Allie's War Season One (6 page)

“Hey,” I managed. I tried to pull back my arm and hand, but he only gripped me tighter, exuding impatience as he dragged me along. “Hey...wait. Stop!”

He didn’t slow his steps.

I found myself trying to get close to him the other way, reaching towards him almost unconsciously...and a rush of nausea hit me, hard enough to make me stumble again. The man glanced back in the same instant, his pale eyes glinting in the light of the moon.

That strange nausea worsened.

My mind sifted backwards, explaining the facts to me belatedly.

He was a seer. He was a seer, and he wasn’t wearing one of those collars.

Allie...calm down,
he sent.

“Let me go!” I yanked on my hand again, fighting panic. “I’ll call SCARB!”

His reaction shocked me.

He laughed.

It had been a childish threat, spoken in desperation. Even so, his laughter startled me. I found myself following him again in spite of myself, still struggling to see his face in the dark, to remember what he looked like. There was too much light; I couldn’t see past it.

When he looked back, I saw my eyes reflected in his, glowing a pale green. He frowned, staring at me a few seconds longer, then looked away.

You’ll need to learn to control that,
he sent.

I held up my hand. It was back to normal, in the physical sense...but a sickly, green light now illuminated the lines of my palm, like from a headset or a handheld computer. I realized the light had to be coming from me, from my eyes.

The information wouldn’t wholly compute.

“You’ll need to learn to control that,” he said, speaking aloud that time.

His physical voice shocked me. It was deep. It also carried an accent, but not one I would’ve expected. It was Germanic-sounding, European.

He gestured briefly towards my face, still walking fast.

“Can you...stop doing that, Esteemed Bridge?” He continued pulling me along with him deeper into the trees, his voice strangely polite. “At some point, you must have learned to control it. See if you can now,” he suggested. “While we walk.”

“Who are you?” My voice shook. “What have you done to me?”

That time, he barely spared me a glance.

Still, I could have sworn I felt something like impatience coming off him again, wafting over me like a scent. On the surface, he only inclined his head, still walking fast as he gestured towards me with his free hand. The way he did it struck me as formal, perhaps even conveying respect, but he did it hurriedly.

Dehgoies.
The word landed directly in my mind.
Revik.

I could only struggle after him, fighting to think as I strove to keep up with his long legs.

Deh-go-ies,
he repeated, slower.
Re-vik.

“What is that?” I said. “A name?”

“I will answer whatever you ask...”

His physical voice shocked me again. Glancing back at me as if he felt my flinch, he tugged harder on my arm, leading me deeper into the trees.

“...But not
now,
Esteemed Bridge,” he finished belatedly.

“Where are we going?” I tried to piece together what happened in the diner. “Why do you keep calling me that? Where are you taking me?”

“Please be quiet.” He held a finger to his lips. “Please.”

“No,” I snapped. “I need you to stop! I need you to stop right now!”

He halted at once, so quickly I ran into him.

He didn’t release my arm, but turned, meeting my gaze. His eyes looked cold, glass-like in the dim light. He stared down at me warily, as if trying to assess what I might do.

I need to get us a car,
he explained.
We have to leave the city, Allie...now. Before they set up blockades.

“Blockades?”

He made an irritated-sounding clicking noise with his tongue, one that sounded oddly familiar to me.

You don’t remember any of it?
he sent.
What you did in that diner?
He gestured towards my face with his free hand.
Every intelligence group and law enforcement branch in San Francisco will be after you once that surveillance feed hits the wires. How can you be surprised by the urgency I am feeling? Now? Given what you did?

I stared up at him.

In desperation, I flipped over the arm connected to the wrist he held, showing him the barcode on my inner arm. I pointed out the “H” designation from among my collection of tats.

“I’m human. Hu-man. Get it?”

He held up his own arm, showing me his racial-cat tattoo. I lowered mine, staring at the “H” on his pale skin in disbelief.

“I’m not,” he said, his voice cold.

Looking away at my silence, his eyes scanned the pitch black trees.

Can we go now?

“Where are you taking me?”

We must leave the city,
he repeated, as if talking to a rather stupid child.
The Rooks are here...
His mouth firmed to a frown.
...Terian. He worries me more than your human police. Or even SCARB, although I’m sure he will come in that guise, as well.

Seeing my bewildered look, he let out a sharp exhale, clicking again.

Rooks,
he repeated.
Other seers. I will explain later.
His thoughts grew as impatient as his voice.
Can we go? Are you done asking me questions I could answer better en route, Esteemed Bridge? Or would you prefer to spend your life in a cage?

“Why do you keep calling me—”

I don’t have time for you to have an emotional reaction right now!
he sent, his thoughts cutting into mine.
Are you going to pretend you didn’t cause a fucking scene at that restaurant? That your eyes aren’t glowing...

He motioned towards my face.

...Even now? As we speak?

When I didn’t answer, he clicked at me more loudly. Pulling on my arm, not roughly but purely out of a desire to move me forward, he switched back to his physical voice as he started walking.

“You are at risk, Esteemed Bridge. You understand that this is serious?”

“Wait!” I felt the first real flickering of fear. “I’m not going
anywhere
with you! Besides, I can’t. I’ve got this GPS thing, and...”

Stopping dead, he reversed direction before I could regain my balance. He stepped towards me and I stumbled backwards, trying to get out of his way. Standing less than a foot away, he stared down at me.

Listen to me, sister,
he sent.
Hear this, for it is the last time I will say it.

His thoughts turned ice cold.

You cannot go home, Esteemed Bridge. Even without the Rooks. You cannot.

He gestured sharply, a downward slash.

...It is over. It is
over
for you, this human life. Do you hear me, Esteemed One? Do not make the mistake of thinking you can go back. You cannot go back. Never, Allie.

I stared up at him, fighting for words.

His eyes continued to study mine, as if waiting for me to understand.

You are already a criminal,
he added.
...a violent one. If you are a seer, they will show you no mercy. Your life living among them is finished. It is absolutely imperative that you understand this. You cannot trust humans anymore. Any humans, Allie.

Briefly, I saw a flicker of sympathy in his eyes.

Feel whatever grief you need to feel about this, then let it go,
he advised.
Do it soon. It will save you much heartache later. Or worse, a life of slavery and torture like nothing you can imagine, Bridge Alyson.

My jaw fell open. I continued to stare up at him.

“The boy,” he said, exasperated.
...You threw him. Across the room.

He made that odd clicking sound with his tongue, shaking his head.

I could not believe it. I
still
do not believe it. They did not warn me you would be telekinetic!

He sounded almost angry.

Staring up at him, I clenched my fists, forcing my brain to work.

Jon. He meant Jon.

There’d been witnesses at the diner.

They’d seen me throw Jon across the room. There would have been surveillance, like this guy said. They would assume it was some form of telekinesis. What else would explain what happened, since I hadn’t laid a hand on him?

Telekinetic, christ. I’d never heard of a telekinetic seer before.

Well, other than...

I stared up at him, eyes wide.

“Yes.” The man nodded grimly.
You will be little Syrimne. Little female Syrimne and all the babies she could make. If SCARB finds you, your citizenship, even your sentience categorization will be revoked. That H mark you value so much...

He motioned towards my racial-cat tattoo.

...It will be burned right off of your arm.

His mouth formed a grim line as he waited for me to catch up.

I couldn’t, though.

I couldn’t get past the Syrimne thing.

Syrimne was the bogey-man to most humans, even my own parents. In school, I’d seen all the old footage of him blowing up oil tankers and downing planes during World War I. He did all of it with his mind, sometimes from hundreds of miles away. It took an army to get him down, and more than half of them had been seers, too.

The black-haired man’s clicking sound grew softer, and contained more sympathy again.

We must leave here, Esteemed Bridge. Even your human brother understood this. He did not like it...but he understood. He let us go.

I bit my tongue, hard enough to taste blood. The man in front of me looked to be about 6’6” or 6’7”, barefoot. I didn’t stand a chance against him.

If he was telling the truth, I had nowhere to go anyway.

I watched his eyes flicker over mine. A hint of emotion grew discernible in the dark. Then, out of nowhere, that weird nausea-pain feeling plumed off him in a cloud. It enveloped me, heating my skin, taking my breath. It brought my own nausea back, forcing a low gasp from my throat. I felt my cheeks warm, even as it hit me that the feeling was almost...

Sexual.

God. It was definitely sexual...or had a flavor of sex woven into it somehow. But it was different than an ordinary wanting of sex, too. Truthfully, it was like nothing I’d ever felt before. It was a tangible pulling on some part of me, making me want to touch him.

Before I could think, the man was beside me. His fingers circled my upper arms.

I am here to help you.
He hesitated, pulling me closer to where he stood.
Trust me. Please...trust me. I won’t hurt you, Allie. I can get you out safely. I promise.

I felt my throat close. “And that’s my only option?” I said. “To get out?”

His fingers loosened.

Yes,
he sent, stepping back. His eyes watched mine with that unnerving scrutiny. “Your human family,” he began aloud, then switched to his mind.
There might still be time to move them. If I can get in contact with my people, they might be able to—

A flash lit the clearing.

With it came a
thwup-thwup
sound, like staccato inhales of breath. The man beside me moved like liquid shadow.

He shoved me, hard.

Before I could put the different pieces together inside my mind, my feet had already separated from the ground. I flew through the air...

...and slammed, hard, into the trunk of a nearby redwood tree.

My face smacked into rough bark. Pain sucked the air from my lungs, blinding me even as it blanked out my mind. I couldn’t hear, couldn’t breathe as I crumpled in mud and pine needles. The pure shock and intensity of that pain both woke me up and stunned me in the same breath.