Scorch (24 page)

Kira shook her head, but Luke held it steady,
not letting her escape. She breath the acid flowers in again,
hating the fake sweetness, the faux-rose. She couldn't, she wanted
the sugar, the real honey, the blood...

Kira coughed. Her entire body, doubled over,
jerking with the force of the air expelled from her system.

She coughed again, a long series ending in a
should-be-blinding sneeze.

But it wasn't blinding—the shadows had
already stolen her sight. The sneeze jostled the darkness, shifting
it every so slightly, but just enough that the hint of a spark
poked through.

Kira blinked. Rapidly shifting her eyes, she
forced away the black blocking her vision, willed away the spots
until the sight of flames seeped through. A wall of orange and
yellow rose up, swirling around her face, sinking into her skin.
She turned a notch, finding the matching fire in Luke's eyes. It
was his power, not hers. His fire was saving her.

Another breath.

Kira held on tight to the flames swirling in
those steadfast irises. Luke wasn't letting her go anywhere he
couldn't follow. Like always, he was there, dragging her back to
life.

Another breath.

Her heart was slowing, matching his calm
pace. Her fire was settling back into her system, following the
path Luke's had created, relaxing and retreating back into her
core.

The shadows were there, but they weren't
consuming her.

Fake flowers still tickled her nose, and she
resisted the urge to cough again.

"What is that?" Kira whispered.

Luke shrugged, pulling the bottle out from
underneath her nose. The sweet sugar of blood drifted back in, but
Kira was in control, and she pushed it as far away as possible,
focusing on the tiny bottle in Luke's fingers. It looked like
perfume.

"Eau de grandmother," he told her, then
winked, "works every time."

"Well, it worked this time anyway." Kira
sighed and sat up, stretching her back. The scent of blood was
slowly getting stronger, was calling her back.

"Luke, I have to get out of this house before
the children get here."

"They'll be here any second," Luke said,
looking over his shoulder and out the window to the front yard.

"It doesn't matter, anywhere is better than
here."

Luke turned back around, meeting her eyes
with a worried frown. Something was on his mind, something not
about her. Kira sifted through his feelings, working her way around
his mind. There was love, a passionate love focused on her, and a
little something else. A love without lust, a love completely
disconnected from her, an innocent one, a long shared devotion.

"Your brother," Kira said slowly, realization
dawning. "TJ is with the kids isn’t he?"

Luke nodded, his brows furrowing deeper. "I
just want to see him leave, want to make sure he gets evacuated
properly. I know TJ, and I doubt he'll go without a big shove from
me. He wants to be the hero, you know, the one from his
stories."

He wants to be his big brother, Kira thought
silently and brought her palm up to his cheek. She could do this
for him, she would make it, she would give him one less person to
worry about.

"Then let's stay, with your help I know I can
do it," Kira said and squeezed his arm reassuringly.

Maple syrup dipped into her senses—the blood.
It was getting stronger.

"Kira, they're almost here." Luke pulled her
in close, wrapping his arms around her, bringing his flames back to
life again.

Kira ducked her head into the nook below his
neck, concentrating on his hot skin against hers. She cut off the
connection to her nose, trying her best not to smell him, not to
give in to temptation. Luke kissed her forehead, bringing his power
to full strength at the same time a fresh round of innocent,
untainted blood rushed through her senses.

Kira rocked in Luke's arms, listening to his
fire cackle around her.

The door creaked downstairs.

Kira gulped, swallowing down a long batch of
air before clamping her lips shut and holding her breath. Lifting
her hands, she covered her nose, shutting the world out
entirely.

"Luke? Kira?" The singsong voice of her
grandmother called.

"Keep everyone downstairs," Luke yelled back
roughly.

Silence was the only response they received,
silence and the faster shuffle of tiny stomping feet.

Her fingers trembled against her mouth. Her
throat burned from lack of oxygen. Her arms twitched, body shaking,
rejecting her plan. Spots invaded her vision.

Unable to take it any longer, Kira's entire
body lurched and her lips shot open, drawing in a ragged breath.
Sugar. Lollipops and gumdrops. The deliciousness of pure innocence.
Nothing would be so wonderful to drain.

Moving without thinking, Kira pushed against
Luke's hug, fought his hold. She need to get out, to be free, to
give in, to drink.

Luke's hand slapped her chest, injecting his
flames directly into her heart. A jolt of adrenaline wracked her
body and Luke pushed his thoughts full force into Kira's mind. She
was drowning in them, in the strength and loyalty—in the love.
Drowning in a way she welcomed, because the alternative was
falling, was ripping free of his arms and leaving him.

Hold on, his thoughts told her.

I love you, they said.

His fire was a warm hug, touching every part
of her body and soul, so pure and so true that the shadows could do
nothing but retreat, but run far away.

"Come back to me, Kira," he whispered, in a
soothing voice that slowly pulled her free of him, slowly brought
her back.

"Kira," he quietly said again, hugging her
close and kissing her forehead, keeping it securely nestled against
his shoulder.

Hesitant, scared, Kira let her nose open, let
the air around drift in.

It was clear. Clean almost. She smelled the
faint scent of Luke's conduit blood, but she could control that
urge.

She sat up. She had made it. They had made
it.

Kira turned, excited, but Luke was only half
there, his eyes were only half focused on her.

"The children, they're gone, right? They made
it out?" Kira asked quickly, her thoughts running quickly, trying
to understand.

"They're gone," he said, patting her arm,
"but…"

"But what?"

His lips wavered, struggling with the
question of what to do.

"Luke, tell me."

"It's TJ," he bit his lip, "I didn't see him
with the other kids."

Kira's eyes widened. How was this happening?
He had to go, he had to find his brother, but… her mind slowed,
selfish, but he couldn't leave her alone. Could she even do this
without him?

"I'm sure he's fine," Luke said, but Kira
heard the doubt pull at his words, "he's probably with my
parents."

But what if he's not? Kira heard the unspoken
question.

She stood, slipping from Luke's lap, giving
him a way out.

"Go," she said, "go find your brother. I'll
stay here. I'll be fine." Even as she said the words, the distance
from Luke's body made the shadows grow.

"Kira," he said slowly.

"Luke, I mean it, that was the worst of it.
I'm not going to go looking for Aldrich, and I won't leave this
house. The children are gone, the rest of the conduits are out
fighting. I can control myself, I promise. Go find your
brother."

"He's probably with my parents—"

"But what if he's not? What if he's doing
exactly what you told him not to—walking around out there, looking
for a real life vampire like in his stories?" She hated to do it,
but Kira refused to be babysat. She loved Luke. She wouldn't sit by
and hold him back from doing what he did best, rescuing people.
This was a fight she would need to end by herself.

Luke sighed. A battle raged in his eyes.

"You sure you'll be okay?" He asked, a guilty
look crossed his features as he looked at her.

Kira gripped his cheeks, forcing him to look
at her. "I promise. I'll be right here waiting for you to get
back."

He smiled, resolved, and reached up to kiss
her.

"I'll be right back, I swear."

She nodded, pushing him from the room.

Luke stopped in the doorway, looking over his
shoulder at her for a second, before running down the hall and out
of the house.

In his absence, her limbs grew cold again.
The sun went into hiding. The fire blew out.

Kira dropped to her knees, clutching her
chest.

It was finally time.

Chapter Sixteen

She promised.

Kira had made a promise, and she didn't
intend on breaking it. Not this time.

When Luke got back, Kira would be there
waiting. Not the Kira who was a step away from madness. Not the
deranged Kira who lusted for blood.

No.

A Protector Kira. A sane Kira.

Luke's Kira.

So as she dropped fully to the floor, Kira
held her powers close to her heart and let the shadows come. It was
time to end it. She couldn't fight the darkness any longer.

Her body jerked. Seizures wracked her
limbs.

But Kira was beyond everything.

She was swimming through fire, riding her
flames as they circled her body, holding them tightly under her
skin.

Kira was searching for the source, the
switch, the part of her that decided Punisher or Protector, because
she was ready to say goodbye to the anger, to the kill.

So she kept pushing, deeper and deeper into
her soul.

That was the story of the two angels after
all. Whether they were real or myth, they were Kira. She was two
people, two powers, two lives.

Well, she had chosen a path, but actually
letting her Punisher's powers go? That was a different issue. That
was the only factor left, the one thing holding her back. Because
she had thought it would be easy, that she would decide, and
naturally the other half of her would fade away.

But her decision had been set the moment Luke
walked through the door, and her Punisher powers still burned
inside her heart.

And the deeper she sank, the stronger
everything seemed to become. Her Protector fire and Punisher flames
melded together, red and yellow, dancing across her mind until
everything around her was orange and there was no differentiating
the two. Kira pulled at the fire, willed it apart, but it wouldn't
go. It wouldn't tear.

Kira delved further, until her skin was so
hot it was as though she walked on the surface of the sun itself,
in a place where there were no Protectors, no Punishers, no angels,
just a light so bright it would blind anyone who dared open their
eyes to look.

"God?" She called, forgetting that she was
speaking into her own mind. It didn’t feel that way. It felt
divine. Sacred.

No response.

"Will you save me? Like you saved the
originals?" She asked meekly. The words scratched her dry throat,
ripping their way out of her body.

But no one was listening. No one was
there.

Kira was alone. More alone than she had ever
felt before.

Lost even.

So she ran, racing back the way she came,
following the fire out of her heart, riding the waves until she was
in her own skin. But it wasn't her own. A foreign host had taken
over, black and writhing, sticking to every part of her.

Teeth dug deep into her lip.

Kira willed them away.

But they wouldn't budge.

She was turning into a vampire. For good this
time.

Her body had rejected her, had kicked her
out. Somehow, Kira had been pushed over the edge.

She screamed, a loud, frustrated cry.

It hadn't worked. She had been sure it would
work. That choosing would be key. That her powers would obey.

But Kira had been betrayed by her own fire.
Abandoned by it. Even now her fingers felt colder. Her toes were
like ice.

A small smolder still lit her heart, but it
was flickering, fading.

How long before it was gone?

Before she was gone?

No, Kira opened her eyes. The world was
sharper around her, clearer, as though she could see even the
molecules of air hanging invisible around her. She had seen like
this once before, in a dream, in a life she never wanted.

Kira stood, lightning fast.

She had to get to the wall. It didn't matter
that there were vampires, that Aldrich was waiting for her, ready
to strike.

She was in transition and the UV radiation of
the wall was the only thing that could save her.

Kira reached out with her mind, searching for
Luke, wishing he could somehow hear her. But there was no wall, no
connection to his mind. There was only emptiness.

So instead she whispered, "I'm sorry,"
knowing no one was close enough to hear. But somehow the words
would find him. He would find a way to understand why she had
broken her promise. He would find a way to forgive her.

But before she could run, a scent tickled her
nose.

Sweet.

Innocent.

Childlike.

Kira covered her mouth, holding back the urge
with sheer will. Her entire body stilled, glue to the spot while
her still conscious mind waged war against the shadows clouding her
judgment. She refused to turn into an animal.

A steady beat thrummed in her ears, a
delicate thud, a pitter-patter of small feet, or was is the pump of
a small heart?

The noise. The smell. They grew, louder,
stronger, harder to ignore, until Kira's entire brain was taken
over by the two senses.

But her feet held still, immobile, somehow
still under her command.

"Kira?"

She sucked in a breath. She recognized that
high-pitched voice, still not hit by puberty.

"Kira?"

Should couldn't turn, couldn't look at him.
She would break.