The Seventh Immortal (Hearts of Amaranth #1) (9 page)

“
Just shoot the boy!” Grant yelled at the police. “Forget
about me. Kill him!”

Grant had been using the
vox dei
on the St. Louis PD for over seven years.
They expected it. They knew how to follow him, and his orders took
precedence over everything else—even the power Kait tried to exert
over them moments before, and even the threat to Grant's own
life.

Like programmed automatons, the officers
stationed on the street raised their weapons. In unison, they aimed
at Paul.

Kait didn't know what to do. Killing Grant
now wouldn't accomplish anything. She threw him to the ground and
ran towards Paul. What did she think she was going to do? Shield
him from the bullets? Even if she could reach him in time,
protecting him was impossible.

The first gunshot rang out. Kait spun towards the police,
throwing her arm out. “No!” she shouted, as if she thought
her
vox
dei
could
win out and save Paul at the last moment.

But what could a voice, no matter how
powerful, do against a bullet?

Chapter Seven

Another officer fired. Then another. The air was filled
with the thunderous sound of gunshots as every police officer on
the street unloaded on Paul. Grant had filled his command with so
much power that even their common sense was overwhelmed. They did
not stop with a few shots, or even when they finished their clips.
They reloaded and they kept shooting, the
vox dei
still ringing in their
ears.

Kait closed her eyes and waited to feel the
hot sting of the bullets against her skin. She was close enough to
Paul that some of the errant gunfire would inevitably hit her.
Ultimately, she wanted to feel it. She needed this to hurt.

Nothing happened. While Kait braced herself
for pain, not a single bullet struck her body. She opened her eyes
and gasped.

The air was full of bullets, but they were
frozen mere inches from her hand. Hundreds of small metal rounds,
still spinning in place, dotted the space between Kait and the
police officers.

Kait stared at her hand. She didn't know how
it was possible, but she was sure of what she saw. She'd stopped
the gunfire. She prevented a single bullet from going past her.

Her eyes darted to Grant, who was only now
recovering from her attack. His mouth hung open and he stared at
Kait as she continued to hold the gunfire in her hands.

“
This isn't something you or the others can do, is it?” Kait
asked. Grant didn't even move. He was too terrified. That was the
only answer she needed.

Suddenly, Kait felt a surge of anger. Why
was she still asking this man questions? He'd tried to kill Paul.
He'd tried to exploit her affection for him by putting his life in
danger. She didn't need to defer to him. Now she was more powerful
than anything he'd imagined.

Kait closed her hand into a fist. With a
flick of her wrist, she let go of her hold on the frozen bullets.
She cast them back at at the police, before realizing that they
were blameless in all of this. With a quick mental correction, she
directed the bullets into their cars and the surrounding
streetlights.

Sparks and glass rained down upon the
street. Everything went dark. The cops panicked, unable to even
comprehend what they'd witnessed. Kait had stopped every one of
their shots in mid-air and sent them flying back. They were
terrified. They had every right to be. Even Kait didn't understand
what she'd done.

It was only a matter of time before Grant
figured out that Kait was just as confused as him. She had no idea
how she stopped the bullets and certainly wasn't sure she could do
it again if she had to. She needed to escape.

Kait ran up the stairs and grabbed Paul's
hand. “Come on,” she said. “Let's get out of here.” As soon as she
had a firm grip on him, she took off away from One Metropolitan
Plaza. She didn't know where she was going, but anywhere was safer
than in front of that building.

Her legs moved faster than she expected, and
she had to slow down to make sure Paul could keep up with her. It
made a certain sort of sense that she would be somewhat faster and
stronger than most people. Her muscles wouldn't tear, and her bones
wouldn't break as easily as those of a normal person.

Once Kait and Paul were a few blocks away from the
skyscraper, she found and alley and ducked inside. They would be
after her before long, and she had to make sure they were hidden
somewhere they couldn't
be
found. Then they could go back to her hotel room, pick up
her things, and... And Kait didn't know what was next.

“
What was that?” Paul asked as soon as they slowed down
enough for him to talk. They headed into the alley carefully, with
Kait watching every door they passed. “Did you do that?”

“
I don't know,” Kait replied. “I think so. Probably. It must
have been me but... I'm not sure what that means.” As they reached
the center of the alley, Kait turned on him. “Why didn't you run? I
told you to run.”

Paul shook his head. “What happened back there... I wasn't
going to miss
that
. You stopped those bullets with your mind. That was
amazing.”

“
I didn't know that was going to happen!” Kait exclaimed.
“You certainly didn't!”

He rubbed his head. “Yeah... Maybe I wasn't
thinking clearly, but I knew I couldn't run away. What I just saw
changes everything. Everything about the world is different
now--everything that everyone thinks that they know, and I was
there to witness it. I'm the only one who knows.”

Kait looked at him like he was insane.
“You're right, and now the mayor's office is going to want to kill
you for that knowledge. Maybe Fractal Capital and the Obshina, too.
They have just as much to lose.”

The reality of this started to sink into
Paul. His shoulders slumped. “I'm not going to be able to tell
anyone about any of this, am I?”

“
Probably not a good idea.”

“
But think of the journals!” Paul exclaimed. “I could be
published anywhere I decided to submit. Immortality...
Telekinesis.... Right under our noses.”

“
You left out mind control,” Kait said.

“
Mind control?”

Paul still didn't know about the
vox dei
. Kait shouldn't have been surprised.
While she'd used it in front of him and on him, the power didn't
manifest itself in such a dramatic fashion. “Never mind,” Kait
said.

In an instant, Paul forgot that she'd said
anything about mind control, leaving her with a pang of guilt. She
needed to figure out a way to control her power. She seemed to use
it unconsciously, without thinking, but when she tried to command
Paul to save his own life earlier, it had failed to work.

A few minutes later, a series of police cars
zoomed down the street outside. Undoubtedly, they were chasing
after Kait. The whole city would be looking for her. No matter what
she was going to do next, she would have to be careful.

Once the cars were gone, Kait and Paul
exited the alley. As it turned out, they were only a couple blocks
from the hotel where Kait had her things. They hurried through the
lobby, hoping no one would notice them. Kait still had blood on her
torn shirt, and surely stood out in a crowd.

Reaching her room, Kait was reluctant to
invite Paul inside. She could still remember what happened with
Spencer just inside the door. She'd screwed everything up, and she
didn't want to do the same thing to Paul. The feelings she had for
him were different than the confused lust she felt for Spencer...
Even if she could guarantee his safety, she wasn't sure she wanted
to go down the same path.

“
Listen, I don't know where we go from here,” Kait said,
turning to face him before she entered the room. “I dragged you
into this, so I feel... Responsible. But I can't help but think
that the longer you're around me, the more danger you're
in.”

Paul sighed. “You haven't heard a word I've
been saying this whole time, have you?” he asked. “Whatever all of
this is—whatever you are—I want to be a part of this.” Suddenly, he
blushed and looked away, as if that wasn't exactly what he meant to
say. “Everything that's happened today is a hundred times more
exciting than anything else that's happened in my life... Or that
I'd ever expect to happen. Even if I had a choice, I couldn't just
walk away from this.”

Kait smiled. It felt good to think that Paul had reasons
other than the
vox dei
to be around her. Even if it was just scientific curiosity
or thrill-seeking, it was better than the Gospel's insidious mind
control.

“
That doesn't answer my question,” Kait said. “Where do we
go from here? If you really want to help, I need it. I don't know
this city. I don't know this world... How do we hide out from
them?”

Paul considered this. “They probably know
who I am, so you can't just come back to my apartment... We need to
find a place of our own, at least until things die down.”

“
I've got plenty of cash,” Kait replied. “Should be enough
to last us for several months, if we need it. Hopefully we
don't.”

A grin appeared on Paul's face. “Good! We're
really going to do this!” He looked down at her for a moment. His
hand raised to caress her cheek and he leaned towards he. He was
going to kiss her.

Kait pulled away from him. “No,” she said.
“No, we can't...”

“
Oh... So you're not--”

“
It's not that!” Kait exclaimed. She knew what he was going
to say, and he was wrong. Kait was very attracted to him. She
wanted more than anything than to grab him and pin him against the
wall. Her mind was filled with all of the ways she wanted to use
him. But she couldn't... Not until she could reign in her
power.

Kait couldn't limit the
vox dei
yet, but she could control how she
benefited from it. She wasn't going to coerce anyone else into sex,
no matter how much her body ached to be touched.

These desires weren't going to end. She
remembered what Silvi said. The Gospels experienced sensation much
stronger than mortal humans. They were live wires, attuned to every
nerve in their undying bodies. She would want it. She would even
need it, but she would have to abstain. Kait wasn't going to hurt
anyone else.

“
Let's just take it slow,” Kait said. “I... I still don't
know what I am. I still don't know what I can do. Aren't you
frightened of me?”

“
No,” Paul said. He leaned in for another kiss. Again Kait
had to rebuff him, backing further into the hall. This time he got
the message.

“
Slow,” he continued. “I can take it slow.”

“
Good,” Kait replied. She unlocked the door to her hotel
room and stepped inside. Everything was just how she left it. Even
the faint scent of her desire lingered in the air near the doorway,
where Spencer had rested his hand after he pleasured her. She hoped
that this was just because of her heightened senses, and that Paul
couldn't discern it.

Kait hurried away from the door. She didn't
want to think about Spencer anymore. He was gone. As long as she
stopped herself from making the same mistakes, she could put him
out of her mind.

Pulling the suitcase out from under the bed,
Kait opened it. She showed Paul the money that she had, as well as
the few documents she'd left herself before jumping off the top
floor of the courthouse. As she organized everything, her fingers
stopped on the her passport. She opened it up and looked
inside.

Find the Gospels. Then you will
understand.

“
This is the one message I left myself,” Kait
explained.

“
What does it mean?”

Kait shrugged. “I don't know. We call
ourselves the Gospels. Christa, Thomas, Silvi, Eve, Grant, and
Mayor Levin... And me. We're the Gospels.”

“
You sure you're the same as them?” Paul
asked. “Grant
seemed surprised that you could stop those
bullets.”

He was right. Kait wasn't like the other Gospels. She
didn't find them in the years immediately after the Kurgan event.
She had no ideology. She had a mysterious power that seemed to go
beyond the
vox dei
they used to control the men and women around them. Maybe
Kait wasn't a Gospel. While they were immortal, they didn't really
provide any answers to her existence.

“
I don't know,” Kait said. “I still don't know what I
am.”

Epilogue

“
She stopped the bullets in mid-air?” Daniel Levin asked. He
sat in his warm, leather chair in his office at City Hall. Police
Chief L'Enfante and Pastor Eve stood in front of him. In theory,
they were his subordinates. He was the first of them to arrive in
St. Louis. He was the one who established their base of power. “In
over two hundred years, I have not even heard of anything like
that.”

Grant curled his lip as he considered the
situation. “She's not one of us,” he said. “That much I'm sure of.
She's something worse. A destabilizing agent. Christa and her
lackeys must be thrilled. She will send this city into chaos.”

“
Don't be so sure,” Eve interjected. “Maybe she's the one
we've been looking for all this time. Maybe she's the one who made
the rest of us like we are.”

“
All the more reason to hate her,” Grant spat.