Fractured Light (36 page)

“Thanks. You look good too.” Matt was the type of man who was born to wear a tux. It looked natural on him, like a second skin. “So do the decorations exceed your expectations?” I asked.

Matt glanced around. “I must admit, it’s not what I’d expected.” He looked back at me and then to Christian. “Could I have one dance? Would you mind?”

Christian visibly tensed but, ever the gentleman, he said, “If it’s all right with her.”

“Of course.” I reached for Matt’s hand.

“Come on, Christian. Let’s get a drink,” Adam said, playfully shoving Christian forward.

“I can never tell what’s going on between you two,” Matt said, once we began to dance.

“That makes two of us.”

“So what are you going to do after high school?” he asked.

“Not a hundred percent sure, but I think I’ll go to the same school my mother went to.”

“Where’s that?” he asked.

“New York.”

He seemed taken back. “New York, huh? “

“Far, right? What about you? Are you still going into politics?”

“That’s the plan. And I won’t be too far. D.C. is only five or six hours away.”

“So you got the internship?”

He nodded.

“Congratulations! That’s so cool. Are you going to attend college there too? Or just do the summer intern thing and then come back?”

“I’m still trying to decide. I did get accepted to NYU. Maybe I’ll come keep you company.” He smiled.

“That would be awesome.” The music, another slow song, was suddenly having a hypnotic effect on me. I closed my eyes and relaxed more fully into Matt.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

His voice sounded miles away. Before I had a chance to answer, he stopped moving, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a vibrating cell phone.

“It’s from Tracey.” He flipped open his phone and read the text message. “Odd.”

“What?”

“She says she’s at your house. And who’s Angel?”

“Huh?” I took the phone from him. The message read, “At Llona’s house. With Angel.” I read it over and over until I thought my legs might give out. My Angel. The letter. My mother’s letter. No—not my mother’s letter. Her killer’s letter. And now he was back for me.

“Llona?” Matt asked.

“I have to go,” I said barely above a whisper.

“Where?” I heard Christian say behind me.

“Tracey’s at her house,” Matt told him.

“Is May with her?” Adam asked.

Matt shrugged.

Because I was about to fall, I forced my legs to move—away from them.

Christian caught up to me. “I’ll drive.”

I didn’t respond, not because I didn’t want to, but because I couldn’t. I was afraid if I opened my mouth, I’d throw up.

This was it. This was really happening. Somehow I’d convinced myself that nothing was going to happen, that I was finally safe. But the Vyken was just waiting for the perfect day. And it had been the perfect day—up until now. I quickened my pace. Tracey was with him. Tracey was with that monster. I whimpered.

Christian stopped me. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t have time to explain. We have to hurry!” I kept walking. Why was I walking? As soon as I stepped into the night, I began to run. Stupid high-heeled shoes. I quickly abandoned them in the parking lot.

“Llona, stop!” Christian said when he caught up to me.

“Open the door,” I said when I reached his car. He quickly unlocked it and hopped in the driver’s seat.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

I told him about the message. “It’s him, Christian. He has Tracey.”

Christian stepped on the gas. “It’s going to be okay.”

“No, it’s not.” The sinking feeling in my gut told me my life would never be the same.

“Stay here,” Christian said when he drove his SUV into my driveway.

“Not a chance. She’s my friend.” I jumped out of the car and rushed through an already open front door.

Christian grabbed me roughly and whispered, “Wait! You can’t rush in there. Keep your mind clear so you don’t end up dead.”

He was right. I took a deep breath and tried to focus.

“I’ll go in first,” he said, stepping in front of me.

He moved slowly into the darkened living room. I heard him feel for the light switch. When the lights wouldn’t turn on, he said, “Can you turn them on?”

Mentally I tried, but it felt as if I was being blocked. “No, I can’t.”

“Stay close.”

The house was completely black except for a faint light glowing from my bedroom. We slowly made our way toward it.

“Do you feel anything?” Christian asked.

“Actually I don’t. I don’t think he’s here.”

Christian pushed open my door, and, like me, seemed to be trying to figure out exactly what we were looking at.

On my bed, sitting with crossed legs, was Tracey in her green prom dress; her head cocked to the side. A single lit candle on my nightstand cast dancing shadows across the room. They were the shadows of the dead. I recognized them immediately and stepped forward.

Christian grabbed me. “Don’t!”

I pushed his hand away. “Tracey?” There was something around her neck. A red scarf? I reached to touch her.

“Llona, no!” Christian cried.

As soon as my hand touched her shoulder, Tracey fell backwards on my bed.

Not a scarf.

A slit throat.

S
OMEWHERE BETWEEN THE LIVING AND THE DEAD EXISTED A
world for those who belonged in neither. It was a dark and lonely place, not meant for hope, love, or joy. It was a place I’d been to before when I’d lost my parents. I didn’t think I’d be back so soon.

“Llona! Get up. We have to call the police.” Christian was tugging at me. In a daze, I stood up. Tracey was with the dead now. And her wide open, accusatory eyes told me it was my fault.

I heard Christian speaking into his phone. My address. He was telling someone my address.

His hand pressed against my back. “Llona,” he said as gentle as a summer breeze. “The police will be here in a few minutes. Let’s go wait in the garage.”

I turned to follow until I saw a letter resting between Tracey’s crossed legs. I picked it up.

“What is it?” Christian asked.

I opened it and read quietly: “I’ve come back for you, Little One. I told you I would.” I crumpled the paper and walked out. Christian followed behind.

Inside the garage, Christian gently took hold of my shoulders. “I wish I could comfort you right now, but we don’t have much time. The police are going to be here in a minute. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

I stared out into the cool night.

“As far as you know this was a random killing. There was a miscommunication and Tracey thought we were meeting here. She just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Are you listening to me?”

I must have nodded because he didn’t say anything else. He just stared with me, holding my hand.

When a police car arrived, Christian walked out to meet them. I watched from the dark garage as he told them what happened. His body was stiff and his expression emotionless. I couldn’t understand how he could talk about it without shutting down.

When he led them into the house, I followed, but stopped at the doorway while he showed them to my room. A beeping sound on the kitchen counter drew my attention. My cell phone. I flipped it open. One new message. A text message in bold letters read: “All the world’s a stage and May’s about to fall off.”

I calmly placed the phone back down. I could hear Christian still talking in my room, while a second policeman moved into the hallway to make a phone call. No more people were going to die because of me. This ends tonight.

I turned to sneak outside, but a second patrol car pulled into our driveway. I moved back into the house and, while the cop in the hall had his back to me, darted into Jake’s room. After removing the screen from his window, I jumped out. I didn’t care about the silent alarm that was probably going off in Christian’s pocket. By the time he got here, I’d be long gone, propelled forward by years of anger and pain.

I let Light guide me. It seemed to know exactly where to go quicker than my brain. When I realized I was headed in the direction of the high school, I knew exactly where the Vyken held May.

I circled around the school, away from the boisterous prom scene several buildings over, and threw open the doors to a pitch-black auditorium. They shut behind me like the lid on a coffin.

A bright spotlight flipped on; its stream of light raced to center stage, capturing a tied-up May in its beam. I scanned the area. There was no one else, but by the spinning sensation beginning in my head, the same feeling I had in the cornstalks, I knew a Vyken was nearby. The only way this was going to end, for better or worse, was to face him. The moment I was born, my life had been set on this path. It didn’t matter if I was ready or not, it would all be over soon. My only goal was to help May escape it alive.

I began the long walk down the slanted decline to the stage. I was surprisingly calm. I didn’t even try to be quiet when I walked up the steps to May. There was no point.

May’s head was slumped forward, but not in an unnatural way like Tracey’s had been. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw her chest rise and fall.

I took a step to untie her when all of a sudden the spinning in my head reached a whole new level and I stumbled. It was like I’d been hit with a poisonous dart, but it was a familiar poison. I tried to remember Christian’s training with the heart monitor.

“You are a vision,” I heard a familiar, smooth accent say.

I fell to my knees. Relax! I inhaled deeply.

Behind me, Mr. Steele laughed. “It’s remarkable the effect I have on you. It’s as strong as it was when you were a child. I wish it would’ve been the same with your mother, but her senses had long been shut off.”

My mother. I had to clear my mind. All this time, I’d mistaken the dizzy, weak-like feeling I had around Mr. Steele for silly puppy love when in actuality he was a Vyken. How many more mistakes would I make?

Mr. Steele moved in front of me, blocking May. Dressed in an old-fashioned tuxedo, his normally slick black hair was messy and lay partly in his eyes. He would’ve looked perfect except for part of his right sleeve had been burned. My eyes moved to May.

“Of all the Auras I’ve hunted and killed,” he began. “You’ve been the most fun. Your lack of training has made you reckless and unpredictable. I’ve found it so refreshing.”

Struggling to stand, I concentrated on getting rid of the nauseating effect he had on me.

“It was wonderful playing games with you—the shoe, the nightly visits, the feel of your skin,” he paused, licking his lips. “Actually, I rather enjoyed killing the mother of the boy who painted you. He tarnished what’s mine to destroy, so I tainted his heart.” He walked behind May and stroked her hair. “But you had your own surprises, didn’t you? What a rare treat it was to find your best friend is an undiscovered Fury.”

I stood up, legs finally straight. Behind my back, I concentrated on creating the tightest ball of light I could, the size of a bullet. I made as many as my hands could hold while he continued to talk.

“I remember the first time I saw you so innocent and full of life as most children are. You were with your mother when I discovered you. It was merely by accident. Ella had no idea you two were being watched.”

At the sound of my mother’s name I froze.

“She was taking you for a walk through the Redwoods, and I remember thinking how strange it was that a mother would be with a child all alone in the dark woods. But then she did something remarkable. Would you like to know what she did?”

I searched for my voice but had none.

“She became transparent, invisible. I watched as you walked right through her. I knew then how extraordinary my find was. Only a powerful Aura would be able to do something like that.” He sauntered across the stage, arms behind his back as if he were strolling through Central Park. “It didn’t take much to maneuver my way into her life. She was so naïve and trusting, making for an easy kill.” He turned to me. “I could’ve done the same to you—become your best friend. Imagine all the fun we could’ve had: sleepovers, sharing secrets, silly boy talk. And just when you’re feeling warm and fuzzy, wham!” He clapped his hands together. “I rip your head off. But my desires were overruled, hence all the scare tactics. I had to force your Light to develop early.”