Ablaze (Indestructible Trilogy Book 2) (29 page)

There was nothing left in the labs. Nothing you could do.

Damn Jared. Damn Murray for not telling me the truth. If I’d known from the start, this might never have happened.

Then I remember Murray might be dead.

At last, sunlight streams down, through breaks in the ceiling. We’re close. So close, the smell of burning catches in my throat, making me cough uncontrollably. Eyes watering, I push on, until we break the surface.

Burned ground. Fiends swarming overhead. The divide, only metres away.

Murray’s poised over the edge, with Jared’s knife at his throat and surrounded by Transcendents.

I freeze.
Crap.

Murray’s in a bad way. He’s lost both his weapons, and the slightest movement will send him falling over the edge. My heart climbs into my mouth. How can we distract Jared? At least the general racket covered the noise of us climbing, but if he moves, he’ll spot us in a second.

And where are the others on the surface?

The cries of fiends echo from above. They’re circling, enjoying the spectacle. Even with my dagger ready to leap into flame in my hand, I feel utterly powerless.

The twelve Transcendents are armed, too, and are spread out in a line, completely cutting off Murray’s escape. The Pyros’ leader sways on the spot, the side of his face crusted with blood. Jared moves with a slight limp as he pokes Murray with his sword, suggesting he’s hurt, too.

“What’ll it be, Murray?” Jared asks, pressing his blade to Murray’s neck. The sword gleams as it catches the light. “You know you can’t beat a true Transcendent blade.”

“That weapon wasn’t yours to take,” says Murray.

“But I wield it brilliantly.” He steps forward. “Death now, or would you rather I offer you up to the fiends? They’re getting quite impatient over there.” He indicates the other side of the divide.

So he does know. Of course he does. He has spies, after all. He’s been right up close to them, gathering intelligence.

“You won’t win this, Jared,” says Murray. “I told you, you’re underestimating the Fiordans if you think they’ll let you get away with trespassing on their territory any longer.” Murray shakes his head, almost calm, considering he’s on the brink of falling off the edge.

“I have my reasons,” says Jared.

“Madness,” says Murray. “When will you give up this madness? It’s not too late to accept there are other ways to defeat the Fiordans.”

“There is no way to win this war without sacrifice,” Jared snarls, pressing the tip of his knife to his brother’s chest. “Different levels of sacrifice—what does it matter? Luck determines human survival, and the same for us Pyros, unless we use every advantage necessary to ensure our continued existence. It’s all very well wanting to go out in a blaze of glory, but I intend to survive. This world is
ours.”

“You mean,
yours.
Is there anyone you wouldn’t kill to ensure your own survival? I know you couldn’t give a damn about the rest of the world.”

Jared shakes his head, a pitying expression crossing his face. “You’re too cruel, brother.”

“Look at yourself,” Murray says, simply. “Look at what you’ve done.”

Cas is edging stealthily towards them, blade at the ready. What’s he thinking? We can’t fight off all twelve Transcendents
and
Jared—and then there’s that army waiting on the other side…

Cursing inwardly, I follow him.

“I do what’s necessary, no more.” He presses the blade harder. Is his hand shaking from tiredness, or does he really not want to kill Murray?

“Enough with the theatrics,” says Murray. “You could have easily killed me a hundred times over by now. There’s nothing I can give you that you don’t already have, except a certain lack of conscience, but I suppose you don’t feel the absence. You have your army, you have your mutants. There are your enemies. You always liked to see things in black and white.”

“Lack of conscience? Yet you trust me enough to spare
your
life?”

Cas remains still, sword still held ready to strike.
Cas, what are you doing?
Even he wouldn’t do something so stupid. Why…?

Then I see them. Hidden in the shadows of a cluster of rocks not ten metres away from Jared and Murray—even the fiends circling above haven’t spotted them.

The other Pyros. I can’t tell how many, but there’s at least two, including Val. And if they moved fast—the Transcendents are that close to the edge—

Would they risk Murray’s life to try and take out Jared?

I don’t know if they have a plan, but it’s all we’ve got. I stick close behind Cas, relieved that the sloping ground is dotted with rocks big enough to hide behind. I don’t know why the fiends in the air haven’t taken us out yet, but—from what I can tell, based on each time I dare to glance up at the sky—their attention is fixed on the army on the other side of the divide, or on Jared and Murray’s standoff.

Still, I keep my hand clenched on my dagger. Beads of sweat gather on my forehead. Even moving quickly, I brace myself, expecting claws to sink into my back, or Jared to turn around and see us.

One step after another, moving swiftly. Cas is tensed up, too, and shifts the knife in his hand.

Val spots us. Though it’s silent, and we’re all in danger right now. I give her a nod of acknowledgment. I’m assuming she has some kind of plan, but there’s no way to find out without alerting the fiends, and the Transcendents, too. Who must be back under Jared’s control.

It’s so wrong. All of this. Will destroying Jared really bring an end to the madness?

Val mouths, “Don’t move any closer.”

Cas frowns at her, his free hand resting on top of his blade—if anyone else did that, they’d get cut. The look on his face says
why? Don’t you want me to cut them down?

Wait. She’s holding something in her hand, something I can’t see. But I can guess.
The bomb.
Jared’s lot are right on the edge of the divide. It would take one push to send them over the edge.

But it might cost Murray his life. He might have lied, but I don’t want him to die.

Jared presses his blade to Murray’s neck, drawing blood. He’s inches from the edge himself.

Everything seems to slow down. The bomb spins through the air. Jared’s head jerks up. My heart drops.

Jared moves. Just slightly. But the bomb’s already heading towards his face—even from here, I swear I can see disbelief flicker in his eyes.

And it’s enough for Murray to leap, higher than I’ve ever seen him move. He lands several feet clear as the bomb flies past…

And hits the Transcendent next to Jared.

The Transcendent goes flying—for an instant he’s suspended in the air, face blank even seconds from death—and falls. Jared curses, backing away from the bomb, but there’s nowhere to run. He’s boxed himself into a corner.

Someone screams my name, then all sound is smothered in a tremendous blast. Red smoke smothers the world—I’m flying back, flying, and there’s a ringing in my ears, and then an arm’s around me and drags me back.

Then my feet are on the ground. I’m running through dust, even though I can’t see where I’m going, and everything is red and grey and hazy…

Flickers of another place, Jared’s lab—
no!—
I shove the vision away, forcing my eyes to focus on the dust and running, stumbling… the world’s tilting sideways, the ground giving way, and I remember, too late, what a sorry state the labs underneath were in…

And Cas…

He appears from the fog like a ghost, grabs my arm, pulls me along. A fierce light gleams in his eyes.

Running through dust, breath coming in gasps. The world tilts sideways.

I shake my head fiercely.

But it’s not a vision. The ground’s tipping upwards, as though the earth has come to life under our feet, trying to throw us off. I stumble and trip, sliding down.

The ground turns vertical. I grab desperately for Cas’s hand, but it’s too late. We’re both tumbling into nothingness.

Into heat.

Into the divide, which has split wider than ever.

The last thing I see is two skies, both burning red, merging into one. Light fills my vision, blurring out the world.

Hot air slams into me at the same time as I crash down onto a hard surface. I blink, but only see red.

Red sky. Red ground. Cas at my side, shouting my name.

Shouting another name. One that should be impossible.

A figure stands opposite us on the scarred ground, a twisted smile on his face.

Nolan.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

For an instant, all I can do is stare.
Impossible. You died.
On my right, the river of lava flows like in the vision, flames flickering above it. No gate, this time. No way out.

Impossible. We had to get through here somehow.

Nolan watches us, still smiling that insane smile.

Cas steps forward, blade held out, flames already leaping from the edge. Here, the air smells of burning, and the heat’s starting to rise.

“I’m gonna give you one warning, Fiordan scum, then I’ll run you down.”

Fiordans. He’s one of the shape-shifters. There’s no other way.

Something isn’t right.
Not just the fact that we stand in a world not our own, with a burning sky overhead. Past Nolan, I can see the distant shapes of hills. But the divide draws my attention. Flames swirl above it in waves and patterns, but I can still make out hazy red ground on the other side.
It didn’t look like that before.

“You see it, don’t you?” says Nolan, or whatever he really is. “The divide is opening. And that’s not all…”

“Enough.” Cas takes one step towards him, pointing the sword so the tip rests inches from his heart. Nolan doesn’t move.

“It’s me, Cas,” Nolan says quietly, and raises his hands in surrender. Both palms look burned-red. Sure, it sounds like him, but he
died.
I saw him lying broken on the ground before the fiends carried him away.

“A likely story.”

“I’ve met one of your kind before,” I say. “So you’ve been spying on us. Thought you’d screw with us by pretending to be someone who died.”

“I’m not…” Nolan hesitates. “I’m really Nolan, Leah. I didn’t die. The fiend carried me over here.”

They’ll say anything. Tell any lie.
Rage at the Fiordans leaves a bitter taste in my moth. “Liar.”

Nolan flinches as Cas’s knife nicks the skin of his throat. “I wouldn’t do anything I’d regret.”

“I won’t regret killing you whether you’re the real thing or not,” says Cas smoothly. “The Nolan who died was a traitorous bastard either way.”

“Even if I helped Leah find you?” says Nolan.

How can he know that? Maybe the fiends were spying on us the whole time. Like Jared’s.

Cas glances at me, then back at Nolan. I can’t read the look on his face. “It’s irrelevant. You’re a monster.”

“Speak for yourself.” Nolan’s mouth twists. “The fact that the two of you are still standing here is proof you’re as unnatural as the fiends.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” I ask.

“Ignore him.” Cas’s blade shifts. One movement and he can cleanly slice through Nolan’s neck.

“Surely you’ve worked it out?” Nolan tilts his head away from the sharp point. “You can pass unharmed through the breach because you share fiend blood.
Our
blood, Leah.”

“You’re a liar,” I say, my heart thudding.
No. He can’t know that.
Nolan can’t. But if the
Fiordans
know about my blood… then they must know about Jared’s experiments.

“There’s no other way it could be possible,” says Nolan. “Believe me, I’ve seen some strange things here. Nothing’s too strange in this place.”

“I don’t give a shit,” I say. “You’re a liar, and you’re gonna go up in smoke.” For emphasis, I send a flare to my right hand, and the blade, which immediately ignites. Fire waits beneath my skin, burning for a fight.

“Leah, wait!” he says, in the spitting imitation of Nolan. Now he’s making fun of me. “I’m not who you think I am. They kidnapped me. You have to believe me.”

Not before Cas strikes. The knife comes down, but Nolan’s already jumped, impossibly quick, drawing his weapon.

I hesitate, but Nolan moves too fast for me to take aim from a distance, let alone close up. I stalk up to him all the same, weapon aimed low, prepared to take him off balance.

Nolan and Cas exchange blows, circling one another. For Nolan to be able to stand up to Cas must mean he’s one of the enemies. It’s the only explanation.

I barely breathe. Fire swirls around the pair of them, leaping to the end of Cas’s blade. Blood spurts and Nolan cries out and falls back.

“Stop!” he gasps. “You can’t kill me.”