The Rise (5 page)

Kayden’s rough but gentle thumb brushed it away. “Yes, my Warrior,” he said, “and I you.”

More tears joined the first. Kayden pulled me into his arms again, and I sank into the strength of them. I lay my head on his chest, drying my eyes on the soft fabric of his gray t-shirt. I felt him rest his chin on the top of my head, the short hair of his beard pleasantly prickling me. For a moment, all was okay. Right with the world.
Just
right.

But of course, because it was
my
world we were talking about here, it was
only
a moment.

Then I remembered something that sent a pang of guilt through my stomach. I remembered Jackson.

I didn’t want to hurt him. Jackson had always been good to me, had saved my ass more than a couple times. He loved me. And I loved him. But…

Not in the way I love Kayden. I don’t love
anyone
the way I love Kayden. I love him as much as I love Nelly. Well…almost.

I would have to tell Jackson about us. He deserved to know. That made my heart hurt.

I took a step back from Kayden, who studied my face as I did so. “Kayden,” I began, then realized I didn’t know what to say.

A small, rare smile played at his lips. “You’re worried about
him,
” he said. It was not a question.

I hesitated, then gave a small nod. “He’s my friend,” I said lamely.

Kayden nodded once in return. “Which is why I haven’t killed him,” he said, his golden eyes never leaving mine. His brow furrowed for a moment, and those lion’s eyes went distant, hard. “I came close once,” he admitted.

I raised a brow at that. Kayden chuckled, a soft, deep rumble that vibrated in his chest. “That night I saw you two outside of your dorm room. He had his arms around you, and you were…it took
a lot
of self-control to keep myself from ripping him away from you and snapping his neck.”

A small laugh bubbled up from my throat, and it sounded odd. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d laughed. “How romantic,” I said. I tried for a grin, and succeeded only partly. I remembered that night. It seemed like it had been ages ago now.

“So you
were
waiting for me,” I said, “I knew it.”

Kayden’s hand came up and rested on my cheek. “Alexa, I have been waiting for you for a
very
long time.”

I leaned forward. I didn’t care if my Mother was probably watching us through the car window. Kayden drew me to him like a magnet. I was through resisting the pull. Just before our lips touched, the gas pump beside us clicked off.

In a blur of motion and slammed car doors, we were back in the Mercedes and peeling out of the gas station lot. I removed a cigarette from my pack and placed it between my lips once we were back on the highway. The fact that Kayden had moved the same way I had, so quickly and uncaring of witnesses, to get back in the car, not even taking a tiny moment to let our lips meet told me one thing: he was as worried as I was. He had the same bad feeling I had. I didn’t want to believe it. I had no
reason
to believe it. But Kayden felt it, too.

Nelly was in trouble.

Let’s hope we’re not too late, Warrior.

I cringed. Lit the cigarette, crushed it between my teeth. My monster felt it, too.

Nelly

My knees went slack. I stumbled. The foyer of the Council building seemed to swim before my eyes; the blood-red carpet atop the marble floors smearing like wet paint, the walls losing their solidity and congealing like melted candy. Vertigo swept over me. My legs gave out completely.

I felt no pain when my knees struck the hard floor, no pain as I knelt there gasping for air. My mental being was separated completely from my physical being, and it was a
strange
thing, to say the least. I could sense every soul in the Council building, could see their existences, – kaleidoscopes of color and indistinguishable, ever-changing shapes. I knew the distance and proximity of each. I knew that the tendrils of light that only I could see, tinged with that shadowy dark around the edges, were my soul’s extremities, beaming from me like scattered rays of sun, touching everything in its path. I knew
all
.

And I couldn’t move. And time was ticking.

Queen Camillia knelt down and gripped my shoulders, hauling me to my feet. When our skin met, I felt a jolt of energy and was able to lock my legs straight. I watched as the light of her soul mingled with my own, and then was sort of swallowed up by it, my being taking hers in like a small child out the rain, as if she now belonged to me, was my…
responsibility.
Queen Camillia’s eyes widened in wonder, and I saw through her soul the reasons why. She felt as though I had removed a thick blindfold from her eyes, one that she never known existed, and only now could see the world as it truly was. I also saw that my fangs were bared, my eyes orbs of glimmering onyx. But Queen Camillia was not afraid. She could feel my soul, as surely as I was holding hers, and she would be content to stay here forever, seeing all as only I could see it, being part of the ungodly power that dwelled within me. 

Go,
I commanded, and Queen Camillia tossed my right arm over her shoulder, wrapped her left arm around my waist. She would not leave me here, even if that meant we both be caught and killed. Agonized thoughts about her unconscious niece, Bethany, lying crumbled on the floor of her office, radiated from Queen Camillia to me. She was willing to leave her own kin behind to get me out of here, and neither she nor I was completely sure why this was. I knew then that we were going to need help, and it was up to me to obtain it. We began stumbling toward the exit. Around us, the souls in the building continued their silent dance.

Behind me, shut in the Queen’s office, I could still feel King William’s soul. His body was in a state of sleep, but his mind was fighting ferociously to break out of it. If we expected to get out of Two Rivers alive, I was going to have to keep the King sedated, keep my mental grasp on him firm. It was sort of like holding someone’s head under water; he kept trying to swim up, I kept pushing him back down. Angry bursts of energy, red and ugly, emanated from him, sweeping over me in nauseous waves, growing only slightly fainter with each slow step I took in the opposite direction.

And we weren’t moving fast enough.

Simon, one of the Queen’s Warriors, emerged from a hallway off the foyer. I’d known he was coming. I’d known it before he did. When he saw me and the Queen, he came to a stop.

His allegiance is to King William. Every Warrior here is bound to him. If he goes into my office and sees who’s there, he will sound the alarm.

This thought came from Queen Camillia, and I knew she was right. But I had plans for Simon. We needed help. But, in hindsight, I think it was more so just that I had gotten a taste of power, and there was no turning back now. It was as though by freeing my mind and soul so completely I had awakened that dark side of me that I had always known existed, had always felt waiting and watching from within, like a prisoner patiently waiting for escape so it could enact its revenge on the world. It was just another step down a road that led to darkness, and it was far too late to worry about it now. Now, I had only to
survive.

Keep quiet now, Simon. Come.

Simon went stone-still, rigid, his crisp all-black Warrior’s uniform straightening like a soldier’s. Then he moved stiffly and jerkily, like a puppet on strings, toward me.

Good, good. Retrieve Bethany from the Queen’s office and meet us outside. Go!
Without question, without resistance Simon went off to complete his task. A bit of sweet satisfaction went through me, like butterfly kisses in my belly. I commanded Queen Camillia onward, and we began making our trek to the doors that led outside, some twenty feet ahead.

After what seemed like an eternity the two of us burst out of the doors of the Council building into the warm, moist air of the night. I heard Queen Camillia gasp. Her thoughts and feelings were a constant stream in my head. Then Simon joined us, Bethany lying limply in his arms, and he sucked in air sharply, mimicking the Queen’s reaction to a sight that I had never not known. I stroked their souls carefully, helping them take in all that my power was allowing them to see. Their souls bloomed and swelled and brightened at the new sight I’d offered. It was quite a gift. They knew this. They were awed and grateful and devoted. To me. Another sweet slurp of satisfaction swam through me.

Everything that held life for miles and miles was visible to us. The green, sweet and innocent breath of the trees, the grass, the earth. The bright, simple existence of all the woodland creatures stalking the night or sleeping in their homes. The slight, distant energy from the heavens, radiating toward us in its soft and erratic waves. And the people. All the people. So much light. So much dark.

I can’t leave them here,
I thought, and was answered silently by the Queen. She didn’t have to ask who I was talking about, neither did Simon. They didn’t have to ask
anything
.

We can’t take them all, my Lady,
she told me. I tilted my head at that title, decided instantly that I liked it.

There is a Caravan hidden in the woods that we can use to escape if we can make it past the walls, but it will only seat ten, eleven, at most. We will come back for the people. We will save them, if that is your will, but we must go now.

I felt warm tears spill from my eyes, and didn’t have to look to know that Simon and the Queen were crying as well. We could taste the fear – like rusted metal in our mouths– that sat over the city. We could feel the heartache of the villagers in the distance, could touch their pain.

I could take seven more people with me, wherever it was that I was going. This fact hurt my heart. But I would come back for the rest. I would come back. There was no doubt of that now. And my people would follow.

We were heading toward the east wall now, the three of us jogging, Bethany bouncing like a life-size doll in Simon’s strong arms, Queen Camillia and I clutching each other fiercely. I needed her support more than she needed mine.

I wasn’t sure if I could do what I was going to try next, my reach was already stretching thin, and the King was still fighting me for consciousness back in the Council building, but I had to try. When King William woke up and found us gone, he would take his wrath out on his people. I knew this, as I knew all else. Seven more. It was better than nothing.

I took a deep breath, I knew who to call to first.

Closing my eyes, I focused only on what I my soul could see, and was struck at first by something far, far away from me, a frequency that was so powerful that it outshined the rest of the souls even from its greater distance, a buzz of life so beautiful, so alluring, that all I wanted to do was follow it. My companions wanted to follow it, too, because they wanted to follow
me
. It happened to be coming from the direction we were heading.

What is
that? Simon wondered.

A light at the end of the tunnel,
I told him.
Quiet now, I’m going to try to gather some people.