Arise (Awakened Fate Book 4) (24 page)

I didn’t know what to say. “I just–”

A shiver ran through me, like a current of icy air had suddenly brushed my skin.

Baylie saw my expression change. “What?”

I didn’t respond, my gaze turning toward the wall and the ocean beyond while my heart started to pound. I knew this feeling. It’d been a lifetime ago, near Santa Lucina, but I’d felt this before.

It couldn’t be. Joseph said we were safe here.

Ellie said I might screw up his defenses.

“Chloe?”

I pushed past Baylie and tugged open the door. I ran down the hall, catching myself on the entry to Joseph’s laboratory.

He looked up in alarm.

“Did you feel that?” I asked.

He regarded me with annoyance. “Feel wha…” Color drained from his green skin while his mismatched eyes went wide.

“Where are Noah and Ellie?” I demanded.

Ellie walked from the other room. “What’s wrong?”

Joseph ignored me. “How? I checked everything. It–”

He rushed toward the glass panes on his wall.

Ellie glanced between us. “I think Noah went outside.”

I yanked open the front door and raced onto the porch.

Noah came running around the side of the house. “Chloe!”

I hurried down the steps. “You felt that?”

His brow furrowed. “What? No. But we’ve got to go.” He jerked his head toward the ocean and then looked to Baylie. “Keys?”

She tugged them from her pocket and tossed them to him.

He snatched them from the air. “Come on.”

I turned toward the ocean.

My blood went cold.

There was a storm on the horizon.

Only it was
so
much more than that.

I trembled. It wasn’t like anything I’d ever seen. The sky above us was gray as sheet metal, but miles out on the water, there was nothing but black. Lightning flashed like daggers, stabbing the ocean below, and over the distance, thunder growled like an animal. The pitch-black clouds were swirling, their motion accented by flares of light, and with every second, they drew closer.

“Chloe!” Noah shouted.

Icy wind licked at me. Fear rooted me to the spot even as my mind screamed to run.

Noah’s hands grabbed me, breaking the paralysis, and roughly, he pulled me around. My feet stumbled. Noah didn’t stop. Hauling me with him, he rushed toward the car, his grip on my arm like iron.

Joseph hurried from the house, his arms full of papers and bottles. “The outer barriers are falling and the inner ones won’t hold much longer. We have to–”

The wind picked up, stealing pages from his grip. He cried out in frustration but kept going, shuffling at high speed down the steps to the yard.

“Here, here, take this.” From the mountain in his arms, he fumbled out a cork-sealed vial of black liquid and then shoved it into my hands. “You’ll need to drink that. It’ll start the splitting. You have to be careful, though. You’ll pass out while that happens, so only take it when you’re–”

Tires rumbled on the gravel track. Two vehicles pulled to a halt, both of them fully blocking the road. Still holding onto me, Noah swore.

I stared. This was like a nightmare.

Wyatt shoved open the door of the SUV before the thing even came to a stop. Cracks cut jagged paths through his skin, all of them glowing, and his eyes were like hell. From the brown sedan behind him, Harman scrambled out. Pain showed in every tense line of his face, but his eyes were eerily bright.

“Chloe! Eleanor!” The old man beamed at us, and the expression was so fractured with psychotic joy, it made me want to run. “So happy to find you girls here!”

Chief Reynolds and Aaron managed to climb out after him, but just barely. The chief stumbled and grabbed at the sedan to stop himself from falling. On the other side of the vehicle, Aaron just stood shaking, his gaze darting from Harman to me and back.

Wyatt stalked toward us.

“Hey!” Joseph snapped, stuffing the rest of his papers and bottles through the open door of Baylie’s car. He marched at Wyatt. “You’re not allowed here, greliaran! Move out of the way!”

“Get in,” Noah ordered, pushing me toward the car. He headed around the vehicle to intercept his cousin, his skin transforming as he went.

I stayed where I was. Not looking away from Wyatt, I dropped the vial down with the papers in the back seat.

Joseph stopped directly in Wyatt’s path.

The greliaran paused, eyeing the wizard incredulously. “And just what the hell are you supposed to be?”

“Move the car, Wyatt,” Noah growled. “You see the sky back there? We don’t have time for this.”

Wyatt smirked. “Aw, little Noah’s scared of lightning. I never knew.”

He started toward Joseph.

“I’m warning you!” the wizard cried. “Get out of our way now!”

Wyatt scoffed. He moved to shove the man aside.

Joseph flung out his arm. His hand slammed into Wyatt’s chest.

The greliaran flew backward, speeding through the air. Bark shattered from the trunk of a tree when Wyatt crashed into it and I heard the branches shake hard with the impact. Limp as a rag, he tumbled to the ground.

“What the–” Chief Reynolds gasped. He fumbled for his gun.

Indignant, Clay and Owen scrambled from the other vehicle, their skin as changed as Wyatt’s had been.

“Don’t even think about it, you two!” Joseph yelled at them.

The SUV shuddered and then skidded sideways across the gravel road till it tumbled into the ditch.

Thunder growled. Wind gusted around me, tangling through my hair.

I didn’t look back. I didn’t need to. I could feel the storm getting closer. Stronger.

“Come with us, Chloe,” Harman called. “It’s not safe out here. Let us bring you home to your parents.”

“Grandpa, please!” Ellie yelled. “Get out of here!”

He didn’t even blink. “Everything’s going to be fine, Eleanor. It’s just a little storm.”

Owen and Clay stared at their vehicle and then glanced to each other. Without a word, they spread out, heading for Joseph.

“This is your last chance!” Joseph shouted. He lifted his hand. “You grelia–”

Gunshots cut his words short. Joseph stumbled, clutching his chest in shock.

I gasped, looking from the wizard to Chief Reynolds. Holding the weapon with a white-knuckled grip, the chief turned the gun toward us.

“Get in the car!” he yelled, his voice ragged.

His nephew stared at him. “Chief, what are you–”

“Shut
up
, Aaron!” He adjusted his shaking hold on the gun. “This ends now! Girls, get in the goddamn car!”

Joseph straightened. Every crystal of his jewelry glowed. His whole body trembled with the effort of standing upright.

The wind blew harder. The wizard swayed with it.

Chief Reynolds turned the weapon toward him again. “You stay back or I’ll–”

Clay and Owen ran at Joseph.

Noah moved to stop them.

The chief emptied the gun at him.

“No!” Baylie screamed.

I shoved away from the car, racing for Noah as he staggered and fell.

“Chief, what are you
doing
?” Aaron cried.

Owen and Clay raced past Noah without a glance.

Joseph raised a hand. Clay flew toward the trees.

And Owen slammed into the wizard. Snarling, he hurled the old man back through the air, and then charged after him like a dog with a toy.

I heard Joseph shout. Heard the sound cut off. I couldn’t look. The wind swirled, flinging dirt and grit up into my face while I crumpled to my knees next to Noah.

He was breathing in rapid gasps. With a furious grunt, he tried to shove up from the driveway.

“Stay there!” the chief yelled while he struggled to reload the gun.

“You bastard!” Baylie cried, putting herself in front of her stepbrother.

“Noah?” I grabbed his arm, but his skin was so hot, I couldn’t hold on.

At my side, Ellie dropped to her knees as well. “Here,” she said, pushing her bundled jacket into my hands. “Put pressure on whatever got through.”

Noah made a choked noise, the sound almost as angry as it was pained. He shook his head. “I’m okay.”

“You just stay down!” Chief Reynolds shouted.

“Come back over here, girls,” Harman added. “Leave that boy there. He’s not safe.”

“Chief,
please
!” Aaron begged. “This isn’t right!”

Noah grimaced. With a sharp breath, he pushed away from the ground and rose to his feet.

“Stay down!” the chief cried, taking aim again.

“Leave him alone!” Baylie shouted, keeping herself in front of Noah. Ellie scrambled up and hurried to join her.

“You girls get out of the way!” Chief Reynolds yelled. “I’m warning you! I don’t want to have to–”

“Dammit, Uncle Barry! Drop the gun!”

The chief looked over.

Aaron had his weapon aimed at him.

“Boy, what the hell are you–”

“I’m stopping this! Those are kids.
Kids
! And you’ve damn near killed one!
I
nearly killed one! I
know
those girls! I just wanted to
help
people! I’ve done everything you and Doctor Brooks asked but now… now just put down the gun!”

“You can’t–”

“
Put down the gun
!” Aaron shrieked.

The chief stared at him. Cautiously, his trembling grip eased from the weapon. Still watching his nephew, he lowered the gun to the roof of the sedan.

“Pass it over here,” Aaron ordered.

The chief pushed the weapon toward him.

“Get in the car,” Aaron continued. “You too, Doctor Brooks. We’re leaving.”

“Now, we can’t do that,” Harman countered. “Not without Chloe and Eleanor. The other girl too. The blonde one. She needs to come. It’s not safe here.”

“Damn you, Doctor Brooks! Get in the–”

Thunder rolled, drowning Aaron’s words. The wind swirled around us, icy and tugging at me as if it wanted to pull me toward the sea.

I looked back in spite of myself.

The sky was growing darker. Winds drove the waves at the shore and sent them crashing against the bluffs. Black clouds churned and tumbled over each other as they raced toward land. Already they were nearly on top of us. No rain fell. Nothing left the storm but lightning. In blinding flashes, the bolts stabbed the sea like spears beating the water on their march toward land.

I shuddered. I wanted to run. To take off down the road – cars and guns and Harman Brooks be damned. But I could barely even breathe.

Ice sank into my skin. My body grew weak, as if the energy was being dragged from my muscles and bones straight into the roiling, impossible nightmare in the sky.

The roiling, impossible nightmare that
hated
me. There was no doubt. No question. I didn’t know how I could feel emotion pouring off of that thing.

I just did. As clearly as if it was snarling at me, I did.

The storm wanted me dead.

Tears burned my eyes, driven by terror. My legs crumpled, their strength gone. Noah grabbed me as I fell. His skin was back to normal and his hands on my arms felt so solid. So real.

“Chloe, what the–”

Motion on the shore caught my gaze. Almost a dozen yards away, Owen was turning from Joseph. The greliaran was breathing hard, ecstasy slackening his face, and his whole body was shaking. The cracks in his skin spread wider when he straightened. Sparks flew from them like firecrackers lay inside.

And behind him, Joseph was dead. Bloody. He hadn’t looked human before, but now…

My gorge rose. I couldn’t do anything but stare.

Owen saw me watching him. Still panting, he pulled his lips back in a rabid sort of grin.

Noah swore. “He… Joseph had magic in him. Ocean magic like dehaians, and we… oh, hell…”

He pushed to his feet, his skin changing fast while he put himself between me and his cousin.

Owen’s smile grew. He let out growl as he started forward.

And then he froze. His brow drew down, confusion on his inhuman face, and his body lurched. The cracks in his skin widened. A choked noise escaped him. Lifting his hands, he stared at them as the trembling increased and thick smoke began to pour out with the heat.

He looked up at us in horror.

Fire exploded from every crack in his skin.

Noah spun, trying to shelter me from the flames.

The heat never arrived. The wall of fire turned before it reached us, racing upward as if drawn away. Owen’s body collapsed, blackened and charred, while in a column of light, the fire curved into the sky and flew into the storm.

Where it vanished.

I gasped. The draining feeling disappeared like a cord had been cut, setting me free. His skin swiftly becoming human again, Noah grabbed me. Clutching him, I scrambled for my feet on legs that quivered like jelly.

The storm seemed to slow. The churning of the clouds stilled.

But in the air, I could feel something change.

“Oh God,” I whispered, my grip on Noah tightening.

“Car!” Noah shouted at Ellie and Baylie. “Now!”

They spun and raced for the car. Still holding me, Noah ran after them.

The wind started to pick up again, icy and scraping across my skin like it had razors inside. Overhead, the black clouds began to tumble and roll, racing for land faster than before.

“Keys!” Baylie shouted at Noah. “You help Chloe!”

Noah yanked the keys from his pocket and tossed them to her.

“Doctor Brooks!” Aaron yelled.

I looked back.

Harman was walking toward us. “Girls? Come along now. Those creatures are gone. It’s all going to be fine.”

The strange feeling in the air grew stronger. Wind blew in hard from the ocean, shoving us as we tried to reach the car.

Ellie caught herself on the door. “Grandpa, go back!”

“Get in!” Baylie shouted at her.

Harman continued closer, his expression consoling though he rocked with blasts of wind. “Now, I know it’s been frightening here. But we still have lots of work to do together, so you have to come with–”

Lightning struck the trees behind him and the world exploded into light.

I stumbled backward and hit the ground. Everything tingled. Buzzed. The deafening boom rang in my ears while stars blinded my eyes. Blinking hard, I staggered up from the gravel, struggling to see.