Shattered (the Spellbound Series Book 2) (18 page)

              “I can’t make that promise, Krys. You know sometimes I won’t have a choice.”

              “Fine. Then at least if you’re going to do something stupid, make sure no one can see your face.” Krystal ruffles the hair on the very top of my head, then heads off to her room, leaving me alone to ponder the logistics of the idea that just sprung into being from her words.

19

             
My mind is still firmly wrapped around my new idea when I fall asleep in Nick’s arms, and even more so when I wake up to the sun shining through his bedroom window. It’s going to take some effort, and I’ll have to buy, steal, and alter a few things to make it work, but I don’t see any reason not to follow through with the plans I’ve drawn up. The only tricky part will be hiding what I’m doing from everyone. I carefully wriggle out of Nick’s arms once I have a concrete plan for the day, fix myself until I’m presentable enough to be seen outside, and search for a loose piece of paper. I write him a note explaining that I have some errands to run, and that he can pick me up later at my place. Once that’s done, I place the note on his bedside table, kiss him lightly on the forehead, and take my leave.

              It’s early enough that there won’t be many stores open anyway, so I just head home to shower and put on fresh clothes. My makeup had been mostly washed off by the downpour last night, but I watch as the last of it swirls down the drain, and when I look in the mirror afterwards, I look like me again. It’s more than my face that changed last night, though. I feel different, somehow. More determined, more driven. I’ve never pushed my power to its limit, so I have no idea what I’m truly capable of. What happened last night was just the tip of the iceberg; I can do so much more. And if my idea pans out, I’ll be able to do so guilt-free.

              It’s nearly noon by the time I’m dressed and ready to head out the door. I grab a book to read on the train ride downtown, and lose myself in its pages between my apartment and my destination. The more I can distract myself, the better; I’d rather not think too hard about what Nick and I are off to do tonight. I still don’t know if he plans to kill Eve, or spare her life. I don’t know what his intentions are at all. Tonight could be the night that I watch my boyfriend become a murderer. And I don’t think I’ll ever be ready for that.

              My first stop at the Halloween store near St. Mark’s Square turns up fruitless; the place may be enormous, but they don’t have exactly what I’m looking for. The thrift shop I try next, however, has one of the things I need. When I leave, I’m weighed down by an impressively cheap pair of black Doc Martens that have been well loved, but well taken care of. It took a while to find these gems, though, so the sun is a bit lower in the sky and my stomach is grumbling in protest at being empty all day. I make a quick stop at a nearby burger place for a late lunch, and then make my way home.

              The ride home feels significantly shorter than the ride downtown. Before very long, I’m walking through the lobby of my building, and waiting for the elevator. When I step off on my floor, I spot Nick standing by my poor, poised to knock. For some reason, the sight of him puts me into panic mode. I’m carrying something completely innocuous, but all the same, I don’t want him seeing what I bought. I teleport myself into my room just as he knocks, stash the shoes in the back of my closet, and run to answer the door.

              Nick grins at me as soon as the door opens. “Hey, you,” I say with a smile of my own. “What are you doing here so early?”

              “Jenna called. Our friend is awake.”

              “When did you two exchange numbers?”

              “We didn’t, she pulled up my old files.”

              I step outside the apartment, and close the door behind me. “Alright, shall we go then?”

              Nick nods, and squeezes his eyes shut as he grabs my hand. “Let’s go.”

              The hallway around us dissolves as my spell takes effect, and instantaneously, we’re transported to Jenna’s living room. I expect to see Jenna waiting for us by the basement door or something, but she’s nowhere to be found. Instead, I spot her dad watching the afternoon news from the couch, not even registering the fact that two people have suddenly appeared in his field of vision. “Jenna said we should be expecting company,” he says with a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “I didn’t think you’d be here so soon.”

              I step a little further in front of Nick, and mutter, “Is now a bad time?”

              “Relax, you two are safe here. Jen’s upstairs, waiting for you.”

              “Alright, thanks.” I keep my eyes trained on Mr. Chen for as long as I can while Nick and I walk to the stairs. He still
seems
like the same likeable, practical, responsible man I’ve always known him to be. Maybe I’m just a little wary because he’s got the same skillset as Jenna, and is unrestrained by emotional bonds to her metahuman friends.

There’s also the fact that his fingers keep straying to the golden bangle on his wrist, but I try not to think about that too much.

              When we find Jenna in her room, she’s zipping up a black hoodie identical to the one she handed me last night, made of the same thin-but-sturdy material. In fact, she’s in all black from head to toe. “Hey guys,” she mutters as we enter. “Sorry about my dad, I probably should have warned you he’d be here.”

              “It’s fine, I just hope he doesn’t shoot us,” Nick says. He’s smiling, but I get the feeling he’s just as worried about the prospect as I am.

              “He won’t,” Jenna assures us. “He lives by a code of attacking only when the enemy strikes first, unless he’s on duty.”

              “Great.” I let go of Nick’s hand, noticing that I’d been gripping it tightly ever since our arrival. “Where are we off to?”

              “A warehouse in Red Hook. It’s where my parents take people to interrogate them.”

              I frown at Jenna, and ask, “Where is that?”

              “Don’t worry about that part.” Jenna checks her watch, and says, “We should head downstairs. Our ride will be here any minute.”

              Nick and I watch as Jenna pulls on her boots, and walks soundlessly over to her desk, where she takes one of the gold storage bangles arranged along the edge and slides it over her wrist. She then pulls up her hood, and motions for us to follow her, which Nick does automatically. Once neither of them is looking, I extend a hand towards Jenna’s desk, and one of the bangles flies into my hand at the slightest provocation. I slip it into my pocket, and take off at a brisk walk to catch up to the others.

              Jenna leads us right past her father, down into the basement. We walk past the rows upon rows of weaponry, and she pushes aside a rack of black clothing to reveal a hidden door. She punches a sequence of numbers into the keypad under the knob, then pushes the door open to reveal a corridor wide enough for six or seven people to comfortably stand side by side. We watch as a sleek black Audi backs into the corridor, and flashes its lights as a signal for us to get in. I cock an eyebrow at Jenna, and she just shrugs. “We’ve made a lot of renovations,” is all she’ll say on the subject.

              Nick and I sit in the back, while Jenna rolls up the partition to give the driver specific instructions. We can barely see out of the heavily tinted windows, but I feel the pull of the car as it starts crawling along the cement passageway, even more so when we start driving up an incline. After about five minutes, our progress is blocked by a metal grate. A faint buzzing sound seems to emanate from the car itself, and the gate slowly rises to reveal where the tunnel lets out; the seemingly abandoned lower level of a Sears parking lot. We travel up the ramps to street level, then join the afternoon traffic as it winds its way towards the highway, breaking away to turn down side streets and follow them to our destination in Brooklyn.

              The sun’s just about to dip below the Manhattan skyline by the time we come to a full stop by the docks in Red Hook. Orange light bounces off the surface of the water, shimmering as gentle waves relentlessly rock the shore. I glance at the Statue of Liberty, standing solid and stoic as ever, before hopping out of the car and following Jenna down the pier to a warehouse marked
7- CONDEMNED
. She removes the padlock with a key she brought along, and ushers Nick and I inside quickly, slamming the door shut behind us.

              Emma stands waiting inside, still wearing the same dark attire from last night. She looks exhausted, and her hair is looking a little out of place, but she smiles brightly at our arrival. “Finally,” she says, “I
hate
being on guard duty.”

              “Nobody asked you to watch her,” Jenna replies.

              “She turned my brother into a bloodsucker. I needed to be here.”

              We follow Emma past dozens of filthy, rusting metal shelves, until we reach a cleared space in the center of the warehouse. Here, a lone chair stands under a flickering lightbulb, occupied by one Evelyn Brenner. She’s still in the outfit she wore to the concert, a blood red pencil skirt that’s been torn, probably during the chase that landed her here. Her hair’s been likewise mistreated, tousled around to the point where I’m not sure what style it was originally supposed to be. Her makeup remains mostly untouched, other than where black blood has dripped down from the scabbed over exit wound on her forehead. She glares at us as we approach, and asks, “What the fuck do you people want from me?”

              Nobody moves or answers at first. Nobody knows how to proceed. Then, Jenna conjures a long stake from nothing, and hands it to Nick, pushing him forward immediately after. He takes a tentative step towards Eve, and asks, “Do you remember me?”

              “Not really,” she admits as Nick steps into the light. “Care to remind me, big boy?”

              I bristle at her tone, but Jenna grabs my arm before I can make a move. We watch as Nick spins the stake in his hand confidently, his eyes never leaving Eve. “Nick,” he says at long last. “You turned me about five years ago.”

              “That’s right,” Eve mutters as recognition floods her eyes. “Nick the failure.”

              “Failure? I became just like you, how was I a failure?”

              “You refused to live up to your potential.” Eve struggles against the heavy chains binding her hands behind her back, and asks, “What do you want?”

              “I want to know why you turned me… and why you decided to murder my little sister.”

              Eve sighs, and says, “You could have just called.”

              “Answer me!” Nick thrusts the stake at Eve, nearly grazing her cheek in his effort to intimidate her.

              Eve just smiles at Nick, and says, “You don’t have it in you to kill me. You’re the most weak-stomached child I’ve ever sired.”

              “It’s been a while. Things have changed.”

              “Fine… I changed you because I saw something in you. I saw the potential for greatness. You were already strong, and intelligent, charismatic… everything I wanted in a second in command. I wanted a partner. But you spurned the gifts I gave you, and ran back to your human family, thinking they would take you in when they found out what became of you.

              “I gave you two months to come back on your own before I got creative. I figured if you lost your ties to your family, you’d have no choice but to turn to me. So I took away the one you all adored the most, and stood back to watch as your perfect little world collapsed around you.”

              The room goes silent, and I look to my side to glance at Emma. Her hands are shaking, and her jaw twitches every once in a while, but she’s still in control of herself. Nick, on the other hand, looks like he might break down. “You took everything from me,” Nick says through gritted teeth. “My life, my family, my future… With animal blood, it took ages to get up the strength I needed to track you down and kill you, and by that point-“

              “I was long gone.” Eve smirks at Nick, and says, “I knew it was only a matter of time before you either joined me or came for my head. So when I found out what your intentions were, I vanished. Pretty successfully too, if I do say so myself.”

              “But you’re here now.”

              “And what was true five years ago is still true now. You’re too sweet for your own good, Nick. You couldn’t kill me if your own life depended on it.”

              Nick contemplates Eve’s last statement for a moment, and it’s hard to tell from his expression what his next move is going to be. That’s when he drops the stake at Eve’s feet. “You’re right,” he says. “I’m above killing you.”

              Eve smiles, and throws her head back in relief. “Just like I said-“

              “I wasn’t finished. I’m above killing you… but I can and
will
leave you here. No blood. No visitors. Nothing. You can rot and starve to death here, and I won’t feel compelled to save you.”

              If Eve’s shocked by Nick’s sentence, she doesn’t show it. She doesn’t ever get the chance to. A shot rings the air, and black blood pours out of the wound piercing her heart. Eve shrieks once, and we watch as what little natural color could be seen under her makeup fades to a chalky white, and black veins creep along the surface of her skin. She shudders once, and lies still, her eyes clouding over as a dribble of black fluid passes her lips.