Chapter 17

 

Emily ran from the coffee shop. She’d dressed in leggings and runners as though she’d planned on fleeing the scene—or was out for a catch up with friends after yoga to the casual observer. Her handbag was clutched to her chest. Leira had no idea what had happened in the coffee shop, only that she had to go after Emily and hope that Dale and Julian were okay.

She left the car and followed Emily. Leira had also worn runners for the occasion; she was glad that she did go to the gym on a semi regular basis so could keep up. The only thing in her favor was that Emily wasn’t expecting her.

It was easy to follow her at first. She was headed to the train station. As Emily rounded the corner, she slowed and joined the other people on the footpath. Leira slowed, but didn’t get too close. Her phone buzzed, but she ignored it. If she answered, she might lose Emily, or worse, Emily might turn at the sound of her voice.

Emily kept going, then crossed the road. Leira had no choice but to get closer and also jog across the intersection before the lights changed. Emily turned around, her lips drew into a smug grin, and her hand slid into her handbag. “Your boyfriend is dead.”

Sirens started in the distance.

Fear gripped Leira and she froze. Her vision of Julian had already happened while she sat in the car. He’d looked fine. He’d been sitting in the chair. She’d never heard the shot. Wasn’t that supposed to be noisy? Fire heated her blood as fear made her skin cold. “What did you do?”

“Shot him in the chest. Twice. Once for my mother and once for my aunt.” But there was a flicker of doubt and the taste of untruth on her words. Emily wasn’t sure Julian was dead.

Anger flickered through her and brought the fire too close to the surface. She forced herself to breathe more calmly. He could be injured. Dale was with him. He would be okay. He had to be okay. “You lie.”

Emily withdrew her hand slightly so Leira could see the barrel of a pistol. A gun. Emily had really shot Julian. The sirens were getting closer. “Want to find out? Run back to him, but the odds are good that I fill you with bullets before you get over the road.”

Leira swallowed. If she stayed, she’d get shot anyway. She ran. No plan had ever included her getting shot. The first bullet hit her in the leg. It was almost silent. She fell and landed on her hands and knees.

“Leira! Are you okay?” Emily was being the fake friend to anyone who was looking or listening. She pulled Leira up with one hand. “You do anything and the next one enters your back and punctures your lung. Start walking.”

“Get away from me.” Her voice was tight with fear and her words didn’t carry over the sound of sirens. Everyone was gravitating toward the café to see what was going on. No one was coming to help her.

Her mind raced and her skin was hot. She might burn Emily’s fingers, but Emily would still kill her with the gun. That wasn’t how this was supposed to end. Unless her future had changed again. If she was going to die, she was taking Emily with her. Just like in her vision. When Emily pulled, she moved. Her calf burned and blood was running down her leg, making her sock squishy.

She tried to let the flames take hold. She didn’t care if her clothes caught fire and everyone stared. She just needed to get Emily off her. But the flames didn’t form. She wished she’d answered her phone when it had rung, had it been a warning? Maybe it wasn’t too late. She slid her hand into her pocket.

Emily nudged her. “Don’t even try it.”

Leira glanced at a passerby but they were distracted by the sirens. She would have to save herself. Her glimpses of the future had never given her any clues about how that was supposed to happen. “Where are you taking me?”

“You wanted to know where I live, right? We can have a chat, woman to woman about how you shouldn’t steal boyfriends.”

“I didn’t steal him.” He could be dead. She refused to believe that. “He’s not a car. He has free will.” Could Emily not see she was part of the problem? Why would anyone want to be with a liar with so little regard for life?

“Shut up.” Emily jabbed the gun into her ribs.

“You don’t want to talk. You want to kill me. Why not do it here?” She had more of a chance while they were in public. If they ended up at Emily’s place, it would be too late.

“Because I want my second kill to be done right. My mother was killed by some of you. Gunned down for no reason. Do you even care about the death you cause?”

“Do you? How many of us did your mother kill?”

“Shut up, you non-human freak!” Emily yanked her into a cheap apartment complex. Leira resisted, not wanting to go in, but Emily was strong and pulled her into the lift.

Leira stamped on Emily’s foot and shoved, letting the heat fill her hands. Nothing happened. Where was her magic? Was she too panicked to grab it? It was there but slippery. She fought to get free, not wanting to get into the lift. Hoping someone would see the struggle. Emily smashed the gun into the side of Leira’s face. Leira staggered. Her back hit the wall and the doors closed, trapping her inside the lift with Emily.

What had Julian said about the magic not being there if the user was unconscious?

She had to stay awake.

Leira let the fear flood her so she could grab her fire, but she couldn’t focus as Emily struck again. Leira barely got her hands up in time to block the strike. The impact reverberated up her arm.

Emily pressed a button and kept the gun leveled at her. Leira didn’t move. She needed a moment to sort herself out and find the fire. It had always been so easy to find and now that she needed it, it was gone. Ironic. She needed to calm down and put aside the adrenaline. Fear had never once helped her. It had only made things worse.

The lift stopped and Emily helped her out, the gun pressed to her side again. She wasn’t willing to fight with a gun pressed to her ribs. She’d be wounded too badly. Her calf throbbed; she was already losing blood and doubted she’d be able to run far or fast. She’d only get one shot to get away, and for that she’d need her magic.

The next best thing she could do was fake being weak.

Emily opened the door to the apartment and pushed her in. “Have a seat.”

There was one chair in the middle of the sitting room and no other furniture. Had Emily planned to bring Julian here? Leira glanced around, but sat.

Emily locked the door. She kept the gun in her hand, but let her handbag slide to the floor. “This was only meant to be backup. The Albah don’t deserve such quick deaths.”

“Julian deserves a better girlfriend than you. What was it like to sleep with a man you hated? Did you feel like a whore?”

Emily lifted the gun. Leira threw herself sideways as a bullet hit the cheap plastic chair. How many bullets did that thing have? Why the hell was it so quiet?

Leira scrambled to the bathroom, and two bullets followed, making puffs of plaster as they hit the wall. Leira shut the bathroom door and locked it. She wanted to lean against it but was very glad she hadn’t when a bullet tore apart the thin sheets of wood and sent splinters flying.

“You can’t stay in there forever.”

She knew that. There was no outside window. Damn cheap apartments. “You’re going to run out of bullets soon. People will be looking for me.”

“Will they? Julian won’t be able to say you were there.”

No, if he was injured and in surgery he wouldn’t, but Dale would. He’d wonder where she was. Leira pulled out her phone to text Quinn and Dale.

Her hands were shaking so much she could barely type. Her leg was throbbing.

Trapped with Emily. Not far from coffee shop. Cheap apartment.

She couldn’t even remember what the building looked like. She was a crappy witness. She hit send, then put the phone on silent.

The handle jiggled as Emily worked on the lock…if it could be called that. Any coin could open it. It was designed for privacy not security.

Leira moved next to the door, with her back to the wall so the bullets wouldn’t get her, and held the handle. What could she do? Melt it? Emily could kick the door in.

She could set fire to the door and walk through it. That might give her the element of surprise. Fire would also set off the smoke alarm and draw attention.

The handle turned suddenly and Leira struggled to keep hold. If the door opened, she was dead. Another bullet came through the door.

“Give in. You’re mine. I never planned on killing Julian, at least not until I’d grown tired of him. You, on the other hand, you should die.”

“I don’t think you can kill. You’ve already tried to kill me once when you tampered with my car. And Julian is still alive.” She had to believe that Emily didn’t have the stomach for murder.

“I can kill! I will be a full Guardian. I’ll make my mother proud.”

“If you’d done it right, she wouldn’t have come to Australia and she’d still be alive.” It probably wasn’t smart to taunt Emily but Leira needed time.

Her magic had always flared up with lust and anger. Apparently fear of death wasn’t enough, or maybe it was too much. She drew in several deep breaths. Anger. She could work with that. Feed it and let it eat her fear. She shouldn’t be afraid Emily was going to kill her. She should be angry that she’d even try. Why did Emily get to play God? Bit by bit, she pulled it together and felt the fire spark.

Accept it, Julian had said.

The cops were looking for her; all she had to do was stay alive. The door handle was yanked again, and her fingers slipped. She was going to run out of strength, and blood, if they kept playing this game.

She was already weak…oh shit. She hadn’t been able to locate Emily properly because there was too much iron. If there was iron through the apartment, then it could also be messing with her magic. This place had been set up to weaken Albah. She had blood. All she needed was silver. Her necklace. She wrapped her bloodied hand around it and summoned the fury, waking the heat in her blood. She wanted lava in her veins. Fire on her skin.

The familiar heat rushed through her like a blush dialed up to one hundred.

Flames spread over her hands.

Once she started the fire she would be stepping into the future she’d seen. The thick black smoke that choked her to death. That also killed Emily. This was how she died. The flames faltered for a heartbeat before she silenced the fear, smothering it with anger.

Help would come. She had to believe that. Saba was better at finding. They shared blood. The cops would be using her phone to track her. They would find her. Hell, maybe she’d walk out of here. That was still a possibility. No future that she’d seen was permanent. It could still be changed.

Did she open the door and start throwing fire or just set fire to the door?

She didn’t really want to open the door and risk being shot.

No matter what she did she risked another bullet.

Fear kept her still, but the fire was still in her hands. She placed one on the white painted wood and sent all her energy into it. The paint blistered beneath her palm, and then the wood started to char. There was the first whiff of smoke and then the door caught alight.

“Ow!” Emily said from the other side. The handle was released. The metal must have gotten too hot for her to hold.

Leira managed a smile. She hoped the burn hurt.

“Come out, you curled-ear freak.”

“In a rush to kill me?” Leira was in no rush to die. She took the chance that Emily wouldn’t touch the handle again and grabbed a towel and wet it so she didn’t have to breathe in the smoke. Then she crouched by the door, now burning merrily. Her calf was throbbing, but she couldn’t let it distract her.

“Yeah, I have a plane to catch.” There was a pause. “What the hell have you done?”

The fire must have spread to the other side. Not long now. She didn’t want to fight through the door, just walk through the flames and…and throw a few fire balls at Emily.

She closed her eyes as images of Emily on fire filled her mind. That would be an awful way to die. Leira didn’t think she’d be able to deliberately burn someone. Emily might be a Guardian, a witch hunter, but Leira was better than that. She peered up at the widening hole in the door. The acrid smell of the smoke caught in her throat despite the wet towel.

She was not going to die in this dingy little bathroom.

The smoke detector started beeping.

Now while Emily would be distracted. She had to move now. Maybe she could make it to a window. They were five floors up…too far to jump without the magic of air to assist her, but there would be balconies. Risking a fall was still a better option than being trapped in the apartment with Emily.

Leira stood, careful to keep to the side, then peeked through the hole the fire had made in the door again. No one was there.

Her heart was beating hard and fast, but she forced herself through the burning gap.

The flames kissed her skin but left no mark. Her clothes caught alight at the edges but she didn’t care. Emily wasn’t there. Leira stepped around the corner ready to make her escape, but Emily was waiting. And armed.

Emily plunged an iron trident into Leira’s chest.

* * * *

“She shot me and she has Leira. I need to be out there, not here.” Julian didn’t want to be sitting around. He was sure that Emily and Leira were together and since he’d heard nothing from Leira he was beginning to think the worst.

He didn’t want that future to come true.

His arm was throbbing, and there was a bruise blooming on his chest from where the bulletproof vest had saved his life. His shield didn’t stop bullets, only slowed them down. That was a good thing to know.

The cop he was with just shook his head. “There are qualified people on the job.”

Qualified, but non-Albah on the job. Where was his father? Julian had sent a message.

Every second that slid by was one that they had lost in the search. The tension was eating him alive, but he remained sitting and didn’t start pacing.

The coffee shop was closed. A crime scene. All the witnesses were being interviewed. He wasn’t a suspect but he had been involved so he was getting a special interview now that the paramedics had checked him over. It would’ve been easier to go to hospital and then escape.

There was a fuss at the door and his father walked in flashing his badge. He walked straight over. “Julian, with me.”

“I’m still talking to him,” the cop protested

“And you can have him back once we have located his ex-girlfriend, who is holding his current girlfriend hostage.”

Those words hurt and confirmed his worst fears. He knew what her future held and he’d be damned if she was going to die with Emily. “Is Leira okay?”

“She was as of fifteen minutes ago, when we received notification.” His father’s voice was level but from the look in his eyes Julian knew there would be hell to pay later. He’d pay whatever he needed to as long as Leira was all right.

Dad’s phone rang and he stepped back, motioning Julian to follow. Julian obeyed, glad to be doing something other than sitting and waiting. “Good. Send me the map.”

They walked out of the coffee shop.

“Leira was on foot?” His father walked briskly toward the footpath.

“Yes.” The car was still out front of the coffee shop.

“Which way?”

“I didn’t see…” He should have noticed.

His father checked his phone as it pinged. “Saba has narrowed it down.”

Julian looked at the screen. It was a tighter area than what Leira had gotten when she’d tried to locate Emily. “She must have gone this way. It’s the shortest route.”

Quinn looked up and down the street. He glanced up as though looking for answers. If he’d been a female air user, he might have found some in the clouds. There were plenty of onlookers wanting to see what the drama was about. “Only if she was going home.”

A cop talking to some of the bystanders waved Quinn over. “Apparently there’s fresh blood at the intersection.”

The person he’d been talking to pointed toward the traffic signals. “Not much, but it looked fresh. Did someone get shot?”

His father didn’t answer.

Julian followed and they walked up the street. When they reached the suspected blood, his father made another call to confirm and get someone over to mark the blood splatter and protect the evidence.

Was it Leira’s blood? He had no idea.

When his father got off the phone, he looked at Julian. “What did you think you were doing?”

“I went to talk. We wanted to find out where she lived so that you could do your job.” He left out the bit about wanting to push Emily into making a mistake.

“You don’t wear a bulletproof vest to a chat. You expected something to happen.” He shook his head. “I’ve spoken to Dale already. He should’ve told me what you were up to.”

Damn it. “I don’t need to tell you everything.”

His father glared at him. “This isn’t a game. It’s not TV. This is a bloody war that has been fought for centuries.”

“And they are winning because we do nothing.”

More sirens. What was going on now?

His father lifted his gaze. “I knew there was something in the air. There’s a fire.”

“Leira.” The vision of her death in the choking smoke, of Emily in the same situation, became all too real. He wanted to run to her, but he didn’t know where he was going. “Where is she?”

But his father was already on the phone asking where the fire truck was heading.

Had Leira set the fire so she’d be found? He’d cheated death this morning. He didn’t feel like all his luck was used up. His father pointed and started running. Julian ran too.

He wasn’t losing someone else he loved to fire.