Catalyst (28 page)

             
It was still weird to see a Lighter so emotional.

             
"
I know. And
l
ike I said, I'll help you."

             
"And I appreciate it. I think I'd…like to go to my room now
if that is acceptable
."

             
"Sure," I said and looked at Lillian. I was about to ask her take him to one of the empty rooms down the hall
,
but the way Daniel was watching her and the way she was avoiding his gaze showed me there was going to be some tension, albeit misunderstood and unintentional tension, between the two for a while. So I volunteered. "Come on."

             
We made it about eight steps when we ran into Ryan and Ellie. Really we didn't run into them, more like casual
ly
spying. Ryan had Ellie
haphazardly
cornered by the record player. She was toying with the buttons of his shirt and he was having trouble deciding what to look at; her face or her fingers working his buttons.

             
She smiled as she talked to him about something I couldn't hear. He nodded and continued to watch her.
Then her eyes started to tear up a bit and she bit her lip. He leaned closer, his hand tentatively coming up, letting his finger sweep under her eye. She looked about as amazed as someone who was completely wrapped up in hero worship could be.

             
And when she moved in to hug him around his middle, he wrapped his arms around her without anymore hesitation.
I thought at first, that he was still misunderstanding. That he thought she was just being 'friendly', which I knew was not so. But as he leaned back a little, he
let his hand come to her cheek, his thumb swept over her lips as he felt them for probably the first time.

             
She was going to kiss him, I could see it in her eyes. But as she raised up to meet him, she peeked over
hi
s shoulder and saw us coming. She ducked back and smothered her face in his chest again.

             
Dang. I felt bad for ruining his moment
, but go Ryan!

             
Daniel
made a noise to get my attention. I realized we'd almost slowed to a crawl
while I was being nosy
. He
followed
me,
but then
stopped. H
is eyes went black again. He rubbed them as if he knew they had but didn't understand it. Then he stopped dead and looked at me with an odd expression.

             
"They are here."

             
"Who? What-"

             
"My brothers. Go. Hide everyone in a back room."

             
"Daniel," I said in sudden hysterics at his implication. "What are you going to do?"

             
"I will hold them off. My eyes…" he drifted off and Lil
lian made her way swiftly to us.
"The others won't be able to tell something is different with me. I'll send them off, they won't know you're here."

             
"You're putting yourself up for bait?" she asked.

             
"No. I am one of them as far as they are concerned. I'll tell them I already assessed the place. That it is clean and there is no need to stay further. I'll get them to go away."

             
"
You're putting yourself in danger," she argued.

             
"I am a Lighter, Lillian," he said harshly. It was the first time I'd heard him get upset and speak anything but soft
ly
. "I am what they are. I have been for thousands of years." He grit his teeth and gripped her arm gently, in complete contrast to each other. "Please go in the back room. If you are safe then it doesn't matter what happens to me."

             
"What if they kill you? What if they find out about you?"

             
"It'll be worth it."

             
"No, it won't."
             

             
He pulled her close, his nose almost touching hers. He closed his eyes and put an arm around her waist to pull her to him. He inhaled deeply and intimately from her neck, his nose skimming the skin. He whispered anguished words to her.

             
"You are the thing that brought me out of the darkness. Please don’t take that away from me. I have no idea why your spell is so strong on me, but I wouldn't change it. Please, go
to the
safe place with the rest of them and let me do what I was made to do." He pulled back a little and I sucked in a breath - so did she - when he kissed her cheek. "I kill things and deceive. I always have and I'll do it now, for you. Go."
             

             
"Be, c
areful. Please." She gripped his shirt. "Brave and stupid are sometimes the same thing. Do you understand?"

             
"Yes. Go."

             
She stumbled to me and let me tow her. I yelled for Max and Ryan and gave them
a quick run through. They met h
im at the stairs. I pushed Lillian to the back hallway, towards the stock room, and ran to get Lily out of bed. When I came back through the commons
rooms with her still sleeping in my arms
,
Ryan,
Kathy
and Max were guarding the stairs
with stakes in hand.
Ellie was there too.
Daniel was already gone.

             
"It's ok, Sherry. We've got this," Ryan told me and nodded towards the stairs for me to go
.
"Ellie, go with them."

             
"Wait," she pleaded and kissed his cheek. His mouth opened in surprise. "I'll go if you promise to be careful, as cliché as that sounds."

             
"I promise. Go with Sherry and wait for me to come get you." He looked at me pleadingly.

             
I nodded
as I took her arm
and made my way to the back room with the others. When I got there, everyone else wa
s already there
.

             
"What's happening?
" Kate asked.
"
What's going on?"

             
"Lighters are here," I told her and she squeaked in response.

             
I shh
ed
and rocked
Lily even though she slept soundly in my arms.
It was amazing. I realized that I ran in there and lifted her from her pallet as if she were a bag of feathers instead of flesh and bone. Normally, I struggle
d
and groan
ed
against her weight
,
but my body knew she was in da
nger and it gave me the boost of
adrenaline or something to make it happen.

             
Like that tale about the mother being able to lift a car off her kid if she had to because her motherly instincts kick
ed in and gave her what she needed
to literally move mountains. Motherly instincts…

             
I bit my lip and took a deep breath squeezing me eyes. P
ull yourself together, Sherry, y
ou have things to do. I looked around and saw that everyone was scared. No one spoke at all, we just listened.

             
I asked Lillian if she'd hold Lily and she took her numbly and blankly, but held her as if she were a doll as she stared at the wall.
The Keepers, Ann and Patrick, stood by the door to the back room and guarded us. They looked at the ceiling as if they could see and understand everything that might be going on. I realized, they were probably just
waiting for a signal or sign fro
m Ryan and Max.

             
I went over to the bed where Racine was laying. She looked awful still
,
but I noticed her fever
had
broke
n
when I touched her cheek.
She was freezing as a matter of fact. I pulled the blanket up to her chin and turned to go back to Lillian
,
but stopped. We all did.

             
There was a loud boom and a slam above us. It rumbled our ceiling, dust and bits of particle board sprinkled us. Then it happened again and Ann and Patrick tensed, slamming the door and locking it. They stood with their stakes and waited.

             
Oh, God, no.

             
They were waiting for them to come to us. They knew something we didn't and we
're
getting ready
for trouble
.

             
The Lighters were inside.