Akasha 4 - Earth (26 page)

I stopped at the next intersection,
glancing down a darkened street that ran past an old movie theatre.
I hesitated, drawn in. I needed to prove Erika and Shawn wrong. I
needed to prove Daybreak was not the best thing for humanity;
otherwise – what was I here for?

I soaked in the glow from the lantern
above, as if it would keep me safe through the darkest parts of
Denver. I left the populated, outdoor mall. My steps echoed in the
deserted concrete jungle. I passed in and out of the long shadows
cast by buildings. I twisted and turned through the streets,
coughing, humming, and occasionally banging on car hoods or kicking
glass and rocks across the street, sure to make plenty of
noise.

An hour went by with no human contact.
I pulled a thin jacket out of my bag, wishing I had stopped and
traded for a thicker one. I zipped it up to my chin, sighed, and
turned to head back.

"What do you want?!" I jumped at the
screech behind me. I spun on my heel, and stepped back.

The man was tall, and very thin. He
smelled as though he hadn't bathed in a year – he probably hadn't.
I stepped into the light cast by the moon peeking through the
clouds.

He backed away, waving his hands in
front of his face as if to fend me off. "Don't like people, don't
like people."

"Wait, I just want to—"

"No!" He retreated, his scream echoing
down the alley.

"That one probably could've done
without Daybreak," I mumbled to myself.

The smell of old, burnt out wood drew
me to a metal trash can sitting at the entrance to the alley. Just
outside of it stood a pile of fresh wood, and a piece of flint. Old
blankets, a chair missing its back, and a hollowed out computer sat
close by. This was his home.

I put a few pieces of wood in the
trash can, and glanced down the alley. No sign of him. I held out
my hand.

Time to find my
fire.

A growl behind me caused me to
pause.

My shoulders sank.
Not another one.

I turned, bracing myself for another
dose of crazy. Instead, three wild dogs snarled at me, posed to
pounce. My heart jumped to my throat

I squared my shoulders, racking my
brain to remember how to treat the animals – challenge or submit?
In the first few months, Alex had quizzed us on the subject,
covering a range of beasts. We had never run into dogs; too many
had been eaten before they had a chance to go wild. Of course, I
had to run into the three exceptions.

"Sit."

The one in front of me laid his ears
back, and shifted his weight to his front paws.

"Sit!" I said again,
louder.

They weren't sitting. Another
growl.

Mumbles echoed from the dark alleyway
behind me, "Don't like humans – dogs are worse."

I rolled my eyes, then held out my
hand, praying the art of fire found its way to me. One of the dogs
pounced. I ducked, trying to roll under him. His jaws snapped,
catching my thin jacket, tearing the sleeve right down to the
wrist. Another dog went for my opposite wrist, clamping down on it
with his razor sharp teeth.

I screamed out loud. They pulled and
growled until I was on my knees, staring straight into the eyes of
the third animal.

"I could use a little crazy, here!" I
hissed into the dark alley behind me. Only whimpers answered my
plea for help.

Looks like I have to find
my own crazy.

I flicked my fingers on my left hand,
desperately calling out for the element of fire. The fingers on my
right hand refused to move. Fire never came. The dog in front of me
curled its lip up, baring his teeth. I was out of time.

Producing my own growl, I leaned
forward and opened my mouth. I bit down as hard as I could, right
on the dog's nose. The taste of wet canine and coppery blood filled
my mouth.

He yelped and backed up, pawing at his
face. One of the others let go of my jacket sleeve, circled around,
and leaped. I cringed, covering my face with my good arm. Mid-jump,
the attacking dog let out yelp. It crashed into me and we both went
to the ground.

Instead of another melee, all I felt
was dead weight. The dog was not moving. I reached up and around
the body on top of me, and felt the long, solid shaft of an arrow
protruding from its hide.

The pressure from my right wrist let
up. Sharp teeth retracted, leaving behind searing pain. There was a
flurry of growls and barking as I struggled to push the dead dog
off of me. As soon as I made it my feet, all I saw was the tail end
of two animals retreating into the dark.

"You shouldn't be out here," a male
voice chided me as he ripped material in half.

I recognized that voice.

My throat went dry as I croaked out
his name, "Micah?"

Chapter 41

Meet Fido

The familiar body in front of me froze
for a brief second. He pulled on my arm – my good arm, until I was
out of the shadow of the tall building behind us. Moonlight spread
across my face.

"Kaitlyn?!" He squeezed me. Eyes wide,
Micah's breath caught in his throat. "Oh my God. What are you doing
here? I thought you'd be in Utah by now. Is Susan here, too?
Where's Bee? What happened to your face?"

His other hand brushed the tattoo
along my cheek, then ran through my hair. I moved to stop him,
wincing at the throbbing in my wrist. He halted the interrogation
long enough to wrap my wrist in the strands of material he’d torn
from his own shirt.

He looked at me again. "I barely
recognize you."

I smiled. "That's sort of the
point."

He almost returned the smile, until
his brain got in the way. "Hell - I could've accidentally shot you
with that arrow. Why didn't you just fire bomb those
dogs?"

I shrugged. "I got a concussion a
while back and lost my powers. I've managed to get water and air
again, but not the other two."

His mouth dropped open. "You are
powerless?"

"
Half
powerless," I corrected
him.

He shook his head, as if he couldn't
believe it. "We need to get you out of here. Shawn's
here—"

"I know – I came with One
Less."

I didn't think it was possible, but
his mouth dropped open even wider.

I rushed on, "We have a lot to talk
about. Where are you staying?" I laid my hand on his arm, and
static shock jumped from him to me. Our eyes met. "I can't tell you
how much I've missed that," I whispered.

He stepped forward, closing the
distance between us, and kissed me. I opened my mouth and closed my
eyes, drawing him in and melting into him all at once. My hands
crept up behind his neck, pulling at him. His arms went around my
waist. We kissed until my lips cracked and we were out of
breath.

Even when we stopped, we didn't pull
away. We rested our foreheads against each other.

"You don't have fire because you were
missing passion." His lips went to my forehead, then followed the
trail of cherry blossoms down my neck and over to my ear. "Try
now," he whispered.

I shuddered at the sweet sensation
that warmed my body. Without looking, I flicked my good hand toward
the tin trash can. Flames sprung up from the wood piled
inside.

I felt his cheek pull back in a
smile.

His stubble scratched my face. "See! I
told you—"

My lips on his cut off his gloating. I
needed more of him, all of him. He obliged, allowing me to run my
hand up under his shirt and my tongue over his teeth.

Heat licked at our faces as the fire
in the metal can grew.

He pulled away. "Take a deep breath,
Kaitlyn, before you burn the city down."

"Right," I said, "baby
steps."

We broke apart, and I held my injured
wrist to my chest.

"Come on, Kaitlyn. We should get that
checked out." He put his arm around me, leading me away. "Speaking
of, how is the baby? Is she here?"

I stopped walking, causing him to turn
around into me.

"What?" he asked.

I looked at him, forehead creased.
"She's not a baby anymore, Micah."

"Right, I know." He rubbed the back of
his neck. "What is she now…two?"

"And I'm not Kaitlyn anymore." I held
my wrist to my chest as it throbbed.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm Lucy. And Susan and Alex had to
take Bee away from me…" My throat constricted. "And you've just
missed so much." I focused on the wrappings around my wrist, trying
to hold back tears. Blood was already seeping through, enough to
drip on the ground.

"You're losing too much blood," Micah
said, voice lowered. "I don't have anything to help you. You're
going to have to get that looked at by One Less. They have all the
best doctors."

I thought of Sabrina. "They have one
less of those, too," I mumbled.

"What?"

"Not important." Where would I even
start with that one? "I'm going to need to explain what
happened."

Micah nodded and walked to the dead
dog. He pushed the arrow through the rest of the way and hoisted
the body up on his shoulder. As he passed the alley he paused at
two beady eyes peering out. "Those dogs shouldn't bother you
anymore, Felix."

The crazy man stepped out, warming his
hands at the fire. "Don't like dogs, don't like dogs."

We completed the short journey back to
the mall in an awkward silence.

"You're going to need to walk this in
from here. I shouldn't go any further without some sort of
disguise." Micah lifted the dog up, and settled it around my
shoulders. "Keep your wrist above your heart." He pushed it in the
air, pausing to kiss my fingers.

I pulled them away, stumbling under
the weight of the dog. "I know about basic first aid." I was
starting to feel lightheaded.

He narrowed his eyes. "Maybe I better
go with, I just need—"

"No," I interrupted him. "You would be
too hard to explain. I, at least, have a place in the camp. Let me
go back, get this stitched up, find out where Shawn is exactly –
and then we can come up with a plan."

He blinked, then nodded. "Okay, I'll
find you. Don't come back out here. It's not safe. Take care of
yourself, Kaitlyn."

"It's Lu—" I tried shifting the weight
of the dog and it caused me to lurch to the right. Micah steadied
me. I got my footing, and took a deep breath. "It's Lucy, thank
you."

I turned and walked away. All this
time, chasing after him. Years trying to catch up. And here I was,
walking away.

No
, I told myself.
Lucy is walking
away. And if I could walk away from Bee, this should be a piece of
cake.

I made my way the length of the mall,
refusing to turn around. If I did, I'd probably tip over. I walked
through Writer Square and down the alley to which One Less
disappeared. They weren't hard to find, once I got past the
skyscrapers. A ring of smoke signaled the cooking fires. I pulled
the carcass around my neck even tighter. The chunk of meat was
hiding my face better than the tattoos ever would.

I walked up to the sentry, pressing my
bicep out to display the red and blue ties.

"I thought everyone was accounted
for," he said, pushing aside fur to look at my face.

"Apparently not."

"No unauthorized entry; you'll have to
wait until morning when we get the new rosters."

My wrist wouldn't wait until morning.
"Fine. I don't mind sharing my catch with someone else." I
turned.

"Wait!" he called.

I paused, smiling, and turned back
around. Meat was not easy to pass up, roster or no. I walked past
him straight to the fires. I heaved the dog off my shoulders, right
at the feet of one of the cooks. "Meet Fido. Tell everyone Lucy
sent him." I turned around and stopped, but the world around me did
not. It was still spinning. My head felt so heavy.

Oh, right. Keep my hand
above my heart.

I thrust my fist in the air and
shouted, "Did you hear that everyone? I am Lucy!"

I hit the ground.

Faces appeared above me. "Get her a
doctor!"

"No, no," I mumbled. If only the faces
would stop spinning. "Erika. Get Erika."

Erika always knew what to
do.

* * *

"Easy there, princess."

I stepped forward with purpose, then
dropped down on my knees in front of Shawn, running my hand through
the mist there. It dispersed for a moment, but gathered back in the
same spot. I turned around, still on my knees, and backed into the
mist. It swirled around me as I occupied its space. I backed up a
little further until I felt Shawn's pistol aimed directly at the
back of my head.