Touching Fire (Touch Saga) (28 page)

Mashing my face into his shoulder, I closed my eyes against the tears blinding me. “I’m sorry.”

He shook his head. “No.” He drew back and framed my face between his hands. “I’m here when you need me.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead before releasing me and turning to Isaiah. “Take care of her.”

Isaiah inclined his head. “Yes
, sir.”

With a last look at me, Ashton pulled open the door and motioned us through.

Archer went first, followed by me, then Isaiah. My sneakers pressed onto soft earth and grass as the smell of wild flowers swept around us. I squinted at the near darkness enclosing us, trying to get my bearings. I turned once to see Ashton, but the door was gone. In its place was a tree. I sucked in a sharp breath.

I
will see him again,
I told myself, closing my fingers tight around the items in my hand. But it still felt like I was losing yet another parent and I was helpless to stop it.

Isaiah touched my arm. I gave him a nod, answering his unasked concern without words. I shoved everything into my pockets before turning to Archer.

“Where are we?”

“Stanley Park,” he said. “Come on. We need to move.”

I stumbled as I tried to follow after his hurried strides. “What’s the hurry?”

He didn’t answer for several minutes, but he kept pausing, turning his head this way and that. Several times I saw him reach towards his pocket. The tension in him was making me uneasy.

“We’re not alone.” I had no idea if he was talking to me or himself.

My gaze shifted to Isaiah. “Garrison?”

Isaiah shook his head, but he was equally tense. “Stay close.”

No. It was definitely
not
Garrison. Truth be told, I didn’t know what they were. Not only could I not see them, but they were fast.

Distorted shapes darted between trees and dove behind bushes as we passed. A few times, I thought I spotted hulking figures, or willowy shadows, but they were always gone when I tried to
get a better glimpse.

Something streaked past my feet. I yelped and tumbled into Isaiah.
But the thing was gone before I could see what it was.

“Don’t stop!” Archer hissed from over his shoulder. He never lessened his pace.

“What was that?” I asked, hurrying to catch up.

“Just stay close.”

I really had no choice. The two caged me between them. Neither said a word, but I could taste the apprehension and disquiet rolling off them. At the bottom of the grassy hill was a thin, white strip of concrete weaving alongside a yawning body of water standing between the park and the glowing city of Vancouver.

Not too far from where we stood
, a dark figure rose out of the water and then sunk beneath the surface without a sound.

“What was that?” I hissed, pointing uselessly to the spot where even the ripples had stopped like nothing had ever happened.

Isaiah turned to follow my finger. “What?”

“Probably a water nymph, or Nessie,” Archer supplied … casually.

“Like the
Loch Ness Monster
?” I asked, just in case there was another
Nessie
I hadn’t heard about.

Archer shrugged, looking annoyed now by all my questioning. “Probably. You were warned, Princess. You don’t have your protective shield on anymore. You can see all the stuff you normally wouldn’
t be able to.”

“Like nymphs and sea monsters,” I said, my voice just a little hysterical.

“Like nymphs, sea monsters, trolls, banshees and whatever else most humans can’t see.”

“
Why can’t I see them?” Isaiah asked. “I was down there, too.”

Archer took a deep breath, the way a parent would when bombarded by too many questions. “Because you are not from our world. You are human. Granted, there are a few humans with the gift of sight, but you, clearly, are not one of them. Also, if we keep standing here, odds are we’ll run into something even worse, like red caps, or
a troll.”

“How is that worse?” I wondered. “You just told me the Loch Ness Monster lives in the
Vancouver Harbor.”

“It doesn’t live in the Vancouver Harbor,” he muttered. “It travels. It goes where it wants to. And I didn’t say it was the
Loch Ness Monster
. I said it could be the
Loch Ness Monster
. I didn’t see it so I don’t know.”

“Okay, I’m ready to go!” I said, not bothering to conceal the apprehension on my voice.

“The parking area’s that way,” Archer said, pointing behind me. “About a twenty minute walk. Do you have the keys?”

Isaiah patted his pocket. “Got them.”

Archer nodded. “Keep them on hand. I have a feeling we’ll need to make a run for it.”

Reaching over, I took my duffle from Isaiah
and slung the strap lengthwise across my shoulder.

“You might need both your hands,” I said when he looked at me questioningly.

He opened his mouth, probably to argue, but he snapped it shut and gave a nod.

We headed in the direction of Archer’s pointing. I’d never been to Stanley Park, but I had a feeling I would like to visit it one day when my life wasn’t in danger and it was daylight
so I could see all the creatures I couldn’t make out in the dark. As it was, I had no idea if we were breaking some kind of rule by trespassing. With our luck, we’d probably run into a pack of angry red caps, or worse, Garrison’s goons. I would actually take the red caps over the latter.

It would have been a beautiful night for a walk if I wasn’t freezing
and there weren’t things scuttling around in the dark around us. Only one of those things I could actually control as I dug into my duffle and came out with a zip-up hoodie. It took some doing not to stop, but I swung it on over the strap running lengthwise across my chest. I zipped it up and stuffed my balled hands into the pockets. I made a silent promise to myself to dress more warmly the next time I visited.

“Someone’s coming.”

Archer’s low hiss brought me up short. My head turned from side to side as I squinted into the dark in search of the intruder. Sure enough, I heard the soft clip of approaching footsteps and felt Isaiah press closer. We stared in the direction of the sound and watched as a solitary figure rounded the bend. It was a man, judging from the size and frame of him. He wasn’t expecting us either, because he jostled to a stop before quickening his pace.

“What are you three doing out here?”
he shouted at us.

It was a cop … sort of. The uniform was all
wrong. He was wearing armor, black iron strapped over the black of his outfit. On his head was a black helmet. He looked more like a soldier.

He stopped in front of us, his hand going to the heavy-duty belt slung around his waist. There was a gun, but there was also a series of other weapons
. Some I didn’t even recognize.

“Identify yourselves,” he ordered.

Archer, Isaiah and I exchanged glances.

“I’m Fallon,” I said when it became apparent the boys weren’t going to speak. “This is Archer and Isaiah. We were just on our way—”

“Do you realize it’s past curfew? By law I have the right to detain you until you tell me what you were doing out this late.”

I wasn’t the only one surprised by the announcement. Isaiah looked equally stunned.

“Curfew, sir?” I said.

“Yes, curfew.”

Were we still in Canada?

“I’m sorry, but we’re visiting from out of town. We didn’t realize there was a curfew.”

The man’s eyes narrowed. “Unless you’re from the moon, I find that hard to believe. The entire country is under the Emergencies Act. No one is permitted out of their homes after six pm. All planes and other transportations have been grounded until further notice. So I’m going to ask you again, what are you doing out after curfew.”

Emergencies Act
. I had no idea what that was, but it didn’t sound good. Anything with
Emergencies
in the title probably wasn’t.

I ran my tongue over my dry lips. “When did this happen?”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

Isaiah put his hands up when the officer went for his gun. “Look, we’re not out causing trouble. We’re trying to get back to our car. We got lost in the park.”

The officer reached for his transmitter and brought it to his mouth, all the while keeping one hand pressed protectively over his gun. “Ground base, this is Officer Dale Trudeau. I have three unidentified persons in the southern quadrant. Requesting backup. Copy.”

I gasped. “Backup? We’re not a threat!”

“Quiet!” he shot back at me just as a female voice filled his radio.

“
Backup on the way. Hold your position.”

Hooking his
device back into place on his belt, he unholstered his gun and took aim. Right at me. Like, between the three of us, I was the biggest threat.

“Get that out of her face.” Isaiah moved, putting himself between the gun and me.
I grabbed his arm to stop him, but he wasn’t having any of it.

“Get on the ground
. All of you.”

“
That isn’t going to happen.”

Charging
past me in a blur of motion, Archer drew back one arm and clocked the officer straight in the jaw. The sickening crack muffled my squeak as I threw up my hands to cover my mouth. The officer’s head snapped back before his eyes rolled up into the back of his skull and his body slumped to the ground. The gun clattered from his slackened grasp and spun across the concrete.

“Oh my God!” I cried
.

Moving with
out slowing down, he swooped down, unhooked the officer’s belt and pitched it into the ocean.

“Did you have to do that?” I cried, horrified.
“You just assaulted an officer. We’re going away for life!”

“That will only happen if we stick around here talking about it.
Now come on before we have company.”

Isaiah scooped up the gun and tucked it into the back of his jeans. He marched over to me and took my hand, dragging me alon
g as we ran from a huge crime. We didn’t get far, not with my pathetic human legs. No way could I outrun the two of them.

“Archer!” Isaiah pulled to a stop. A few feet away, Archer did the same and turned to us.

“Why are we stopping?”

Without answering me, Isaiah tore down the zipper of my hoodie and tugged it off me, then he swept my duffle strap up over my head. He tossed the bag at Archer, who caught it seamlessly before stuffing me back into the hoodie.

“Get on,” he said, turning his back.

Embarrassed, but in no mood to get arrested, I looped my arms around his neck, gave a little jump and latched my knees on either side of his ribs.
I squeezed my eyes closed tight, tucked my face into the crook of my arm and braced myself as he took off at speeds that could probably outmatch a bullet. The lashing wind tore at my hair and forced cold fingers up my shirt where I hadn’t had time to zip up my sweater. I gritted my teeth and pressed tighter to Isaiah.

I had no idea we
had reached the parking lot until he came to a jogging stop. I slid down his back in the most ungraceful tumble, but didn’t care. I was half frozen.

“That was some serious running for a human,” Archer said as we picked our way through the cars, searching for the one belonging to the keys in Isaiah’s hand.

“Thanks.” Isaiah muttered, preoccupied. “There, I think.” He pointed to a Cadillac Eldorado in what may have been black or dark blue. It sat away from all the other cars, away from the halos of light crashing through the blackness.

Hoping it wasn’t
the wrong car and armed, I watched with chattering teeth as he inserted the key and turned. The locks gave with an audible click. We yanked open the doors and scrambled inside. Isaiah took the wheel. I took the passenger’s side and Archer slid into the back.

“We should stay here,” Isaiah said. “They’ll be looking for anyone leaving the park
and if there is a curfew, we’ll stick out like a sore thumb. We’ll wait until people start arriving, then we’ll blend with traffic.”

“Can we turn the heat on?” I hissed through my teeth.

“No. They’ll notice a running car.”

“Here.” Archer passed me
his coat. The leather was stiff from the cold, but it was better than nothing. The most disturbing thing about it was how it smelled, like a humid rainforest, a tangled scent of rotting soil, exotic flowers and damp earth.

“Won’t you get cold?” I asked, dragging the crackling fabric around me.

“No.”

No one spoke after that. I reclined my chair, drew my legs under the coat and closed my eyes.

The car was moving when I opened my eyes again. Disorientation had me squinting at the figure in the seat next to mine. I took a second to remember I was no longer in a comfy bed.