire. I hadn’t been listening to the conversation, but his loud voice caught my attention. “You saw what she did to Alex today. She’s a beast.”
I watched Kara through the flames of our campfire. She looked away from us, but she was holding back a smile.
“What she did to Alex? What about what she did to you?” Nics jabbed Sam in the ribs.
He shrugged. “Whatever. I don’t feel too bad if badass disappear guy can’t even touch her.”
“Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up,” Alex shook his head. His eyes stayed on Kara too long. She pretended not to notice, though I knew she did. She raised her eyebrows at me.
Really, Elyse?
I smiled at her through flickering ribbons of orange flame.
“Say it’s the perfect world,” Rachel said to the group. “You’re free to be who you are. No consequences. No prejudice. What’s the first thing you would do?”
“Start my own wine label,” Sam said without hesitating. “I’d make a killing.” All of us laughed, because he would. His wine was amazing.
Our laughter was contagious. The group next to us cheered and hollered at something. They sang too loudly, lyrics to a song I didn’t know. Anna and Chloe were over there somewhere with Mac. The stars were out. The air was fresh. People were happy tonight.
“I’d travel the world,” Alex answered. “My way.” He scooted forward, warming his hands by the fire.
“You can do that now, can’t you?” Rachel asked.
He shook his head. “Too risky. You can’t just appear on top of the Eiffel Tower without someone noticing.”
“I think we’d do the same,” Paul said looking at Rachel, and she nodded.
“How about you, William?” Sam asked.
He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. “Not much. Get a house.” He looked at me with mischievous eyes. “Make babies.”
His last two words threw the rest of the group into a riot of taunting jeers. I threw my hands over my face to seem like it was out of embarrassment, and maybe it was a little, but really I was hiding. Hiding from the truth. He bearhugged me from the side and kissed my cheeks until I lifted my hands and kissed him back. Just a quick touch of our lips to bring closure to the moment.
“But seriously,” Sam protested. “You could be a crimefighting superhero. Hypnotize bad-guys with your love stare.”
I let myself lean into William now that the focus was off of me, but I was still
red.
“That’s what I’d do,” Nics continued. “I’d be a good superhero, right?”
“I don’t know,” Sam answered. “You’re not so good at taking orders.”
“What?”
As the bickering started, I stopped listening. Kara was the only one who noticed. I couldn’t get my mind off of the idea of a baby, my baby. She didn’t say anything. She didn’t need to. Her eyes said enough. It’ll be okay.
But would it?
I tried to stay positive. Everyone else was. Things were looking up. We had a system. We were preparing for battle, talking about plans of action. Sure, nothing was decided about when to act against Christoph, when to expose our race and how, but we had a long way to go before we got there. At least we were headed in the right direction. We were closer to being where we should be, closer than we were when I was alone with Mac and William, or when I was locked in the mansion.
“Well tomorrow, I’m challenging Elyse,” Rachel said with sass. “I want to see what kind of a wild woman she’s turned into, training with Kara and Mac all day.” She smiled at me. “You and me, baby.”
I laughed at her feisty attitude. “You’re on.”
As I lay in bed next to William that night, I realized they never asked me what I’d do. Maybe to them it was obvious: try to heal the sick as best I could. That would have been my answer, but would it have been the truth? The thought scared me. The pressure. The expectation. The consequences. I knew what was right. What we should be fighting for. We all wanted freedom, but freedom wouldn’t come easily. Would all of this backfire? Would I find myself in a lab, held captive, being tested if things didn’t go as planned?
As I slept, I dreamt I was alone in the camp, walking in between patches of scattered sagebrush and picking off the tops of tall weeds that reached for my fingertips. The sun warmed my shoulders and the wind carried the spicy smell of pine trees with it.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone, but every time I turned to look, no one was there. Sweat collected on my palms with each glimpse of a man just out of sight. I didn’t need to see him. I knew who it was. Don’t be scared, I told myself. This is just a dream. My heart ignored the thought. It was too real. It kicked at my chest, and I heard it in my ears as I waited for him to come from a direction I did not expect.
My eyes were alert, snapping back and forth from tree to tree. They caught sight of something in front of me, just beyond a distant trunk—Christoph.
I knew I should run, but he just stood there, staring. “Whether it’s the humans or me. One of us is going to get to you. There’s no way out,” he said, his voice ringing with sick amusement as his lips curled.
He looked at me, snapped his fingers, and flames shot up the trees. Everything was burning.
I woke to the feeling of fire all around me.
14.
THE MOMENT MY EYES OPENED, I felt the heat. My lungs, eager for air, sucked in nothing but black smoke. I couldn’t breathe. I cupped my hands over my mouth and nose, but it didn’t help. Orange flames whipped around me, reaching for my bare skin and searing my clothes.
“William,” I choked. His face was beaded with sweat. “William!” I shook him, and he woke up gasping and coughing.
Without saying a word he jumped off the bed and wrapped a blanket around us. I shoved my bare feet into my boots and grabbed my dart gun and bag of darts from the bedside table, clutching them to my chest. Flames were shooting through the window, so we headed for the bedroom door.
“Let’s get out of here,” Alex yelled from across the burning living room. He and Kara were next to us in seconds.
“Anna!” I screamed. I pulled away from William, leaving the blanket and heading for my old room. I coughed and hacked as I inhaled the smoke, but I ignored my body.
Kara caught my arm. “Elyse, they’re not here,” she said over the crackling and popping of the fire. “Come on.”
“Wait!” I cried. I panicked as the remnants of my family home went up in flames around me. I needed one thing. The Art of War. I couldn’t leave without it.
No, Kara told me. It’s gone. Let it go. We’re going to die in here.
My eyes were watering, or maybe I was crying. I was angry, irrational, crazy. William threw the blanket around me again and dragged me toward Alex. Then, all I saw was white, and we were gone.
When we landed I didn’t recognize where we were. Everything around me was burning. People were running, screaming, fighting for their lives. We were being attacked. I strapped my dart gun holster to my leg and hit the buttons on my bracelet without thinking. William looked at me with worry, and I stared back, both of us pleading for the other to be safe. Without a word we took off toward the fight.
I recognized most of the faces around me, but no Anna or Chloe. Gunshots punched loud holes in the air. A woman fell, and I shot my first blood soaked dart into the back of a tall man with a gun. The dart was a hollow. He fell. He was as good as dead.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Kara wrestle a thick girl to the ground. She slit her throat with one fluid motion, and for a second I couldn’t look away. The screaming was carried through the wind—incessant.
To my left, a young boy began to sink into the ground like it was quicksand. I sent another dart into the chest of the older woman who was trying to bury him alive. I shot a second one into her neck just because the idea of burying someone alive made me sick.
My throat stung as I searched for Anna and Chloe. What sort of horror would they face? How would they defend themselves? I felt nauseated, but I couldn’t lose it now. I didn’t know if they were dead. They could be safe. Please let everyone be safe.
People ran, fought, shot weapons, scattered. Fire curled around the house and the trees. Smoke billowed into the sky turning it black. From the left a man charged at me with a knife, and I couldn’t get my dart ready fast enough. My heart beat wildly. I turned to run. Then I heard him fall and saw the arrow in his back. I didn’t know where he’d gotten the bow, but William stood behind him. He stared at me, warning me to be quicker.
“Be careful,” he yelled. We both turned and shot a pair of gunmen in the distance. “You need to get out of here.”
I shook my head and charged after the man causing the fire. It shot from his hands as he burned the world around him, the flames consuming trees, the house, people.
Heat waves blurred my vision and sweat rolled down the sides of my face as I closed in on him. I punched the buttons on my wrist again. Blood soaked the dart and dripped from my fingers. I aimed at the man with fire, but he spotted me and dodged the shot. I loaded again, but he was closer, aiming the flames at me. The heat, the smoke, everything began to swarm in. I grabbed a knife sticking up from the chest of an unfamiliar body and threw it in his direction. It spun fast, but he was quick, trained. The knife grazed his cheek, and that only made him angry.
I loaded another dart, but it was too late. I turned as he threw fire at me. The flames caught my back, and no matter how fast I tried to run, the heat kept up. I inhaled from the shock of pain, unable to breathe or scream. Then William was there. His arrow flew past me, and I prayed it hit the man, that it would extinguish the fire. I heard him cry out behind me and knew the flames must have stopped, but the burning continued.
I fell forward in agony, and rolled along the ground, but the fire ate away at my flesh. I saw William’s tortured face as he ran toward me. Then the familiar euphoria spread. His ability held me even when I was in pain. I no longer cared about pain. All I cared about was him. I couldn’t look away. I didn’t care that I was burning. When his knees slid in next to me, I heard him whisper into my ear.
“Sleep,” he said, and I obeyed.
***
I awoke submerged in water. My first instinct was to breathe, and it was wrong. Water filled my lungs, and my body convulsed, desperate to escape. Someone pulled me to the surface. I coughed and choked on air.
“You’re okay,” William said, and I wrapped my arms aro
und his neck. He picked me up, and my legs looped around the front of his body as he carried me to the shore. I was shaking. It felt like my back was still on fire, but I tried to stay calm and still.
“Take us back,” I insisted when I saw Alex. I didn’t know how I’d move, but I knew I had to try. “We have to go back. What about Anna, Chloe, Mac, everyone—”
“We aren’t going anywhere.” Alex looked at me like I was crazy and disappeared.
William set me on my feet, and I cried out. Even the smallest movements set me on fire again. The air against my skin felt like flames.
“Try and lie on your belly,” he said to me. My breath was shallow and quick, but I made my way to the ground wincing as each muscle in my back flexed. I let out a full breath when the front of my body relaxed against the dirt. William knelt down next to me, his ability flooding me with euphoria once again, until I no longer cared about the pain.
He took the knife from my boot, and I felt his fingers examining the burns on my back. His touch was thrilling, even though it stung. The knife cut my shirt in places that hadn’t been burned through so my whole back was exposed.
It felt good to get the fabric off, but the wind still licked my wounds with its fiery tongue. I was thankful the euphoria at least muted the pain.
“You’re okay,” he said softly. “It’ll be gone soon.”
I turned my head toward him and watched as he slid the knife across his palm. He didn’t flinch anymore, and I loved him so much for being here, for helping me.
As the drops trickled across my skin, I sighed with relief. “Thank you,” I said, feeling his blood heal my burns. He kissed my head, and I closed my eyes as he used his unwounded hand to spread it.
When he was done, he released his hold on me. I waited for the pain to return as I stood, trying not to move my back, but I didn’t need to. It didn’t hurt anymore. I held the remnants of my shirt to my chest, realizing it was the only shirt I had left. Everything was gone. I silently hoped my friends and family were still alive.
“Better?” William asked.
Uprising (Children of the Gods) Page 13