Waiting for Mercy (Cambions) (35 page)

Another fist connected with my sore jaw.  I ducked then rolled hoping to avoid another blow.  I tried to see which way another attack would come, but at the moment everyone was engaged.  I kept low to the ground this time not only using my sight but listening for sounds of approaching predators. It was hard to discern with violence all around me, but surely a vampire hearing was as good as their sense of smell.  And currently I was riding a vampire high of power. 

I made my move when a demon attempted to double team Anna. I owed her.  She’d helped me with Bernadette. 

My fist landed with a force unknown to mankind. The demon rocketed out of the picture.  I tried to find Flynn but there were bodies everywhere.  We were really out numbered.  That worried me.  Rune and Anna were vampires.  But Flynn was just half incubi.  Our power didn’t rest in brute force.  I knew he could handle himself ordinarily, but we were way out classed here.  The only reason I was still in the game was because I had stolen power from Rune.

When my vision fell onto a bloody Flynn who was giving all he had, I moved like the wind to him.  But a blur of movement got there first and moved on casting down demon after demon until the battle ended.  We all stood circling about assessing each other.  That was when I noticed that our savior was Sebastian.

“Rune, Anna,” Sebastian said. “Talya is no more. I’ve had a report sent, that shows Bernadette caused a problem which resulted in their demise.  No one else knows anything.  I will handle clean up here.  You guys go back and confirm the story.”

They left moving quickly, not giving me time to thank them.  I was only able to make out their forms as they headed back to the school.  Sebastian moved across each of the fallen laying a hand on their chest with his eyes cast upward.  Each time he did so, something in each one lifted and settled into him like a fine mist. 

Once whatever it was, left the body the flesh turned to dust.  It was so odd how each of the dead looked so human.  I had no idea what kind of demons we’d been fighting. In mere minutes it was just us.  Only a little disturbance showed in the grass.  Somehow I doubted anyone would come out here to inspect.  The lawns were too perfect.  Their pristine condition suggested that no one actually spent any time out here at least in front of the school except maybe a grounds keeper.

Sebastian stood and Flynn inched towards me.  Sebastian’s eyes were filled with the orange balls of flame Talya’s body was made of.  Along with that, his jaw was clamped tight.  You could see the ridges of control take over his face.  The light burned out and left Sebastian’s eyes the cool blue they normally were, I sighed. When Flynn’s arms rested on my sides, my first thought was that all had been forgiven.    But with a slight shove, Flynn propelled me forward and into Sebastian’s arms.

“I’m staying,” Flynn said.   

I felt like a worn ball being tossed in a game of keep away.  Sebastian held me though and said. “You can’t.”

Flynn huffed. “The hell I can’t.  You aren’t my keeper.” I couldn’t stop myself from thinking a
recalcitrant Flynn is not something we needed. Damn SAT words crept in my mind like lice.  I couldn’t get rid of them no matter my trouble.

“You risked Kayla’s life,” Sebastian said.  I craned my neck from Sebastian’s chest.  I wanted to see Flynn’s reaction.  But he just stood there as if he may not care about my life.  “You also will be in danger because of your knowledge of her as well,” Sebastian added.

Flynn’s self preservation kicked in.  “Fine,” Flynn said.

He didn’t look happy and I was left wondering who I had left.  Luke wasn’t speaking to me and I wasn’t sure I’d even see him again.  Flynn was also through with me.  I felt like crap, like maybe my life was just messing everyone else’s up.  Would Maggie be a possible werewolf if I weren’t around?  Would Paul have continued to date Amber and knocked her up if I’d never crossed his path.  I was a cancer of sorts and wondered if everybody would be better off if I was the one to disappear.

To say that the car ride home was awkward was an understatement.  Once we crossed the invisible boundary that secured the school, Nina came running up.

“Are you ok?” she said to me.  It was so strange with her being nice to me. 

I pushed away from her discomfited embrace.  If she needed reassurance, I couldn’t give it to her. “I’m fine,” I said.

“I felt your struggles and I was so worried you’d been hurt,” she said.  Her face actually looked concerned.

“If you were so worried, why didn’t you come save her,” barked Flynn.  My head whipped over to look at him.  But he looked away from me and walked on by to the car.   For the barest of moments, I just thought that maybe.  However, his protective comment most likely was a result of him being upset at having to leave with me.

When Flynn got in the driver’s seat of the car, no one said anything.  His demeanor suggested that he should be given a wide birth.  I stopped, unsure where to sit.  Sebastian’s hand touched the small of my back and gently moved me forward.  Nina looked like a deer with a rifle pointed at her.  We moved past her still form and continued to the car.

Sebastian whispered in my ear before he opened the door for me.  “Let him be.  He’ll get over it.”

His words only reminded me of Flynn and the few times he was there for me when Luke got pissed.  It did nothing to calm my nerves.

Sitting in the back behind Flynn and next to Nina was how we drove home.  Sebastian filled in Nina with what went down and Flynn and I stayed silent.  We made a stop for food and someone ordered something for me which was passed my way.  I felt so numb.  Everything was just so wrong and out of control.  I wanted to ask Sebastian about why he was hunting me or maybe why he was protecting me.  But I knew he wouldn’t answer.  He wouldn’t reveal himself.  I had a better shot if I asked him alone.  I needed to know if demons would be coming after him now too.  Why was I so freaking special?

Not soon enough, I began to recognize my surroundings. I knew we would be home soon.  Maybe like an hour at most.  Turning to Nina, I said, “I need to know how to save Luke.”  I heard the pleading in my voice.  Flynn must have heard to because he turned off the radio.

“Yeah, angel girl.  I need to save my best friend.”

Sebastian kept his face neutral and faced forward.  It was obvious he knew something.  With his impressive display at the school, he was much more than we all thought.  He had the answer.

“I told you.  I can’t tell you.  It’s against the rules.  And even if I did put my wings on the line for you, you couldn’t get to him,” she confessed.

“Bullshit, Nina,” I spat.  “If love him just as much as I do, your wings would be on the line for him.”  I was agitated.  I needed to do something good.  There was no way I could sit at home and wait to find out if Luke was okay.

Heads turned at my display of cursing.  I didn’t often do it, saving it for the right moments.  “I told you,” she said again.

“Whatever,” I said cutting her off.  I twisted in my seat to lean my head on the window and look out at the landscape.  My plan now would be to corner Sebastian once we got home.  He had answers.  Hell, I was certain he could answer every one of my questions including ones about myself.

Nothing could have surprised me more than when Sebastian said, “There may be a way.”

That got Flynn’s attention.  He pulled over to the shoulder of the highway.  We all stared at Sebastian.  Nina’s eyes were as big as saucers, but she said nothing.  “I can’t take you to him even though I’m pretty sure I know where he is,” Sebastian began.

“But,” I said.

“It’s kind of like the reason why Luke couldn’t save you from hell even though he wanted, but I could,” Sebastian said. “But, there are those not of this world or its rules.  Those who live among us almost like aliens.”

Now my eyes widened. “There are aliens,” I said.

Sebastian laughed.  “That’s not what I meant.  There are creatures who don’t obey the laws of heaven or hell.  They have their own set of rules and generally stay out of the business of either side.”

No one spoke.  Time seemed to stand still waiting for his next words.  I didn’t dare breath for fear he would clam up.  “The fae or the elves could take you to them if you were able to convince them to do so.”

Fae or fairies, was he serious.  Elves like the Keebler kind.  I mean I like their cookies, but was he for real.  I have to remind myself that I’m not quite human.  There are other creatures that walk among humans including myself.  But I’d grown up believing I was human, so it always took me by surprise to learn that certain fairytale creatures were real.

“Sebastian, you really shouldn’t,” Nina began.

“Shut up, Nina.  She should know.  You don’t want her to save him because you can’t,” Sebastian said.  How could I not trust Sebastian?  Despite what I learned, he’d always supported me and took care of me.  This only confirmed it.

“So where do I find one,” I announced, suddenly feeling that things could get better.

reprove
(v.)
to scold, rebuke

It shouldn’t have been a shock really when the names left Sebastian’s lips.  I had suspected something was up with those two for a while now.  Nobody could be so inhumanly perfect.

“Jay and Kathy,” Sebastian said.  Nina’s eyes grew wide like he’d spoken a curse.  Flynn didn’t look at all surprised either.  But I was still shaken that by the news.

“Is our school filled with supernatural beings?” I asked.

Nobody turned towards me. All eyes remained on Sebastian as if he was the key to all the knowledge in the universe.  His eyes however were focused solely on me as if I was the only one in the car.  “Kayla, your little human mind couldn’t imagine what walks amongst you and the rest of the world.”

Shuddering, I held a breath for a moment as my mind wrapped around his words.  We were not alone, I thought.  It sounded like something from a science fiction movie even said only in my head.  My emotions all over the place in a whirlwind were easily shifted.  And something in me snapped at the tone of his words.  It felt like he was mocking me like I was stupid and inconsequential. The words shot out of me like rainforest downpour. “I may be naive, but I don’t lead people on like you do with Rune.  And you sit there knowing you are hunting me like a fox and I’m a sheep.  You can stop it with the games and just tell me what you want from me,” I yelled filling the car with my rage.

Sebastian was so focused on me, he didn’t notice when Flynn lunged at him from the driver’s seat.  Flynn had him by the throat as Nina gasped.  Some guardian she turned out to be. Before Flynn’s fist could connect with the guy's face, he did the disappearing act.  All too soon, he appeared practically in my lap seconds before he faded us out of existence.

When my feet hit solid ground, I didn’t bother to check my surroundings.  I pushed Sebastian off me. He’d been holding me in order to transport me.  Vampire power still must course through my veins because he stumbled back a few steps.

“How dare you?” I bellowed.  I noticed a few houses by this point but I could have cared less if anyone heard me.  I was on auto rage mode.  “You stay the hell away from me.”  I stared him down like I had a change in hell at beating him.  Pushing a wayward strand of hair behind my ear, I waited for the lies that were surely coming.

He stood his ground and the ice that froze in his eyes didn’t bother me in the least.  “I don’t have time for your little tirade.”

“You need to either get away from me or tell me what the hell is going on!” I shouted.

“Why can’t you go back to being the docile little human you used to be?”

I laughed.  But it wasn’t a good one.  It was filled with the lethal fury that rolled off me in waves. “That girl died,” I roared.  “Now it’s me you have to deal with.”  It was a promise I was willing to keep and one with my vampire power I thought I could make good on.

“Your wake up call is poorly timed,” he said in a deadly calm.  “You need to clean up your messes.”

“Messes,” I barked while I enhanced my anger with disdain.

 He nodded.  Still his gaze never left mine. “Luke,” he warned.  “And Paul,” he added while pointing to the house we stood in front of.

My guilt had me clamming up.  I felt somehow responsible for Luke’s situation.