Chasing Shadow (Shadow Puppeteer) (29 page)

“Amber is going to need help,” I said.

That got him to accept my assistance. I pulled his boots off and worked the clasp on his pants while he wrestled with the heavy chest gear. Rex wasn’t turning his hands like Amber had, to shred the hefty leather breastplates. It worried me. Maybe he should keep the gear on.

My nerves made more lights burst. For once this curse was working to our advantage. The darker it got, the better I could feel the spirits, but if they came, could I keep them from tearing everyone apart? I doubted it.

Amber’s howl shook me to my core. My fingers trembled as I got the clasp unhooked and yanked the padded leather down his legs. He got the shirt discarded and the minute his skin broke out in a sweat, I stepped away, knowing what was going to happen. I had to look away.

A gun whacked me in the head, and another got me in the shoulder. Rose managed to get the guns closer to us before they dropped. Her dark skin was a few shades paler due to the effort, but I appreciated it. I picked up a gun and pressed myself behind a glass energy case.

It wasn’t much shelter. I expected to hear the glass shatter as a bullet rocketed through it, but the guns were trained on Amber and Rex. The woman said there was silver inside. I couldn’t let them go down like this.

If I could shatter bulbs, maybe I could shatter some of these electric cases closer to the fight. I stared hard at the boxes, but the entire area was a mess of fur and black body armor. The smell of gunpowder was becoming overwhelming, but the confusion was working for them.

I ran my hand up the glass box I was hiding behind to help with my focus. The glass was surprisingly cool. I couldn’t feel the energy that rolled up the walls, but I imagined it would sting. It wasn’t just the electricity in the box I was touching that responded. A few at the front and ones closer to the window walls began to flare.

If a few of them shattered, maybe the entire building would shut down. I wondered if any of the prisoners actually escaped. Everyone would be condemned if I did this, but I didn’t have a better option. If we died, World Congress would continue their reign. Rex wasn’t fighting nearly as fiercely as Amber, and Amber was already slowing down.

I stood and grasped the glass box. It was now or never. I shoved every ounce of my ability into the box. The electricity filled my head and for a moment, we were connected. The power made my teeth chatter, but I shoved myself into it, picturing myself a black hole. Instead, of sucking inward, the energy pushed outward. The glass box rumbled under my fingers before the explosion sent me through the air.

I hit the ground so hard that I skidded. The right side of my face and body were in extreme pain. I tried to pull myself up when a thin layer of frigid water rushed around me, but the best I could do was stay on all fours. The pain was so violent that movement was near impossible.

Through the strands of my hair, I saw the destruction. Half the room was plunged into darkness. Wires and pipes hung from the gutted ceiling and a crack in the glass wall permitted water to pour in at an alarming pace. The shadows were here too, beating fiercely in my chest.

My eyes snapped open the minute the screaming started. The shadows weren’t recognizable shapes tearing through the guards closest to the darkness. The attack was so thorough that the once clear boxes now had gore running down the glass.

This was me. I was doing this.

I pushed myself up against a glass case, unable to do much more. Even in the limited light, I could see how gory and shredded my clothes were. There were chunks of glass imbedded in my skin, but worst of all was the unquenchable desire to destroy.

From here, I saw them all, still battling. The frenzy grew. I had to get to them. It wasn’t easy, as my body fought the movement. The glass was imbedded deep and tendons refused to cooperate.

The shadowed voices were as dry as sandpaper scrapping against wood. I couldn’t make sense of it, but I knew something was wrong. Everyone still alive was backtracking towards the second elevator. The shadows moved slower, taking only one guard at a time.

I stepped clear of cover expecting bullets to fly. Nothing happened. The guards that were still breathing ran or crawled towards the only means of escape.

My attention fell to the table with the single bulb brightening D’s face. He wasn’t breathing. I could tell even from here, but I couldn’t feel the essence of his aura in the air indicating he was now a spirit. Rex and Amber were alive, hiding somewhere in the mess. I didn’t know Rose well enough to recognize her among the chaos.

Every step brought sharp pain through my muscles. It helped clear the turmoil in my head. I was frustrated by my slow movements. Walking was a chore, but my determination was equal to the unrelenting agony. I was hyper aware and waiting for a bullet to cut me down in midstride.

The energy that forced the shadows into action drifted off, but the guards still retreated. This was too easy. It was the calm before the storm.

I was at D’s table when someone caught my shoulder, startling me. It took a moment to realize Rex was human again. Maybe it was the very dim lighting from the remaining bulbs that messed with my vision.

“Oh God, Belen! What happened?”

The fear in his tone set my nerves on edge. Even after fighting the metal canine, he wasn’t this anxious. From his reaction, I knew I looked as bad as I felt. He tried to pick me up, but I scooted from his hands and nearly tripped on my own feet. I could barely focus on his words. The water was filling the large room rather fast and we were now ankle deep.

“There should be more patrollers. Why hasn’t anyone come down yet?” Rose asked.

“Maybe it has something to do with the explosion. Just keep an eye on the elevators,” Amber ordered.

I cancelled their chatter in order to focus on D. Blood dribbled from where the wires were shoved into his temples. I grabbed the offensive pieces and yanked. There was a wet sucking sound and a fresh gush of blood.

“Breath,” I whispered.

Rex tugged gently at me. “There’s nothing you can do. Come on, we need to get out of here.”

“No, not without D,” I said, clutching the table straps so that he couldn’t move me.

“Damnit, Bel, this isn’t a game,” Rex said.

I traced D’s features with my shredded gloves, leaving bloody fingerprints. His skin wasn’t cold yet. There was still time to do something.

“D,” I whispered, holding his face.

Something sparked between my fingers. It felt like I was reaching for something in a very deep hole. It thudded again and I knew I was touching something alive.

“The elevator’s moving, someone’s coming,” Amber yelled.

“The second elevator’s moving too,” Rose said.

Their voices faded when I grasped D’s shoulders. Though my fingers remained on his flesh, I was reaching through something and it was as cold as the water that rushed higher up my shin. It latched onto me and I was jerked into it.

I was falling through darkness. I could feel the shadows, but the level of interpretation was different. They didn’t make my skin clammy or my head pulse. My panic wavered. The world here was calm, quiet and safe. There was no pain. I’ve felt this power before, but no matter how hard I tried to remember where, nothing came to mind.

The falling motion stopped. I hung in the darkness and though there wasn’t an ounce of light for my eyes to adjust too, my other senses took over. I sensed what I needed to know. This world was vast.

Something smacked into me with such force that I was once again in motion, holding onto the new energy. It was a lighter force than everything around us. It felt like I was holding liquid sun and it was burning through me as we raced onward. My mind was so quiet that I couldn’t think past the questions that kept rising.

What was I doing here? What was I looking for? Was it in my hands now?

I was falling. It was indefinite, now that I was sure of it. I braced for a hard landing, but when I jolted, my feet barely left the floor.

“Maybe we can block one of the elevators,” Rex said.

Disoriented, I held onto the edge of the table with one hand and D’s chest with the other. Nothing had changed. I wasn’t gone but for a few seconds. Everyone’s back was to me and the elevators were still clicking.

“There’s nothing to block them with,” Amber said.

I pried my achy fingers from where I dug them into D’s shoulder and managed to step away. The nausea rolled in my belly and tightened in my chest. Something thick was crawling through me, putting pressure on my stomach and making it difficult to breathe.

It spiked my insides, coming up so fast that I doubled over and purged black liquid into the rising water. The force stretched my jaw beyond its means. The tar substance spilled over my hand. I couldn’t lift my head. It wouldn’t stop and I couldn’t breathe around it. It kept coming and the worst of it was pitted in my stomach.

“Belen!” Someone screamed my name, but no one touched me.

Something bigger resided in my stomach and it burned my insides. I felt it on my tongue before my retching pushed it outward. It was gold and instead of spilling into the water, it shot straight at D. His body arched and his limbs stretched. His hands clawed at the air, but he was breathing and I was responsible.

I choked back a sob, grateful that I could breathe again.

“What did you do?” Rose’s voice rose over the stillness.

Nothing was moving. The few patrollers that still waited for the next elevator were frozen. Their eyes were wide with unmasked fear.

“He was dead. You just brought a dead man back to life,” Rose said.

“No, that’s not possible. He’s actually alive. Even a necromancer couldn’t pull that off,” Amber said.

I didn’t want to discuss this right now when I could barely catch my breath. My chest ached. My insides were bruised. I found my footing and clutched the side of his table for balance. He stared at the ceiling with eyes so liquid gray, they looked unreal.

“Are you okay?” The moment the words came out of my mouth, I realized how stupid they sounded.

He died. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t doing very well at all and I wasn’t sure how well I was doing after having that darkness come out of my mouth. Dried blood darkened his face and dirt grayed his pale locks.

“Congratulations, Belen McKnight. You have successfully resurrected the dead and killed off my crew using the dead, but you’re never getting out of here alive,” the computer said.

I almost forgot it was there.

Patrollers poured from the open doors and Rose dropped to her knee, positioning the rifle. The shots were dead on, jerking the patrollers’ back. The sore muscles in my stomach tightened. I was never going to be the same.

I tried to unlatch the straps, but my fingers were useless. Some of the digits on my hands wouldn’t bend.

Rex came up behind me. “I have this.”

Despite his own weeping wounds, he tore the straps right off. D was shaky, but he slid off the side of the table farthest from us. His fear hurt me.

“You are a threat to us, to yourself and to humanity. We cannot allow you to leave,” the computer said.

The silver lining on the ceiling started to drip down and shape itself. A red light at the center of its head gave a laser aim straight at my head. D gave a low protest that sounded like a squeezed wheeze, or maybe that sound came from me. There were now twenty odd box shaped machines crawling on metal clawed feet towards us.

Even the shadows abandoned me. I now stood alone.

I turned to Rex. “Take D and run.”

The elevator was directly behind them. D edged further away from us, but Amber closed in and grabbed him. For a minute, I wasn’t sure they would follow through with my plea, but the machines closing the distance between us spurred them.

Now I really was alone, but the distance between me and the elevator gave me hope. I could barely hear my ragged breathing over the scratching metal. More robot machines were being formed further into the room. The minute they dropped free of the ceiling, they lumbered over to the wall and started fixing the damage.

I dug deep within my tired body. My shadow heart was weak, but so was my spirit. I closed my eyes and recalled the way the glass felt against my hand. I imagined the electricity and the way it tingled along my skin. My hands were full of that energy. It filled the crevices of my aching body and I held it tightly before opening myself and releasing it. The glass shattered.

Something hit me square in the chest and I was airborne. I slammed against the table and we tumbled together before the wall stopped us. The coldness twisted my muscle and I couldn’t reach down to stretch the cramps. The table rested over my lower legs and water rose to my waist.

Time was ticking and I felt utterly alone. Did I win?

There were a few glass boxes further in the room that still held their erratic blue orbs before exploding. Metal shards pierced my upper shoulders and chest. They were burning hot next to the contrast of my freezing core. I couldn’t move to check the damage. My arms refused to follow the direct order from my brain.

Any minute now, the cracks in the glass wall would burst inward and I would be submerged in the water. I’d drown, just like the captain.

Alone.

Scared.

“She’s over here,” Amber said.

Of all the voices to hear, I was glad it was Amber. A bright light was shined in my face, but I couldn’t turn my head, nor could I tell her to turn it off. I couldn’t see past the light, but the way they splashed, I knew the water was higher, even if I couldn’t feel it.

“Jesus,” Rex said.

Relief brought a great deal of exhaustion. I wanted to weep, but even that part of my brain wouldn’t cooperate. A sound further in the room kept me immobile. It was a terrible humming that filled me with dread and sickness. I wanted to press my hands against my ears, but my body wouldn’t move.

Still that sound kept coming. It was so raw, tired and aching. It sounded manic; crazed, hungry and alarmingly hopeless.

That sound was coming from…

Me—

I was laughing. It was an eerie, scratchy sound. It rocked my heart and ribs. It dislodged something very vital within me.