Crux (The Aurora Lockette Series) (8 page)

Dennis tensed. The strange charge filled the air that only the Shyama could bring.
“Bingo,” Dennis whispered.

Two Shyama moved across the road. They didn’t bother with a human form, so they were a swirling dark mass of matter against a black sky. The effect was bizarre and frightening.

One of them moved in our direction and pawed its way through the bushes we were hiding in. Dennis put one finger to his mouth. I understood him: be quiet, and be still.

I didn’t dare move, not even to breathe. The Shyama moved so close that when it parted the bushes near the top of my head, my hair moved.

He was going to find us. We were going to have to fight. My heart lurched with dread. They would move her after this, and we wouldn’t be able to find her again.

A slight clapping sound emanated from the air. The Shyama jumped toward the sound. I held my breath as it walked away, circling the spot where the sound came from.

It made a clicking sound as it spoke in their strange language. The other Shyama came close to cluster around it. After a couple of minutes, they went back to the car. Soon, there was nothing left but faint red taillights zooming down the road.

Dennis pulled out a small walkie-talkie.
“Eagle B, inbound. Two vehicles. Black.”

“
I’ve got them,” a female voice came over the line. “Eagle C landing soon.”

“
Copy that.” Dennis put the walkie-talkie down.

“
The twins?” I asked.

“
Yes. One of them was kind enough to distract the Shyama before they discovered us. They’re both tailing the vehicle now from a distance.”

He turned down the walkie-talkie so we couldn’t hear the static noise.

“Now what?” I asked.

“
We wait, and we watch.”

“
This is driving me blooming nuts!” I dug my fingers into the sand.

“
Stand down, lad. This is surveillance. We’ll get her back, I promise.”

He resumed his binocular watching. I scanned the dark horizon, too. I didn’t see anything. No movement, no lights, nothing.

The red light of the walkie-talkie strapped to his waist flashed red. I poked his arm and pointed to it.

He put his binoculars back in his belt before grabbing the walkie-talkie.
“Eagle B, this is Eagle A.”

“
Copy, Eagle B and Eagle C on scene. Two vehicles parked at a small house with boarded windows. I’m reading several heat signatures inside. Sending coordinates now.”

“
Copy that.” He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, opened the text messages, and showed me the coordinates splashed across the screen. “Told you we would find her.”

He put the walkie-talkie back to his mouth.
“Keep eyes on it the whole time. I’ll rotate you guys every three hours. I’m getting back-up. Eagle C, report to me.”

He clipped the walkie-talkie to
his belt. “Time to get her. I’m mobilizing everyone and calling for some back-up.” He pulled out his cell phone and started texting. He whistled a bird call and his brother emerged from the plants nearby.

“
How long will it take?” I asked.

“
As long as it takes to get sufficient forces here,” Dennis said, eyes still on his cell phone screen.

I gritted my teeth, trying not to scream.
“Which will be how many more hours that my fiancé will be held?”

He wiped his chin.
“Son, if we mess this up, she’ll be gone forever. We’ll do it right. It will take several hours for everyone to get here. We’re going as fast as we can.”

I threw my arm back towards the road.
“We’ve got at least eight people here. That’s not enough to—”

“
No, it’s not. There are only a few fighters among the twelve. We need the tactical advantage of more. If we go in right now, we may lose her. We’ll keep eyes on her at all times. If they try to move her, then we’ll go ahead and make our move. Otherwise, let’s wait until we have enough people to pull this off. Please, let me do my job.”

He went back to his binoculars, watching the skyline around us. His walkie-talkie squawked to life.
“Eagle C, incoming.”

“
Roger that.”

A few seconds later, the quieter twin landed a few feet behind us. She walked up to Dennis and crouched low.

“Tell me,” Dennis said.

“
The vehicles pulled up to a small, rectangular white house. All the windows are boarded up. There are human sentries a half mile out, at the four cardinal points. They have night-vision goggles, and were scanning the sky and the foliage. We saw several Shyama scattered around as well, in uneven intervals. There are three heat signatures in the house, two of them very close together. The occupants of the vehicles were still inside when we left.”

Dennis put his hand on the rocky desert floor.
“They’re watching. We need to back off. I want everyone out but the Flyers keeping watch. We’ll mobilize at a public location nearby in case they try to move. Rotate the location every two hours.”

“
Got it.” She disappeared, floating away into the black night.

“
Let’s go,” Dennis ordered. As we crawled on the rocky ground, small rocks and God knows what else dug into my knees and palms until we were close to highway. We stood near the petrol station where we’d parked. I looked back in the direction of where she was. With a heavy heart, I turned towards the garish lights of civilization.

AURORA

I was awake in the dark, staring through a tiny crack in the boards around my window. Two dark
SUVs were parked outside. They’d been there for about ten minutes, just sitting there like two black sentries of stillness.

Keith had been asleep for several hours, for which I was glad. I stayed next to him most of it, but not so close I would make him warmer
than he already was. Every time I glanced back at his too-still form, I feared he had slipped away.

“
Aurora?” he said weakly.

I abandoned my post and rushed to the bed.
“I’m here.” I sat on the edge of the bed, tucking one leg underneath my body so I could lean forward. “How are you feeling?” I touched his forehead with the back of my hand. It was too hot, but not as hot as it was last night. I felt his pulse, but I didn’t know how to interpret it. It seemed fast but weak—not a good combination.

“
Terrible,” he said, with a weak smile. “How did I get in this bed? What’s happening to me?”

“
Mr. X carried you in here. They’re letting us stay together.” I jumped from the bed.

“
Where are you going?” he said.

“
I’m going to stuff you with medicine while you’re awake.” I knelt over the small chair, where I’d already crushed ibuprofen and acetaminophen and left it in the bottom of a plastic glass. I added a little water and mixed it up.

“
Here. Drink this.” I helped him sit up. His muscles shook from the effort.

He drank it, then asked for more water
and I gave it to him. I tried to keep the worry out of my face, but his unusually pale clammy skin, glassy eyes, and fever were hard to ignore. We usually heal fast, must faster than any human could, but he wasn’t healing at all. He may not without his handler.

He watched me as he settled back on to the
bed. “I’m that bad, huh?” Another smile crossed his parched lips.

“
No, you’ll be fine.” I put the bottle of water down on the floor.

He lifted the blanket, stared at the loose bandages on his abdomen, and then put it back down.
“You’re a terrible liar. I should have healed by now. They must have put some of their evil shit on the knife or something.”

“
Okay, fine. You really need antibiotics.” I rummaged through the first aid kit, like they were going to magically appear on this search.

“
Stop taking care of me,” he said.

“
What?” My head snapped up. “Don’t say that.”

“
You’ve probably missed a hundred chances to escape because of me. I’m going to die. I’m at peace with that. Save your energy to escape.” He lowered his head back on the pillow.

“
Please don’t talk like that.” I stroked my hand over his hairline. “I’m healing fast, and you will, too. They don’t need to know how fast we can heal. I’ve been pretending to be injured so I—”

“
I’m not going to heal.” He placed his hand over mine. “But you must. Let this be my gift to you.”

“
What?”

“
Escape. When the time comes, I will use my ability to hide you the best I can.”

Keith was a blocker. He could shield us from the Shyama’s senses. Blockers were used to hide the Gifted that
didn’t have handlers yet, hide those that are injured, and protect Gifted communities from outside interest. It took a great amount of energy to activate his gift, energy he did not have.

“
No, Keith. Cut it out. I’m going to save myself, and I’m going to save your butt, too.” I pushed myself from the bed and started pacing the small room. “Besides, I know what they are now.”

“
What?” he said.

“
What do you mean? You’re the one who told me about rock demons.”

He shook his head.
“I don’t remember.”

“
It was during your fever.”

He looked bewildered, so I sat at the foot of his bead.
“Rock demons. They’re demons from Sumerian mythology. It makes total sense because of the rock formations around here.”

“
Sumerian,” he repeated. “Like ancient Mesopotamia?”

“
Yes, exactly.” I went back to pacing. “I took a graduate level course on the ancient advanced civilizations of Iraq, and I’ve been racking my brain trying to remember. In Sumerian demonology, there’s a mighty rock or underground demon, called Asag, which is what the creepy human-looking looking Shyama has been talking about. They’re rock demons, and we’re in a desert near ancient rock formations. That’s not a coincidence. It can’t be.”

He was quiet for a few moments. His eyes snapped back to mine.
“The Valley of the Fire. It’s an ancient red limestone rock formation around here.”

“
Really?” I sat down next to him. “Maybe they live there or something.”

“
What else do you remember?” His voice was a little slurred. He needed more rest.

“
Asag is the son of An, who is the like their primary god of heaven and stuff. Asag had two wives, one who was the goddess of the earth, and the other who was the goddess of the underworld. I don’t remember their names.”

His eyes were closed, now.
“What does it mean? All this time, the Shyama are ancient rock demons? You have to tell the others. It could be a big breakthrough for us. This knowledge can’t die with us.”

I wrapped my fingers around his.
“Rest now. We’ll figure it out.”

“
Okay.” He squeezed my hand. He drifted off, and his breath evened out. I thought he was asleep, but words came out of his mouth, so soft and weak I had to lean forward to hear them. “If they’re demons, so are we.” Then he fell asleep, leaving me alone with the obvious truth in his words.

My heart clamored in my chest.
Is that what I was? A demon?

I slipped off the bed slowly so it wouldn’t squeak and wake him up. I watched his chest rise and fall in an even, strong rhythm before I tiptoed back to the window. The
SUVs were still parked outside.

I leaned against the board, staring at the little tiny crack.

Demon.

The word ricocheted through my mind, raising with it the images from popular culture
—horned beasts of evil, spiritual beings that can wreak havoc and possess humans.

I closed my eyes, trying to remember more about Asag. I didn’t understand what it all meant. Why does he want me? And Keith? Why do they hunt us?

My mind refused to surrender any more information, the specifics of my anthropology class were so far in the past, and I couldn’t remember more.

I stepped away from the window.

I dropped to the ground, then started push-ups, lightly touching my chin to the ground with each rep. I kept my breath even and held back the grunts that wanted to escape. I didn’t want to wake Keith, and I didn’t want to alert Mr. X to my level of fitness.

When I was up to thirty reps, I switched to crunches, then squats.

Each rep I chanted a manifesto to myself: Escape. Live.

AURORA

Keith had gotten worse overnight. He was paler and weak, barely stirring to drink water or eat food before he went back to sleep. I worried
he wouldn’t have long.