Kindred of the Fallen (24 page)

She’d been a fool to think he was immune to her and the poisonous effect she had on others, on humans. The venom had corroded him subtly over time, gradually twisting him from a boy she had admired to a man she hardly recognized. Listening to him, watching him, tore her to shreds. What had she done to him?

“I’m so sorry.” She leaned forward and touched his wrist.

A light tap on the window startled them both.

Cassian motioned with his hands that she needed to wrap up and then pointed across the street. Talus swung her leg over her motorcycle and took off her helmet.

“So Cyrus’s gofers are now your gofers?” Evan asked, glancing out the window.

Serenity sighed. “I have to go.” The last thing she needed was for Talus to make things worse with a scene in the cafe.

“I hate you,” Evan said in a low, raspy voice. Misery clouded his eyes. “I hate you for coming into my life. I hate you for making everything look so easy. I hate you for pretending to love me. I hate you for leaving me like this.” He spat with such rage it stole her breath. “I hate you for setting the bar so high, no other woman could compare.”

He flayed her with his litany of hate, leaving her faint and raw. She had to get out of there before she unraveled.

She glanced away from him out the window. It looked as if things were unraveling outside as Talus screamed at Cassian, while smacking him in the head. Cassian had warned this would happen.

“I never meant to hurt you, Evan. I’m sorry to leave things like this between us.” She stood up. “If it means anything for you to know, I never pretended. I did love you and still do. I’m sorry it wasn’t the right kind of love.”

As she turned to leave, he seized her wrist and squeezed. She winced from the pressure, her fingers retracted into a fist.

Spero launched to his feet, but Abbadon caught his forearm and shook his head.

“When can I see you again?” Evan asked. Tears streaked his face.

“That wouldn’t be a good idea. You need to get rid of everything that reminds you of me. Bury yourself in work. Try to forget me.”

She yanked her hand away and hurried out of the cafe. She shoved open the door and focused on Talus to keep tears from falling. “You shouldn’t be here!”

“Cassian should’ve told me where he was taking you. The whole team is here except for Cyrus. I shouldn’t have been excluded.”

“Did Cyrus ask you to come?” Serenity asked.

Talus shook her head. “No, but—”

“Then put your helmet on, get back on your bike and get out of my sight!”

Talus’s pale face lost what little color it had and her puffed-up chest deflated. Serenity could see she’d hurt her feelings. She considered apologizing, but decided to hold on to her anger for as long as she could. Talus put on her helmet and drifted to her motorcycle.

Cassian led Serenity to the car and they crawled through traffic. The rain picked up, pelting the car. Cassian apologized for Talus. He had such a good heart, rambling on with excuses for her behavior, but she couldn’t focus on any of it.

Anger trickled away, but guilt gnawed at her intestines. She clutched her stomach. Teeth ripped at her insides. Her breath quickened until she sucked in slivers of reversed gasps.

Cassian put his hand on her shoulder. “Please, don’t cry. Everything will be okay.”

She covered her mouth, but couldn’t stop her chest from heaving. Her dry eyes stung. Deprived of tears, a suitable punishment, but not nearly harsh enough. Evan was right. She didn’t have a right to cry.

Murderers weren’t entitled to mourn.

Evan had been her pillar, steady and durable. He’d helped her bear the weight of her tragic childhood with his kindness and love, and she’d just repaid him by gutting out his heart and tossing it away. She had pulverized a sixteen-year relationship and crushed the spirit of a man who had loved her. Tears were too good for her.

Evan sat on a bench in Central Park, drenched to the bone from the deluge of rain. He had no idea how long he’d been sitting in the downpour.

Serenity wanted him to get rid of everything that reminded him of her.

The man he was today was because of her. All of his accomplishments were to prove he was worthy of her. All of his goals were to make a life for her, with her.

How do you get rid of an entire life?

He took the business card and cell out of his pocket and dialed the number.

“This is Artemis.”

“I need your help.”

“Hello, Evan. I wasn’t expecting your call so soon, but I’m pleased to hear from you.”

“Can you really help me get her back?”

“How far down the rabbit hole are you willing to go?”

“As far as I have to,” he confessed. “I’ll tell you anything, I’ll
do
anything you want. Just help me.”

“Be on the corner of 56th Street and 7th Avenue in twenty minutes.”

Chapter Sixteen

Cassian inched through traffic for over an hour. As they got off the freeway headed to the house, the two-lane road flanked by dense trees cleared.

Serenity clenched and unclenched her hands, hoping Evan would be okay. The pained look on his face and the echo of his words clung to her. When his parents died, the loss had hit Evan hard, but she’d never seen him fall apart until today. He was all alone while she had a new family. And if she was the reason he’d been hell-bent on making partner, then he’d find little solace in work.

Her stomach tightened. She could only imagine what kind of state he must be in, with nothing to hang on to, nothing to look forward to, and nothing to distract him.

If he hurt himself, she wouldn’t be able to bear it.

Energy swirled through her core and a tingling sensation fluttered over her. Raking her fingers through her hair, she pushed against the headrest and shivered, wanting the panic to go away. She closed her eyes and Evan’s tortured face from the café overtook her mind. If she could talk to him again, she’d make him understand she never belonged in his world.
 

With a sigh, she opened her eyes.

Evan appeared in the middle of the road, wearing the disheveled clothes from the cafe, his face distorted by anguish. He reached out for her.

Cassian swerved to steer clear of hitting him, but an oncoming car in the next lane forced him to veer back. The car mowed through Evan, as if he’d been nothing more than the wind.

No thud or any indication they’d hit something. Cassian slammed on the brakes and the car skidded to a halt. He shifted to neutral. They both turned around and looked through the rear windshield.
 

No dead body in the road.

Abbadon and Spero got out of the Hummer behind them and approached the mustang.

“Evan?” Serenity whispered. He hadn’t been real, like the day on the train when her father had appeared, but she wanted to see him again.
Come back.

Her energy stream jostled and a charge rippled through her core. Evan materialized in the backseat. Cassian flung the car door open and leapt out.

Trembling, she stared at Evan. His eyes were fixed straight ahead. The suffering etched in the lines of his face curdled her stomach. His image flickered, a holographic phantom.

Spero gasped. And Evan faded, then disappeared.

Abbadon stood by her car door, asking a series of logical questions, trying to make sense out of something that defied logic. He finally instructed everyone to get back to the manor.

They made it five or ten blocks before Serenity forced Cassian to pull over. She opened her car door and dry heaved. After a second or two, she threw up.

Cassian handed her tissues from the glove compartment. She wiped her mouth and put her head between her knees. They didn’t speak the rest of the way back home.

As the car pulled up in front of the house, Cyrus bolted out of the front door. He had Serenity’s door open before the car stopped.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” His face was desperate with worry.

She looked up at him. “How did you know something was wrong?” She stumbled out of the car and he caught her.

“I felt you as you were coming up the drive, nauseated and terrified.”

He lifted her and carried her inside. Abbadon and Spero trailed them as Cyrus took her to the great room. He set her down gently on the sofa, wrapping an arm around her. Cassian told them everything that had happened, trying not to trip over his words.

When Cassian stopped, Serenity told them about the day her dead father materialized on the subway and how all of the passengers had seen him also. The story came out in a muddle.

Cyrus sat in silence for a minute and finally smiled. “So, that’s your true gift,” he said, clutching her hand and beaming with pride.

“My gift?” she asked. “Did you hear what I just said?” She grabbed her stomach. “I think I’m going to be sick again.”

Cyrus turned to say something to Cassian, but before he could speak, the young man dashed out of the room. Serenity looked up. Abbadon sat on a sofa across from them. He didn’t share in the delight Cyrus exuded. He looked troubled. Spero paced in the background, rubbing his chin.

“You have an amazing gift. As my divine partner, I knew you’d be powerful, but I never dared think your
ingenium
, your ability, would be projection.” He gave her a warm hug.

Abbadon stared at them.

“Do you have any idea what you’re capable of doing?” Cyrus asked.

“Honestly, no. I don’t even know what happened back there.”

Cassian returned, with a sandwich and glass of milk. He put it on the table in front of her. “You need to eat, it’ll make you feel better,” he said.

She grabbed the tomato and lettuce sandwich and took a bite.

“You can project your thoughts and emotions into reality,” Cyrus said, smiling.

She shook her head. “He wasn’t real, he disappeared.”

“The emotions you were feeling and your thoughts were real. You projected those outward. Once you learn to control it, you could probably make your projection last longer, maybe even make it feel real.”

“You mean I can make my thoughts materialize and touch it.”

Cyrus scratched the back of his neck. “I don’t know exactly how it’ll work. It’s an unusual gift. It’s not something we have any experience with, but you made your father materialize before we met, so it must be a lower level expression of your ability. The energy waves must be a higher manifestation of your
ingenium
.”

She put her sandwich down and looked at Abbadon. “Say something,” she demanded.

Abbadon stared at her with a neutral expression. “Cyrus is right. It’s a unique
ingenium
.” His voice lacked any emotion.

She sighed. “Say what you’re thinking, please.”

“The last known record of someone having this type of
ingenium
was in 1166. He was responsible for wiping out an entire colony of Kindred in a fit of rage.”

She shook her head in a daze. “Did he have blood fury?”

“Yes. Those of the Psi class like you are normally afflicted with the dark veil, not
sangre saevitas
. Warriors usually suffer from blood rage. Perhaps that’s nature’s safety guard. It’s hard enough to subdue one of us who is strong or can fly. Imagine the fury taking over someone who can project his emotions, give it a physical form, the unspeakable horror that must have devastated that colony.”

“But I don’t have to worry about blood rage or the dark veil anymore.”

Abbadon did not look relieved. His harsh eyes and stiff shoulders were laden with concern. Someone with her gift had annihilated an entire colony.

Cassian sat quietly in a chair in the corner. Spero continued to tread back and forth.

Cyrus helped her up from the sofa. “You need to rest.” He put his hand around her shoulder and they started to walk out of the room.

“Cyrus, may I have word with you in private?” Abbadon asked.

Spero and Cassian left the room with haste.

Cyrus held on to Serenity, reluctant to let go.

“It’s all right,” Serenity said. “I could use some time to myself.”

He watched her lumber upstairs, then closed the doors and faced Abbadon.

“Her
ingenium
is as I suspected,” Abbadon said. “Her training needs to be refocused.”

“She’s special, unique. It’s a rare and powerful gift. This is a good thing.”

“It’s an unstable gift. And in the hands of one raised as human with no grounding in the fact that she is an energy being or how to control it is dangerous.”

“She’ll learn.”

“She could hurt or kill any of us with the slip of her human temperament by accident. Or worse, in an attempt to protect herself from real danger, one of us could get caught in a deadlier energy wave.
She’s
dangerous.”

Cyrus took a deep breath and stepped forward, choosing his words. “You’ve taken responsibility for this facet of her training. If there are any accidents, it’ll be because you’ve failed to train her properly.”