Catalyst (40 page)

             
Malachi looked her over and it was obvious he was pleased with what he saw. "And what is this?"

             
"I'm sorry I betrayed you by living with these…rebels." She knelt on her knees and bowed her head. "I was scared and had nowhere else to go. I wanted to turn them in
,
but they don't have a phone and they watched me every second. Forgive me, my lord."

             
"I usually hate to be called that, but from your lips it sounds fitting. And what shall I do with you, you intriguing human?" he said low and suggestive.

             
Lillian looked up at him and though I couldn't see her face, I heard her purr, "Whatever you'd like, my lord."

             
I blurred to Cain as I heard his guttural grunt, to keep him from screwing it all up. Yes, Lillian's plan was a leap, a big
leap, and I wanted to kill Max
and Daniel for helping her orchestrate it, but if Cain flew off the handle and went after Malachi, he'd be dead before he got the chance to scold her for it.

             
He was strong as he yanked and pulled against me.

             
"Let me go, Keeper," he growled.

             
"Just wait," I whispered harshly, knowing I was such a hypocrite because if Sherry had pulled this crap, there was no one on this earth who could stop me. "If you do this, her sacrifice was for nothing.
Let's just see what she has planned.
"

             
He grabbed my collar and he whispered back, "Sacrifice? That's exactly what I'm talking about. I'm not letting her go with
him
, not for
a
second. I don't care if that tame Lighter is with her or not!"

             
"Cain. Wait."

             
I turned slightly to see what was up. Malachi was helping Lillian off the ground.

             
"
I had planned to kill them all myself, but I think I'd rather
play
with this one," he told one of his minions. "We'll be back at the house. You take care of this…situation." When the Lighter obeyed and started to make his way to us, Malachi grabbed his arm. "Do not fail me again in this matter."

             
The Lighter nodded and then looked at us. He snapped his fingers and his brothers came forward to the line with him.
Some more that we hadn't even known were there leapt from the roof
and came around the side of the store
.
Lillian let Malachi lead her to the car and that was it. I let Cain go
, throwing my hands into my hair,
because there was no way I wanted to let Lillian get in
that car with Malachi
anymore than he did
. I blurred faster than Cain
,
but the Taker was strong. He placed Lillian in the backseat and grabbed my neck.

             
"Get the other one," he barked at Daniel who grabbed Cain's arm and twist
ed it behind him. Malachi
threw
me back to land in the snow,
then he got in the car
, shutting the door,
and turned his back on us to focus on Lillian.

             
"I will kill you if you let her leave in that car. Do you understand me?" Cain yelled at Daniel. Daniel put his face close to Cain's.

             
"By letting her help to save her family and friends, I am givi
ng her something you never have; p
ride and glory."

             
"You are such a frigging idiot if you think that's why she's doing this. She doesn't care about glory or pride! T
hose are Lighter wants, not women who are just be
in
g
stubborn to try to save their family. She thinks she'll lure him away and we'll be safe after he's gone
,
but she's wrong. He knows wh
ere we are now. Daniel, I will
kill you, I swea
r it, if anything happens to her
because of this stunt."

             
"If she pe
rishes because of my actions, I'll let you kill me."

             
"Why?"

             
"Because she asked me to help her and I feel that I can not say no.
She is…everything to me." Cain inhaled angrily. "If I knew what love was, I would imagine it was this."

             
"Ok, fine. You love her? Don't let her go in that car."
             

             
"I promised." Then he pushed Cain back
with enough force that
he skidded in the snow and climbed into the other side of the car.
Before Cain could reach the car again, they were driving away. He yelled and fell to his knees when he knew there was no hope.

             
"Oh, no
…she's not coming back. Why would she do that?"
             

             
"Because she loves you and she knew we'd all die if Malachi fought us like that
,
"
I told him, and then
tapped his shoulder to get his attention. "Incoming."

             
The Lighters Malachi had left behind were all too
eager to finish the job. They were nine
of them left and I guess they thought it would be easy.

             
We organized in ou
r minds and told everyone else
to go at them all together. We circled them and at the mark of Jeff, we ran with weapons raised and gifts blazing. W
ith about fifteen of us rushing them at once, they were surprised and started to backpedal. To regroup maybe. We weren't having it. Especially Cain. He was ruthless and using his anger and betrayal to fuel his fist
s
and stakes.
The battle was surprisingly short.
The last Lighter went down as Cain stradd
led him and he kept staking the ground
even after the lightning blast
signaled that the Lighter was d
ust.

             
He sagged more
on the ground
and beat his fist
in the snow
several times.
Calvin yelled to him,
"
I’m sorry. I tried! I wanted to smoke
that Taker
, Cain. I wanted to kill him for you."

             
"It's ok, Calvin. Because I'm going after her." He stood. "And after I kill that Taker, I'm gonna kill a Lighter
named Daniel,
then I'm gonna bring Lillian home and lock her butt up for the rest of her life."

             
Calvin gulped at Cain's growled words. Ryan pul
led him under his arm and took
him back inside. No one else knew what to do either so they started making their way inside. Except the usual straggle
rs and tag-alongs. Miguel
, Sherry, Danny, Celeste, Jeff and Marissa came to
stand behind us. I reached back, knowing that Sherry was right behind me, and gripped her
fingers in mine. She knew she wouldn't be going with us. And even after the speech I made earlier out of anger and fright, I always relented later and went back to forbidding her to come with us.

             
Human hypocrisy and a flip-flop attitude was definitely something I'd adhered to, haphazardly or not.

             
I held my hand out to Cain and he looked up at me, his eyes a mess of emotion and anger.

             
"I can go alone," he said
, knowing it was more than a hand-up that I was offering
.

             
"Not a chance."

             
"You have a family to think about. You shouldn't go out unless you have to."

             
"You and Lillian are my family too.
Besides, Sherry would never let me let you leave alone.
Let's go."

             
His look was one of annoyance and as much affection as a human male could muster for another. He took my hand, palm to palm in a grip, and let me haul him up.

             
"Let's get going. I'm pretty sure he'd take her back to the Mayor's Manor, but I don't want them to get too far ahead."

             
Sherry turned me to her and pulled me down to hug me around my neck. "Be careful,
Keeper,
" she whispered and pulled back to see my face to make sure I agreed. I smiled gratefully at her.

             
"Thank you for not fighting me on this."

             
"You have to go. I lov
e you," she said, her voice strong
,
but shaky
.
We had to go.
The further Lillian got away, the slimmer the chances were to getting her back.

             
"Are you going to be ok? I know….Josh…"

             
"I'm fine. What else can I be? I can't bring Josh back and I can't stop you from doing what you have to do." 

             
"I'm sorry, baby," I soothed and kissed her neck as I hugged her hard. "I'll be back soon and we'll…deal with all this."

             
She nodded and then walked to Cain. He hugged her just as hard as I had
. A
s she said someth
ing to him that I couldn't hear, he closed his eyes and then pulled back to look at her. She nodded and then he nodded.
I looked around
,
but someone must have taken Lily inside already. So after one more peck from Sherry, who walked slowly to Racine and helpe
d her inside,
Cain
, Jeff
and I went after the Taker and Cain's girl as everyone else inched inside to await our return.

Down, Down, Down

Chapter 32
- Lillian

             
"Come with me, now," I had told him. I pulled Daniel into the store back door and prayed that Cain hadn't seen me leave. Daniel's skin was cold
,
but somehow still warm. That doesn't make any sense
,
but I felt hi
s warmth for me as he gripped my
hand and let me tow him.

             
"I have a plan," I told him as I pushed him into the corner. And as I laid my plan on hi
m, his mouth opened in surprise.
His eyes went black and
w
h
e
n
he started to protest and give me safety talks I punched the guilt card. I hated to do that, but it wasn't as if we had all the time in the world.

             
"If you care about
me
as much as you say, then please do as I ask. I can't let them be hurt and you told me so yourself that Malachi was a sucker for the girls."

             
"He is, but-"

             
"No buts. Do this for me."

             
I knew I had him when he exhaled and his sickly sweet breath brushed across my face. Then he got a look on his face, like he had an idea. "I
will do this with you," he said, "b
ut this is dangerous. I will not let anything happen to you, but I may have to sacrifice myself so that you may get away. So I require one thing before I do this task." I nodded my agreement. "Your lips," he whispered and moved too quick for me to do anything before he was pressing his cold lips to mine.

             
His arms held me like I was made of glass. Glass that you wanted to protect without cracking, but crush into your soul for safekeeping.

             
His cold was once again odd. His skin was cold, but I felt his warmth all over me, seeping and making me feel…
strangely
calm. The sweet breath I smelled earlier tasted the same as it smelled, but not in a bad way. When one of his hands came up to my face I knew I had let it go too far already.

             
I pushed against his chest a little, but he held on. He tentatively opened his
mouth and mine with it. He grunt
ed once as he pulled me a bit tighter and then released me slowly and gently. He looked down into my face with a slight wince, as if he was waiting for me to sla
p him. Then he said in a gruff voice, "You taste
exactly like I thought you would. Like what I imagine…warmth would taste like."