Page 12

Kerry

“You know what?” I watched Gemma and Gigi pack their bags the next morning. “I think I can make it through another hour.”

“What’s your next class?” Gemma asked.

“Dunno. Wherever you’re going.”

I stood straight with my shoulders back and head up, but I wasn’t exactly safe and I knew it. The girls prolly did, too.

“Didn’t your warden give you a class schedule?” As always, Gigi’s Tennessee accent sounded funny to my New York ears and made my lips twitch.

“He said she’s in all my classes.” I nodded toward the angel. “So I’m just gonna follow.”

“Well, next up is Fight Club. I mean gym class.” Gemma shouldered her backpack. “You can form teams how you want to and choose an activity. There’s a pool and a weight room and a fitness center. Oh, and a dojo. It’s blanketed. No one’s power works inside. Like your cottage.”

“Not anymore. Not since I started school.”

As we moved into the hallway, she explained what a dojo was. Students streamed by on their way in and out of classrooms and I caught bits that made me freeze. It was the first day I hadn’t bolted after first period, and everyone was talking about me. Some glanced at us while others flat-out stared, and I tensed under the weight of all the eyes and comments.

Kill them . Now. Before they can hurt you.

My hands started to shake and I clenched my teeth.

“You can meet my boyfriend!” Gigi smiled. “His name’s Jax Kosta. Well, it’s Ajax, but he doesn’t like that. Says it makes him sound like a mindless barbarian.”

Gemma laughed with her, and a little tension left my shoulders. I was still struggling, though, and couldn’t speak.

“Jax is nice,” Gemma said.

I took a step closer to her so the top of her head was at my shoulder. It still freaked me out a little, that I felt better when she was close to me, but I was getting used to it.

The hallway cleared out, and Gigi said goodbye and went off to the left. When Gemma turned to go to the right, I bent down to whisper in her ear.

“Gym class. Is it boys separate from girls, or all together?”

I kept my head down and turned my ear to her mouth, waiting for her answer.

“All together,” she whispered back.

I straightened and tucked my hands in my pockets. Glancing down at her, I saw her face was bright red.

Did I do something wrong?

She took off toward the gym, and I kept pace with her easily, my long legs taking one step for every two, sometimes three, of hers. When we reached the gym, she stopped at the girls’ locker room and pointed out the boys’ door across the way.

She said the school kept gis—the loose pants and cloth-belted jackets of martial artists—in a small closet of each locker room for whoever wanted to use them. I could help myself to a set and toss it in the laundry bins afterward. I wouldn’t stand out; about half of the students used them. She said I should ask Warden to get me a pair of sneakers. Today, I could go barefoot if I wanted to, but winter was coming and I should have shoes.

I let her ramble on and nodded, but I knew she knew I was getting close to the edge. She was quick like that.

“You don’t have to do this today.” She stared up at me with pity all over her face. “Not if it’s too much. Don’t push yourself.”

Just that quick, my temper erupted.

“Don’t talk down to me.” I towered over her. “I don’t need pity! And stop fussing at me all the time. It annoys the crap outta me!”

I was pretty loud and my hands had fisted up tight, so I don’t know why I was so surprised that all the color drained from her face before she ran into the girls’ locker room. I guess probably because I was too busy calling on all of my self-control—what little I had left—to keep from chasing her down.

I whirled and punched the wall over and over and over. I knew I shouldn’t have started hitting something because it would be twice as hard to calm down now, but I had to distract myself somehow.

You idiot! You hurt her feelings again. And scared her, too.

Hissing at the pain, I stepped back and shook my hand out. I started doing Hank’s breathing exercises and was concentrating so hard, I didn’t notice someone behind me until I heard a voice.

“Hey, man, are you all right?”

I turned. The guy was shorter than me and had dark brown hair going in every direction. His hands were down at his sides, his palms open, and he kept a good distance between us. Everything about him said, “I am not a threat to you.”

A bell rang, but I ignored it. He didn’t seem to care about it, either.

“I can see you’re upset.” His voice was smooth and slow. “It’s hard to come to a new school, to start over in a place where you don’t know anyone. If you’re headed to the locker room, you can come in with me if you want to. My name’s Jax Kosta.”

Gemma had told me about Gigi and Jax weeks ago during one of her earliest visits, but I’d let the names go in one ear and out the other. At the time, they hadn’t mattered.

“Kerry Harker.” I rumbled.

“I’ve heard about you from my girl, Gigi, and my friend, Gemma.” He slowly moved a foot closer. Everything this guy did seemed to happen slowly, and I realized he was doing it on purpose. “Your hand looks in bad shape. You want to go to the clinic?”

I shook my head. It was only pain. It didn’t matter.

“Then you want to try Fight Club?”

“Sure.”

#

“There she is! See? I told you.”

I came to a dead stop as my eyes followed Jax’s pointing finger.

Gemma stood on the other side of the gym, and she wasn’t alone. She was talking to a guy who was only two inches shorter than me, and I was tall. He had a good build, was far heavier than my scrawny self, and looked like he could take care of himself in a fight.

But if he moves any closer to her, I’m gonna take him down.

The sudden thought shocked me. She wasn’t mine and, even if she was, who was I to say who she could and couldn’t talk to?

A low growl built up in my chest all the same.

The guy said something to her and she smiled, her eyes and face lighting up like sunshine. She’d smiled at me like that once, and I’d scowled so darkly in return, she hadn’t done it since.

It burns . I frowned and rubbed a hand over my chest. Gah! That’s worse than alukah venom!

Jax realized I’d stopped walking and backtracked to stand beside me.

“What’s wrong?”

“Who’s that?” I jerked my head in their direction.

“With Gems? John Morgen.” Jax motioned for me to start walking again. “No worries, he’s spoken for. His girlfriend—”

Two girls joined Gemma and Morgen. One was tall and had all the right curves, although she couldn’t have been more than fifteen. Her long black hair reached to her waist, swinging from two thick braids, and her skin was honey gold, very similar to the guy Gemma was talking to.

The other girl seemed a little older and had a darker skin tone, big black eyes, and a lean build. She, too, had black hair, but hers was curly and tied up in big knots on either side of her head. That one slid an arm around Morgen’s waist with a big smile.

“See? Tara Moore. She and John have been going out for a few months now. They’ve taken Gemma under their wing and help me keep her safe during Fight Club.”

“Keep her safe?”

“Some bullies are bothering her.” He shook his head. “They won’t leave her alone.”

Fire filled my belly as my eyes darted around the gym. I didn’t see Blondie and his crew, but I stayed alert as we started walking again.

“Do you have room for two more?”

Gemma’s eyes flashed to mine when Jax called out, and bright red flared on her cheeks as she spun away, nearly tripping over her own feet.

The burning was back in my chest.

She’d saved my life not once, but twice. She’d visited me and talked to me and sang for me while I was imprisoned. She’d stood up for me against Blondie, then talked the wardens into freeing me from my prison.

And I repaid her kindness with insults and worse. No wonder she never smiled at me like that again.

I only half listened as Jax introduced Morgen, Tara, and Tara’s friend, Maddy Cervantes. I didn’t speak to Gemma. What could I say?

We divided into teams, but I had no idea what to do. Jax seemed to get it and told me where to stand.

“This is a birdie.” He held up a white plastic thing. “Hit it over the net before it can touch the ground.”

I nodded once and watched the others until I had the general idea.

My eyes constantly strayed to the red-headed girl on my side of the net. At one point, I noticed she was staring off into space, obviously lost in thought. Too bad the birdie was headed straight for her.

“Heads up!” I called.

She blinked as the birdie hit her right between the eyes.

“Oh!” She laughed and rubbed the spot. “That’ll teach me to fall into a daydream, won’t it?”

“Are you okay?” I walked over to her, forgetting about the game.

“Daydreaming about me again, Gemma?”

Blondie and his pals stood only a few feet away. As Gemma spun to face them, I ignored the pain of my broken fingers and crushed the racquet in my hand.

It was that or crush Blondie.

Hurt him . Make him pay for stalking her. For scaring her.

“That would have been a nightmare, not a dream,” she told him. “I heard somebody broke your nose, Reilly. Such a shame! You must have looked like a raccoon. A widdle baby raccoon. Does it want its mommy?”

I smirked. The girl had guts, all right.

“Shut your mouth,” Blondie got in her face, “or I’ll shut it for you.”

And I moved . Got as close to her as I dared while the blue sparks sizzled over me and my chest rumbled with rage. Clenching my hands in tight fists, I loomed behind her and glared down at him.

“Back. Off.”

His eyes lit up as he turned his attention to me.

“Well, well, well. They let the demon taint out of his cell for the day.”

“Yep, and I’m all set to give you that lesson now.” My upper lip skinned back from my teeth in warning. “I did promise to show you new ways to hurt someone.”

“Aaannnddd we’re good!” Jax wormed his way between us. “Let’s all take a deep breath. I mean, seriously, does gym have to turn into Fight Club every single day?”

A ball of orange power slammed into me, and I relaxed a little. I never took my eyes off Blondie, but—with Jax’s help—I was able to pull the power in.

Which was perfect timing because Gemma stepped back and her shoulders bumped into my chest.

We both went dead still.

Maddy went to Jax’s side and seemed to be trying to help him, but Morgen and Tara headed toward us. They stayed a few feet away, smart enough to not get any closer.

“Can you handle him on your own or do you need me to get a warden?” I heard Morgen ask.

“I can do it.” Gemma nodded. “Well, as long as those idiots don’t come any closer.”

“I think you’d better take him outside.”

“You’re right,” she said. “Can you help Jax out?”

“I’ll watch his back,” Morgen promised before he walked away. “Just get him out of here. And don’t take any risks. Get a warden if you need help.”

At first, she didn’t seem to know what to do, and I didn’t, either. I didn’t trust myself enough to even speak , so I decided to trust her . I may not have figured out her motive yet, but I had no reason to doubt her. I mean, she’d been helping me since the night I tried to eat her. I guess that was proof enough her intentions were good.

She took a step back, her shoulders shoving hard against me, and that forced me to move. She did it again and made me take another step back. Then she dropped her racquet with a clatter, and we kept up the crazy dance until we were at the main entrance. Thankfully, the doors were the kind that swung in or out at a touch. Once we were outside, she stopped.

“Kerry, I’m going to step away from you now.”

My chest was still vibrating, but it was softer now, almost a purr, and I felt a little more stable.

Not safer. Not by a long shot. But stable was better.

Stable meant no one would die.

She slowly leaned away until we weren’t touching, then eased around and grabbed my shirt sleeve. She kept her eyes down as if she knew I would see eye contact as a threat or a challenge. With her, I wasn’t too sure how I’d respond to either one, but it wasn’t a risk I was willing to take, so I didn’t look at her face again.

She took a step to the right and pulled my sleeve. I felt glued in place, but finally forced my feet to get to work. After that, she kept me moving at a steady pace.

Then I stumbled and threw us into the brick wall. I started to slide down, and she dropped my arm and helped me the rest of the way to the ground. I drew my knees up, draped my arms over them, and tried not to hurl.

My rage had finally fizzled away, taking all of my energy with it and leaving me hollow.

“How do you feel?” she asked.

“Dizzy.”

She put one hand on top of my head and shoved it between my raised knees. I forced myself to allow her touch, knowing she only wanted to help.

“Sorry I’m sweaty. My hair’s probably disgusting.”

“No worries.” She sounded like she was smiling. “I like playing with slime.”

I wondered if she was making a joke, but was too tired to ask.

Or care.

“All good, Gems?” Jax called.

“Is it okay if Jax comes closer?” she asked.

“Yeah.” My voice was muffled, but he must have heard it because he came over.

“Can we help in any way, Kerry?”

“I want to ram my fist through Blondie’s face, grab his brain, and flatten it against the back of his skull!” I jerked under her hand as my muscles turned to iron. Then, I sighed and slumped again. “I fight against myself all the time. It’s exhausting.”

“You want to go home?” Jax asked. “Maybe catch some sleep for a couple hours?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you need help getting there?”

I didn’t reply at first. Gemma eased her hand away from my head, and I held still for a few seconds, wanting to make sure I didn’t strike out.

Not at her. I will never hurt her again , I promised myself. I owe her too much.

“Yeah.” I stared at my bare feet.

“Would it be okay if Jax took you home?”

“You, too.” My head snapped up. “You come, too.”

“All right.”

“Okay, buddy,” Jax said, “let’s get you up.”

“Here, I’ll carry the bags.” She took them from him. “Are those his clothes and boots? I’ll take them, too.”

Jax came closer, and I sat there and watched. I dunno what my face looked like, but he turned to Gemma with raised eyebrows.

“I think it took all he had in him to keep from attacking Reilly.” She shrugged. “It wiped him out to hold back.”

“He looks awful.”

“He can hear us, you know.”

“Hey, man. You look awful. See? It’s nothing I wouldn’t say to him.” He hunkered down. “I’m going to pick you up. That means I have to touch you.”

I looked at his face until my eyes focused, then nodded.

“On three. Ready? One. Two. Three.”

He slung me up on his back in a fireman’s carry. I hung there, too weak to fight or protest. He shifted my puny weight to a more comfortable position, then started walking toward the cottage. Before we had gone five or six steps, I was out.

#

I woke up to fingers on my skin and knew it was the angel.

I don’t get it. I woulda hurt anyone else by now, but her little fingers don’t bother me at all.

Slitting my eyes open, I saw my hand was broken and swollen. It didn’t matter. It was just pain. At least there was no scar to add to the collection this time.

She examined each finger, the back of my hand, and my wrist with total focus, so I took the time to stare. Her hair was pulled back at the base of her neck, although some had come loose. Her emerald eyes were kinda the shape of almonds and she’d darkened her eyelashes to light brown. Her skin was so pale, I bet she had trouble in the sun. She probably burned like crazy after just a minute or two.

I musta made some small noise because her head jerked up.

“Did I hurt you?” She held my hand in both of hers.

“Nah.”

“May I heal you?”

“You gotta ask?”

I was only curious, but the question upset her for some reason. Her cheeks turned red and the more I watched, the redder they got until she dropped her eyes.

“Um.” I wasn’t sure what the problem was, but maybe explaining would help. “I mean, is it a requirement? You know, as a healer? You gotta get permission first?”

“Oh!” Her eyes flicked up at me again. “I misunderstood. I thought you were being mean again.”

“Huh?”

“As if you were saying, ‘Of course I want you to fix my hand, idiot.’ You know?”

“Whatever.” I shut my eyes again.

My hand was still in hers and I noticed how soft and warm they were. They were small, too; both of them together could barely hold one of mine.

“Doesn’t it hurt? Your hand?” She was still going on about something.

“I guess.”

“You guess ?” She sounded stunned, so I opened my eyes to look at her again. She stared back. “You’ve broken every one of your fingers and you guess it hurts? How did you hold the badminton racquet?”

“Shut up,” I grouched. I didn’t raise my voice, though. That woulda taken energy. Irritated, I closed my eyes. “You’re talking too much! It hurts my ears. I can’t stand it.”

“You mean that literally, don’t you?”

Why won’t she stop? My patience is running out fast!

“At first, I thought you were being mean, but it is the honest truth, isn’t it? Too much interaction with others is agonizing for you.”

“Please,” I begged and all at once I couldn’t fight anymore. “Just lemme alone. Lemme alone. Lemme ALONE !”

I threw my free arm up and turned my face into my bent elbow. The panic broke free and ran wild, and I hated the noises ripping from my throat as much as I hated myself.

Then the voice of an angel saved me again.

“I know it hurts.” Her voice was soft and close to my ear. “It won’t last forever, but I know right now, it feels like the pain is swallowing you up. And I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Her fingers trembled as she stroked my hair. Was she scared? I didn’t like that idea, but why wouldn’t she be? I’d almost killed her not too long ago. And I yelled at her and hurt her feelings all the time. I was lucky she was even willing to talk with me.

We stayed that way until the panic quieted and my breathing returned to normal. Somewhere along the way, she musta healed my hand. I could feel it again and it seemed back to normal.

I felt her moving away, taking her fingers from my hair, and I realized I didn’t want her to leave. Later, that would shock me, but I was too worn out at the moment to care.

“Feel a little better?” she asked.

I couldn’t speak, so I nodded instead, my face still planted in my elbow.

I should apologize. Maybe I’ll find her later. Or tomorrow. Right now, I wanna sleep. I need to sleep.

“Would you like me to get your warden?”

I knew Hank would be home any minute, so I shook my head.

“So, I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

The world was fading fast, but I tried to answer her.

“See you tom — ”

#

Gemma

I stared down at him, tears running down my face as I watched him sleep.

This is who he is . When you strip away everything the demon did to him, this is what you have left.

I wondered what his life had been like, but I knew I couldn’t ask him. There were some things he would need to share on his own and others that were too rude to ask. But, whatever and whenever he felt like telling me, I needed to be prepared to hear it.

Imagine your life coming to a halt at nine years old, and then coming alive again at nineteen . It must be a little like coming out of a coma. The world had galloped along without you, and you’re expected to catch up, just like that. But the light hurts your eyes because you haven’t seen it in so long, and sounds hurt your ears for the same reason.

Judging by how emaciated his body was, how could his mind and heart be anything but the same?