Crux (12 page)

Fenris yanks on his leash. He leads me to a tree where he sniffs the trunk as if it’s the most important task on his to-do list.

“So, are you coming to the concert?” Kate prods.

“Who’s going?” I ask, pretending there’s something fascinating on the sidewalk next to me.

“You little chicken … this is about Izzy?”

I shake my head. “No.”

“Yes, it is. Admit it, you’re scared of her.” Kate’s grin lights up the dark night as I look at her.

“Am not.”

“You’re so funny. Yes, she’s coming, but don’t worry. She’s all bark.” Kate puts her hands in her pockets and hops over a sidewalk crack. “She’s had a little thing for Grey on and off for years. She got nervous when she heard he liked a girl enough to bring her home for Thanksgiving to meet the fam. But she’ll get over him. Stake your claim. Come.”

I can’t tell her the truth, that there’s no claim to stake. I promised Jeff. “You’re one to talk, you know, about staking a claim.”

“Why? What do you mean?” Her mouth forms a perfect O of innocence.

“Oh, come on. I mean the obvious crushing on Scud you do.”

“Nah … uh … hey, I …” A smile spreads across my face as she stutters and tries to deny the truth. “So, you’ll come?”

“Stop trying to change the subject.”

Her eyes are round, imploring, and she clasps her hands together.

“Okay, but we’re going as friends, you got that?”

“Yea!” She squeals. “Cause Grey already got you a ticket.”

Fenris stops. A low growl rumbles in his chest. Pinpricks of warning erupt all over my flesh. In all the time I’ve had him, he’s never growled. Not once. “What’s wrong, boy?”

The hair rises up on his back, and he lowers his head. The growls continue, deep and menacing. Kate’s hand encircles my sleeve, tightens painfully on my arm. Alarr burns against my chest, allowing me to sense her fear. Waves, in the form of foreboding, wash against my heightened senses. I fight the urge to give in to her panic.

“Try to calm down Kate. I think we should go back the way we came,” I say.

We’ve come a long way—farther than I’ve traveled before. I scan the road, but all’s quiet. No joggers. Not even a passing car.

Up ahead, a white van is parked on the side of the road. My nerves start buzzing, and I swallow. The cold wind pricks my eyes because I won’t blink. I can’t look away from the van two blocks away.

The vehicle doors open and several black shapes file out.

Something reflective—glowing—is on one of their faces.
Oh no, not again.

Fenris strains against his leash. I lean back, using both hands to hold him, but he hasn’t stopped snarling.

“Kate,” I say, struggling to control the squeak in my voice. “We’re in trouble. Do you have your cell?” My phone’s sitting useless in my apartment.

“No. It’s in my purse at your place. What’s wrong?” Her voice has a slight quake.

“Kate? Birdie?” Scud’s voice comes out of the darkness behind us. A moment more and Grey is standing beside me.

I breathe a sigh a relief. I’m not alone, not like before. Yet I know we have to get out of here.

“You guys were gone so long we came to find you. Damn, Bird, what’s up with your do—”

“Shhh.” I raise a hand to hush Scud, never taking my eyes from the shadows continuing to mill around the van. Growing apprehension builds in my chest. “Listen to me. The van … we have to get out of here, now.”

Grey steps around and faces me, blocking my view of the vehicle. His brow creases as his eyes dart between Fenris and me.

Snagging Kate and Grey with my hands, I start pushing. “We need to get back—”

“Hey, you there!” a man shouts from down the street.

I glance over my shoulder and gasp.

They’re moving. The men’s feet pound the sidewalk as they run.

Toward us.

13

Everyone turns toward the voice except me. I’m pulling my dog and shoving my friends. With no time to explain, I stare Grey down and hiss, “The Snatcher.”

His eyes narrow and widen before he whirls to Scud and says, “Let’s go!”

My dog starts to shake, not just tremble but really shake, and I worry he’s having a seizure even as I’m tugging on him, dragging him back up the street. His body bounces like ice in a blender, amplified snarls reverberating off the tall brick buildings crowding around us.

Over my shoulder, I see the men gaining on us.

Panic grips my throat with icy fingers, and my mind numbs, the same way it did when the goons came for Shondra.

A terrific ripping noise echoes out from Fenris, and I swear he’s getting bigger, straining so hard I expect his leash will snap.

Kate and Scud are farther down the walk, but I continue struggling to force my dog to obey me.

Fenris is now twice the size he was a moment ago, and his fur is longer, too, reminding me of a shaggy bear.

“Bird! Let him go!” Grey yells.

At the increasing pounding against pavement, my head jerks toward the men.

Fenris breaks free of my grasp and dashes forward, stopping the men a block from us, snapping at them with the ferocity of a cougar.

“What is that, Marshall?” A man in a skeleton mask yells as he backs away.

“How the hell should I know?”

Marshall?
I remember the name.
We’ve met before, you bastard.

Fenris growls at the masked men as Grey grabs me by the waist and pulls, my feet sliding backward on the concrete. I need to save my dog. I can’t just leave him to fight, maybe die alone.

The men jump around as Fenris tries to bite them.

“Now, Bird!” A solid tug on my arm whirls me around.

Scud is kneeling on the sidewalk with Kate draped across his thigh, her head dangling over the side.

“She fainted.” Scud’s jaw sags as his gaze flitters from Grey to the men, to the dog, and back to me.

Fenris is doing an excellent job of keeping our enemies at bay, but there’s too many to hold off indefinitely. Eventually, they’ll get around him and come straight after us. After Kate. After me.

Determination spreads through to my very core. I refuse to be the stupid, helpless girl again. The one in every horror movie who trips running from the chainsaw psycho. She lies there, doing nothing but the classic scream, while her friends, who come back for her, get carved like Christmas turkeys.

“Let’s pick her up!” I yell.

Even as Grey and Scud lift Kate into their arms, I glance back. Fenris roars at the masked men, teeth flashing. They leap in reverse as my dog foams and snaps. I stutter-step behind the slow moving Scud and Grey. They make an odd tripod of people-legs dragging Kate along.

“Did anyone bring a gun?” A masked man shouts.

“In the truck.”

“Well, go and get it, you idiot!”

My heart slams against my ribs. “Fenris!”
They’ll kill him.

One of the goons jogs backward toward the van. My bear-dog takes off after him with another man in pursuit. The two men remaining edge toward Grey. And Kate. And Scud. And me. It’s over.

Alarr burns, icy hot on my skin. Everything moves as if I’m watching a stop frame slow motion film. My vision seems to pass through an angry, red filter, as if through a camera lens, zooming in and out, the focus is technically sharp and magnified. I’m shaking as hard as Fenris was earlier, and my chest heaves against my rapid breaths.

All I can think about is how I want to blow my enemies away. How I want to make them disappear. That I can’t let them hurt my friends.

A breeze moves branches on the trees lining the streets. Debris whirls down an alley we pass. A leaf, scratching along the sidewalk, is amplified a hundred fold.

With another glance back, I see one man pull off his mask. He’s panting, spewing a string of obscenities. His face, with its big hooked nose, is surrounded by brown, scraggly hair, and a beard to match.

Seeing him without his disguise confirms he’s nothing more than a man, but he’s real, too. Not a demon, ghost, or some untouchable entity. This guy’s made of flesh and blood.

My hands stretch out toward the creeps threatening my dog, tiny breezes and currents join forces, swirling around us.

Sharp fangs sink into one man’s thigh. He shrieks and falls to the ground, but Fenris just releases and clamps onto the guy’s shoulder.

The two coming toward us hesitate.

Wind howls around the buildings, whipping my hair around my face. Cars parked on the street rock and blink as their alarms pierce the air, and I realize Alarr is working within me.

I stop and face the men with a plan to distract them, leaving Grey and Scud to get Kate to safety, until I remember Jeff’s words about Alarr and my Guardian.

Fenris chomps down on another man’s arm. That guy screams, but there are still more, and they will come after us. I can feel it.

“Are you wearing your band?” I yell to Grey, hoping he hears over the gale. “I need help with the wind.”

He appears at my side. “Are you doing this?”

I reach out to him. “Touch my hand.”

“What?”

“Take my hand.”

“Like the Wonder Twins?”

Hilarious.
“Stop arguing and do it! Jeff said we’re stronger together, didn’t he?”

Grey grabs my fingers so hard I flinch.

Borrowed power courses through my veins. I call the air toward me from every direction. The gusts mesh, expanding until their combined strength rivals a hurricane.

Windows rattle. Some blow out of their panes—caught in halo of light cast by overhead street lamps—a shower of glittering shards rains over us.

The duo heading our way pivots and runs back down the road toward their vehicle—the hated white van that took Shondra.

The men stumble against the force of the wind, leaning back on each other.

The tempest rushes out, highlighted before me like swift moving currents on a river. I sense every detail of my surroundings and manipulate the wind around my dog and friends until they are exempt from its effects.

Fenris chases, barks and bites. He jumps on a third guy who topples to the ground beneath the attack.

One man is limping. His cohorts grab at his pants and haul him up even as Fenris snaps at them again and again.

The cowards pull at each other and pile into the van. Headlights brighten, and the driver maneuvers the bobbing van onto the road.

I thrust my arms all the way out and flip my hands up, palms out. My stomach muscles tighten as I imagine what I want to happen and shove the wind with my mind until my wishes are reality.

The van skids and slides wildly but doesn’t stop. The tires screech as they burn around the corner.

They are gone.

The red tide over my eyes recedes. My breathing returns to normal as the gusts die down to a light breeze. Fenris lopes back down the street toward me. Shrunk down to his average size again, he’s just an every day, garden-variety Shepherd.

I give hard consideration to whether I’m having another one of my nightmares.

That’s when I look down.

I’m floating, suspended five feet off the ground.

Despite my attempt at focus, I fall straight to the ground.

“Birdie.” Grey helps me up. “That was … you were … amazing.”

I gape at him, and he gives me a nervous laugh.

Scud sits on the sidewalk holding Kate who moans and starts to come around. “Wicked,” he says and turns to Grey. “Dude, that was sweet. You didn’t tell me you were hot for a superhero.”

Grey’s cheeks flush. “Let’s get Kate back to Bird’s apartment, okay?”

Scud turns to her quiet face, and his jaw tightens. My heart swells when he gently moves her hair from her forehead. He stands with her limp form still cradled in his arms.

“What … What happened? Where’s—”

“We’re all right here, Katie,” Grey says. “Everything’s fine. We’ll get upstairs and get some coffee to warm you up.”

“Yeah, okay,” says Scud. “Then we’re gonna talk.”

I frown. “I don’t think there’s any need to—”

“Hold it right there, babe. We’re talking, or you are. There’s no friggin’ way I’m going to forget about what I saw back there. You’ve got some serious explaining to do.”

• • •

I lie in my bed. The blue LED numbers on my alarm clock read 3:35 AM. I’m exhausted, but my mind is too full to sleep.

Fenris snores, passed out on the area rug in the kitchen. I’m awed by my dog—grateful for his help tonight. Grey was right, the dog is more than he first appeared.

Streetlight filters through my window, highlighting the two entwined forms on the sofa. Scud’s arm is wound around Kate, as usual, but I know everything’s changed.

Grey and I took turns trying to explain everything that has happened since the day we met. Scud kept eyeing Grey, shaking his head. Whether in disbelief of the facts, or that his best friend hid the truth from him, I don’t know.

Kate bit her nails the whole time. I’m sure we blew her mind with our tale. Scud’s muscular arms flexed around her, comforting and steady as they listened to the story from start to finish. He never let her go. He was serious, attentive—every touch purposeful and possessive.

We talked for an hour, answering questions. In the end, they didn’t run for the door, reject me, or try to put a stake through my heart. Though Scud confessed he was hurt Grey didn’t tell him, he accepted my explanation that it wasn’t Grey’s secret to tell. He was protecting his family, and he’d sworn an oath to Jeff.

A huge gush of air escapes my lungs.

“Bird?” Grey whispers. Springs creak as he gets up from the chair and climbs over me. His body stretches out behind mine, and he settles in. “Can’t you sleep?”

I don’t answer. I can’t. I’m in bed with Grey Mathews. Okay, whoa.

His voice in my ear sends an electric impulse to my brain. The one connected to cheesy, romantic, unrealistic thoughts. I roll toward him and shake my head. The LED gives his features an icy, blue glow. He pushes my hair behind my ear. His touch is warm yet exhilarating, and I don’t know how to control my emotions where he’s concerned. My body and better judgment aren’t working together anymore.

“What’re you thinking?” He strokes my cheek with the back of his finger until I can’t remember. Sometimes he acts like he’s into me, but he said I was a job and his duty, and told Dylan we were ‘just friends’. That makes him nothing more than my Guardian, and me Jane Doe. His flirting is just an occupational hazard for a musician.

Get over yourself Birdie.

“A million problems are swirling in my head at once.”

“Okay. Lasso one or two and pull them down so I can see.”

Lasso … do what?

The way Grey says stuff sometimes makes me wonder if he wrote any lyrics for Push. I make a mental note to download their music, or ask Kate if she has a C.D.

“I’m thinking about Kate and Scud. How hard this situation must be for them. They lost Sean, too, when he went to fight. They could lose you the same way. They must hate me. I hate me. I wish I’d never sat down with your family that day in the bistro. Their worry is my fault. I involved you. Not to mention the fact that I don’t want anything to happen to you either. Oh, yeah, and P.S., my dog’s a freaking werewolf.” My thoughts spill out before I can stop them.

“Don’t hold back, Bird. Tell me how you really feel.”

“You asked for it.”

Grey chuckles in my ear, and some vital organ melts inside me.

I take a deep breath. “I know I’ve said this twenty times, but I have to say this again, for the sake of your family and friends. Don’t go. Jeff says I can do this without a Guardian. And for the first time, well, after everything that happened tonight, I think I can win. Please, please bow out. I’m begging you.” It scares me to think of facing the kings without someone—him—but I’m so much stronger than I was even a week or two before. “With a bit more practice—”

Grey runs his finger down my cheek again. “No.”

I bounce my head back against my pillow, wishing it was a cinder block. Heat spreads throughout my chest, and I want to shove him out the window for being so stupid and stubborn. “I hate you,” I whisper through clenched teeth.

“I hate you, too, Bird,” he says, voice soft. “More than you will ever know.”

My eyebrows shoot up, and I lift up on one elbow. “You do?”

“Very definitely.” He’s smiling.

“Oh. Um … and there’s nothing I can do or say to make you change your mind?”

“Nope.” He crosses his arms over his chest.

“What if I tell you I’ll jump off the roof of the Weston Peachtree?
Splat!”

“I’ll remind you it’s not much motivation, considering you fly.”

“Right. Dang.”

He turns to me, and I lay down as he props his elbows on either side of my shoulders and stares into my face. “I think Kate and Scud will understand why I have to fight with you. Sean decided he wanted something more. He wanted to make a real difference and died before he got the chance. I guess I feel like the torch has been passed to me. I can finish what he started.”

“What about school, your parents?”

Grey’s eyes dip down toward my mouth and back to my eyes. “My dad’s worst fears came true for my brother. Since Sean’s death, my dad doesn’t see me anymore, or Kate or Mom. He doesn’t see anyone. Tech was my dad’s idea. He’d obsessed with his individual plans for us, but not the individual. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah, I get it.”

“I thought about what you said—about living for someone else. I didn’t notice until after Sean died how proud Dad was. He never agreed, but he respected Sean’s choices. Maybe he’ll respect mine, too.”

“I hope so. I really do.”

“Thanks.” He rolls over on his back and rests his arm against his forehead.

“Grey?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you really hate me?”

“You have no idea.”

“I hate you, too—both of you, really.” Scud’s sleep infused voice comes from the sofa.

“How much did you overhear? You eavesdropping little piece of—” Grey starts.