Kindred (24 page)

SIXTY-ONE

Hannah

Jason was furious. The look in his eyes after Kindred had threatened to use him against us scared
me
, and I was one of the ones he wanted to protect. I threw a pleading look toward my sister, begging her silently to protect Jason, even from himself. I didn’t want him doing something he’d regret later, or worse, doing something horrible and finding out he didn’t regret it. The tension I’d worked out of him earlier was back with a vengeance, and he stood ready to attack or defend.

“Be careful,” I urged softly as they left. His gaze softened slightly as he glanced at me, and his mouth turned up in the parody of a smile.

“Hey, what could go wrong?” he asked. “We’ll be back before you know it.”

I tried to smile back at him, but he’d already turned away. He shook out his arms, loosening for whatever was to come.

“It’ll be okay, sis,” Alice smiled, walking out the door after Jason. As soon as they were gone I was on the phone.

“Dustin? Can you come back?” I felt near tears, and he must have heard it in my voice because he agreed without question. About six minutes later he knocked on the door.

“What happened?” he rushed in, looking around for any threat. “Where’s Jason?”

“He and Alice went to meet with Kindred. He wanted a face-to-face meeting at the park. I just didn’t want to be alone.” I was unapologetic about my desire for company, and he didn’t seem to require any apology.

He just nodded and sat on the couch. “Let’s watch some TV.” I sat down gratefully, leaning against my friend for support. He gave me a little hug and we sat in silence, watching TV without knowing what was on.

The silence between us ended when we flipped to a news channel that was showing a video of the ground rising up into a wall and a car driving by shooting at it. The angle was wrong to show Jason behind the wall, but the reporter was commenting on how, without this video, no one in the area remembered this event happening. The question posed to the viewers was: Hoax or real?

“Kindred can’t affect video. He didn’t block the memories until after this was taken. Jason isn’t going to like this.”

The phone rang, and I picked up. “Dan? You saw?”

“Yeah, and there are enough people on the force who were there when Jason was rescued last fall and who saw the floor of the warehouse he tore up. Some of them are starting to make the connection. Have you heard from them yet?”

“No,” I shook my head and closed my eyes tightly in the hopes the video would disappear. “This will drive him away,” I said quietly. Both Dan and Dustin heard me, and neither contradicted me. I sank back onto the couch. After everything, it would be this grainy video that would make Jason leave. He stayed through the Mason fiasco and he was working through the case with Kindred and Mason’s men, but he didn’t want others knowing about him.

“I’ll talk to you later, Hannah. I need to go check on Jason and Alice.” Dan didn’t wait for a response before he’d hung up, and I held the phone for a moment before dropping it on the couch next to me.

Dustin was looking at me sympathetically. “There were a lot of people already who knew what he can do. Most of them were the criminals of the city. It was likely he’d be leaving eventually anyway. If it makes you feel better, I really don’t think his leaving means cutting you out of his life. He cares about you, and the kids at Dan’s, and Alice. You’re his family. You guys and Sam. After his early experiences with family hurting him and abandoning him, do you really think he’ll do that to you?”

I shook my head mutely.

“Good. Just keep that in mind. Leaving this city doesn’t mean leaving you. Support his decision, whatever it may be, and he’s all the more likely to keep in touch with you.”

“Thanks, Dustin. For what it’s worth, you’re really good at this stuff. Keep it up, get your doctorate. Help people like Jason.”

“I will.” He agreed. It had been over an hour, and we still hadn’t heard from Alice or Jason.

“Do you think they’re okay?” I asked softly, rubbing my hands over the seams of my jeans uncomfortably.

His hesitation told me what I was already thinking. Something had gone wrong, but there was nothing we could do about it. As we’d found ourselves doing when Mason had grabbed Jason, all we could do was wait and hope.

SIXTY-TWO

Kindred

The park was silent; anyone who had been there earlier in the day was now safe at home. Messaging through the Tracker was becoming more difficult, his mind becoming more resistant to my control. He had been completely aware of my intrusion and had fought me with everything he had. He had managed to surprise me, because as he fought, the ground around me started grumbling and shaking, almost causing me to lose the connection.

He was stronger now than he’d ever been, and I still didn’t think he’d reached his full potential. I wasn’t sure if I should let him. It was clear that he didn’t approve of my actions, despite several of them being for his benefit. So he would come after me, given the opportunity.

I only had to wait a few minutes after delivering my message for the lady cop and the Tracker to show up. His anger was simmering, just under the surface and barely under control. I hesitated in my approach, realizing he was only one wrong word away from boiling over. “Tracker,” I said, appearing in front of him, wearing my own face by choice, for the first time in several years. Mason had occasionally wanted to revel in his own destructive capabilities, and had ordered me to drop any mask I’d been showing, so he could laugh at my disfigurement.

To my surprise, neither of them looked at me with disgust or revulsion. Instead, they almost seemed…sad? “What is it you feel?” I asked quietly.

“For who you used to be, I pity you,” the Tracker said, his tone matching mine. “For who you are now, and what you have become,”—he paused for a second—“You are a vile creature. It may not have been your fault any more than a rabid dog is at fault for his actions, but you are nothing but a killer now.”

The lady cop put her hand on the Tracker’s shoulder, trying to keep him from speaking. “What do you want?” she asked. “Why did you call us here?”

“The woman. I’m remembering more. She was pregnant, and both she and the child were killed. I don’t know how, and I do not know if the baby was born, but I know now both are dead.”

“Did you kill them?” the Tracker asked, his eyes narrowed.

Had I? I didn’t get that feeling. “I do not believe so,” I answered. “But seeing as I have little memory of the event, I can’t be sure.”

“Someone’s coming,” the Tracker said, suddenly crouching down and putting his hand into the dirt. “The boxer,” he muttered, his eyes darkening with anger.

I looked at him in confusion. “Who is it?” I asked.

“Can’t you feel him?” he seemed confused. “You always seem to know when I’m around, and he was a part of Mason’s crew.”

Alice cut in, “You might know him as Ivan.”

“Ivan? He’s here? How would he know where to find us?” I wondered.

The Tracker looked at me, eyes narrowed. “Us? He’s after you too?”

“Why not? I’ve been killing his crew, and gunning for him. He was there when Mason took me. If anyone knows who I was, it’s him.” I took a step forward and the ground around me shook.

“That was a warning. You get no closer to me or Alice, or you’ll find yourself in a pit you won’t be getting out of.” His voice now showed the same darkness as his face, and I knew his anger was barely in check. His control was tenuous, and anything that startled him could cause him to lose control.

“You’re stronger than your power, Tracker. Earthshaker. You control it. It doesn’t control you. Do not let it out while it could hurt your friend.”

The lady cop stared at me in confusion. “Earlier you warned him you could, and would, use his power against us. Why are you helping now?”

“We have a common enemy, detective,” I said gravely. “The time is upon us to work together. I propose a truce.”

“As long as that truce ends with you behind bars,” the Tracker growled. “And with the promise never to use your abilities to escape.”

I shook my head. “I was a prisoner once. It will not happen again. What I can propose is once I discover what I want to know, I will be out of your life. No more contact, ever.”

“We don’t have time,” the Tracker grumbled. “He set a tripod or something down up on the hill.”

My eyes widened in fear. Ivan had been a sharpshooter. I lunged at the Tracker, knocking him down as I felt fire enter my chest.

SIXTY-THREE

Jason

Kindred was down, bleeding on the ground as Alice crouched behind a tree. Her gun was drawn, but the target was too far away. I was still in the open, but my control was slipping. Ivan was going to kill me, and probably Alice as well. He was another monster, a rabid animal that needed to be put down. Alice peeked around the tree, only to duck back as a bullet struck near her head, throwing a chunk of bark into her face.

I saw her bleeding. Something snapped. “NO!” I yelled and hurled my energy toward the shooter on the hill, and toward Alice to block any further threats. Fear for her safety helped fuel my power. I heard a yelp as a tendril of earth solidified around his ankle.

I dragged him through the ground until he appeared in front of me, dirt covered and gasping for breath after his trip underground. I stayed crouched over him, my face twisted in anger. He hurt Alice. He hurt Kindred. After everything, he didn’t deserve leniency.

I growled and allowed the dirt to creep up his body slowly. Ivan’s eyes widened in fear. His breaths sped up, and the thudding of his heart quickened.

“You will not hurt my friends. You will not hurt me. And you will not hurt anyone else, ever again!” I exclaimed.

The dirt now covered his face and the man gasped for breath. He writhed on the ground in agony. All he breathed in was dirt. His heartbeat was fading. But I felt another vibration, and glanced back at Kindred. He was dying, yet laughing as he choked on his own blood. “We are kindred spirits after all,” he choked out. “No denying.”

I looked at him for a moment, feeling his heart beating quickly as it tried to make up for the loss of blood by pumping harder, and the slow rate of Ivan.

“I’m no killer,” I decided finally, dragging the dirt off of the shooter and touching his chest to remove any he’d breathed in. “You won’t die by my hand,” I told him. “And I’m nothing like you,” I said, standing over Kindred. “Mason didn’t break me. I cracked, but I’m mended now and stronger than ever.”

Alice was pounding on the wall I’d put around her and I allowed it to fall. “Get an ambulance. Kindred needs to get to a hospital.

“Already done,” Alice said, breathing heavily as her adrenaline faded. “What about him?” she gestured at Ivan, who lay on the ground breathing heavily. He was staring at me wide-eyed and fearful as a child.

“He shouldn’t give you any trouble. We should be able to find out who Kindred really is now.” The sound of an ambulance was getting closer. “We should ask now, so he can know,” I said, feeling Kindred’s vital signs failing as I knelt over him, putting pressure on the wound.

“Ivan, who is he?” Alice asked, pointing at Kindred.

He spoke with a heavy Russian accent. “Is Mason’s cousin,” he said, still eyeing me warily. “Tried to stop Mason from killing innocents. Mason killed his wife and unborn child as warning. But he no listen. Tried to use his power to stop him, but Mason turned him into asset. Good man to killer, in three easy steps.”

Kindred heard him and gasped out one last question. “What… what’s my name?”

“Jeremiah Mason,” Ivan answered.

“Jeremiah,” I said. “You can be who you were. Allow this to wipe clean what you did for Mason, and do as you promised. When you leave us, live life as you tried to do before your cousin changed you.”

The paramedics were now swarming, one took over where I’d been holding pressure, and I found myself shoved to the side staring at my blood-covered hands.

“Jason, we need to get to the station,” Alice said, holding Ivan by his shoulders as she guided him to Dan’s vehicle, which had arrived, apparently, along with the ambulance. “We’ll need to give our statements, and Dan is going with Kin- Jeremiah to the hospital. He’ll keep us informed.”

A paramedic tried to stop me as I walked with Alice. “I’m not injured,” I said, waving them off with my uninjured arm. The bruised shoulder was screaming at me, but I figured I’d ice it later and the pain would eventually get better.

“Sir, you’re bleeding. At least let us look,” she said.

Bleeding? When had that happened, I looked down and saw that Ivan had not missed with all of his shots. He’d grazed me at the top of my shoulder, taking a decent chunk out. “Sure,” I agreed.

I shrugged my uninjured shoulder at Alice, who was looking at me accusingly. “I wasn’t trying to hide it; I just thought I’d bumped the bruise on something. I’m getting it taken care of,” I indicated the young paramedic I was following. “Gina here will take good care of me.”

The glare lost its intensity, and she stood near the ambulance as Gina tried to remove my shirt. “No,” I said, my voice losing any joking quality. “Cut off the sleeve. The rest of the shirt stays. I’ll not be put on display.”

The young woman looked over at Alice in surprise, but Alice nodded her agreement to me. “Do it. He’s been through enough. Just check the wound he has, and figure out if he’ll need stitches.”

She nodded and carefully removed the sleeve, exposing mostly my self-inflicted scars, and the large dark bruise with a bloody furrow at the top. “Ouch,” she said sympathetically. “That didn’t all happen just now.”

“No,” I agreed curtly, not elaborating any further. Thankfully she didn’t question and just cleaned around the new wound.

“You’ll need stitches,” she said as she finished putting clean gauze over it. “Detective Farrow can take you to the hospital before you go to give your statement.” She made it more a command than a request. “If taken care of quickly, it should heal without complications. I cleaned it pretty well, and they’ll disinfect and prescribe antibiotics at the hospital.”

“Thanks, Gina,” I said hopping down from the ambulance.

“No problem.” She closed up her rig and she and her partner, who had stayed silent through the exchange, only handing her supplies as needed, got back into their vehicle and drove off.

It was nice to not be riding in it for once. “You really thought you just hit it on something?” Alice asked as we walked out of the park.

“Yeah. It didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would if I’d gotten shot, but the bruise hurt like crazy. I suppose we should call Hannah to let her know we’re okay. It’s been well over an hour.”

Alice smiled. “I already called her while you were being checked. She’s meeting us at the hospital.”

“Are we going to the one Kindred’s at?”

She frowned at me. “We know his name. Why still call him that?”

“He’s not that person anymore. Whatever Mason did to him, he forgot that part of himself. He can’t forget what he’s done as Kindred. He still holds the guilt of everything he’s done since Mason’s death. He enjoyed a lot of it, so he still deserves to rot for it.” What I’d told him, about being the man he used to be, I had done to give a dying man some hope. But I could not fully forgive him for what he had done to all those people, and the anguish he had put me through.

We drove in silence for a few minutes, my shoulder throbbing the entire time. “He saved your life,” she said finally. “After all the threats and killings, he jumped in front of that bullet to save you.”

“He did,” I agreed. “And I don’t know why.” She didn’t answer, and I thought we might never know exactly why he’d saved my life. I wondered if even he knew. Maybe we’d get the chance to ask him before he disappeared from the hospital.

Whatever else he was, he was a survivor. He’d not let himself get trapped, and he’d find some way out of custody once he was healthy enough to do so.

Alice’s cell rang, and she spoke softly to whoever was on the line.

“We’re never
going to know,” she said after ending her call. “Dan called. Jeremiah Mason died on the way to the hospital.”