Devil Inside (61 page)

Levi took a moment before answering.  Harley swallowed but didn’t interrupt.  “I think you feed from the light and the dark that we give you.  I think you Nocte draws on both energies.”

Harley still didn’t interrupt or look at Levi.  There was a truth to his theory and her Nocte agreed as well.

“I don’t like you being with someone else.  I don’t like thinking about him…”  He paused and started again with a new direction.  “I’m not jealous of him because I know that you aren’t going to choose him over me…well…maybe a little jealous despite knowing that,” he laughed.  Harley smiled at his attempt to lighten the mood.  “I know that you won’t choose him over me in the same way that I know you won’t choose me over him.  And I wouldn’t ask that of you.  What you need to do—I don’t’ like it anymore than Castor.  But, even if we are wrong and this isn’t your…I don’t—fate—destiny?  You believe it is.  And anything I can do to support you—I will.”

Harley finally met Levi’s gaze. His support meant a lot to her.  Levi’s strength made her stronger and challenged her and for that she was grateful.  On the other hand, Castor’s gentleness softened her rough edges.  And the energy that she acquired from them both strengthened her Nocte in ways that Ignis blood couldn’t.  She smiled at Levi.  She knew he was confident and strong enough to mean what he said.

Harley didn’t know how to respond to Levi.  So she didn’t.  Instead, she kissed him softly.  Levi gave her a small laugh and rolled on top of her.  He didn’t need to hear anything anymore than she needed to say it.  The look in his eyes made her stomach do the flip flop thing that she enjoyed so much and she wrapped her legs around his waist.  Her Nocte shook off her tiredness and suddenly started paying attention to what was going on. 
If Levi and Castor are going to be in the same city very often, I’m definitely going to have to start feeding more regularly to keep my energy up for this.

--------------------------------

As the sun was just beginning to set, Harley rode towards the high school in the back seat of an SUV.  Their vehicle led a small convoy of two other SUVs that carried their reinforcements.  Castor was driving their truck and Levi sat next to him and they chatted idly.  She was uncomfortable with the two of them being so buddy-buddy.  Whatever they had talked about privately seemed to have put them on much more friendly terms than they had been before.  She tried to push the discomfort aside.  As far as her Nocte was concerned, the two men were hers. 
Why shouldn’t they be friends?  It might even make things easier if they got along.
  She looked to her left at Nya who was busy getting situated for the fight.  The other woman looked determined and serious and all of the Nocte, except for Harley, looked tired in the sunlight.  Even Cas was beginning to look tired as a result of the dying sun.

They had all went over and over the details of the plan but Harley was still worried something would go wrong.  She was the only one of the “good guys” who was not affected by the presence or lack of the sun at the moment.  The hope was to not have to fight long or hard, either way, the fight would be difficult in their conditions.  Harley’s thoughts were interrupted by Castor’s phone ringing.  He pulled it out of his pocket and answered it.

“Yeah?”  He was quiet while he listened to the voice on the other end.  “Good.  How confident are you?...OK.  Great.  Wait until you see us pull in, then join us.”  He hung the phone up and slid it back into his pocket.  “David said that there has not been any indication that anyone has been in the building all day.  They did some recon earlier and they are sure that there are booby traps and security so they didn’t try to enter the building.  We figured that would be the case.  If they had tried to get into the building and set off alarms it would have alerted Cutter to our plan and ruined everything.  So, they have just kept an eye on the building from afar all day.”

“Do we know for sure if Cutter even knows that we will be here today?” Harley asked.

“I’ll bet he is planning that we will be,” Levi said.

“I agree,” Castor nodded.

“Right,” Harley said.

“David also said that cars started arriving a few minutes ago.  He said as long as there wasn’t anyone already in the building, which doesn’t appear to be the case, then there are forty Burners waiting on us.”

Harley’s heart flopped and her stomach sank.  They knew that they would be outnumbered, they just hadn’t realized how badly.  They would be going into the building outnumbered nearly three to one.  Their group of fifteen, made up of five Lux and ten Nocte would be storming into the school to confront Cutter and his own personal Turba.

“Well,” Levi laughed humorlessly.  “I’m glad we brought extra weapons.”

“Did they find the ‘Eagle?’” Harley asked Castor.

“North, two blocks away from the school.”

Harley smiled to herself. 
Gotcha
!

“One more time,” Nya, who had moved from her shoes to checking her weapons, said.

Castor sighed but replied.  “I’m going to bring up the rear with the rest of the Vigilum.”  He wasn’t happy about it, but he knew that with his comrades fading it would be best to keep them out of the direct line of fire if at all possible.

“Levi?” Nya asked.

“I’m going in the south door with three.”

“And I,” Nya said, “am coming in east with four.”  She looked at Harley.

“I’m coming in North.  Heading right for Cutter—if he isn’t already running away.  If he is running, hopefully it will be right at me.”

Michael, one of the local Noctes would be coming in from the west with his group.

The plan was to either hold Cutter and the other Burners off or capture Cutter as soon as possible.  If everything went according to plan they wouldn’t need to fight long.  Castor ran his hand through his hair and she could see the weariness around his eyes. 
We really need a break here
, she thought
.
  The only reason they were risking bringing the Lux into the fight is because of how badly outnumbered they knew they would be.  Tired and compromised partners were better than too few partners.  Her Nocte agreed with her and she could feel the Nocte’s energy growing with excitement for the impending fight.

When Harley spotted the school in the horizon her heartbeat picked up the pace.  She looked at her traveling companions.  The Nocte were looking more energized by the minute.  Castor, on the other hand, was looking more ragged by the minute.  Her anxiety increased along with her excitement.  The school looked like any other high school settled in a small, Californian suburb.  The driveway in the front of the building was circular and that was where Castor slowly guided the SUV.  The rest of the Lux were already on their way to join them from their lookout positions.  There was no point in hiding or trying to be covert so they simply drove into the round driveway, parked and stepped calmly from the vehicle.

Castor walked around the SUV to stand beside Harley so that she was flanked on either side.  Cas to her right, and Levi to her left.  They waited for the others to join them.  Harley checked to make sure her weapons were secure.  She wore steel-toed motorcycle boots with small daggers strapped to each ankle.  She had her trusty Bowie strapped to her back.  Her chain was looped around her waist.  Her Nocte shivered with glee. 
You are enjoying this entirely too much
, she rolled her eyes at the devil coiled inside her.

When the rest of their forces joined them they began to split up and head off in their own assigned directions.  Nya smiled a genuinely warm smile at Harley before she turned to leave.  Levi met her gaze and his intense blue eyes said all that either of them needed to say.  He simply nodded and headed to the south entrance.  Harley could practically feel Castor’s heart beating next to her.

She gave him a steely glare.  “Do not play hero,” she ordered him.  His brow wrinkled, but she knew that he wouldn’t argue too much with the other Lux watching him.  “Spread out around the building like we agreed.  If any Ignis get out—take them down.  Unless it’s Cutter.  If it’s Cutter, notify me.  When the Eagle arrives you guys can provide escort, right?”

“That’s the plan, Cap’n,” Cas smirked at her with a mock, two finger salute.  His eyes were heavy lidded and there were bruise-like bags under them.  The other Lux looked the same and worry gnawed at Harley’s insides.

She rolled her eyes at him but didn’t say anything more as the Lux began to fan out around the building.  Instead, she trotted to the doors closest to the vehicles—the north entrance.  Everyone had small ear pieces and microphones that were fastened around their necks like choker necklaces.  By the time she arrived at the double metal doors she heard Nya’s voice speaking softly in her ear.

“In position.”

The notice was echoed by Levi.  Harley smiled wickedly into the security camera mounted around the doors.  She knew that Cutter was watching and she raised her hand and offered a small, sarcastic wave.  “In position.”

“On three,” Nya counted it off and Harley opened the doors and stepped inside the school.

Harley let the door shut behind her and it closed with a metal thump.  Apparently, it there weren’t any booby-traps and alarms or they had been turned off to allow the Nocte to enter.  The first thing that she became aware of was the smell of the school.  It was the same for every school in the world.  It was processed lunches and paper and art supplies.  It brought back the memories of her own high school experience.  But that smell was quickly overridden by the secondary scent that she picked up—burning.  It was the smell that always accompanied Ignis—along with the humming that was currently so strong that it was becoming overwhelming.  Until she was able to push the buzzing aside, her vision was blurry at the edges.   She shook her head clear and turned to the right which was direction the beacon was coming from.

The long dark hallway was deserted, cold and sterile.  The left side was made up of lockers while the right hand side was display cases and memorabilia.  Harley could see her reflection as she passed the glass and she looked as tense as she felt.  At the end of the main hallway there was another that led off to the left.  Harley knew from the plans they had looked at earlier, that this hallway led to the gym—where the Burners seemed to have set up their stronghold.  With bangs and shouts, Harley could hear the attack begin.  She rushed forward with every nerve on edge and ready for a fight.

As Harley drew near the hallway that led to the gym she was able to pick up on an increased buzzing.  She knew this meant that there were Ignis even closer than the gym.  Sure enough, when she reached the hallway she slowed and listened before turning the corner.  She could hear footsteps approaching and she made out two distinct sets.  Not wanting to waste time, Harley darted around the corner drawing her knife as she went.  The Ignis were not as close as she had expected them to be—the immense amount of humming from the Burners was throwing her senses off.  The two in her hallway were about fifteen feet away—it was one man and one woman.  They stopped short when they saw her. 

“Hi,” she said brightly. 

The two recovered quickly from their surprise and rushed towards her.  She deflected the first one with a kick to the midsection.  The second Ignis, a female, lunged towards Harley with her blade drawn.  The woman blocked the attack and countered with one of her own.  Harley took a slice to the forearm as she kicked the woman away in time to meet the attack of the male who recovered from the initial kick Harley had given him.  The conflict didn’t end as quickly as Harley had hoped.  She had taken on more Burners at one time, but the female—being the more vicious gender as usual—complicated matters.  Harley spent more time than she cared for dodging the attack of the man and trying to gain the upper hand over the female.  Finally, Harley was forced to take a stab to the left shoulder from the male that gave her time to thrust her own knife into the temple of the female.  Removing her Bowie from the woman’s head would require a split second pause that she didn’t have time for.  Instead, she let her knife drop with the Burner’s body and turned to the male as she reached over her shoulder and pulled his knife free.  The pain was an agonizing fire and she knew that the blade must have grazed the bone.

The male Ignis didn’t hesitate in his attack on Harley.  As she turned and pulled his knife free from her shoulder, he attempted to throw her to the ground.  She stepped away not giving him the chance to get a good advantage.  Her left arm was clumsy and wasn’t working properly so she angled her right side towards the oncoming attack.  Having lost his weapon he resorted to a hands-on attack.  Harley was able to dodge the first punch, but caught the second in her ribs which knocked her breath out of her lungs.  Her arm had recovered enough that, while the Ignis was in for a close attack, Harley was able to grip his hair with her left hand.  As the man sunk another punch in her stomach he realized that he had made the mistake of letting a Nocte get a grip on him.  Harley sunk her teeth into his neck savagely.  The man managed several more feeble attempts to strike her, but in a matter of moments he was sinking to his knees making a pitiful moaning sound in his paralysis.

Harley stood over him until she had drained the life from him.  When finished she backed away and gasping for air.  She leaned against the wall and flexed her left hand.  She was regaining more control over it by the second.  A loud metallic bang rang out from the double, metal doors at the end of the hallway.  Harley’s focus was drug back to her destination as she again became aware of the sounds of the fighting from the gym.  She pushed away from the wall and, after retrieving her own knife from the burning Ignis at her feet and tucked the man’s knife into her holster as a spare.  She sprinted towards the gym eager to join her friends in the fight.  By the time she reached the doors the tingling in her left arm had begun to recede and she knew that it was mostly healed.  Ten minutes, at most, had passed since she entered the school and she took a deep breath before entering the gym.