Fracture (The Machinists) (22 page)

Lukas raised an eyebrow. “I’m many things, but a liar isn’t one of them. That is your problem, Allyn. You don’t
believe
. It’s easier for you to believe in an evil master plan than it is for you to believe that you’re something special.”

Footsteps rang down the hall, and Allyn turned to see Graeme, Nyla, and the rest of their squad racing to catch up.
Was I really that far ahead of them?

Lukas took a step back, shielding himself behind a couple of his bodyguards as the squad gathered around Allyn. They outnumbered Lukas two to one.

“Let her go, Lukas,” Graeme said.

Lukas ignored the command, keeping his attention on Allyn. “Let me guess. He’s had you searching for lineage. Building family trees, tracing your ancestry, trying to find out what you can do by finding out where you came from.”

Allyn frowned.

“I’m not surprised,” Lukas said. “Graeme believes we are who we
were
. It’s simple that way, but that doesn’t make it true. You are who you are because of
you
, not because of the dead and buried. Each of us is different, and we can change. We live in a new age, Allyn. The world has changed, and we have along with it.”

“Do all of your followers believe in empty words?” Allyn asked. “Because you do a great job of saying a lot without actually saying anything at all.”

“The ability to wield isn’t hereditary,” Lukas said. “If it were, our numbers wouldn’t be shrinking.”

“Our numbers decline because we forsake our old ways,” Graeme said. “We’re too quick to embrace new ideas, new cultures, new technologies. They make us forget who we are.”

Lukas waved his hand. These were tired arguments between adversaries.

“If you’ve unlocked the powers of the universe,” Allyn said, “then show me. What can my sister do that I cannot?”

Lukas grinned. “You really are a lawyer, aren’t you? Always needing proof. I’ll show you what I’m talking about. We’ll conduct a little experiment. You can be my guinea pig, if you don’t mind, and I’ll let your sister go. You can take her and leave without ever having to worry about me again, but you have to do something for me first.”

“What?”

“Wield.”

“I already told you, I can’t.”

“And I already said you could.” Fire sprang to life in Lukas’s hands.

Graeme leaped forward, wielding his own fire, ready to strike.

“Give me fire.” The fire in Lukas’s hands was replaced with ice. “Give me water. Give me air. Heal someone in your group. Do anything. Just prove me right.”

Allyn watched him, unsure what to do. Something needed to be done quickly, while they had numbers, before Lukas did something desperate. Attacking would risk hurting Kendyl. Maybe if Lukas saw him try and fail to wield, he would finally understand that it wasn’t possible and that he and Kendyl were normal. At the very least, it would distract Lukas so Allyn or Graeme could formulate a better plan. Allyn closed his eyes, ready to try. And fail. Again.

“I know you can feel it,” Lukas said. “Something inside, something you’ve never felt before, a writhing storm, a torrent of emotion. Harness it.”

Allyn frowned. The truth was he
did
feel something.
It’s my anger
. Anger and adrenaline could do strange things to the body.

“Stop trying to talk yourself out of it,” Lukas said. “It’s there. It’s real.”

Against his better judgment, Allyn focused on it. He was enticed by it, mesmerized by it, and drawn to it. He poked at it, prodded it, approaching from different directions, never able to get any closer. It slipped from his grasp like water through his fingers. After a time, it dissipated, growing smaller and harder to find. He focused harder and tried to excise his emotion, but it still withdrew until it was entirely gone.

He opened his eyes.

Everyone was watching him. Even Graeme watched with renewed interest. He didn’t believe Lukas, too, did he?

“Pity,” Lukas said. “I might be wrong about you.” He turned to Kendyl. “About both of you.”

He’s going to let her go
. Allyn took a couple steps forward.

Lukas’s eyes narrowed in thought.

Do it. Don’t talk yourself out of it
. “Let her go.”

Lukas shook his head. “I’m sorry,” he said. “This is too important.” He turned to the magi holding her. “Kill them.”

He pulled Kendyl away from the bodyguard and pushed her into his chambers.

Chapter 16

“N
o!” Allyn screamed, rushing forward. He knew there was nothing he could do, but he was tired of that excuse. He was going to get his sister back, or he was going to die trying. He wasn’t going to lose her again. Someone caught him by the neck of his compression armor, trying to pull him back, but he was too strong and too determined. He heard a curse, and then he was free, stumbling forward.

The bodyguards took a defensive stance, guarding the door, wielding. A concussion of air detonated in front of Allyn, flattening the four enemy magi against the wall. They slumped, dazed. One coughed as if he’d had the wind knocked out of him. The others threw wild attacks from their knees.

A fireball flew forward, striking the chest of the man who had held Kendyl, throwing him through the door he was charged with protecting. His skin was charred and blistered under singed clothing. He didn’t get up.

Allyn slid under another wave of enemy attacks. This time, they were more precise, forcing Graeme’s magi to dive for cover. Painful screams filled the hall. Someone hadn’t been quick enough. Reckless and desperate, Allyn tackled the magi nearest him, wildly throwing his fists into the magi’s face. Someone grabbed him from behind. Allyn turned just in time to see a blast of ice drive through the man’s temples. He fell on top of Allyn, pinning him to the magi he’d tackled.

After another concussion of air and another crash, the hall fell silent, save for the scraping and clawing of Allyn struggling to untangle himself from the enemy. Someone pulled the dead weight of the fallen magi off him, and he rolled free. The last enemy magi remained on the floor, holding his hands up in surrender, warily eyeing his fallen comrades.

Allyn rushed inside the room, Graeme at his shoulder. The magi who’d held Kendyl lay just inside the door, his wound steaming, black clothing still smoldering around the wound like a burning cigarette. Cold, fresh air blew in through an open window where Lukas was trying to push Kendyl onto the fire escape. She saw Allyn and planted her foot against the window frame. As hard as he tried, Lukas couldn’t force her through the window.

That’s the sister I know
, Allyn thought.
Give him hell
.

Lukas let go of her and stepped away. She fell, crying out as she landed on her shoulder. Favoring it, she rolled onto her knees, cupping it with her hand. She seemed unable to move it.

“Step aside, Allyn,” Graeme said.

Allyn complied, throwing himself against the wall. Graeme and Lukas stood face to face, ten paces from each other, each waiting for the other to strike.

Lukas struck first. A flash of blue light streamed toward Graeme, too quickly for Allyn to tell what it was. Blue was usually ice, but the burst looked alive, like blue flame.

Graeme blew it aside with air. The blue flame hit the wall behind him, blowing a four-foot hole in the sheetrock, leaving flames around its edges. Graeme retaliated with his own attack, and the duel began in earnest. Red and blue flashes of light illuminated the tight confines of the room as each man attacked, defended, and retaliated. Loose paper from Lukas’s desk blew into the air when one of Graeme’s fireballs struck it, leaving behind the sweet smell of smoke as they gently fell to the floor.

Keeping to the edges of the room, Allyn tried to work his way around the two men and get to Kendyl, but they were all over the place, diving in all directions, narrowly avoiding each other’s attacks. Another of Graeme’s errant fireballs nearly struck Kendyl. She screamed as it flew over her shoulder, striking the brick wall behind her. Fallen bits of brick and mortar rattled against the ground, where she sank down, pulling her knees close. She watched the two men, flinching each time a blast shook the room.

Graeme and Lukas fought with an intensity Allyn had never seen. They wielded faster, with larger blasts of ice and fire that burned brighter. The brightness, it seemed, was related to power—the brighter the attack, the more powerful.

A fireball burning as brightly as the sun shot toward Lukas. It was mere inches from his chest when a ribbon of water appeared between his hands, dousing it. It hissed, but something
inside
continued forward, striking Lukas in the shoulder. He stumbled backward, holding his shoulder where a sliver of ice protruded from it. He must have wielded fire, because it quickly melted, leaving behind a small hole that bled onto his white shirt.

His confidence growing, Graeme pushed harder, unleashing attacks in quick succession. With his left arm pinned against his chest and useless, Lukas struggled to ward Graeme off. He was being pushed back—toward Kendyl.

Allyn took a tentative step forward, and when Lukas paid him little heed, he took another and then another. Within moments, he was halfway across the room. He caught Kendyl’s eye and nodded to the side, silently telling her to move. He hoped she understood. She slid to the side, narrowly avoiding Lukas’s feet.

Just a couple more steps
. Allyn warily looked in Lukas’s direction. Graeme had him pinned in the corner. This was the moment he was waiting for. He leaped forward, grabbing Kendyl’s outstretched hand, and yanked her to her feet. He didn’t wait or glance in Lukas’s direction. He pulled Kendyl behind him, running for the door, toward safety.

Kendyl tripped.

He tried to pull her up, but her feet slipped. A concussion of air shattered the windows and threw them to the ground. Lukas leaped out the window.

“No!” Graeme jumped to his feet and rushed to the window.

Allyn ignored him, instead grabbing Kendyl under her arms and pulling her up again. She was limp, and blood dripped from her lips. Something clear protruded from her stomach.
Ice. No! I won’t let you go again.
Allyn readjusted his grip and backpedaled out the door, catching a glimpse of Graeme climbing onto the fire escape as he entered the hall.

“Nyla!” Allyn yelled. “Nyla!” She was there in a heartbeat, taking Kendyl from his arms. The remaining magi charged into the room, ready to assist Graeme. Why hadn’t they gone in there with him? Lukas wouldn’t have escaped if they had.

Nyla gently laid Kendyl on her side and looked her over. A jagged piece of ice the size of Allyn’s forearm stuck through her abdomen. Bright-red blood pooled around her on the pale concrete floor.

Allyn took her hand and held it to his chest. “It’s okay, Kendyl. It’s going to be okay.”

She didn’t respond.

“We need to get the ice out of her before I can do anything,” Nyla said.

Allyn grabbed the shard of ice with his free hand, but his fingers barely made it around it.

“No,” Nyla said. “We can’t pull it out. It might break or splinter. We have to melt it.”

Allyn looked around the hall. They were alone. The only magi who had been with them were in the room with Graeme.

“Can you do it?” Allyn asked.

Nyla shook her head.

Allyn tightened his grip on Kendyl’s hand. He wasn’t going to leave her side. He wasn’t going to lose her again. Nyla rubbed his back. She probably meant it to comfort him, but it only stoked the anger inside him. Lukas didn’t need to kill her. They weren’t who he thought they were; he’d nearly admitted to that himself.
Then why kill her?
Always questions. Never answers.

With no other option, Allyn took the ice in his hand and yanked it free. Kendyl groaned and clutched her stomach as Nyla sprang to action. Placing a hand against the wound on Kendyl’s stomach and another on the hole in her back, Nyla closed her eyes. A soft-white glow shimmered above Kendyl’s body. Nyla grimaced.

“What?” Allyn asked.

“The ice punctured her stomach. She’s bleeding internally.”

“What can you do?”

Kendyl met his eye. “Nothing.”

“No,” Allyn said, shaking his head. “No.”

Nyla watched him, her lips parting as if she was going to say something. She didn’t. What was there to say?

“How long?” Allyn’s voice was weak.

“Not long.”

“Can you make her comfortable?”

“She is comfortable,” Nyla said. “Her body’s natural responses have taken care of that.” She stepped aside. “I’ll give you a moment.” She left them behind, walking to the other end of the hall.

Allyn brushed the side of Kendyl’s face with his thumb, and tucked strands of dark hair behind her ear. Only then did he notice her lips were moving. He bent down, turning so his ear was near her mouth. It was quiet, but she was definitely saying something.

“It’s okay,” Kendyl said.

It was the worst thing she could say to him. It was too much. “Kendyl…” He had so much to say, so many apologies.

“It’s okay,” she repeated.

He blinked away tears, fighting the emotion that threatened to show itself. He swallowed the lump in his throat and exhaled softly. He had to be strong and exude confidence. She had to be scared enough as it was.

“It’s going to be okay,” he repeated her hollow words.
Why do people always say things they know aren’t true?
“It’s going to be okay.” Maybe they were more for him than her.

Kendyl said something that Allyn couldn’t make out.

“What was that?” he asked.

“I can hear it,” she said. “It’s getting louder.”

What’s she talking about?

“Here it comes.”

Allyn gripped her hand. Tears fell from his eyes, splashing gently on the floor. He squeezed his eyes shut, holding back more. A strange calmness washed over him. Maybe death
was
peaceful.

Urgent footsteps echoed through the hall. Voices. Sharp words. Yelling. Allyn opened his eyes to see someone pushing past Nyla, racing toward him. He’d never seen the man before. He was pudgy, with a hairline that looked like a cul-de-sac, and he wore thick lenses that magnified his frantic brown eyes.

The man came to a stop beside them. He hunched over Kendyl, reaching for her wounds. Allyn started to stop him, but he noticed Nyla wasn’t chasing after him. Jaxon was at her side. They watched as the pudgy man performed his work. They trusted him, so Allyn would, too.