Atlas (The Atlas Series) (13 page)

Heat burned Kala where Asmodeus touched her and she yelled out in pain, but after a few moments of burning anguish, she felt as good as new. Asmodeus tossed the two bullets that he extracted from Kala’s body aside in disgust. Kala looked through the bullet hole tears in her shirt and saw baby pink unbroken skin underneath.

“Thanks,” Kala found herself saying before she realized who she was thanking.

Asmodeus leaned down and kissed her lightly on the mouth. Kala wanted to punch him for it, but after his “healing-stunt” she restrained herself.

“Anytime, Buttercup,” Asmodeus smiled mischievously.

Kala had to chuckle at that. “Calling me Buttercup is what probably broke your little spell on me.”

Asmodeus teasingly pinched Kala’s nose. “I think it’s more than fitting.”

THWAP! THWAP! More bullets.

“Time to go.” Asmodeus was about to grab Kala’s shoulders when...

SWOOSH!

Asmodeus’s body was thrown all the way to the back wall.

SNAP!

Kala cringed as something definitely cracked in Asmodeus’s body from the impact.

The entire wall of windows shattered completely.

A lone figure appeared on the edge of the floor. The man was dark: dark clothing, dark hair and dark skin. He looked at Kala with piercing brown eyes, and pointed a Glock with silencer at her. She’d almost be impressed with the gun if it wasn’t aimed at her head. But it was a
gun
. Kala felt the first stirrings of hope. If she could just get her hands on that Glock.

Asmodeus was back on his feet as if he hadn’t been touched. “Grautlin! A gun? So beneath you.”

The man named Grautlin turned away from Kala and focused on Asmodeus. “Guns kill humans as easy as anything else.”

“Yes, but why? You’re a Malak for God’s sake. You don’t honestly want to be the next Atlas?” Asmodeus seemed appalled at the idea.

Grautlin took a step toward Asmodeus, determined. “A Malak is the perfect being for Atlas. Humans are fragile, but a Malak?” To prove his point, Grautlin lifted his hand and made Asmodeus fly across the room again.

But there was no impact this time. Asmodeus disappeared completely in mid-air.

Kala realized that the Demon probably decided she wasn’t worth his hide and teleported his ass out of there. She could hardly blame him, but Kala was now stuck with a Malak who had a gun.

Grautlin appeared to have come to the same conclusion as he turned to Kala and looked at her with a serious expression. “You are not worthy of being the Atlas. I will take your place.” Grautlin lifted the gun.

Kala went into mission-mode and dove for cover behind one of the support columns.

Asmodeus appeared directly in front of Grautlin. “Surprise,” he grinned.

Before Grautlin could defend himself, Asmodeus used his powers to propel Grautlin out the open wall and into the air beyond.

Kala couldn’t say she was exactly shocked to see that Grautlin didn’t fall; instead he flew straight back in the building, tackling Asmodeus to the floor with a sickening crunch.

Upside? Grautlin dropped his gun in the process.

Downside? A Demon and a Malak were rolling around in tackle-mode on top of it.

Kala debated whether or not it was worth it to try and snag the gun, but decided escape was higher on the priority list. She stealthily made her way to the only exit on the floor and hoped it wouldn’t be too hard to break the code. Once Kala was face to face with the digital security panel, she tried to remember all she could about how to crack it. She turned the door handle first, just for kicks, but was not surprised when the door didn’t open.

The amount of smashing and cracking Kala heard in the room behind her back made her palms sweat. At least they weren’t attacking her; Kala didn’t think she’d survive a single smash to the wall, let alone the kind of pounding the two of them were slugging at each other. In a sad sort of way, Kala was actually rooting for Asmodeus, at least he didn’t want to kill her. He did, however, want to lock Kala up and make her his love slave, which might be just as bad.

Kala concentrated on the keypad. Intense, life-threatening situations were her forté. It was where she thrived. She went through all the protocols in her head and wished Jack was there. He was always the brains of their team. Kala sometimes felt that all the rest of them were just there as muscle. A part of her training at the Compound consisted of codes, not breaking them, just memorizing numbers that would set an alarm back to its factory settings. There were thousands, but only about ten that were commonly used in most domestic security systems. It wasn’t “breaking” the code, but it would open the door and that’s all Kala cared about at the moment.

Punching in several numbers, Kala tried to tune out the epic fight behind her. If her life wasn’t on the line, she might actually enjoy watching two mythical beings she didn’t know existed until two days ago having a massive throw down.

Finally, Kala typed in the right sequence of numbers to reset the machine.

The door swung open and Kala slid through it, sealing it shut behind her.

Luckily, that appeared to be the only security to speak of. Kala found herself in a standard high-rise office area filled with a sea of cubicles. They were all empty of course, which was a disadvantage to Kala. She wasn’t sure how long she had before Asmodeus and Grautlin finished their fight and realized their “prize” was gone. Hiding amongst a busy office place would have been great cover. Instead she made her way through the graveyard of cubicles to the stairs. Being at least fifty stories up, the flight down would take a while, and Kala’s military instinct didn’t want her to be stuck in an elevator where too many things could go wrong.

Kala took the stairs three at a time, using the railings to keep from falling. She knew she was running on borrowed time. There was no way they could still be fighting. Kala just hoped Asmodeus wouldn’t POP in front of her when she was so close to getting out of this building.

Reaching the last floor, Kala pushed open the exit door, rushed outside — and nearly slammed into a businessman. In her excitement she had forgotten about the throng of people always walking on the Manhattan sidewalks. With an immense sigh of relief, Kala blended into the mass of people and made her way toward the first crosswalk she could see.

Kala felt the hand on her arm yank her out of the crowd and into a deserted doorway.

On guard, Kala grabbed the hand and had it pinned behind the attacker’s back before the attacker could react.

Penny.

Kala let go of her before Penny’s eyes glowed blue and fried her where she stood. Kala didn’t exactly know if that was possible, but with everything that she had seen in the last two days, she didn’t want to take the chance.

Kala groaned. “Great. Are
you
going to try and kill me now?”

Penny looked genuinely alarmed at that statement. “Asmodeus tried to kill you?”

“No, he just wanted to sleep with me. That Malak guy tried to kill me. Look, they’re in the middle of some kind of Demon/Angel battle to the death right now, but as soon as they’re done, they’re coming after me. So, if you can help in any way?” Kala tried to hide the desperate hope out of her voice.

Penny, though, was apparently still stuck on Kala’s previous statement. “Did this Malak have a name?”

“Grautlin. He said I was weak and that a Malak should be the next Atlas. If it didn’t mean me having to die, I’d have to agree with him. He’s seriously kicking Asmodeus’s ass.” Even while talking, Kala surveyed the area like a soldier, preparing for an attack. She was still chastising herself for not seeing Penny before she pulled her off the street. Kala had been so focused on the crosswalk she had let her guard down temporarily. She promised herself that she’d never do that again.

Penny reached out and touched Kala’s forehead.

Kala felt a kind of shimmering flow through her body. “What was that?” she asked.

“A disguise of sorts,” Penny said cryptically. “I would have done it earlier, but Asmodeus already knew where you were.”

“You mean the DNA switcheroo thing? Asmodeus told me all about it,” Kala said it with confidence just to see the look on Penny’s face. She wasn’t disappointed, Penny was stunned.

“He confided that in you?” Penny’s voice was small with shock.

“I told you, all the guy wants to do is get in my pants,” Kala replied. “Can you do that whole ‘teleport’ thing, or did you have to drive here?”

“I have my little tricks, like turning invisible on cue, but only Demons and Malaks have the power to teleport. I’m neither,” Penny stated tersely.

“Good to know.” Kala knew she only had a small window of opportunity before Asmodeus or Grautlin started tracking her, so she tried something she wasn’t sure would work.

She snapped Penny’s neck.

Kala heard a passerby scream at the sight. More importantly, Penny actually dropped to the ground unconscious. Before Penny could wake up, or a crowd could mob Kala for “murder,” she ran for the crosswalk.

DNA fixed and Penny couldn’t teleport. Check.

Kala was almost home free.

Chapter Thirteen

Kala knew Penny would soon be on her trail if she didn’t get out of the area as soon as possible. Having never been to New York before, Kala found that the city was easy to maneuver.

Traversing through the busy streets of people and cars, Kala had that overwhelming feeling again that this was going to be the rest of her life. She’d be running forever. The thought made her feel more lonely than she ever had been in her life, and as a foster kid that was saying something.

Her first instinct was to call Jack. He was more involved in this Atlas thing than she was. Actually
being
the Atlas obviously made her as involved as one can get, but Kala still couldn’t fully commit to this being reality. After everything she had witnessed, Kala knew she was crazy for doubting, not crazy for believing. Nevertheless, the rational part of her brain just didn’t want to accept what was happening.

When Kala was sure she lost Penny (at least temporarily), she dipped into a small Internet café. Kala couldn’t do this alone. She needed help. Against her better judgment, Kala sat down at an empty station and signed into an email account she’d never planned on using. It was an emergency account she and Derek set up when they were first recruited to the team. Her connection with Derek had been instant. He was like the big brother she never had. Kala was sure Derek thought she was suffering from some kind of brain disease, but she also knew that he had her back no matter what (even if she was a raving lunatic). Deciding to be short and sweet, Kala simply wrote:
Meet in our spot in four hours
. She clicked send and stared at the screen, wondering if she had done the right thing.

Bringing Derek into the fold was very selfish of her, but Kala needed help.

In less than a minute a return email popped up with Derek’s response:
I’ll be there
. Almost every muscle in Kala’s body relaxed when she read Derek’s words. It brought tears to her eyes. The fiercest loyalty surged through her. She couldn’t wait to see him.

Groaning in resignation at the three hour train ride Kala had ahead of her, she headed out of the café. To avoid any unseen delays, Kala had added an hour to the meeting time, just in case. Shaking her head in frustration, Kala felt a moment of rage. Being transported to New York was a pain in the butt. Asmodeus was a royal a-hole. Kala found herself grumbling, something she rarely did.

Walking out onto the crowded streets, Kala asked someone where the train station was and was directed a few blocks away. She kept her eye out for Penny, knowing full well that whatever that woman was, she wasn’t human. Penny may not be able to teleport, but the lady always had a knack for finding Kala somehow.

Minutes later, Kala arrived at Grand Central Station. She’d always wanted to see the New York landmark, but not under these circumstances. At the moment she wanted to be as far away from this place as possible. The station was packed, yet even in the enormity of the cavernous room Kala still felt claustrophobic. The only saving grace was the light coming in through the Station’s arched windows, providing an illusion of some kind of openness to the outside.

Reading the list of trains to D.C., Kala found one that left in twenty minutes. If she was late to the meeting, Kala knew Derek would wait until she arrived.

Paying cash for the ticket, Kala hopped on the train and sat in the rear of a passenger car, where she could have a view of anyone that came in or out. Kala tried to relax as much as possible, but sitting in a train for three hours just made her nervous. It wasn’t like she actually had a weapon or anything, but Kala figured a gun wouldn’t exactly help her against a Malak or a Demon anyway. At this point, it was about getting away, not experimenting in supernatural battles.

Exhaustion was slowly started to overtake Kala. She fought to keep her eyes open. Running on adrenaline only worked when you were running. Fortunately, this wasn’t the first time Kala had to keep herself awake while dead tired. Being a sniper meant hours of sitting and lying around, waiting for a target to show up: caffeine and stimulants only worked so much. Kala had trained her body to do small exercises like clenching and unclenching her legs and arms in order to stay awake. It seemed to be working for the time being right now, too, but Kala knew she’d need to take a nap soon. Though Asmodeus knocked her out for… how long had she been out? Kala wondered.