Unstable by Lacey Carter Andersen
11
Kiera
We orderbreakfast at the same small diner, but there’s a strange mood in the air. Cole had come back to the motel late last night, grabbed a pillow, slept on the floor, and ignored us all. Drake and Emory seemed to prefer the man far from us, but I could tell Cole’s behavior bothered Adam as much as it bothered me.
If I was honest with myself, it’s because I do see something within the man that reminds me of Emory. Not Emory as a kid, but the man I met later on who seemed so guarded and broken inside. And yet, I think I could reach Emory because of our childhood connection. I have no idea how I will get through to Cole. Not even to make a friend of him, but just to be able to trust each other.
If we didn’t have trust, this entire mission will become even more dangerous.
“Cole...” I begin slowly.
His dark eyes meet mine, and there’s something I can’t quite read in their bottomless depths.
I clear my throat and continue. “We need to be able to trust each other—”
“No, we don’t. We just need to get the relic and survive.”
The waitress comes, followed by another waitress. They pile our table full of food and everyone digs in. But I’m less enthusiastic. I’m not honestly sure how to respond to his words. I guess, technically, he was right. But it rubbed me the wrong way.
“Here’s the thing,” I try again.
He lifts one hand toward me, eggs halfway to his mouth. “Look at the mage’s mark on your arm.”
I frown and shift my jacket down to look at my arm. My breath catches. Black lines, like veins, have expanded halfway down my arm.
“Whoa,” Drake says, then lifts the sleeve of his shirt. I don’t know if it’s the shifter in him, but the streaks aren’t nearly as bad.
Cole continues. “We’re short on time. Some of us will resist the mark better.” He gives Drake a pointed look. “Some of us won’t. So we just need to focus on the task at hand.”
Geez. What an asshole.
“How can you be like this?” I ask, so frustrated that I have the urge to shake him.
Emory answers. “I told you. He’s not so different from Maxen.”
“Fuck you, berserker boy,” Cole growls, and Emory tenses beside me.
“At least I’m a full-blooded berserker. What the hell are you and why are you hiding it?”
For the first time, Cole doesn’t manage to hide his emotions fast enough. The color drains from his face, and he looks scared as hell before his blank expression falls back into place once more. “I’m just a berserker.”
Emory shoves bacon into his mouth. “A berserker who can do magic, who is trusted by Maxen…?”
Damn it. This is not the way to get this guy to trust us!
“Okay, enough!” I say, then stand up and scoot out of the booth. “This isn’t getting us anywhere.”
I turn and head for the bathroom.
Adam calls after me.
“It’s okay,” I say over my shoulder. “I just need a minute.”
I go to the bathroom and look at myself in the mirror. The bruises on my body have faded until my skin only looks a little discolored in places. But there are deep bags under my eyes that were never there before. Some small part of me hoped that once we had taken down Maxen and escaped, things could return back to the way they were. I could go home, bringing my men with me, and be surrounded by friends and my family.
But maybe I’m a fool. Maybe everything that’s happened to me has changed some big part of me and nothing will ever be the same.
A woman enters the bathroom, and my gaze goes to her in the mirror. For some reason, my breath catches. I’ve never seen someone with white-blonde hair such a similar color to my own. And those pale brown eyes of hers seem to have been searching for me. Some deep instinct says that I should be worried right now, but I turn slowly around to face her.
“Hi,” she says softly, like I’d been expecting her.
“Uh, hi,” I greet, feeling uncertain.
She draws herself up taller. “I think it’s really important that you and I talk.”
“Why?”
She nods toward my arm. “Because I think you have a little Blood Mage problem I could help you with.”
I stiffen, considering going out and calling for my guys, then go with my gut. “Okay, let’s talk.”
She goes to the back of the bathroom, where there’s a door. Gripping the handle, she cracks it off, then shoves the door open. I follow her out into the morning light, to the alley behind the diner.
Turning around, she gives me a grim smile. “I’m Asha.”
“Kiera,” I tell her.
She gives a sharp nod. “So, here’s the deal. A short time ago, I, and my pack of shifters, were taken prisoner by Blood Mages. We were experimented on and became… well, we became what most people would call Blood Mages too. Our captors kept us medicated to keep our powers at bay, but a strange group came and freed my pack, who then freed me. I was, unfortunately, still under the influence of their most recent experiments, and by the time I got ahold of myself, my pack was gone. I’ve since learned that the Supernatural Enforcers are tracking my pack. And that my idiot pack members are getting involved in some fucked up stuff. If I can’t reach them before the Enforcers do, they’re going to end up dead. I scented you earlier and smelled their magic on you, so I knew you’d been around them… and then I saw the mark.”
I know I’m staring, but I can’t help it. “You’re a Blood Mage?”
A grim smile twists her lips. “Now? I guess I am. But I’m not stupid enough to mark someone like they did. That would require a lot of magic, dark magic, and using that kind of stuff will make us no better than the people who captured us. I’m worried if I can’t get them to see things clearly soon that the darkness will swallow them, and I won’t be able to save them.”
“So if I can help you find them, you can remove my mark?”
Her expression is one of regret. “I can’t undo another Blood Mage’s mark, but I can talk to them and get them to undo it. I know it.”
I think of the scary Blood Mages in the demon’s castle. “I’m not sure. They didn’t seem like the type to be easily convinced.”
She grins. “Trust me. We might have been separated at that damn mountain prison, but I’ve known my pack since we were children. And being the last of our pack has a way of bringing people together.”
I study her. Yes, I didn’t know her, but something in me wanted to trust her. I knew what it was like to be imprisoned too, so I had some insight into what she had been through. It must have been horrible to finally get free and learn her pack was making some bad choices. And why not help her if she could help us?
“Do you have a map?”
She looks relieved and drags her backpack off her back, then opens it and pulls out a map and pen.
I circle the area where the demon castle is. “They’re here. Working for demons.”
She pales. “Demons?”
I nod, my heart aching a little for her. “I don’t know a lot more than that. They marked us, but didn’t really say much.”
“Well,” she sighs. “At least I know where to find them.” Then, she hesitates. “Watch your back out there.”
I frown. “Why?”
Closing the map, she shoves it back into her bag and stands. “It looked like someone was following me. I figured it was the Enforcers, but then realized they weren’t. And that they seemed to be following you, not me.”
Ugh. Are they the demons? Or Maxen’s men? Either way didn’t bode well for us.
She’s about to say more when a van comes screeching into the alley. Asha moves fast, grabbing me by the jacket and dragging me behind a dumpster. Men pour out of the car. Fucking Maxen’s men.
They grin at us. “You guys made this too easy.”
Asha steps out from behind the dumpster. “Did we?” Her hands spin together in front of her, and then a glowing ball of red expands between her hands. She throws it toward them, and it slams into a couple of the berserkers, sending them flying back into the van. The windshield cracks under their weight and both men don’t move.
Her smile widens as she faces the other six men.
I step out from behind the dumpster and feel my body swelling.
“Fucking cowards thought they’d take us down,” she says, almost to me, but loud enough for them to hear.
The men start to swell too.
“What the hell?” she mutters.
“Six berserkers,” I whisper, wondering if she'd be powerful enough to take them on with me.
Suddenly, the bathroom door goes flying open, hitting the wall across from us. My men come pouring out, and it seems to only take them a second before they know what’s going on. Emory starts to swell, Drake cracks his knuckles, and Adam’s eyes narrow. Cole, on the other hand, leans back against the wall as if he’s about to watch a really amusing scene.
Fucker.
My body keeps swelling as Asha spins another ball of red magic between her hands. The berserker enemies race toward me, but Emory slams into the first one, rolling onto the group. Asha’s ball of magic hits another one, and his body makes a terrible sound as it smacks against the brick wall. Drake starts to square off with a berserker, constantly stepping out of his dangerous grasp, and hitting him before darting out of the way. A berserker reaches for Adam, and a crackling ball of purple suddenly surrounds Adam, keeping the berserker at bay.
My vision goes completely red. My thoughts fade away, and then I roar and race into the battle.
Everything is disjointed. I feel my fist pounding into the faces of my enemies. I feel pain crack across my body, but it all feels far away. I’m just fighting and fighting.
And then no enemies stand.
I spin slowly around, the hulking beast that I am, and it seems to take a long time to see the alley painted with blood. The bodies everywhere. Drake is holding his arm. Adam is beside him. Cole hasn’t moved from his fucking place at the wall, and Emory slowly draws back from the body he’s pummeling on the ground.
A growl tears from my lips, and I start toward Cole. His dark eyes widen as I advance, and then Asha is in front of me, hands up. “Whoa. Whoa! It’s done.”
Her words sound far away, and my hands curl into fists.
“Kiera, come back,” she says, and her voice is so soft and gentle that it seems to roll through my mind.
My hands unclench, and I feel myself shrinking and shrinking until I sag to my knees.
“Unfucking believable,” Asha whispers, then kneels down in front of me. “I’d heard of a female who could go berserk, but I honestly thought it was bullcrap.”
I cough out a little blood and realize that my inner cheek is bleeding. Wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, I see more blood smeared across my hand. “It’s not as fun as it sounds to be some freak.”
“Believe me, I know,” she says, and then grins.
And now I feel like an ass for thinking all Blood Mages are monsters.
She helps me to my feet, and then I look at my guys. “Everyone okay?”
They all look a little rough around the edges, but they nod, and I feel relieved.
“So, it seems Maxen and his men found us…”
All eyes are suddenly on Cole.
The bastard actually shrugs, and I feel my temper flare. “You led them to us?”
He doesn’t respond, but his smirk says it all.
Suddenly, Emory crashes into him, sending them both onto the ground. And for a guy who looked as casual as he had a second ago, Cole reacts in an instant. They’re both wrestling around, big fists crashing into each other, and it feels like this is something deeper than this moment.
When Emory starts to swell, I look at Drake and Adam in a panic. “They’re going to kill each other!”
Drake hesitates, then swears. He pulls Emory off of Cole and tosses him onto the ground. A string of curses explodes from Emory’s lips, and he climbs to his feet, while Adam stands over Cole, making sure he stays down. I think it’s all about to get a hell of a lot worse, when Drake throws back his head and roars. The sound echoes through the alley, and I shiver and take a step back. Some deep instinct screams for me to run from him, but I stay there, shaking.
His roar seems to have broken the spell.
Emory stands more slowly, the fight gone from his body, but his voice still holds anger. “I told you he couldn’t be trusted.”
“Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black?” Cole sneers as he stands.
“Stop!” I say, taking a deep steadying breath. “Asha, this woman right here, is going to go to the demon’s castle and try to get the Blood Mage’s to remove our marks.” I see looks of shock and hold up a hand before they can start talking. “But until we’re sure that will work, we stay the course. We get that damned relic. Because either way, we don’t want Maxen having it. The only difference is that now that Cole has proven he can’t be trusted, we don’t let him out of our sight.”
“You seem to think I’ll go along with this plan,” he says, touching his swollen eye and frowning.
I’m surprised when Asha speaks. “Listen, you spineless asshole, if you think that this Maxen is your only enemy, think again. If the Enforcers figure out that you guys are tied up in what’s going on with the Blood Mages, all of you are going to rot in a cell until those marks kill you. I already know the humans nearby have called the police, and that we all need to get the hell out of here before we’re caught. So you’re not going along with this plan because they’re telling you too, you’re going along with it because you’re clearly selfish as fuck, and you value your life more than anyone around you.”
Cole advances on her, a tic in his jaw. “You seem to know a lot about me…”
“I know you have magic,” she purrs softly. “And I know you’re not as big or as bad as you think.”
His eyes flash with rage. “And I know those Blood Mages you’re looking for aren’t at the castle any longer.” I see his words hit her like a ton of bricks. “Yeah, I guess we both know a lot.”
“Where are they?” she asks, her voice a low threat.
“Uh-uh-uh,” he waggles a finger in her face.
But before he can do more, she leans forward and bites his finger. Hard.
He cries out and leaps back, looking down at his bleeding finger. Her mouth has blood in it, and her fangs have elongated. “Tell me where they are,” she swallows the blood in her mouth. “Or the next time I bite you, I might just bite off something more important than your finger…”
I laugh. “I like the way you think.”
After a really long, awkward pause, he says. “They’re heading to the relic too, just in case we don’t make it”
Fuck. “So if they reach it before we do, they’re not going to even bother undoing our marks, will they…?”
Cole flashes another dark grin. “Probably not.”
Asha sighs. “Well then, mind if I tag along?”
The guys look confused, but I see the logic behind her joining us. “She might be able to convince them just to remove our marks and let us have the relic.”
Cole snorts.
I ignore him.
Adam smiles. “I guess we keep going with our road trip. With one more person!”
Police sirens sound in the distance. “Yeah,” I say, “and maybe we leave now rather than later.”
