Anarchy (The Stone Legacy Series Book 4) (4 page)

Chapter Six

The next morning, Jayden woke to an empty hotel room. The door was propped open, and the blanket Hawa had slept under the night before was folded and placed at the foot of the mattress.

He picked himself off the floor and cautiously moved into the hall to scout for her. She had to be somewhere close—if she hadn’t ditched him completely. He leaned against the cold metal railing and peered down at the crowds of kids loitering inside the hotel lobby. It was a weekday, and none of them were in school. They probably didn’t go at all.

Hawa walked through the front entrance wearing a pair of dark wash jeans and a white T-shirt with a low neckline—different clothes than she’d worn the day before. Jayden wove down the flights of stairs until he reached the bottom floor. His shoes scuffed against the old wood, worn and abused from years of neglect.

Hawa flashed an awkward smile. “Hey. I’m glad you’re awake.” She tossed a shirt at him.

It smacked him in the chest and he fumbled not to let it drop to the floor. “What’s this?” Jay held up a blue polo shirt and crinkled his nose. “Trying to say I’d look better dressed like a prep?”

Hawa grinned, eyeing him. “I didn’t say that, but you never know. Maybe you should try to change your look every once in a while.” She passed him with that confident trademark strut.

“Hey.” Jay took a few quick steps to catch up with her. “Where did you get the clothes, anyway?”

“Thrift store.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder. “You can wash what you’re wearing in the sink and hang them next to the window in our room to dry, but we don’t want you wandering around naked, meanwhile.”

He felt the cotton fabric between his fingers. “So…you actually bought this for me?”

Hawa glanced over her shoulder at him. “Don’t make a
thing
out of it. I just didn’t want to smell you.”

“Brisa!”
The little girl they called Modem threw her arms around Hawa’s waist. “Where have you been? I’ve been looking all over for you.” She grabbed Hawa by the hand and dragged her forward.

Hawa glanced over her shoulder at Jayden as she was pulled away. “Come on.” Hawa waved him forward. “We need to talk, and Modem won’t leave me alone until she shows me what she has.”

Jayden followed them into a hallway, to the last hotel room on the right. The inside was packed with stacks of disassembled electronics and flashing computer parts with spliced wires joined with others to make what he could only assume was some kind of semi-genius, semi-insane computer laboratory. Each outlet in the room had either an extension cord or a second outlet plug with five or six more plugs attached, everything jam-packed and full to capacity.

Modem let go of the sprinter’s hand and rushed to a computer screen sitting on the floor. She stooped beside a keyboard and tapped on the keys, then hit enter. The girl shot up to her feet and extended her hands, doing jazz fingers. “Ta da!” Jayden glanced around the room, waiting for whatever she’d done to be obvious so he didn’t feel like such an ass, but nothing happened. “Pretty cool, huh?” Modem leaned against the wall. She crossed her arms and tilted her head to the side with a proud smirk.

Jayden whispered to Hawa. “I don’t get it.”

Modem’s brow furrowed. “Of course you don’t get it.” She rolled her eyes and let out a heavy sigh. “Only people who know about hacking into the cable network get it. And that’s not you.”

Hawa laughed, and he was almost sure it was the first time he’d ever seen her genuinely smile. She was actually kinda…pretty.

“Modem’s a huge fan of all things top secret.” Hawa held out her fist, and the girl bumped it with her own smaller fist.

“We just got free cable, thanks to my mad skills,” Modem said. She hooked her thumbs in the front pockets of her jeans. “Like I said, I’m the best hacker between here and Fifty-Fourth Street.”

“So, the big news is…” Jayden rubbed the back of his neck. “You guys have TV now?”

“That’s right.” Hawa ruffled the kinky curls on the girl’s head. “We have TV.” She pointed at Modem, and the girl’s smile vanished. “But only the educational stuff, all right? No staying up late to watch scary movies.”

“What about—”

“
No.
No
Chainsaw Massacre
. I’m not even kidding.”

Modem blew out a puff of air. “Fine. I got the cable more for the little kids, anyway.” She walked past Jayden, holding his gaze. “Besides.” She stopped beside him and scanned his body, as if she were sizing him up. “I have more interesting things to do at night these days.”

Jayden shifted his weight. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Modem shrugged, and then walked out of the room, leaving him and Hawa alone once again.

“Man.” Jayden shook his head. “That kid is something.”

“She’s a genius.” Hawa sighed. “Too bad her parents couldn’t raise her. She could have been the next Steve Jobs.” Hawa tapped her index finger on her temple. “She’s so damn smart, but she’s too busy using her talents for stuff that’ll only waste her life.”

“She’s just a kid. You can cut her some slack.”

“Around here, being a kid stops when you’re old enough to pick pockets or beg on the street. The
really
young ones get taken care of. But Modem…” Hawa stared at the empty doorway as if the girl were still there. “She grew up way too fast.”

Jayden didn’t respond. He wasn’t sure how. Kids and the whole maternal instinct thing were way beyond him. He’d thought it way beyond Hawa too. But after she’d led him here, to this abandoned hotel all these kids called home, it was obvious her past was way more complicated than he’d thought, and her emotional well wasn’t nearly as shallow.

“Anyway.” Hawa gestured to the shirt in Jayden’s hand. “Change and we’ll get down to business.”

“What business?”

“Uh, figuring out why your ability is freaking out and you’re seeing Contessa every five seconds. Obviously.”

“Oh. Right.” Jayden turned, giving her his back. Not that he was shy to change in front of her, but his chest was still jacked up from Sarian’s attack and it was taking way longer to heal than he’d thought. Even after Peter and Zanya had both worked to heal him, it had only gotten so much better.

Turned out dead guys didn’t heal so well.

He slipped off his shirt and drew the new one over his head. Once he’d pulled it over his chest, he turned back to face her. “Done. Let’s go.”

“Go?”

Jayden shifted his weight. “Yeah. You said we had to ‘get down to business.’ You…” He quickly scanned the room. “You wanna do it here?”

Hawa snorted. “You make it sound like we’re going to sneak off to have a quickie.” She shut and locked the door to Modem’s room. “Just chill out. We need to figure out how to access your ability without it making you double over.”

“Good luck. I tried yesterday and it was an epic fail.”

She turned and leaned against the door, analyzing him. “You haven’t tried everything or you would have figured it out.” She pushed off the door and walked toward him. “The good news is we know you still have your ability.” She rested her hands on her hips and peered at him. “The bad news is you have no idea how to access it without it going rogue.” She crossed one arm over her chest and tapped an index finger against her lips while thinking. Jayden’s eyes flickered down to her cleavage.

Shit
.

He immediately trained his gaze to the floor.

Don’t look at the sprinter’s boobs.

Don’t look at the sprinter’s boobs.

“Wow. You really need to work on your bedside manners.” She tugged up on the neckline of her top.

Jayden froze and slowly dragged his gaze to her face. “What did you just say?”

“I said you don’t have to be so obnoxious. You act like you’ve never seen cleavage before.”

“You…you heard me?”

Hawa snorted. “Don’t look at the sprinter’s boobs,” she mimicked in an obnoxious tone. “You got some drool…” she brushed her finger over the corner of her mouth, “right there.”

Dread settled in his bones. “I didn’t say that aloud.” He slumped against the wall and rubbed his face. “Either that or I’m going bat shit crazy.”

“I’d say that’s the more probable option.”

“I’m going to try something. Turn around.” She hesitated, and then did what he asked.

“Okay.” He brushed his fingers together. “Now just…listen.” The room fell silent. Jayden shut his eyes and thought of the name of his favorite band.

“What’s that?”

Jayden’s eyes shot open. “What is
what
?” The last word came out in a soft, low tone.

Hawa turned to face him. “The Ataris. Atris…whatever. I don’t know what that is.”

Jayden exhaled a sharp breath and swallowed down the lump in his throat.

Hawa’s lips pressed into a tight line. “You better tell me what’s going on.”

Jayden clenched and unclenched his jaw. He ran his hands over his hair and wove his fingers together behind his head.

“Hey…” Hawa’s tone had softened. “What’s going on?”

“I didn’t say
The Ataris
.”

“Okay? What did you say, then?”

“No. You don’t get it. I didn’t
say
it. I thought it. And you heard me.”

Chapter Seven

“What the hell do you mean, you
thought
it?” Hawa narrowed her eyes.

“Exactly what I said. I didn’t
say
anything.”

“So…you’re telepathic now?”

“How the hell should I know?” He pressed his eyes shut and ground his teeth. This was too much. One second he was alive, the next he wasn’t, then he was stuck in the underworld sharing bunk space with a trillion other souls for way longer than he cared to remember, and then he was alive again—but not really—and now his ability had gone rogue. That, or totally changed. If there was a limit for weird, this had to be it.

A steady ticking prompted Jayden to open his eyes. Hawa stood, tapping her boot on the wood floor, biting the inside of her cheek. “It seems like your ability has morphed. Changed. But into what?” She stopped tapping her foot and cocked her head to the side. “How far away can I be? I mean…” She backed up a few steps. “Can you think something loud enough for me to hear it all the way across the room?”

Jayden shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. Suddenly, he didn’t want to explore this new power anymore. The way she looked at him made him feel like a freak, and the last thing he wanted to be, now that he’d gotten away from Renato’s calculating stare, was a different kind of freak. Been there, done that. “I…” His jaw ticked. “I don’t know. I don’t want to do this right now.” He stormed past her, flung open the door, and charged down the hall, turning sideways to squeeze between kids kicking around a half-inflated ball.

“Hey,” Hawa called out in a harsh whisper. Jayden didn’t look back. He quickened his pace until he reached the side door near the alley, and swung open the door.

Blade stood in the shadowed street below the dead neon sign, talking to some guy in a hoodie. Blade turned and stared at Jayden, then arched his eyebrows. “Going somewhere?”

Jayden pushed past them. “I’m leaving. Thanks for the
hospitality
.”

“Stop.” The word was a command rather than a suggestion, and Jayden wasn’t in the mood. He had to get out of there before he did something he’d regret—something that reflected the mounting weight in his gut and the sweltering heat that accompanied it. Talking to Blade wouldn’t help cure that. Besides, Hawa could have caught up with him in the blink of an eye if she’d wanted by using her ability, though she probably didn’t want to expose how fast she really was. Better for him. It meant as long as he stayed in the public eye, he could outpace her.

“Hey, asshole,” Blade shouted. “I said wait.”

Jayden froze, his hands balled into tight fists. When Blade’s hand grabbed Jayden’s shoulder from behind, Jay grabbed the guy’s wrist, seething through his teeth. “I
really
want you to leave me alone right now.”

A low laugh bubbled from Blade’s chest. “You think you can tell me what to do?” As Jay turned to face him, Blade snapped his head forward and slammed right into Jayden’s nose. The cracking of the bone-on-bone echoed in his ears. His head flew back and he stumbled, reaching for something to cling to as he fell. He caught a storm pipe and gripped it as hard as he could, blinking through blurred vision. He peered at the fuzzy figure of Blade, who walked toward him, clenching something shiny in his hand. A glint of light reflected off the sharp, steel surface.

If Jayden weren’t already dead, he’d be worried. But the fact was, a knife—or any other weapon, for that matter—couldn’t kill him.

The next fact was, if Blade stabbed him and Jay didn’t bleed, Blade would know he wasn’t exactly normal. And
that
would cause a problem. Maybe not so much for him, but for Hawa.

Jayden shook his head in an attempt to clear the receding fog from the edges of his sight. “Look, man.” He stood upright, his vision finally cleared. “You just caught me on a bad day. I wasn’t trying to start anything. I just want to be left alone.”

The snake tattooed around Blade’s biceps seemed to flex as he gripped the knife.

Jay’s attention shifted over Blade’s shoulder to Hawa, who stormed toward them, looking royally pissed. “Put it down, Blade.” She passed him and stopped right in front of Jay. With black strands of hair hanging on either side of her sharp cheekbones, she pushed out her chin and glared. “Planning on ditching me, huh?” She shoved him in the chest. “I don’t give a damn what you do or where you go. But don’t you dare say a word about the Thirteenth Street Hotel, got it?” She jabbed her finger in his face. “These kids need this place, and—”

Jayden reached up and grabbed her wrist, and gently brought her hand down. “I won’t say anything. I promise.”

Hawa blinked. Her gaze flickered to his fingers pressed over her skin. Her throat tightened. “You’re cold,” she whispered.

Jayden let go of her. Of course, the only thing she’d notice about him was how he was different. He should be used to that by now. All his life he was always the black sheep. Too much of an asshole to get along with most guys, and too laid back to get along with most girls. Odd powers, and now being dead—kinda. He didn’t fit anywhere.

Now, more than ever, he wished Zanya were still around to watch old Godzilla movies and eat junk food while they laughed at the actors in toothpaste commercials. But she wasn’t, and even if things could go back to the way they were when they were friends, Zanya would never be his again. It was a fact he could live with, if he could just stop caring.

“Well,
I
say he can’t go.” Blade’s voice broke Jayden out of his thoughts. With the knife still in his hand, Blade walked toward them and stopped beside Hawa. “You think just because you want to go means you can?” He scoffed and looked at Hawa. “You didn’t tell this
gringo
anything about our place before you brought him here, did you?”

She returned his sharp glare. “Because he doesn’t need to know, Blade. He’s a guest.”

Blade’s gaze darkened and he trained his focus back to Jayden. “Na.” He pointed the curved blade at Jayden. “He’s more than that. I can tell.” Blade poised the tip of the knife over Jay’s heart.

Hawa smacked Blade’s hand aside. “What the hell is your problem?”

Every muscle in Jayden’s body tensed. It was clear Blade was some kind of badass around these parts, and Hawa defying him couldn’t have been a good move. She’d said he’d kick her out. Excommunicate her, from whatever kind of fucked up community they had going. Or worse. Still, the kids in the hotel meant a lot to her, and Blade was bluffing. He had to be…

“I’m just going to go,” Jayden said, taking a backward step. If he could get out of here fast enough, maybe it’d defuse the situation. “Like I said, I didn’t mean to start—”

Blade lunged at Hawa and seized her throat. She immediately grabbed his forearm and tried to pull back, but he was too strong. “You think you’re untouchable,
Brisa
? Think you’re hot shit?”

“Hey!” Jayden leaped forward, stopping when Blade pressed a knife to Hawa’s throat. Her eyes franticly searched his while her feet shifted on the sidewalk. He squeezed harder, pulling her onto her tiptoes.

“You have no businesses being back here,” Blade said, his tone low and ominous. “Especially after what you did.” Blade dragged the knife over her clothes, down to her belly. Hawa clutched harder onto his arm. “You are nothing but a murderer.”

That’s it.

Jayden swung his elbow and cracked Blade in the face. Blood gushed from his nose and he let go of Hawa’s throat. She gasped and coughed, stumbling away until her back crashed against the brick wall of the Thirteenth Street Hotel.

She was okay, but he’d make damn sure nobody could say the same for the douche bag who thought it was okay to lay his hands on a woman.

Blade wiped blood from his face with the back of his hand, smearing a scarlet streak across his cheek. He raised his knife and grinned. “You’re gonna die,
gringo
.”

Jayden smirked. “Too late, asshole.” He charged at Blade and slammed into him with a
Straight Outta Compton
front kick to the gut, knocking the air out of his lungs. Blade wheezed and forced himself to stand. He swiped the knife through the air, barely missing Jayden’s stomach.

Jay jumped back with his hands positioned in front of him like a wrestler. Blade lunged again. Jay caught his hand and twisted his wrist, pointing the knife straight at Blade’s chest.

“No!” Hawa appeared beside them in the blink of an eye. “Don’t hurt him.” She rested her hand on Jayden’s shoulder. “The kids need him.”

The heat bubbling in his chest fizzled, and the warmth from Hawa’s touch brought his mind back to humanity. Her eyes searched his. Jayden curled his lip. “Fine, but only—”

Blade punched Jayden in the stomach—hard. Hawa gasped and let out a long chain of what he could only assume were curse words in Spanish. Jayden backed away and stared down at the handle of the dagger protruding from his side. Nobody spoke as he coiled his fingers around the handle and glanced up at Blade, who watched him intently. “Why the fuck did you go and do that?” Jayden grumbled.

Hawa rushed in front of Jayden and braced her hands on either of his shoulders. “You can’t take it out. He’ll know…”

Jayden observed Blade over her shoulder. The man stepped forward, his mouth slightly agape, his focus trained on him and Hawa.

Jay shook his head. “He already knows.”

“What?”

“Does he know about
you
?” Jayden asked.

Hawa’s features softened. “Um…”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jayden’s tone was sharper than he intended, but he couldn’t help it. She should have told him someone knew about her. Especially this asshat.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think it was important. I…” Her bottom lip trembled—something that caught Jayden off guard. She wasn’t the kind of girl to turn on the waterworks over just anything.

“So you’re like her.” Blade walked toward them. “You’re different. How? Do you bleed? Are you made of metal or something?”

The stupidity of the question prompted both him and Hawa to exchange glances.

This guy’s serious
, Jay said with his mind. He took the handle of the knife, and in one swift motion, pulled it out.
Made of metal
.
What an idiot.

“Shut up,” Hawa whispered harshly.

When the knife was removed, he covered the wound with his hand.

Hawa immediately took the weapon from him. “Unlike you,
he’ll
die if you stab him.”

Blade stared at Jayden’s wound, as if he were waiting for something. No blood seeped out to stain his shirt. He wouldn’t fall to his knees in pain or have labored breathing. This was it. A hole in his side, no pain, and no way to heal from it. He’d have to learn how to avoid these things unless he wanted to be a human pincushion for the rest of his life.

Hawa frowned. “Come on. I need to stitch that up or…well, I have no idea what the hell will happen, but it doesn’t seem right leaving it like that.” Hawa turned and locked eyes with Blade. “If it’s okay with you.”

Blade paused, analyzed Jayden with a deep, calculating stare, and then nodded.

Jayden covered his broken nose with his fingers, and in one small move, cracked it back in place. Blade wouldn’t have as easy a time with his. As they passed Blade, Jayden paused in front of him. “I don’t give a fuck who you are,
Rico
. If you ever touch her again, I’ll kill you.” Jay let his hand fall away from the stab wound. “And there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”