Unbreakable (11 page)

Alara screaming—

Lukas lunging for me—

The flat edge of the table slamming into my stomach—

The sound of wood cracking as my back hit the railing. I felt my body falling, the smooth white ceiling above me.

“Kennedy!”

Something clamped down hard around my ankle, and my body jerked to a stop.

The floor swayed dangerously below me, pieces of the railing scattered over the smooth marble. The grip on my ankle tightened, and I felt myself being lifted. My body slid over the edge of the landing, and Lukas stared down at me.

“Lukas…” Alara’s voice rose urgently, and Lukas leapt to his feet.

Alara’s combat boots were positioned between me and the white Mary Janes marching down the hallway.

The spirit pointed at Lukas. “You broke my doll.”

The old woman’s face flashed behind the child’s, and the spirit hurled her body into the air. Alara stepped in front of Lukas and cocked her arm back, cold-iron bolts protruding from the knuckles of her gloved hand. Alara waited until the spirit was practically on top of her before she plunged the iron spikes into the girl’s stomach.

The vengeance spirit’s eyes bulged, and she opened her mouth to scream. But there was no sound. Her body
crackled in and out of focus as it hung from Alara’s glove like another broken doll.

Lukas raised the crossbow for the third time and fired. The bolt struck the child-that-wasn’t-a-child in the shoulder, and she exploded into a million fragments of nothing.

Then everything went black.

“Kennedy? Can you hear me?” Lukas crouched over me. “Talk to me.”

The room came back into focus, and my thoughts stitched themselves together slowly. I pushed myself up, and Lukas rested his hand on my back for support.

Relief replaced the panic in his eyes. “Take it easy.”

“I’m okay.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Where’s Alara?”

“She went to find Jared and Priest.” He shook his head, tension carved into every line on his face. “When you fell, I thought…”

“I should’ve listened when you told me to go.” I wasn’t sure how to apologize for almost getting us killed. “I know this was important.”

His fingers pressed lightly against the small of my back. “That’s not what I was saying. Finding a piece of the Shift isn’t worth what could’ve happened—”

“Wait? Did you find something?”

“Yeah. One of those colored glass disks from the diagram in Priest’s journal.” He looked over at the broken bits of the doll scattered across the floor. “It was hidden inside her doll.”

“Where are the other pieces?”

“I don’t know.” Lukas ran his hand up my back and squeezed my shoulder gently. “Think you can walk?”

I nodded though I wasn’t sure. My back felt like someone had driven a truck over it. “Give me a minute.”

Lukas spread his jacket on the floor and collected what was left of the doll, tossing the shards into the center of the fabric.

“What are you doing?”

“We need to burn these. If a spirit’s remains aren’t destroyed, it can come back. The same principle applies to personal items.” When he finished, Lukas gathered the sides of his jacket to form a bundle. As he pulled me up, his hand slipped under the edge of my T-shirt and slid across my bare skin.

“Wait. You missed one.” I pointed at the triangular sliver embedded with a blue plastic eye. Black script was scrawled across the inside. “Something’s written on it.”

Lukas picked it up, keeping one arm firmly around me, and turned over the chipped porcelain:
Millicent Avery. Middle River, Maryland.

“What do you think it means?”

“Maybe it’s the name of the person who made the
doll.” Lukas handed me the shard, and I slipped it in my pocket.

As he eased me down the steps, I leaned against his chest and listened to his heartbeat, focusing on the soothing rhythm instead of the vicious ache in my muscles. A sudden rush of fear swept through me.

What if the little girl isn’t the only spirit in the house?

At the bottom of the stairs, the door was open and bits of gray light reflected off the dusty chandelier and glittered across the floor. It reminded me of the snow globe with the miniature version of Lilburn trapped inside something that was once beautiful.

Relief swept over me as we crossed the threshold.

Jared barreled around the side of the house before we made it down the front steps, rage coming off him in waves. Alara and Priest struggled to keep up. Lukas’ arm was still around my waist, and suddenly I felt self-conscious.

Ignoring a rush of dizziness, I pulled away.

“What happened?” Jared demanded, his anger completely focused on Lukas.

“The vengeance spirit of a little girl was in there—”

“Alara said you almost got her killed,” Jared shouted. It sounded like he actually cared about what happened to me.

Alara looked stunned. “That’s not what I said.”

Lukas’ hands curled into fists at his sides. “Because she would’ve been safer with you? We both know putting other people first isn’t your strong suit.”

Jared flinched as if his brother had punched him.

Alara elbowed her way between them. She held up a silver disk with a circle of blue glass in the center. “You two can argue later. We need to find the rest of the Shift.”

Jared didn’t move.

Lukas dropped his jacket on the ground, revealing broken bits of the doll. “These need to be burned.”

“There’s writing on this one.” I fished the shard out of my pocket and handed it to Priest.

“Guys?” Priest stared at the piece of porcelain in his hand.

“What if something had happened to her?” Jared demanded, his eyes still fixed on his brother. “The four of us can’t do this alone.”

The words hung in the air for a moment as the truth sank in. Jared didn’t feel responsible for me. I was a means to an end.

I pushed past him, ignoring the pain racing up my back.

“Guys!” Priest yelled this time.

Jared spun around. “What?”

The broken piece of the doll was still in Priest’s palm. “This is my granddad’s handwriting.”

I
waited for sleep to find me. But I couldn’t stop thinking about the last few days and what Jared said outside of Lilburn. I knew Lukas and Jared had saved my life that first night because they were convinced I was one of them—the missing fifth member they needed.

I also knew that when I climbed into the van with them, I didn’t believe it.

But I still got in. Because unlike Jared, Lukas, Alara, and Priest, I was alone. They had each other now, protected by the barrier belonging provides.

I wanted desperately to belong to something—to face the real and emotional demons of the world with someone beside me. But that was impossible. The only person I belonged to now was myself.

Climbing out of bed quietly, I wandered to the window and propped my elbows on the sill. The full moon glowed above the rooftops. It reminded me of my mom. She used to say that a moon like this was full of wishes and that if one of those wishes belonged to you it might come true when the moon broke open and the cycle began all over again. Maybe I hadn’t made enough wishes.

I took one last look at the alleyway and dragged my arms off the windowsill. Carrying my boots, I tiptoed toward the break in the sheets.

I was almost at the door when I heard a voice. “Going somewhere?”

Jared was hunched over Priest’s worktable under the dim glow of an emergency lantern.

Of course he’s awake. He probably never sleeps.

I slipped on my boots and walked over. Priest’s journal lay open to the diagram of the Shift. Jared waited for a response, his features almost ethereal in the lantern light.

“I’m leaving.”

“I guessed that much. Mind if I ask why?”

“I’m not one of you.” My chest tightened. “I proved that today.”

“Because you couldn’t take down a vengeance spirit the first time out?”

“Because I almost got myself killed. And Lukas and Alara could’ve been hurt.”

Jared’s bloodshot eyes met mine, and this time he
didn’t look away. “You think you’re the only one who’s been attacked by a vengeance spirit?” His voice sounded deeper—more his own and less like Lukas’.

“I’m not?”

“No. And you won’t be the last.” He rubbed his hands over his face. “We’re being hunted by a demon. The five of us need to stick together.”

Five of us.

I felt the sting of the words again. “Yeah, you made that pretty clear today.”

He seemed confused. “What are you talking about?”

“The only reason you care about what happens to me is because you think I’m the missing member of the Legion.” I fought to keep my voice steady, but the anger burning through me seeped out with every syllable.

“Kennedy, I’m sorry if I—”

“Don’t.” I held up my hand. I didn’t want his pity. I wanted my old life back—my mom or Elle—someone who cared about me. “Stop wasting your time and go back to looking for the right person.”

He walked around the table until he was standing in front of me. “I don’t think I’m wasting my time.”

Everything I’d been trying so hard to hold inside came spilling out. “I’m not like the rest of you. My mom never said a word about any of this, and no one in my family ever chose me for anything.”

Unless my dad choosing to leave me counts.

Jared took a step closer, staring down at me with an intensity that sent a shiver through me. “That doesn’t mean you aren’t the one.”

How could I tell him that my own father had walked away from me without even saying good-bye?

Jared’s blue eyes remained locked on mine, and it didn’t feel like he was looking at me. It felt like he was looking
into
me.

I wondered what he saw.

“Maybe you want to believe it’s me so you can stop searching,” I said quietly.

“Are you trying to convince me or yourself?” Jared’s eyes still hadn’t left mine. He paused, choosing his words carefully. “The Legion is the only way to stop Andras. So before you walk away, you’d better be sure. Or a lot of innocent people are gonna die.”

Now I was responsible for other people’s lives? Keeping myself alive was hard enough.

I felt the weight of his words bearing down on me.

Before I could respond, shouts cut through the silence. They were coming from the opposite side of the warehouse.

Jared took off running.

On the other side of the sheet, Lukas, Priest, and Alara crowded around the window as the metal frame rattled.
Thick screws untwisted themselves and hit the concrete floor one after another.

Lukas pressed his palms against the frame, trying to hold it in place. “I don’t know what happened. The window was salted, but there’s a break in the line.”

It was the same window I’d been looking out not even an hour ago.

A break in the line.

I lifted my arm slowly. A thin layer of white dust coated the inside of my forearm from wrist to elbow. Jared noticed and pulled me closer to get a better look. He touched the crystals and brushed them off my skin as if he expected to see something underneath.

“I didn’t realize—”

Jared cut me off. “We have to leave. Now.” He dropped his voice so no one else could hear him. “Don’t say anything about this. I’ll handle it.”

Alara started to pour another salt line along the windowsill.

Jared took the bag from her and tossed it on the floor, white crystals spraying across the gray concrete. “There’s no point. It won’t be long before Andras finds out about this place.” He turned to Lukas and Priest. “Grab the gear. We’re gone.”

Alara pushed past me. “Let’s make sure we can get out first.”

The window rattled despite the fresh salt. Maybe nothing
was coming in, but something definitely wanted to. Jared fought to hold the frame in place, but only a few rusted screws remained.

I reached for the loose side of the window, but Jared nodded toward the sheets. “Help Priest. We need to take as much as we can.”

I hesitated.

Another screw shot out of its casing and rolled across the floor.

I ran.

“Alara, a little help here!” Jared yelled. She slipped through the sheets carrying a stainless steel bowl. She scooped out a handful of dark green mud and smeared it over the glass, in the shape of an
X
.

I passed Lukas shoveling armloads of books and clothes into backpacks, but I didn’t stop until I reached Priest.

Two duffel bags lay open on his worktable, and he was tossing everything from weapons to tools and scrap metal inside. I grabbed stuff from the metal shelves, but I didn’t know what to take. Boxes of nails and ammunition, or tools?

“Is it another poltergeist?”

Priest shook his head, blond hair hanging in his eyes. “Don’t know. Wanna stay and find out?”

Glass shattered, the sound echoing against the cinder block walls.

Jared burst through the sheets with Lukas and Alara. “We have to go.”

I grabbed one of the bags and ran for the door. Priest yanked the other one off the table and the handle ripped, sending screwdrivers and ammo flying across the floor. He dropped to his knees, scooping up whatever he could carry.