Twenty-nine
KIMMY SAT WITH four other officers in a black Honda Civic behind Chelsea’s hotel. She had double-checked Peter was out of the way, both by calling him and with the tracker she had installed on his phone. Thanks to his cooperation, the plan was turning out to be a glorious success. Elation coursed through her veins with every beat of her heart. Alex had no idea his young prisoners were escaping. She suppressed a chuckle. Escaping while he was off trying to bang, no less.
A single gunshot sliced through the air and sent a spike of fear through Kimmy’s core. “No, no, no!” This could not be happening! Panic ricocheted through her body. Peter was supposed to have been safe. She dove from the car and ran for the café, her heart throwing itself repeatedly against her constricting chest. She had made a catastrophic error in judgment. Alex’s mind reading abilities were more extensive than she had imagined. He had found Peter by using information from Chelsea’s willing thoughts. She cursed her stupidity as she ran. She ought to have considered the possibility. Why hadn’t she been better prepared for this? Why had she left Peter alone? Alex had tried to kill him once before. The same could be said for half the people Alex knew, but still. Stupid, stupid, stupid!
Kimmy careened around the corner and skidded to a bone-jarring halt. Peter lay in a swiftly spreading circle of his own blood. Horror ripped through her, saturating her soul and flooding her mind. She dropped to her knees and clasped his hand between hers. He still had a pulse. Her heart thudded in her ears, a wild drumbeat of terror. If Peter died, it would be one hundred percent her fault. How could she have allowed this to happen? How could she stand here and just watch him die? Her breathing was too loud, her ribcage too tight. Supernatural law demanded she wait for an ambulance. She sucked in a shuttering breath, her stomach roiling at the thought. By the time they arrived, Peter would be dead.
The rest of the team fanned out in search of Alex. Kimmy stayed frozen at Peter’s side. Alex was long gone. He had used his powers to duck out of sight and had already returned to the school.
Crowds of curious civilians streamed from storefronts up and down the street. Kimmy squeezed her eyes shut and whispered a frantic prayer. “Dear God, I am so sorry. I am going to break the law.” She had to heal Peter before anyone realized how badly he had been injured. She squeezed his limp fingers and channeled her angelic healing power from her hand to his. His blood clotted, regenerated, and expelled the contaminates from his wound.
A strangled screech sent a jolt of shock through Kimmy’s bones. Chelsea plowed through the crowd to Peter’s side. Kimmy cursed under her breath, the opposite of angelic serenity. She couldn’t heal Peter in front of a human without an extended stay in supernatural prison. But how could she let an innocent boy die because his ex-girlfriend had bad timing? She pressed her lips into a determined line and teleported bullet fragments from Peter’s chest. Alex had begun enlightening Chelsea. Kimmy might as well finish the job.
Enlightenment was a term supers used to describe the process in which a human became aware of the supernatural world. Chelsea knew there was something off about Alex. Today she would discover the existence of angels.
Kimmy finished cleaning the wound and repaired Peter’s internal organs. She healed him with holy light, an angelic energy force of immense power. Peter took a shuttering breath. His eyes flew open, and his face contorted in pain. Kimmy pressed a hand to his forehead to take away his distress. She made his blood cells replicate at an accelerated pace but left the jagged hole in his chest alone. She could not risk enlightening everyone around them. The OSC would have her killed. Peter would get stitched up at the hospital and be good as new.
“You’re one of them,” Chelsea breathed, her eyes alight with awe.
Kimmy looked up to the sky and silently prayed for patience. A human’s reaction to the supernatural world varied from person to person. Some feared supers and wanted nothing to do with them. Others despised them and tried to eliminate them. And some, like Chelsea, thought they were godlike beings who deserved worship. Chelsea was staring at Kimmy as if she was her fairy godmother. Kimmy squirmed beneath her gaze. Being mistaken for a secretary was preferable to that look. Kimmy was far from perfect, but she was the only one who knew.
The ambulance screeched up in a blaze of light and noise. Kimmy leapt in alongside Peter and left Chelsea to gaze at the place where she had stood as if the pavement itself was a miracle.
An EMT gave Peter something for the pain. His eyelids drooped, and he relaxed into unconsciousness. Kimmy sighed. She would have a lot of explaining to do when he woke. She pressed a cool hand to her throbbing forehead. She needed donuts and coffee for this one.
Kimmy waited for Peter to come out of surgery in a VIP hospital lounge. She rested her chin in her hand in a conscious effort to relax. The nagging question still haunted her thoughts. What would she have done if he had died on her watch? It would have torn her apart for reasons she didn’t fully understand. Peter had always been respectful and cooperative and extremely good under pressure. She furrowed her brow. She needed to stop putting him in dangerous situations, no matter how well he handled them. Sadness clouded her thoughts and weighed heavily on her heart. If it weren’t for his criminal record, he would have made an excellent cop.
Kimmy started in her chair and shook off the melancholy. What was she thinking? Peter had been an inmate a week ago. She devoured a donut and gazed out the window at the plain brick building next door. Did she have an emotional irregularity? Was it Peter Jenkins? Her mind collected the facts and presented them chronologically. She had testified at his trial because she commended his bravery and admired how he had stood up for what was right, even against his friends. She had sought him out back in Vancouver, half to get his help, half to check up on him. She had dragged him across the country to arrest his former friend. And just a few hours ago, she had broken half a dozen supernatural laws to save his life. Kimmy knit her brow. She was incapable of making a single sound decision where Peter was concerned. She devoured another three donuts.
The hospital staff let her visit Peter as soon as he was out of surgery. He was propped up in bed with too many pillows at his back and smiling like the hero that he was. He looked far too happy for someone who had been shot that afternoon.
“Doc says I’ll be out of here by tomorrow morning.” He surprised them both by hugging her. “Uh oh, sorry. That was, un, weird. But you’re like my guardian angel or something.” She stifled a laugh. He had no idea how literal his words were. “And that was painfully corny.” He covered his eyes with a hand.
“What do you remember?” Her voice was soft, her eyes probing.
“Alex said he was going to kill me and shot me from point blank range. The next thing I remember, you were there.” He frowned. “Alex never misses.”
Her stomach clenched with nerves. She had to explain everything, then. “You’re right. Alex rarely misses.” Kimmy took a breath and launched into a lengthy description of the supernatural world. He interrupted her over and over with question after question that drained her on every level. She found herself praying a nurse would come and drug him into sleep.
“So, Alex does use mind control?” Peter squinted at her, his skepticism obvious in the flicker of doubt behind his kind green eyes.
“Yes. Alex uses mind control, I’m an angel who heals fatal bullet wounds, and Charles is a mage who can control the elements.”
“Wait, what? Charles Banks? Nerdy kid with glasses can control the elements?”
Kimmy laughed. She sobered quickly. “You can’t tell anyone about this.”
“Who’d believe me if I did??”
“Good point.” She flashed him a grin. It was nice when people saw reason.
“What happened with Susan and Nova? They make it out safely?”
Kimmy bowed her head. “Alex wasn’t gone as long as we hoped. He still has fifteen hostages, including Nova and the red-haired student he shot yesterday. Nineteen students escaped, but Susan,
Chris, and Nova were not among them.”
“You tried your best.” He took her hand and squeezed it. “Just be patient with your brilliance.”
Kimmy’s heart glowed with warmth. She smiled shyly and tried not to get lost in his amazing eyes. “You should get some sleep. The way our lives are going, tomorrow will be even crazier than today.” She released his hand. Her fingers felt cold without his callused palm firm against hers.
“How much crazier can it get?” Peter yawned and adjusted his pillows. A nurse appeared to check his vitals and added more painkillers to his IV. Kimmy stood to leave. He snagged her hand. “Don’t go yet. I want to know more about supers. I know you hate questions, so how about you answer them before I ask.”
Kimmy smiled, touched he had observed her discomfort. She began with the story of how Charles had used magic to break into Alex’s getaway car and laughingly informed him that his best friend was a Dark. Peter hung on every word until he grew so drowsy, he could barely keep his eyes open.
Just when she thought he had drifted into dreamland, he gazed up at her with a goofy grin. “You’re pretty.” He winked with sleepy effort.
“How many painkillers did they give you?”
“It’s good you’re pretty. I need a hot sidekick to fight crime with.”
She snorted. “You’re the sidekick.”
Thirty
MAX GAZED AT the girl he had loved for most of his life, yet still had the will to betray. Amy had fallen asleep, slumped awkwardly against her armrest with her hands cuffed tightly behind her back. Guilt twisted in his gut like a dull, rusty blade. How could he do this to her after everything he had already done? How could he threaten her life after taking her little sister’s?
His phone vibrated in his hand. He glimpsed Alex’s picture and rushed to answer the call. “I’ve had a shitty day. Tell me you have good news,” Alex demanded before Max even got the phone to his ear.
“Zack hasn’t taken the bait yet.” He kept his voice low to avoid waking Amy.
Max wrenched the phone away from his ear as Alex shrieked a stream of profanities. “You better have results by the time I get there. If you don’t, Amy will take his place.”
His stomach churned with queasiness. “When are you going to arrive, exactly? Hasn’t this gone on long enough?”
“I’ll get there when I get there. I’ve had a slight complication on my end.”
“What sort of complication?”
“Mind your business, Max. You focus on getting Zack in position. I’ll handle the rest.”
“How are the payouts?”
“Excellent, but you won’t see much of the money unless…”
“Unless I get Zack, I know.” Max put a hand to his forehead and buried it in his palm. “It’s not my fault he switched rooms at the last minute.”
“Quit whining and get me Zack!” Alex hung up on him.
Max glared at the wall with frustration simmering in his chest. This ought to have been easy. It was supposed to have been a simple exchange, Zack for the cash. Max didn’t know, or care, what Alex planned to do with him. He had only been paid to hold Zack captive until Alex showed up. But Charles and Zack had switched rooms, making the deal he had struck with Alex impossible for him to uphold. He had settled for Amy out of desperation in the hopes of using her to bait Zack. Max gritted his teeth. Judging by his absence, Zack’s love for her was a downright lie.
“Who were you talking to?” Max jumped. Amy had spoken with her eyes still closed.
“Of course you were faking sleep. How much did you hear?”
“What payouts?” Her gray eyes burned bright with anger.
Max wilted beneath her gaze. Amy was smart. How long before she realized he was working with her worst enemy? He had to distract her. “You want some food?”
“You have a habit of offering me food whenever you’re hiding something. You were talking to Alex, weren’t you? He’s wanted Zack all along.”
Max nodded mutely and braced himself for a five-star Amy explosion. Instead, she turned away with a look of disgust. Anger churned deep in his stomach, smack up against a wall of solid self-loathing. “You have no idea what it’s been like all these years.”
“Right back at you.” Her tone was acidic.
He threw his hands into the air. “I didn’t have a choice!”
When Max was little, he had done everything humanly possible to avoid Amy’s scorn. Years later, it still had the same toxic effect on him. Amy had a gift for making others crave her approval. She had used this like a weapon throughout school, pitting friends against each other until hers was the only opinion that mattered.
“You didn’t have a choice, huh? That’s what the Nazis used to say. Are you using Zack’s life to fund your education, or have you already done that by dealing drugs?”
“Just shut up,” he said and switched on the TV to avoid her sour looks. He stared, unseeing, at the channels whizzing past. The more time he spent with her, the guiltier he felt. He slumped against his armrest with his world narrowing to a thin slit of defeat. It was too late to rethink his decisions. He had gone way too far to take it all back.
“Wait!” Amy cried. “Go back to CBC.”
Max jerked at her outburst and automatically did what she ordered. He rolled his eyes. Yet another example of the power she held. A newscaster was standing in front of Hilltop Middle, and behind her, several bedraggled children could be seen clinging to their loved ones.
“They made it out! She’s okay!” Amy looked about to faint with relief.
“Alex mentioned some complications. Talk about an understatement.”
“Where is she? I don’t see her.” Amy leaned forward in her seat with her eyes locked on the TV screen.
They both fell silent and listened to the newscaster explain that only half of Alex’s hostages had escaped. Max’s stomach twisted along with his heart. Susan was not one of the lucky ones. She was still stuck in that classroom with Alex, still a prisoner with even fewer people around for him to torture.
Max grabbed his phone and pulled up Alex’s website. He was sweating so much he had to wipe his thumb on his pants before he could get past his touch ID. The page showed a slide show of sorts, stills of students and the shape they were in. Amy leaned in to watch. Susan’s picture popped up fourth. Max paused the video and stared at his screen in horror. Susan was cradling a dead girl in her arms.
Amy sobbed. Max hugged her on instinct. He had been close with Amy’s sisters before little Katie’s death. Susan had always been his favorite. Seeing what Alex had done to her made him want to murder him, and himself.
Amy pulled away, her eyes shining with tears. “How can you let him do this to a girl you used to piggyback around this living room?”
He fought to speak around the lump in his throat. “It’s sick and wrong, but I can’t stop it. I would if I could.” Acidic shame burned his skin. He was weak and a coward.
“The girl she’s hugging was one of her best friends.” Amy hurled words at him like daggers to his heart. “Sarah was eleven years old.”
Max snatched up his phone and hid behind its icon-filled screen. Would Amy ever understand how much losing Katie had broken him? Would she ever realize how sorry he was for that terrible, life-altering night?
He scrolled through his photos for something to do and happened across the picture of Amy that he had secretly snapped when she wasn’t wearing pants. Inspiration struck in the form of evil genius. What better way to lure Zack here than to send him that half naked picture? Zack would jump to the worst possible conclusion, and if he had any self-respect at all, he’d hightail it there to rescue her.
He copied Zack’s number from Amy’s phone and attached the picture to a text from his burner. Guilt snaked through him as he hit send. He had given Zack undeniable proof that Amy was in trouble. The picture would ruin him if he knew Amy’s history. Max gritted his teeth against a burst of self-hatred. He peeked at Amy, and his hate solidified into icy re
solve. He had to save her from Alex. He had no other choice.
Thirty-one
SUSAN OPENED HER eyes to Alex’s sneering face. “Get up. You won’t want to miss our next game.” He kicked Chris in the gut. She scrambled to shake Ryan, José, and Sam awake before he did the same to them.
Ryan sat up, his expression pained. “What time is it?”
Susan checked her watch. “A little after three a.m.”
José grimaced. “This can’t be good.”
Alex strode around the room, kicking people into consciousness. “Wake up, little turds. I have a brilliant new game.”
Friends exchanged nervous glances. People shot Alex looks of mingled fear and dread. Susan instinctively moved closer to Chris. Alex’s games were real-life nightmares.
“This game will have twelve players. One hour from now, there will only be eleven.” Alex paused for dramatic effect and sickened them all with a manic grin. “And do you want to know the best part? You’re the ones who will get to decide who dies! We’ll put it to a vote and have a lesson in democracy.” Susan’s gut clenched, releasing a spasm of pain that tore through her body and pierced the center of her heart. Alex was going to murder someone else. Chris? Jake? Ryan? She cringed away from the thought. Alex had already killed two of their classmates. How many more were going to die?
Alex took in their shell-shocked faces with a gleeful smirk that turned his blue eyes to ice. “Come on. Don’t look so bummed! You can use this to your advantage. Take the opportunity to off your sixth-grade nemesis. Eliminate that bestie who’s crushing on your girl. Your options are limitless. The only catch is you have to get the majority to agree with you. Think of it as real-world debate class. Make a case to spare your friends. Do it by destroying your enemies.” Alex sat behind his desk and regarded them expectantly.
“We don’t have much time.” Ryan’s words were threaded with panic. “Who should we pick?”
Blood Moon's Servant: A Paranormal Thriller Page 19