Run To Earth (Power of Four) (48 page)

“Aaron,” she moaned, choking her words out. “Help me...p-please!”

Aaron gripped her tighter, his heart racing as tears rolled down his cheeks.

“You’re gonna be okay. You’re gonna be okay,” Aaron comforted. “I’m not gonna let anything happen to you,” he promised. “You’re gonna be okay.” His eyes closed and in his mind, he screamed for help again – for Kyran, for anyone.

The sound of pounding footsteps behind him made Aaron snap around quickly. He reached for his gun and aimed, but even though tears had blurred his vision, he still made out Kyran’s form racing towards him.

“Rose!” Kyran yelled, falling to his knees at her side, opposite Aaron. His wide green eyes met Aaron’s with so much panic and worry it hit Aaron like a physical blow. He had never thought he would see Kyran – too-cool-to-panic Kyran – look so terrified.

“Rose? Hey? Hey, look at me,” Kyran called, reaching out to her. As soon as his hands touched her cheek, Rose opened her eyes, her gaze unfocused and bright with pain. Kyran looked to the bloodied jumper at Rose’s side. He reached out, pushing it away. “Let me see.”

Pulling the top away, Aaron got a proper look at the wound too – a large cut, just under her ribs. It was horribly deep, and still oozing blood. Aaron wasn’t sure, but he though he saw a glimpse of her rib bone.
Aaron quickly covered the cut again, applying pressure to it, trying to stem the blood flow. Rose gasped and groaned, coming out of her shock at the sensation of pain.

“S-Sam...” she called out again.

“It’s okay,” Kyran said, his worried gaze darting to her face. “Just lie still, Rose. Don’t move.”

Rose gripped at her side, desperate whimpers escaping her.

“K-Kyran.” She held out a bloodstained hand, which Kyran took at once. “H-help me, please,” she begged. “I-I don’t w-want to...to die–”

“You’re not going to die,” Kyran said. “I promise you, Rose. You’re going to be fine.” He leant down, one hand gripped in hers while the other caressed her cheek. “Rose, hey? Look at me. Look at me, Rose,” he said, as she squeezed her eyes shut. Rose painfully met his gaze, and he moved closer, his hand still on her cheek. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” he repeated, looking her straight in the eyes. “Believe me, Rose,” he whispered. “Believe me.” He leant down and captured her lips in a kiss.

Aaron was taken by complete surprise. By the kiss and the sudden sound of several hurrying footsteps heading their way. He saw Scott, looking pale with worry, running towards him with a group of mages. From the shouts behind Aaron, he figured the other Hunters had passed through the portal and were running this way too.

Kyran pulled away from the kiss with a groan and fell back. Scott managed to catch him, just before Kyran could hit the ground. Rose sat up suddenly, gasping. Her eyes were wide and fixed on Kyran who had paled to the hue of a ghost. A sheen of sweat gleamed on his face and his eyes were clouding with pain.

“Are you okay?” Mary asked, coming to Rose’s side. “Rose? Rose, you okay?”

Rose looked down at her side, at her ripped top. Her clothes and skin were still stained with blood but the hideous cut was gone. There was no sign of it – as if it had never happened. She looked over at Kyran, at his hands which were pressed against his side, just below his ribs, where a dark stain had started to appear.

***

It was half an hour later when Aaron got to fully understand what had happened. After the Empaths had healed the small cuts on Aaron’s back, they left to attend to the other Hunters’ minor injuries and, of course, Kyran’s pretty serious condition. Aaron paced the bright hallway, outside the Empath’s rooms, waiting for news on Kyran. Sam, still a little groggy from his head
injury, was sitting on the sofa, Rose by his side. Ella appeared, coming out of one of the private rooms.

“How you feeling?” she asked Aaron.

“Fine,” Aaron replied quickly. “Where’s Kyran? Is he okay?”

Rose got up from Sam’s side and hurried towards Ella, anxious and worried.

“He’s fine,” Ella said.

Aaron felt an immense weight lift from his chest, making it easier to breathe again. “What was that?” he asked. “What did Kyran do?”

Ella glanced to Rose, before looking back at Aaron.

“It’s called a transfer,” she said. “Empaths can’t cure humans, but mages can sometimes take the injury of a human onto themselves,” she explained. “It doesn’t work all the time. I think the basis is that as long as the injury doesn’t prove fatal to the mage, they can transfer it onto themselves.”

“Fatal?” Aaron asked. “It looked pretty bad to me.” He glanced to Rose. He had honestly thought he was going to lose his friend today.

“Mages are different, Aaron,” Ella reminded. “What proves fatal to humans isn’t so for mages. That cut could have killed Rose. She would have bled out in a matter of hours. But for Kyran, it’s different. He took on her injury because he was strong enough.” She smiled and shook her head. “I can’t believe Kyran did a transfer. No one likes doing those things.”

“I still can’t believe he kissed you,” Aaron said, turning to Rose.

What?” Sam stirred out of his headache-induced silence. His eyes narrowed at Aaron. “What'd you say? Kyran kissed Rose?”

“Glad you weren't awake to see that, eh Sammy?” Ella teased with a small smile.

Sam wasn't amused. He tried to get up and then groaned. He had hit his head against a tree, he had to be gentle with his movements. “He kissed you?” he asked Rose.

Rose shook her head, closing her eyes. “Obviously he did it for that...transfer thing,” she mumbled. She looked over at Ella to see her confused expression. “What?” She narrowed her eyes. “What is it?”

“Nothing,” Ella said. “It’s just...” She paused. “You don’t need to kiss for the transfer to work,” she explained. “As long as you have flesh-to-flesh contact, the transfer will work. You could hold hands, touch the face, neck – any exposed area,” she said, “but you don’t have to necessarily kiss.”

Rose stared at her, first in disbelief, and then with a small, embarrassed smile.

***

Aaron knocked on the door of the Empath private room, before pushing it open. Kyran was inside, in the process of pulling on his shirt. Aaron paused in the doorway, his gaze darting to Kyran’s stomach and sides. There was no mark on him. The transfer hadn’t left any scars, just like any other injury for a mage.

Aaron found the four silver lines on the back of Kyran’s hand wasn’t the only tattoo he sported. He had a black circle inked on the left side of his chest. Aaron wasn’t sure if the slight red tinge around it was part of the tattoo or just a skin reaction. Regardless, it was the simplest tattoo he had seen around here, perhaps that's why he found he liked it.

“Nice tat,” he remarked.

Kyran only smiled and buttoned up his shirt, which was still stained. “Empaths had a look at you?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Aaron replied. “All healed.”

“Good.”

Aaron paused, before stepping into the room. “Kyran,” he started, “I don’t even know what to say–”

“Then don’t say anything,” Kyran said.

“I need to,” Aaron said. “I owe you, for saving Rose’s life.”

Kyran gave him a look. “You don’t owe me anything.”

“You don’t know what you did today, how much it means to me,” Aaron said. “Rose and Sam, they’re my best friends. I’ve known them all my life. They stuck by me when no one else would.” His voice dipped and Aaron had to force himself to go on. “Because of me, they’re stuck here in this realm. My friendship cost them everything and not once have they taken their anger out on me.” He met Kyran’s eyes. “What happened today, when Rose was...” He couldn’t repeat it, those awful few minutes when he had held his bleeding friend in his arms, fearing that there was nothing he could do to help her. “I thought I was going to lose her,” he admitted. “I didn’t know what to do, how to help her. If you hadn’t come–”

“Ace,” Kyran interrupted, turning to face him. “As long as I’m around, nothing’s gonna happen to Rose,” he said. “Or Sam.” He paused. “Or you.”

Aaron stared at him, lost as to what he could say to that. Kyran simply moved towards the bed and picked up his jacket, slipping it on.

“Where you going?” Aaron asked, surprised and a little nervous. Kyran had fought a pack of hell hounds, literally just recovered from a horrible injury, and was now heading back out again.

“To get Lexi,” Kyran replied. “She’s still in G-14. I can’t leave her out there all night.”

He moved past Aaron and came into the hallway but stopped at the sight of Rose, who was helping Sam stand up so they could leave the Empaths building. Both paused, staring at the other. Rose opened her mouth to speak but Kyran shook his head, smiling at her.

“You alright, Sam?” he asked instead.

Sam groaned, holding his head. “Define alright.”

Kyran chuckled and stepped past them.

“Hey,” Aaron called, halting Kyran. “I meant to ask – how did you know where we were?”

Kyran frowned. “What d’you mean?”

“How did you know we had jumped back through the portal?” Aaron asked.

Kyran looked at him as if he were mad. “What are you talking about?” he asked. “You’re wearing my mark. I could hear you calling me.”

Aaron stilled for a moment before nodding at him. “Right, yeah, sorry. Forgot about that.”

Kyran shook his head at him and turned, heading out the door. Aaron watched him go, waiting for the door to close before meeting Sam and Rose’s eyes. Without a word, Aaron reached for his top and tugged it down, revealing his bare chest.

“Your pendants?” Rose asked with surprise. “Where’d they go?”

“I lost them,” Aaron said. “When that hell hound attacked me, its claws ripped my clothes. It must have caught the chains too and snapped them.”

Sam and Rose stared at him.

“But that hell hound attacked you
before
you jumped into the portal,” Rose said. “So how did Kyran know where you were, or that you needed help?”

“Exactly,” Aaron replied, feeling his heart leap uncomfortably. How did Kyran hear his cries for help when he didn’t have the pendant acting as a link between them?

30

Epic Love

That night, even though they were beyond tired, Aaron, Rose and Sam couldn’t sleep. They lay on their beds, talking to each other. Kyran still wasn’t back with Lexi yet, so Aaron could talk without the fear of being overheard.

“Tell me I’m crazy,” he said, “but isn’t it weird that Kyran heard me calling for him without the necklace?”

“You are crazy,” Sam replied, “but you’re also right. It doesn’t make sense how Kyran knew where we were without having the pendant to guide him.”

“I heard Ella talking to Armana,” Rose said. “She said Kyran called for Scott before jumping through the portal, telling him to come to the forest. So he definitely heard Aaron when he was in that other zone, but I don’t get how that’s possible without the pendants.”

“Kyran said he heard you calling for him.” Sam faltered for a moment. “Did you call for him?”

“Yeah,” Aaron replied.

“Why?” asked Sam.

Aaron paused, thrown by the question. “What d’you mean?”

“Why did you call to Kyran when you knew he wasn’t there?” Sam asked.

“To be honest, I don’t know,” Aaron replied. “I panicked. I didn’t really think about it. Kyran’s name just sort of popped into my head and I called for him.”

Rose and Sam were quiet for a moment.

“So it was, like, an instinct to call to Kyran for help?” Rose asked.

“Yeah, sort off,” Aaron replied.

“What is it about him?” Sam asked. “You had dreams about him before you even met him. You listen to him more than any other mage. You take his crap–”

“Hey, hey,” Aaron interrupted. “What’re you talking about? What crap?”

“Come on, Aaron,” Sam said and his tone had a bite to it. “Kyran ridicules you, teases you, hell, even threatens you and you shrug it off with a grin.”

“It’s not like that,” Aaron argued. “I know Kyran doesn’t mean it.”

“How? How do you know what he means?” Sam asked, sounding annoyed. “You’ve known him what, a few months? How is it you know him so well that you know what he means?”

“You can tell,” Aaron replied. “When Skyler makes fun, he’s malicious and mean about it. Kyran’s more playful.”

“Yeah, when compared to Skyler, Kyran’s a freaking saint,” Sam said. “But when you look at how he treats you on its own, it’s a different story.”

“I think you’re just overprotective,” Rose chided Sam. “Kyran’s not mean. He’s just a strict teacher, that’s all.”

Aaron found himself grinning. “A little biased there, Rose?”

“He just saved my life today,” Rose said. “Forgive me for being a little defensive of him.”

“Yeah, that’s it,” Aaron teased. “It’s because he saved your life that you’re defending him. It’s not because you like him or anything.”

Rose didn’t say anything.

“At least you know one thing,” Aaron started, propping himself up on one arm, facing her in the dark. “Kyran likes you.”

“Please,” Rose dismissed, but Aaron could hear the smile in her voice.

“Come on,” Aaron said. “He kissed you when he didn’t have to.”

“Can we not talk about that?” Sam said, disgust thick in his voice. “I’m pretending that didn’t happen. That it’s just something my concussed mind came up with.”

Aaron and Rose ignored him.

“You like him too, Rose,” Aaron said.

“What makes you say that?” she asked.

“I have eyes.” Aaron grinned. “I can see the way you look at him.”

“What d’you mean?” Sam asked. “I’ve not seen anything.”

“That’s because you’re too busy gawking at Ella,” Aaron replied.

Sam grunted. “I don’t gawk.”

Aaron rolled his eyes. “Fine. You stare at her without blinking,” he revised. “Why don’t you just ask her out?”

“Yeah, I’ll get right on that,” Sam said dryly. “First thing in the morning, right after the unicorns fly overheard, shooting rainbows out of their backsides.”

“Sam,” Aaron chided. “Why won’t you ask her out?”

“You lost your mind?” Sam asked. “If she was a girl at Westbridge, I’d ask her out in a heartbeat, but this is Ella – the mage, the
freaking
Elemental,” he said. “She could probably drown me with nothing more than a blink.”

“Yeah,” Aaron agreed, “she probably could. So you’re just going to harbour feelings for her but not ever ask her out?”

“Pretty much,” Sam sighed.

“Good,” Rose said. “’Cause Ella’s
way
out of your league.”

“Hey!” Sam exclaimed. “You’re my sister! Your loyalty should be in
this
direction.”

Rose giggled.

“Me and Ella could happen,” Sam defended. “Ella’s got that whole, love-someone-who-is-a-challenge thing going on,” he pointed out. “A mage and a human, what’s more challenging than that?” He fell quiet for a moment. “Sam and Ella,” he muttered, his voice dreamy and soft. “It’s got a ring to it, don’t you think?”

Aaron wrinkled his nose. “I don’t know, mate,” he said. “Sounds like Salmonella.”

“Yeah, you definitely don’t want any of that,” Rose added.

They snickered as Sam huffed.

“You’re really not funny,” he said, moodily.

“What about you, Aaron?” Rose asked with amusement in her voice. “You ever gonna ask Ava out?”

“What?” Aaron was surprised. “No. Why would you say that?”

“Oh come on,” Rose said. “I have eyes too. I see the way you
both
look at each other.”

A slow grin spread over Aaron’s face. “I do like Ava,” he said, “but honestly? I still find myself thinking about Rebecca.”

“Aww, Aaron,” Rose cooed. “No one forgets their first love, particularly their first unrequited love.”

“Yeah, like I haven’t forgotten Jessie McGuire,” Sam said.

“Sammy,” Rose sighed. “That’s different.”

“How?” Sam asked.

“She has to know you exist for it to count as a romance,” Rose said.

“She knew about me,” Sam protested.

“Keep telling yourself that,” Rose teased.

The front door closed, followed by a resounding click. Sam and Rose fell quiet, listening as Kyran’s footsteps trudged up the stairs. The conversation ended, as all three knew Kyran would be able to hear the whole thing from his room next door.

Aaron felt an odd sense of comfort spread over him now that Kyran was safely back home. Up until now, he wasn’t even aware that a part of him was tense and waiting for Kyran’s return. He closed his eyes and, almost instantly, fell asleep.

***

The days got cooler as March rolled in. The sun continued to beat down on the City of Salvador, but the cool breeze made it a little more bearable. Aaron continued his training with Kyran, honing his power and learning how to manipulate his core. He attended all the meetings at the Hub, realising with each one just how much trouble their realm was in.

“The Q-Zone will be ready in three days,” Scott was saying, standing before his Hunters once again. “According to the reports, Raoul and his Lycans have taken up residence in Zone T-26. There’s a substantial number that we could take out in one–”

“How did that happen?” Aaron asked.

Scott turned to him, surprised at the interruption. “What?” he asked.

“Sorry,” Aaron quickly apologised, “but you just said Raoul’s taken over T-26. Isn’t Zone T one of Hadrian’s zones?”

“It is,” Scott replied.

“So how did the Lycans take over a part of it? Or did Hadrian give it to the Lycans himself?” Aaron asked.

A ripple of surprise went around the room. Hunters turned in their seats to give Aaron incredulous looks. Scott looked like he didn’t know whether to laugh or frown. He dropped his head and shook it slowly from side to side.

“Aaron,” he started, “Hadrian is a vamage, and vamages don’t work with anyone. Least of all the Lycans.”

“Why?” Aaron asked. “Lycans and vamages are both enemies of mages, right?”

“They are,” Scott confirmed.

“Then isn’t it possible they could join together to fight us?”

Scott paused and Aaron could see fear cloud his eyes at the thought. With great conviction, he shook his head. “Lycans and vamages are enemies – not just of mages, but of each other. They could never join together.” He nodded at the map on the table. “Raoul took Zone T-26 by force. Raoul will be expecting an attack from Hadrian, but not us. We can use that.”

Aaron stared at the map, his brow furrowed in thought. “Can you choose where to put the Q-Zone?” he asked.

“Yes,” Scott replied.

“You can make it as big or small as you like?”

“Pretty much,” Scott replied.

“Then why don’t you make a Q-Zone big enough to cover the whole of T-26, and destroy all the Lycans without sending in any Hunters?” Aaron asked.

Scott stared at Aaron, as if he couldn’t believe what he had just heard.

“Better yet,” Aaron continued, “turn all of Hadrian’s zones into Q-Zones, and eradicate the whole lot of them without risking a single Hun–”

Kyran grabbed hold of his hand, shaking his head from side to side with a grave look. Aaron glanced around the room to see everyone staring at him in a mix of surprise and, strange as it was, sympathy.

“I wish it were as simple as that,” Scott said quietly. “But if I turn Hadrian’s zones into death traps, I would not only be killing the demons living there, I would be murdering the hundreds of thousands of mages trapped in those zones.”

Aaron stilled, eyes widening with horror.

“There are mages stuck in the same zones as demons,” Scott explained with a heavy heart. “Families, children, thousands upon thousands of them. They’re terrorised every day by the demons, by the vamages that came and took over their homes. Sometimes, a mage gets lucky and manages to escape. They come here to Salvador and we help them settle in one of our zones, one of Neriah’s zones.” He sighed deeply. “But not everyone can escape. Their only hope is for us to help them, to kill the demons and give them back their homes, their zones.” Scott met Aaron’s eyes. “This...this option, to use the Q-Zone and kill everything...It’s been considered in the past.” He took in a shuddering breath. “But I can’t do it. I can’t eradicate my own people. They’re the ones we’re fighting for. If we lose them then we lose the war, regardless of how many demons we manage to kill or how many zones we take over.”

“The way to think about it,” Ella said, “is to believe that we only have one option: taking one sub-zone at a time, cleaning it out and setting up Gates before moving to the next zone.” She held Aaron’s gaze. “There is no other way.”

Aaron nodded at her.

“The vamages have been terrorising Zone T-26 for far too long,” Scott said. “Now the Lycans have taken it over and Heaven only knows what they’re doing to the mages trapped there.” Scott’s eyes darkened as he looked around the room. “Provided the Lurkers have done their job, the Q-Zone will be in a mage-free area. It’ll be your job to get the Lycans into the Q-Zone. We’re taking this zone back,” he said, “from vamages, from Lycans,” his fists clenched, “from Hadrian.”

He nodded at the Hunters, gesturing to the door, signalling the end of the meeting. As the Hunters got up to leave, Scott called Aaron over.

Aaron approached the table, his apology already on his lips. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean–”

“That’s okay.” Scott smiled tiredly. “I sometimes forget there’s so much you still don’t know.” He folded his arms. “I wanted to speak to you about the Q-Zone hunt. I know you’re more than aware that I can’t stop you from going,” he said, “seeing as you went to the last Q-Zone hunt against my wishes.”

Aaron felt slightly guilty at defying Scott, but he held his head up and replied, “You were sending my friends into a Q-Zone. I wasn’t going to sit back and let them go in alone.”

“They weren’t alone,” Scott said. “They had Hunters with them.” He waved a hand. “Anyway, I hope you understand Lycans are a different game altogether. You’re not ready to face them, not by a long stretch–”

“I know,” Aaron said quickly, “but Sam and Rose aren’t going on this hunt so, if you want, I’ll stay back too.”

“I didn’t say you had to stay back,” Scott said. “I don’t want you going to the Q-Zone but I would like your help on this hunt.”

Aaron frowned. “How does that work?”

Scott smiled and turned to the table. He waved his hand and the image flickered to life again, dissolving the red and blue zones into intricate patterns of wispy lines that criss-crossed the zones, to make it look like each zone had its own web.

“Zone T is one of Hadrian’s zones,” Scott started. “I explained before that each zone is divided into sub-zones.” He pointed to the small blob that was T-26. “We take each sub-zone and clear it out. Once we have all the sub-zones we set up a Gate, to protect not only the human realm but also to stop that zone from being taken over again.” He paused and looked over at Aaron. “T-26 is the last sub-zone for Zone T. The Gate can only be set up by Elementals. Neriah used to set them up, but in his absence Skyler and Ella have taken that responsibility.” He met Aaron’s eyes. “A Gate set up by two Elementals is powerful, but one set up by
three
Elementals will be pretty much invincible.”