Fractured Soul (16 page)

I turned around to face him but had to step back as he was a little too close for comfort. “A little better, actually.” My chest felt lighter, and I inhaled deeply. “Can I do that with people too?”

He shook his head. “I doubt it. Besides, it would probably kill you.”

“Good to know.” I turned around, staring at all of the lights. “There’s something I still don’t understand,” I said and dropped my connection with the forest, extinguishing the light around us. “What’s with the blood?”

“Blood?”

“I can smell it, really strong. And sometimes,” I paused, “I crave it. It makes me sick.”

“It’s your Vyken half. You’re sensing everything a Vyken senses.”

“But they want Light, not blood.”

“But where is that Light?”

It dawned on me. “In our blood.”

“Exactly. It’s the only way a Vyken can tolerate it. The Light has to be filtered somehow, otherwise it’s too powerful and will kill them. And Vykens salivate at the smell and sight of blood the way a human does with a candy bar wrapper, because they know what it contains.”

This made sense, but I still wasn’t sure about something. “So what are you, then?”

Liam turned around, his eyes greener than I remembered. “First, and foremost, I’m an Enlil, despite the Vyken poison inside me. Enlil’s can control wind, one of the earth’s four elements. We were created to help protect the earth and those living on it.”

“Are there more of you?”

A shadow darkened his face, sending a cold shiver up my spine.

“Not that I know of.”

“What happened?”

His gaze met mine; the heat of it warmed, more like burned, my insides. “Vykens either killed us or turned us. They’ve done this to a lot of races. Anything to further their cause.”

I thought hard, trying to find some silver lining on the conversation that clearly invoked painful emotions for him. “So if they got turned, that means they’re like you, right? Not all evil and wanting to kill Auras?”

He chuckled. “If only. I’m the only one who did it.”

“Did what?”

“Resisted.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Yes, you do.”

I didn’t want to believe it. There had to be others who’d overcome being bitten by a Vyken.

Liam looked up, his eyes searching the trees, and I wondered if he was trying to put the night’s puzzle pieces together like I had earlier. “It’s just us,” he finally said. “That is,” he looked back at me, “if you survive. You still have a lot to overcome.”

“So, how long?”

Liam walked away. “How long for what?”

I followed him. “For me to get rid of the poison. I want my life to get back to normal.”

Liam stopped so abruptly that I almost ran into him. He whirled around. “Poison? Don’t you understand? It’s a part of you now, and it will always be inside you just waiting for you to succumb to it.”

“So you’re saying I have to battle these, these,” I fumbled to find the right words, “serial killer tendencies the rest of my life?”

He didn’t say anything, but the sadness in his eyes was answer enough.

I shook my head. “I can’t. I can’t do it. How do you stand it?” My voice was growing louder. “How do you keep from peeling the skin off your bones? I can’t go through life like this!”

Liam looked away.

“Answer me!” I said. “I don’t want to feel like this anymore.”

“Then give up,” he whispered.

“That’s your answer?”

He turned to me. “What do you want me to say? You have three choices: give in to the dark poison and become a full Vyken, die, or deal with it and be somewhere in between. It sucks, I know. It’s hard, it’s painful, it burns, and every day it’s a constant battle.”

Seeing the pain on his face and knowing what he had to endure for so many years softened me. “What happened to you?” I asked, my voice gentle.

He stared at me, an inner rage burning, and I swore it made his green eyes glow. “People think the death of a loved one is the hardest thing to overcome, but it isn’t. There are far worse things than mourning.” His jaw clenched tight, and I knew he wouldn’t say more.

Although my desire to transfer Light had been almost nonexistent the last few weeks, I reached out and placed my palm on his arm. It took just a second to transfer Light’s calming power.

Liam’s whole body reacted as if it were giving a long-awaited sigh of relief. He looked at me, surprised. “What was that?”

I shrugged. “A little comfort, I guess.”

He stared at me until I began to squirm. “Why are you looking at me like that?” I said

“Nothing, I . . .” but he didn’t finish his sentence. Instead he began walking back toward the school. “You know, maybe there is hope for you.”

I caught up to him. “What do you mean?”

“I didn’t realize how powerful Light is. Maybe it’s enough to stamp out the Vyken’s poison. I hope so, because you’d get bored living forever.”

My heart skipped a beat. Maybe I heard wrong. “What did you just say?” I asked.

“Live forever. That’s what Vykens do, as long as their head is still attached, that is. Surely you knew this.” Liam kept moving, his head turning side to side as if he were looking for something. “You’ve got to get back. It’s not safe for you out here.”

“Hello? You just dropped a bomb on me. How could I live forever? I’m only half Vyken.” Saying that out loud made me feel dirty.

Liam didn’t explain. Instead, he grabbed my arm. “Don’t you feel it?”

“What?”

Faster than I could blink, he whirled me around and pressed my back to him. “Shhh,” he whispered in my ear. “Listen. Concentrate.”

I did as he asked even though the warmth of his body against mine was oddly distracting.

“Far away: two Vykens, maybe three, but they’re there,” he said. “Do you feel it?”

I focused all my senses, especially my hearing. I could hear movement, heavier than the normal beasts of the forest, yet agile and full of grace. Much like I imagined a tiger would sound prowling through the jungle.

“Their numbers are growing,” Liam said, letting me go. “We’re concerned something big is coming.”

I turned and looked at him. “You keep saying
we.
Who is
we,
and, now that I’m thinking about it, why are you always out here?”

Liam glanced around, before he looked back at me.

“What?” I said. “You expect me to trust you, but you won’t return the favor?”

“I was sent here.”

“By whom?”

“The Deific.”

“And they are?”

He thought. “They’re a group of people, some graced with unique abilities, who fight the bad in the world, whatever form that comes in. The Deific was formed hundreds of years ago and was a small group at first. You see, along with the Auras, they were able to keep the world in balance, but then the Auras withdrew themselves, first from the Deific and then from the world. Their presence is barely felt now, and it’s caused all sorts of problems for the Deific.”

“Why did they send you here?”

He paused, eyes searching my face, for what I didn’t know, and then said, “In the last three years there’s been an increase in Vyken activity.”

“How much of an increase?”

“More than we keep track of. Vykens used to keep a low profile and only occasionally attacked an Aura on the outside, but that’s not the case anymore.”

“What’s changed?”

“Vykens are no longer confined to the night. They are able to do things in the day. It’s like doubling the amount of time for mayhem.”

I shook my head. “But that means—”

“They’re ingesting Auran blood,” he finished. “And more so than the number of Auras being killed on the outside. That means someone’s supplying blood to them. Someone at Lucent is my guess.”

I remembered the IV bag Christian had found. “One of the Guardians,” I said.

“I’ve suspected them for a long time, but I don’t have any proof. And if one’s involved, then there’s a good chance others are too. One Guardian can’t be doing all this.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“I’ll worry about the Guardians, you just find out more about the blood. I know they draw an Aura’s blood at least once a month. It would be nice to know who implemented the program. You also need to find out where the blood’s being kept.”

“While I’m at it, why don’t I just find out who’s giving it to the Vykens?”

“By all means, Ambitious Annie.”

“And what exactly will you be doing?”

He looked away. “You probably haven’t realized it yet, but I can’t get much done during the day.”

“Why not?”

His eyebrows lifted. “Vyken blood. Sunlight burns my skin.”

I hadn’t even thought about that. “Why doesn’t it me?”

“Auran blood, remember?”

“Then why don’t you get some? I could—”

Liam shook his head. “No. Not my beverage of choice. I don’t want the temptation.”

“But if it will help you—”

“I said no.”

“Fine,” I said, surprised by his sudden hostility. “Look, I’ll see what I can find out, but stay close. You still have a bunch of questions to answer.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“Good.” With Liam helping me, I might just survive.

*  *  *  *  *

As soon as sunlight invaded my room, I jumped out of bed. I didn’t even know why I bothered lying down after last night; I hadn’t slept at all.

The discovery last night had really freaked me out. I was tempted to tell Sophie, but then I remembered why I wouldn’t. I could hear what she would say now: “Llona, an Aura’s blood is sacred. Why would anyone here want to give it to Vykens?”
Well, guess what, Auntie? This perfect world you’ve created isn’t so perfect.

I picked up a rubber band and was about to pull my hair back when I saw the bite marks in my reflection of the mirror. I looked at them closer, surprised to see that they didn’t seem as red as before. I ran my fingers over the raised bumps. They still hurt. I chose to do nothing with my hair and left it down like always.

Because I still had time to kill before breakfast, I studied Britt’s journal again, hoping I’d find a clue to what had been going on at Lucent. I flipped through the pages several times until I thought I’d found something. I didn’t think anything of it before, but after last night, I didn’t know what to believe.

Three months before Britt died, she had started dating Jackson, and she really liked him. I thought about this. Jackson was always lurking outside the walls at night, but he was a Guardian. A Guardian working with Vykens was almost impossible to believe, despite what Liam said. But then, who else would do something so horrible to the Auras? Just then the chimes sung their song. I closed the diary and tucked it into my bag.

On my way to the dining room I stopped by May’s room. When she didn’t answer, I skipped the elevator and took the stairs since my body was feeling more energized than usual.
Must be a full moon.
I was pretty much over its pull, but every once in a while I still felt it.

I walked into the crowded dining room, searching for May. The smell of ginger and sliced oranges drifted out from the kitchen, and the aroma perked me up. May was sitting at a table talking to Ashlyn and her friends. I gritted my teeth and prepared for the worst.

“Hey,” I said and sat down next to her.

She looked at me surprised. “I didn’t think you’d make it to breakfast.”

“How come?” I picked up my blue pill and was about to pop it into my mouth but stopped when she said, “I stopped by your room at midnight but you weren’t there. Figured you’d had a late night and would sleep in.”

I lowered the pill, noticing that Ashlyn was listening closely and watching me even closer. “I couldn’t sleep,” I said.

“I saw you,” Ashlyn said.

I froze. “What are you talking about?”

“With your old Guardian. Christian’s his name, right?” She smiled sweetly. Like the devil would right before he dragged your soul to hell.

May must’ve noticed how I bristled because she said, “What are you getting at, Ashlyn?”

Ashlyn looked around the table, as if to make sure everyone was listening. “You two were speaking, well, like you knew each other
intimately.
”

I gritted my teeth. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Really?” Ashlyn said and smiled again.

“What’s your problem?”

Ashlyn leaned forward. “We’ve all heard about your mother—”

“Don’t go there,” I warned. I balled up my fists, practically crushing the pill in my hand.

“—and it sounds like you’re following in her footsteps. Anyone can tell you’re crazy about him.”

“Let’s go,” May said.

But Ashlyn wasn’t done. “Hopefully, though, Christian gets as far away from you as he can before you both end up dead.”

I jumped up and was about to throw myself across the table to beat the crap out of her, but May stood and stepped in front of me. “Leave,” she said. “Now. You don’t want to get in trouble again. I’ll deal with her.”

I looked over her shoulder at Ashlyn’s smug smile. “One of these days I’m going to punch the Light right out of her.”

“Fine,” May said, “but not now. Go cool off.”

“Whatever.” Before I walked away, I tossed the pill at Ashlyn. She gasped when it hit her in the forehead.

Great. I’d put May in the middle of me and the other Auras. That’s the last thing she needed. She deserved so much better. I headed upstairs, shaking my head.
Later. I’ll get her alone and talk about it, but first I need to do some investigating before classes.

I stopped at Abigail’s door and knocked.

“Come in,” she said

Abigail was sitting at her desk, staring down at a stack of papers on her desk, pencil in hand. “You couldn’t have come at a more perfect time, Llona. These words were beginning to look like hieroglyphics.”

I dropped into a nearby chair. “What are you working on?”

“As I’m sure you’ve heard, Cyrus is back. He wants a full report on how all the girls are doing. He’s always worrying about their health.” She glanced at a clock on the wall. “Don’t you have class soon?”

I opened my mouth to speak but was unsure what to say. “Actually, I had a nightmare last night,” I said, recovering quickly.