Chasing Shadow (Shadow Puppeteer) (17 page)

I grabbed the bow and positioned it at the creature. Its silvery lips exposed sharp silvery teeth. I didn’t wait for it to move any closer. I aimed for the right eye and fired. The arrow whizzed through the air shattering the glass protecting the circuit. The thing reared back its head and gave a metallic bellow that drowned both the music and the metal gears of the production line.

It lunged forward and was intercepted by a creature just a fraction smaller with a softer pelt. They collided in midair and I knew that Rex skewered himself on those spikes. His force had the desired affect but at a high price.

I had to focus on that remaining eye. I didn’t want to lose my visual by closing my eyes, but watching them spin around in a violent embrace did nothing for my nerves. Even with my eyes shut, I saw that red ember of light burning in its silver socket. When it felt solid in my vision, I crushed it out by fisting my hand closed. The red light dimmed and went out.

The energy short circuited and it fell to the ground, but within it, I felt the tortured beast still trapped inside. Its anger masked its fear. It was another creature looking for a way out.

Rex turned to look at me, then limped into the shadow where it was the darkest. It was hard to tell if he understood what I did to save them. In wolf form, maybe his mind didn’t think like ours did.

“We should go,” the faerie said.

This time she yanked on my elbow trying to get me to move. I didn’t want to leave without knowing Rex was going to be okay. Amber remained where she lay on top of the lights. Her breathing was steady, but she needed medical attention.

“Don’t underestimate the lycanthropes; they can take care of themselves. Now, let’s get out of here,” she said.

The smell of blood snapped that statement home. The floor was soaked with dark liquid that drizzled in thick lines towards us. Rex took a beating and kept on fighting. He had a warrior spirit.

It was hard keeping the frustration from my tone. “Can I at least make sure they’re okay?”

“We’ll survive,” Rex answered.

The shadows twisted with movement. His usual strut was stilted. He favored one side, but he was so covered in blood, that I couldn’t tell what was actually bleeding. Under all that filth, it was hard to miss that he was naked and not at all bashful. This side of Rex was the one to fear. Even in human form, he was nothing but animalistic.

“Amber needs to see a doctor. I think she’s bleeding internally,” I said.

“You need to come with us,
Belen
.” Rex’s aura belied his calm tone.

“Don’t go with them, they’re with the Berserkers. How else do you think they managed to get here so quickly?” the faerie said.

“And who are you working for?” I threw back at her.

The faerie only smiled at me and cocked her head to the side. I really hated that look. I glanced back at Rex. Nude should make a person look vulnerable, not utterly frightening. I couldn’t stay here, so I had to pick one of them to follow and I already knew Sonya’s intentions. The man back at my house said Bliss was with the faeries. Bliss wanted to help me get off the island.

“You will regret going with her,
Belen
,” Rex warned.

I could feel the beast that rumbled just within the confines of his skin. It made me wonder how much control the human part of him had over his beast. I didn’t know who to trust and to admit that to myself left me feeling helpless. We had to conclude this conversation before something else came for us and all the yelling wasn’t helping my throat or head.

“Can you offer me protection against Sonya?” I asked.

He didn’t blink an eye before he answered. “I am unable to promise that.”

I turned to the faerie. “Can you offer me protection?”

“I can give you my honor that no harm will come to you while you are with me,” she said.

I didn’t know much about faeries, but that promise seemed a little faulty.

“You go with her, and we will be forced to hunt you down, Belen,” he warned.

“I wish you the best Rex, but I’m not going to go with you so you can hand me over to Sonya,” I said.

I expected him to charge at me, but instead, he watched me leave with the faerie. Maybe he didn’t want to leave Amber, or maybe the faerie had something to do with his distance. I was too exhausted by the thought of him hunting me down.

“Freedom is through those doors,” the faerie said.

I caught her before she could step through them. “Who sent you to get me?”

“I follow the orders given to me by my queen’s guard,” she said. “Are you ready?”

I’d never be ready for any of this, but I didn’t want to stay in the warehouse with Amber, Rex and World Congress. I stood behind the faerie and watched her step through with Starr in her grip. I didn’t give myself a second to hesitate before I followed.

T
here was mere seconds of racing blackness before I fell on a bed. I barely had a chance to catch my breath before two bodies fell on top of me, knocking the wind from my lungs. I found the strength to push them off and then doubled over trying to pull oxygen back into my lungs.

How could they end up on top of me when they went through the doorway first? I held my side, expecting to feel the stab of a broken rib, but the tingling eased and breathing became easy again.

I rolled off the bed, grateful for the sunlight coming in through the blinds. Light was good. It meant I was on the outside of that government building. It took only a moment to realize we were in my room. Unless the faeries did something to Sonya’s men, someone should have heard the bed crack under our fall.

“I brought the girl like you wanted, so you can now fix my companion,” the faerie demanded.

Bliss sat on my dresser with his long legs folded under him and his guitar resting in his lap. With his hat off, the top portion of his hair was pulled back in a long slick braid while the rest of his hair fell loosely over his shoulders. Gold loops curled up the sides of his long ears and his eyes were churning in many shades of blue.

“You’re giving
me
orders now?” Bliss asked. His tone was pointed.

He sat his guitar to the side and uncurled from his position, his limbs graceful and long like a spider’s. I gave him room as he approached us. The faerie said she was following the orders of her queen’s guard. Was Bliss the guard?

I didn’t want to stand here listening to this. “Sonya’s men are watching this house. We need to leave.”

It was like I never spoke at all.

She bowed low. “Take mercy on us lesser creatures. Please free her soul within this body so she can make her own decisions. You are as strong as the queen, please help me.”

Bliss hissed. “You step out of your social boundaries. Speak of this again and no favor will come to you. Take your female to any graveyard that has a lamb statue and there you will find the help you need.”

I really needed to brush up on my knowledge of faerie culture.

Her determination returned with a vengeance, though this time, her voice shook with need. “I don’t trust the Unseelie court to help, but you, you are known to help others outside the court.”

I waited too, holding my breath for his answer. At first, I thought he was going to demand she leave. When he pulled a velvety pouch from the pocket of his coat, I found myself sighing in relief. Both Starr and I were going to get off the island like we wanted.

He dipped his fingers in it and withdrew a powder that could pass as crushed diamonds the way it sparkled in the light, falling over Starr’s face, neck and arms.

Magic—

Color surged under Starr’s skin. Bliss leaned forward, resting his left hand over her chest with the right one cupped over the left. He closed his eyes and silently whispered words that I couldn’t make out. Energy crackled along his body. I lowered my shields, wanting to feel it. What came back through the sensitive fabrics of my empathy was cold and small like snowflakes, but a little grittier, as if there were pebbles in the ice.

Starr arched under the transfer of energy, leeching from Bliss. She clutched the edges of the bed, drew a noisy breath and screamed. There was no way Sonya’s men would miss this.

Bliss jerked away from the bed. “She shouldn’t be here.”

I reached the bed the same time as the faerie girl. For something so small, she managed to take up a great deal of space making sure I couldn’t get close to Starr, so I stood. Starr was groggy, murmuring answers to the strange language that accosted her.

Starr nearly pushed the female away from her. “Bliss.”

The faerie girl looked hurt.

His attention passed to me. “It’s time to go.

Starr tried to stand and swayed. If Bliss was moved by her determination to get to him, it didn’t show. He masked his emotions.

“You’re still alive. You survived and I didn’t?” Starr accused.

I expected him to back out into the hallway when Starr stood and made her way to him. He was tense, but he didn’t move. I was at a lost with this conversation, but it drove home that I never knew Starr.

She reached for him and he caught her hand before she could touch him. Instead of pushing her away, he clung. The moment grew so intimate that I was embarrassed about witnessing it.

“I’ll be in the hall,” I said.

They blocked the door and neither was moving.

“Okay, I’ll just be over here then.” I crossed over to the window and stared out.

Someone had opened the curtains so I stayed to the side as I looked down into the backyard. It felt like nothing should have changed, yet everything had. Ms. Sable was dead and Starr wasn’t really a teenager.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you. I’m stronger now, but you don’t belong here anymore. Your spirit needs to rest,” Bliss said.

“It’s dark there, nothing like earth and its beauty. If you send me back, I’ll never forgive you. I’ll send hell hounds to drag you down for company.”

I tried not to listen, but even their whispered words were acute to my ears. There was an air of selfishness still there, but I had to remind myself that the Starr I knew was a mask. I wondered what she was like back in the confines of her home when she didn’t have to pretend.

“Go, then. I saw nothing,” he said.

I turned then, too curious for my own good. Starr’s hand rested on his chest, but he wouldn’t face her. He was literally turning his attention away.

“Don’t turn your back on me. You put your energy inside me. You know I’m here. You can’t ignore that,” Starr ordered. She slammed her fists on his chest, but it didn’t move him.

He caught her wrists. “Don’t force me to send you back.”

I will never forget the look of dread that crossed over Starr’s features as she turned to me.

“You should come with us,” she said.

I didn’t like how hard her eyes became. She might be stuck in a Free-String body, but she was as alien to look at as the creature beside her.

“The girl will stay with me,” Bliss said.

Starr looked back at Bliss, then at me. I wanted to ask if she was happy she finally got to leave the island. That seemed to be what she always wanted.

“I do love you Belen, on some capacity,” she looked back at Bliss, “But be careful with this one, he’ll get you killed.”

With that final ado, Starr paused long enough to grab a picture of us from the wall before she left the room with the faerie. I was very aware of Bliss and the energy residue that lingered in the room. Sonya’s men should be here, interrupting all this. It was easier dealing with them, than contemplating what I learned.

“We should go.” There was no sign that he was upset.

“Why are you helping me?”

“The question of the hour,” he said.

“Do I get to choose where you take me?”

“No.”

I went over to where my backpack and knives still sat by the closet. I grabbed a coat and pulled it on and then gave Bliss the nod that I was ready to leave.

T
he moon was the first thing I was aware of before my eyes adjusted to the surrounding darkness. The fence at my back was the second clue to my whereabouts. There was only one island in our history book that had a fence and that was Xyla. Bliss left me on an island with criminals. This didn’t make me feel safe.

Not to mention the loss of time had me worried. The sun was up just moments ago and now it was night. My last memory was my bedroom. Where did I spend the last couple of hours? That was a lot of time to have missing.

While the rest of the world was snug within the safety of their homes, Xyla was awake and ready for a night of illegal pursuits. I glanced back at the ocean just beyond the fence. The choppy, black water didn’t reflect the moon’s light. It was too early in the evening for the fog, which gave me a view of the asylum in all its glory.

I had enough money to get back to Ardent, but that would be stupid since Rex knew about the tree house. All my belongings were over there. I had no id or change of clothes, but at least I had the bone knife, food, water and a little money. Unfortunately, that didn’t satisfy me. I didn’t want to be on an island with freaks.

It was the settling chill that propelled me towards the city. I stopped long enough to pull a little money from the backpack. No need to let people know how much I was carrying.

This was how I pictured a big city; dirty, over populated and with closely placed buildings. They had the whole island to build on, but they squeezed the city into a few rows. There were many flashing lights, loud ungoverned music and the people dressed however they wanted.

It was a place one could easily get lost in, but it was hard to relax knowing that Sonya’s men were somewhere out here looking for me. There was safety in numbers so I wandered further in. The smell of bodily fluids mixed with the scent of fried food triggered my gag reflex.

I didn’t find comfort in the black fumes that signified the junkyard. It was strange being on the island without Starr. It served as a reminder that I was now on my own.

Xyla was no longer thrilling. Many store signs weren’t in languages I could not speak, while others blatantly advertised illegal items. It was disorientating. This wasn’t forever, but I didn’t want it to even be now. I was turning heads despite my best efforts to fit in. I needed to get off the street.