Kimber (32 page)

I
stumble before I find my feet and flee. I don’t get very far before the road
ends and I plummet down into a blinding white light.

My
body jerks as though I’ve fallen onto the couch and my eyes open. The dream may
be over but its intensity lingers on my skin. Images of the people I love
picking me apart turns my insides.

In
the back of my head, a dull pain begins to hammer. I go to the kitchen and take
three Ibuprofen. As I reach in the cabinet for peanut butter crackers, there’s
a knock at the front door. I use the peephole and see Wes standing on the other
side. 

 Skeptically
I crack the door open. “Hi.”

 “Hey.”
Wes replies. He stands in the hallway studying me because I haven’t let him in.
I’ve learned that lesson. 

 “Do
you need something?”

 “Can
I come in?”

 “Why?” 

“Because
Leo asked me to.” He’s annoyed.

There
was a time not long ago that the mention of Leo would’ve had me doing stupid
things. Too bad for Wes I am no longer the dumb gullible girl.

I
look over his shoulder. “Leo sent you here?”

“It
wasn’t the Tooth Fairy.”

I
want to slam my door right into the sarcastic glare in his green eyes. What is
it with this kid? Is the chip on his shoulder inscribed with my name?

“Go
to Hell.” I say with a perky smile.

 Before
I can push the door closed, he has his black Nike wedged between the door and
the frame. I roll my eyes and sigh with frustration.

“Hey!
I’m here ‘cause he asked me to be. Call him yourself if you don’t believe me.”

My
current standing with Leo would fall on the outer edge of ‘complicated’ though
we managed to kiss our way past ‘awkward’ and left things in the middle of
‘frustrated’. The way I figured it, our next encounter would be best if done in
person and not me calling on the phone to complain about his new lackey. If Leo
and I ever hoped to be together again, we would have to keep Neph business
separate from our business. 

Though
the cuts on my hands have not yet formed into scabs, if he tries anything funny
I will attack like a wild banshee. I take a step back and open the door,
watching every movement he does and does not make with his hands.

He
strolls slowly through my living room, eyeing my things before sitting down on
the couch.

 He
is not as frail as the trench coat made him seem. He is thin but wrapped in
lean muscle. His jeans and the triad symbol on his black shirt make him seem
more personable than lone ranger. But there’s something different about him.
Last time I saw him his hair went down to his shoulders. Now it’s much shorter
and parted on the side. Draco Malfoy comes to mind. I smile, inadvertently,
knowing Wyler would appreciate the Harry Potter reference.

I
find myself twisting split ends around my finger and vow to revamp my hair as
soon as Alexandria isn’t waiting to pull it from my head.

“So
if you’re here, where are they?” I ask sitting on the love seat.

He
leans forward, his elbows resting on his knees. “What makes you think they’re
anywhere?”

“Uh,
how about the fact that you’re here and they’re not.”

“Look,
I want to be here about as much as you want me here. Don’t go causing another
Egypt situation.”

A
laugh slips through my lips. “That’s why you hate me so much, because of what
happened in Egypt.”

 His
jaw tightens as his fingers lace together with tension.

 “Despite
what you think you know, you don’t know. It sucks for all of us that Alexandria
is still out there and yeah, I get that I’m the reason for it. But if you’re
thinking I should apologize for what I see as risking it all for the people I
love, than you’ll find yourself severely disappointed.”

The
coldness in his narrowed green eyes could cut glass. “I could have killed her.”

“I
never said you couldn’t’ve.”

“It
was my chance to prove I belong. That I’m capable and deserving to serve. I’m
only  half blooded but I refuse to let that dictate what I am, what I can be.”

And
suddenly my eyes open to the real reason he is so pissed off. Leo told me about
Half bloods as dedicated and eager as Wes. I don’t know how Wes got down in
that tomb with the rest of us but if Leo did not deem him worthy, he would not
be sitting here now.

“Wes,
I’d give you every ounce of Nephilim I am if I could and then I’d run as far as
I can as fast as I could from this madness. But the people I love are imprinted
into this. So…so am I.”

 It’s
easier to say it than it is to hear my voice speak it. I’ve known it to be the
truth but the renegade in me cannot commit.  

The
hardness in his face relaxes. He swallows hard as his eyes scan the room before
coming back to me. His tongue snakes out to moisten his lips. “Lena envisioned
Alexandria arriving in Florida. I’m supposed to guard you.”

I
feel like I am being twisted from the inside out. My living room becomes a
morphed frame of its existence. I take small jagged breaths in and blink back
the white spots forming in my eyes. Last night, it was nothing. It meant
nothing. Just a manufactured lie to lure me in. How long had he waited inside
the mausoleum, conveniently mourning my mother. I squeeze my eyes shut, willing
the room to stop spinning.

“He
said you’d get pissed and try something stupid, not pass out.”

I
keep my eyes closed and shake my head.

“Look,”
he sighs heavily, “if it means anything to you, he said I had to watch you
‘cause you’re important, to him. So stop being girly and freaking out.” The awkwardness
in his voice and the way discomfort crawls across his skin almost makes me
laugh. Like it physically distresses him to calm my nerves.

The
way Leo so easily anticipates my reaction, to his motives and not Alexandria’s,
invokes my trust as much as my suspicion.

I
run my hands against my thighs and smile meagerly at Wes. He could have reveled
in my freak out but instead he offered the cure.

 “So
when is it? When are they anticipating Alexandria?”

“Didn’t
say. She had the vision this morning.”

This
morning, as in before she left the condo?

 “Okay,
so if they found out today that sometime in the next couple days, if not
hours,  she’ll be here, why are you here?”

“Didn’t
we just go over that?”

“Yeah
but, what about Lena? And why separate the group? It doesn’t make sense.”

Wes
seems confused. He doesn’t know Leo like I do. Leo doesn’t talk because he
likes to hear himself speak. He told Wes to come here because Alexandria has
emerged. He took Lena and sent Wes. So he’s either going at it alone or…

“Ugh!
I’m going to kill him!” I jump to my feet.

“What?”
Wes says standing a little less dramatically than I had.

“You’re
not guarding me, you’re
babysitting
me!”

“And
how are the two different?”

 I
rub my forehead, aggravated that I actually have to spell this out for him.

“You’re
here because Leo is speculating that Alexandria will come here, for me.” He
nods. “But the last time Alexandria was in Florida the
only
place we met
at was Leo’s beach house. I doubt she had us followed from the airport so soon after
her father’s death but realistically, she can’t find me
here
because she
doesn’t know where
here
is.”

 I
watch as the imaginary light bulb flickers and illuminates over Wes’s blond
head.

“Ok,
say you’re right. What’s the point behind it?” 

“I
guess he’s thinking like you. He doesn’t want another Egypt situation.”

He
shakes his head. “No. It wouldn’t be that plain. He’d be sacrificing your
aunt.”

He’s
wrong. Leo would never harm a hair on Lena but he can’t protect her either by
himself.

“We
have to go!”

 I
grab my cell from the coffee table and hurry to the kitchen counter where I
fish my keys out of my purse. Wes is barricading the door with his body by the
time I turn around.

“I
can’t let you. Leo said—”

“Screw
what Leo said!” I yell over him. “She’s my family, not his. Now move or I swear
to God.”

Wary,
Wes studies me. “Give me the keys.” As his open hand reaches out to me, I
clutch the keys, holding them behind my back. His hand still open, he takes a
step closer to me. “You’re too erratic, I should drive.”

Surprised,
I try to find the lie on his face but he is completely composed. He looks from
his waiting hand to me and nods.

“Swear.”

“This
is not a trick. I swear.”

            I can’t
believe he called me erratic. Speeding, illegal lane changes and no seat belt
are the mild infractions he is breaking. Secretly, I’m thanking him. It’s
common knowledge to locals that beach cops are different from regular cops.
Wrist slapping infractions inland are ticket worthy on the beach. Once you are
pulled over, the K-9 unit showing up is inevitable.

            Even in the
dark of night, I can see the smoke rising. I start praying prayers out of order
and beg that someone listens.

            The fire
set to Leo’s beach house is fresh. Only the back of the house is a glow. Wes
can’t seem to stop fast enough. I break from the car and sprint towards the
front door.

            “Lena!
Lena!”

 I
hesitate, taping the handle with my fingers to test for heat. It’s not hot. I
fling the door open and step inside. To my right the fire eats the kitchen. Black
smoke crawls along the walls swallowing the living room. I pull up the collar
on my shirt to cover my mouth and nose. It does no good. I cough with every
breath I take.

I
hear Wes behind me calling for Leo.

“Lena!”
I call out heading towards Leo’s bedroom since it is the closest.

The
smoke seems to thicken by the second. My eyes begin to burn and ping with pain.

“Lena!” 

            By the time
I clear the bedroom and turn to leave, the smoke has engulfed my exit. I place
one hand out in front of me and walk slowly straight forward. Rapidly I blink
my eyes from the pain of the smoke. Calling out to Lena is no longer an option.
I have to conserve every breath I am given.

            All I can
seem to do is cough. I lower myself to the floor and begin to crawl. Bright
orange flames quickly engulf the living room. I can’t make it out like this.
Disoriented by the dense smoke, I start to stand. I step backwards until my
foot connects with the bed frame. I reach down, retrieve the comforter and wrap
it around me.

             I run though
the layout of Leo’s living room in my mind and approximate the location of the
front door. I count to three and take off in a mad dash towards what I hope is
the front door. The flames kick up around me. The heat is extreme and dry and if
I hold my breath for one more second I will become part of this hell. I
hesitate to pause as I come to an orange glow of fire incasing the doorway. I
jump though it and out to the other side.

 I
land with a thud on the dirt.

Quickly
I discard the burning comforter and roll around. Besides the pain of throwing
myself through an open door, I feel no effects of the fire having burned my
skin. But my lungs are seared on the inside. I cough so hard that I’m hacking
just to get the smoke out and the air in.

Then
I remember the reason I’m here in the first place. I push myself to my feet and
run around back.

“Lena!”
I call out but it registers just above a whisper.

The
back of the house is missing, reduced to nothing more than a burnt frame. I
double over in a coughing fit until I can taste blood in the back of my throat.

Suddenly
I’m lifted in the air. I start to kick since I cannot scream.

“Kimber
stop!” Leo orders.

He
places me back down on my feet. With his hand firmly locked onto my wrist, he
pulls me away from the crackling blaze of fire.

“Where’s
Lena?”

“You
have to get out of here! Now!” Leo says pulling me towards my car. Wes waits in
the driver’s seat.

“I
can’t leave her here!” I try to pull my wrist free. It’s no use. Leo opens the
passenger side door.

 “Get
in!” He yells over the blaze.

“Where
is she?” I shout grabbing hold of his shirt.

“Go
to Kimber’s and wait.” Leo instructs Wes as he leans into the car.

“Please
Leo, answer me.”

I’ve
become frantic. My body starts trembling. Tears fill my eyes. I fear I already
know the answer. I just need to hear him say it.

He
ushers me inside the car and as I look up at him, the slightest bit of distress
appears on his face. He opens his mouth to speak but thinks twice and closes
it.