Dentelle (30 page)

Kieran sighed and relaxed. “You are the best
addiction I’ve ever had.” He laughed and turned his face sideways, giving me a
full profile view. His nose was rather large and fleshy. Offensive just like
the rest of him. “You belong with me now. You might as well get used to it.”

Never.

“Once we link, you’re stuck with me, huh? You’re
probably disappointed you can’t kill me without killing yourself, huh?” he
taunted. “Don’t worry, though. I’ll grow on you.”

Like a noxious weed, I thought and held my
tongue. It was a moot point since I wouldn’t be linking with him. But it was an
interesting topic – one I’d never thought about it before. Then again, why
would I? No Guardian would kill another Guardian, especially not their partner.
Well, not that I’d ever heard of anyways. But I suppose it made sense that if
you killed your partner and severed the link between you, then you’d both die.
Interesting, yet scary ideas. I’d have to ask Jason about it…if I ever saw him again.
All I knew was that my revenge against Kieran couldn’t come soon enough. I dug
my nails into his shoulder blades on purpose.

He moaned. “Mmm…I like that. Push a little
harder – a little deeper.”

It took all my willpower not to lop his head
off. As I caught sight of Ava making her way back to us, I clenched his
shoulder blades and imagined breaking his bones. She came up, grabbed Kieran’s
hand and reached for mine, giving me an excuse to break free of him. “Can we go
to the petting zoo now?” she asked.

“Absolutely. By far the best part,” he
responded. She nodded emphatically, pulled us through the crowd, and marched us
on our way. But not before he bared his teeth in a wide smile. Alarm bells rang
in my head. Why did he seem so thrilled? Walking with a bounce in his step, he
whistled cheerfully. I grimaced. Was he intending on stealing animal Essence at
the petting zoo? I moaned inwardly. How macabre.

As we passed the musical, endangered species
carousel, organ music bombarded my ears. The hot sun beat down on us and other
meandering families, and the atmosphere around us remained merry. I couldn’t
believe I was at the zoo with a killer, an innocent child, and a chain of
Ray-pacs. It was all too surreal. I was relieved and even a little bit grateful
when we finally left and no animals had dropped dead during our visit to the
barnyard interactive “touch” area.

After a pizza dinner and several arcade games,
Ava Rose finally looked worn out. As we walked toward the car, James and
Vincent shadowed close behind, as usual. I could sense the Ray-pac links close
by, but couldn’t see any of them. They were skilled at making themselves
scarce. But I knew Aiden and Aria were two of them, because I’d finally spotted
them when we’d watched the sea lion show at the zoo. With them, I’d noted a
satiny brown-skinned Ray-pac who was built like a gymnast. She’d appeared very
watchful with her eyes continuously darting in different directions like she
was secret service. She’d seemed on high alert, as if worried there might be an
attack on her Commander-in-chief, Kieran. I’d actually laughed aloud and wished
I could only be so lucky.

We were not far from reaching the car when my
head started pounding. I stopped dead in my tracks. Oh no! I’d never considered
what would happen if I had a premonition while in Ray-pac company. Unable to
stop the wave of swirling colors, I bent down and pretended to adjust the strap
on my sandal. All at once the snapshots were upon me:

A brick building with an overcrowded third story balcony

Boards snapping and the balcony collapsing

The collapsed balcony plunging onto the second story one
below it, also filled with people

A little girl buried in the dark at the bottom of the pile

Bodies…and more bodies

After the images cleared, I shot to my feet,
gasping for air. This was bad. There were going to be a lot of fatalities. No
matter how much I wanted to, there was no way I could save everyone. After
years of guilt and trying to understand why I couldn’t save all the people, I
still didn’t have any answers. I just knew that was the way it worked. And
while I didn’t want to accept it, I couldn’t blame myself for lost lives
anymore. Fate didn’t intend for everyone to survive. I knew that much to be
true because we’d had several discussions about it within our Bellingham
Circle. All my Guardian friends had experienced the same kind of guilt-ridden
experiences. I was certain about one thing – I was meant to save that little
girl. Afterwards, I could use my Essence and save many others as well.

Suddenly, I realized Ava Rose was tugging on my
ponytail. “Lexi, are you okay? You look kind of funny. Like you’re going to
throw up or something.”

I glanced at Kieran who was studying me
curiously. Then his jaw tightened and his eyes widened. Tilting his head back,
he stared into the cloudless, empty sky as if there was something there to see.
At that point, my breath hitched. The look on his face was intense, and his
lips curled into a wicked smile. I guessed he was having a premonition – the
same one I’d just had. That happened every once in a while with my friends.

Would Kieran let me go? I couldn’t let the
little girl die. But what would we do with Ava? I couldn’t take her along.

Concerned, Ava put her hand on my forehead. “You
feel kind of hot, Lexi.”

“Yes,” I said. Standing up, I put a hand over my
stomach. “I feel sick. I think I might throw up…” I faked a dry heave to be
more convincing.

All at once, Kieran grabbed Ava by the shoulder
and directed her to the car. “James,” he said with a tone of command, “Get Ava
Rose home to Maya. Lexi is going to be sick, and we don’t want her throwing up
in the car.” Glancing at Ava, he added, “We’ll grab a taxi and come back when
Lexi’s feeling better. You run along now, Ava. James will take good care of
you.”

“Um…okay,” she said with hesitation, looking
between me and Kieran. “You promise to take good care of Lexi?”

“I will.” He boosted her into the car, shut the
door, and within seconds they were gone. He sized me up and smiled. “How ironic
we’d have the same premonition. Let’s go have ourselves some fun.” His voice
was charged with excitement, like he’d just returned a lost puppy and was about
to receive a substantial reward. He even rubbed his hands together in
anticipation.

Without waiting for my response, and obviously
feeling confident I’d follow, he took off running. I was confused, though. Why
would he be so excited about helping me save people? As we darted across the
street and down the sidewalk, he nearly knocked over several bystanders.
Running like a lunatic, he burst through a group of ladies, shoving them to the
side. This provoked several shouts of anger, but he didn’t care in the least. I
tried to be more careful as I followed in his wake. When I heard hollering
coming from behind, I glanced around to see if I’d accidentally banged into
someone myself. Instead, I spotted Aria, Aiden, the dark-skinned girl, and
another guy hot on our tails. That’s when I knew the shouts weren’t directed at
me. That’s also when I figured out what was happening, and I almost tripped.
Dodging around a man and his kid, I uttered an apology and zoomed past them.
Kieran wasn’t planning on saving anyone, he and his legion were running towards
what could only be called a Ray-pac feast.

My stomach dropped, and I felt like I was on
that balcony with all those people as the floorboards collapsed beneath our
feet. My mouth filled with saliva, and I wondered if I just might throw up
after all. I held it in the best I could, sending Essence to every part of my
body. I didn’t have time for weakness. I needed to be strong, because in a
matter of seconds, I’d be fighting more than one battle.

Having progressed a couple blocks away from the
action-packed center of downtown, we’d entered an urban living community. Up
ahead, I spotted the brick apartment building with the crowded balconies. The
bass pounded out of the speakers, voices carried on loudly over the music, and
I noticed several people drinking. Even though we were running fast, I knew we
weren’t going to make it there in time to warn them. Fear gripped my chest as I
watched the third story balcony beginning to collapse. Unbelievably, more than
40 people were crammed together on the deck. Drawing closer, I heard the loud
splintering of wood.

In a chain reaction and with a whoosh of air,
bodies and boards from the third story porch crashed downward, taking out the
second story balcony and the twenty or so people gathered there. Then they
smashed into the first story, crushing a smaller group of people at a sit-down
dinner. Everything transpired so fast, there was no chance for anyone to react
or even begin to understand what was happening. With a loud boom and a cloud of
dust, a clutter of boards, railings, and bodies slammed into the ground,
creating a mess of chaos and misery. A lot of screaming ensued. A bit of the
porch frame remained on the third floor, and I noticed people clinging to it
with their arms and legs intertwined around the remaining boards.

Immediately upon reaching the pile of debris, my
instincts directed me to the northwest corner. Throwing bits and pieces of
decking to the side, I paused when I thought I heard laughter. Glancing around,
I noticed Kieran and the other Ray-pacs had gathered around the pile as well.
They looked to be digging people out of the debris, but I felt certain their
intentions were anything but honorable. Then I spotted Aiden holding a woman in
his arms. He was the one laughing, but the look on his face was feral. My
stomach twisted and I gasped. Frozen in place, I watched him with disgust. He was
worse than a wild animal. His amber eyes glowed as he wrapped his hands around
the woman’s shoulders. Closing his eyes, he inhaled and smiled like he was in
ecstasy. I swear I could see the Essence being sucked out of her body and
transferred into his.

Appalled and angry beyond belief, I barely had
enough forethought to look around for witnesses before acting. Luckily, we’d
been so fast to arrive on the scene, no one else had gathered yet, so I sprang
toward Aiden as if he was my prey. Taking him by surprise, I grabbed him around
the neck and squeezed as tightly as I could. He gasped for air and immediately
let go of the woman. She fell to the ground in a lump, and I prayed she wasn’t
dead yet. I knew it was coming, but for once I wasn’t fast enough. He took both
elbows and jabbed them backwards. I avoided the left one, but the right one
sunk into my gut, causing me to release my hold on his neck. In a flash, he
turned around and attempted to punch me in the face, but I swung my arm up,
blocked and kicked him in the groin. I thought his eyes were going to burst
from the pain.

Feeling fierce and ready to explode, I yelled at
him. “You’re so dead.” With that, I punched him in the chest, and then jumping
in the air, I spun rapidly. Using all that momentum and power, I kicked him in
the face. His head snapped back, and he fell to the ground. Filled with wrath,
I didn’t offer a moment’s reprieve. I grabbed a loose plank at my feet, brought
the board above my head, and then bashed him across the face with it. His head
swung brutally sideways, and a couple teeth, along with a lot of blood, flew
out of his mouth.

Grabbing the sides of his head, he stared up at
me with a numbing expression. “I’m going to rip you in two,” he spat out
viciously. I’d been waiting to see what his Flair was and suddenly I knew.
Sensing something flying at me from behind, I leaped sideways and ungracefully
fell to the ground, but thankfully I missed being pierced by a single iron
spike. Full of adrenaline and hatred, I rolled over, grabbed the spike and
raised it in the air. I’m sure I must have looked savage. I could feel strands
of hair standing on end around my face. It was like they were charged with
electricity. Breathing heavy, I thought I felt drool on my chin. Oh well, there
was something to be said for the dangerous and crazed look.

 
A couple
more incoming chunks of wood flew at me, but I ducked. “I hope this hurts. A
lot,” I said violently. Just as I was ready to stab Aiden through the heart, I
heard Kieran’s voice.

“Lexi. Stop.” His tone was hostile. He came up
beside me, and I didn’t move. I didn’t sense any threat from him, so I lowered
the iron spike. Growling, he snatched it out of my hand. “This is not the time
or place for a fight. That’s enough. Both of you.” He stepped in front of me.
“You’re pushing my limits. I told you not to do that.” He looked down at Aiden
and nudged him with his foot. “Get up.”

Rubbing his jaw, Aiden jumped to his feet. “She
took out my teeth,” he breathed angrily.

Kieran actually smiled. “Good to know she’s
tough. I’m gonna need that in a mate. As for you,” he said, giving me a hard
glare. “If there wasn’t self-defense involved here, Ava Rose would be severely
punished. But seeing as you’re both going at it like a couple of school kids,
I’ll have to decide what repercussions I deem appropriate for your blatant
disregard for my rules and…”

“You can’t hurt her,” I said loudly.

He grabbed my arm and flinched, pain evident on
his face. “Oh, I can and I will if you don’t do as I ask.” He let go and shook
his hand. “Do you really want to test me further?”

I shivered. “No,” I said simply and looked down
at my feet as a way to show submission. I hated it, but knew I had to play his
game. I wanted nothing more than to slap him, kick him, and beat him to death.
He and Aiden both. But for Ava Rose’s sake, I acquiesced.

“Good. Now, we will all go about our business
here. And you will not interfere with us…as we…rescue these poor people from
the wreckage.”

“Rescue? You mean feast on, don’t you?” I
muttered under my breath but bravely looked him in the eye.

“Call it what you want,” he said placidly. His
jaw tightened and his eyes grew smaller. “But you will not attack any of us
again. Is that clear?”