Simmer (14 page)

"We have to move," Kira said. They were on
the outskirts of the town, maybe a mile from the square.

Luke started walking with her, but Vanessa
and Casey stayed put.

"What aren't you telling us?" Vanessa asked,
standing her ground. Kira met Luke's eyes and even without being
able to read his mind, she saw the apprehension. As it was, she
felt it creep into her mind too. Fear for his sister's safety and
an overwhelming sense of guilt for keeping her in the dark. She
shook her head, forcing his thoughts out before they confused her
senses. Now was not the time to be distracted, and they had the
right to know why they were still breathing.

"I can heal people," Kira said and Luke
grabbed her wrist trying to make her stop talking. She pulled free.
"In the car, I healed you while we fell. But it's fine, we're all
okay and we have other things to worry about."

"You healed us?" Casey asked, looking at Kira
in a new way, almost in admiration.

"That's not possible," Vanessa said. "How
could you have healed all of us at the same time in a matter of
seconds. No one has that sort of power."

"I do," Kira said and started to walk away,
not liking the hint of fear that had crept into Luke's sister's
eyes.

"Come on." Luke shrugged and caught up with
Kira. "We need to stick together and we need to be careful."

They moved as one, sneaking through people's
backyards and staying off the main road. They came across three
more vampires, but killed them easily with Vanessa, Luke and Casey
trapping each while Kira delivered a killing blow.

Twenty minutes later, they reached the town
square. Hiding behind the hedges on the front lawn of a house right
along the edge of the town's center, the four of them discussed a
plan. Vanessa and Kira wanted to charge in just take out any
vampires in their sight, but Luke wanted to plan something more
strategic. Without walking into the square and making themselves
visible, they had no idea how many vampires were there and how the
conduits were doing against them. They needed a vantage point.

"Into the house, let's go. We need to see how
many there are," Luke said and nudged the girls towards the house.
As expected in such a peaceful town, it was open and they slipped
inside easily.

Kira followed Luke up the steps and to the
attic while he explained to her that this was one of his best
friend's homes. He had played there at least once a week while
growing up and knew everything there was to know about it. The
friend, who Kira had never heard him mention before, was on the
west coast with a group of other conduits in his grade, all of them
working together to weed out a local vampire population.

When they reached the dusty attic, all four
of them pushed their faces against a small circular window and
looked over the hedges at the town square, which blazed with fire.
Conduits stood in a circle that was four or five deep, taking turns
throwing flames out towards the vampires. In the center, Kira could
see the children. She envisioned tears drenching their faces and
quickly looked away.

On the outskirts of the flames, Kira counted
maybe twenty vampires circling the group. Through the light she saw
dismembered bodies, reminding her of Jerome in the clearing so long
ago when she had awoken from her daze and stumbled over his open
chest, almost falling on the bloody heart that rested a few inches
from his body. This time, heads spotted the ground. Swords, Kira
thought with slight amazement, how medieval.

But, she saw something else that scared her
more.

"Luke," she said while grabbing his shoulder
and pointed towards the left side of the square, "look!"

Somehow, they had captured a conduit. Three
vampires knelt over one body, sucking the blood from someone's
veins. From this distance, Kira couldn't tell who it was, but she
knew exactly what it meant.

"Any moment they'll be immune," Kira said,
flashing back to the image of her father as he died trying to free
her mother. She knew exactly what happened when vampires became
immune to a conduit's power. They would rip through the protective
circle. They would go straight for the children in a mindless
craze.

"We have to go, immediately," Vanessa said
and jerked away from the window.

"No," Kira commanded and grabbed the girl's
arm. "I have to go. You'll just get hurt. I'm the only thing they
won't be immune to. Stay here until I've killed them and then join
everyone else in the circle."

Luke understood and nodded, grabbing his
sisters other arm to keep her in place. Without hesitation, Kira
took off at a run, leaping down the steps two at a time and out the
front door of the house not caring who, or what, saw her.

"Stop!" She yelled when she reached the edge
of the town square. Every single vampire, except for the three
piled over the conduit, actually did pause to look at her. Maybe
not the best idea, Kira thought and wanted to smack herself. Hungry
eyes regarded her as she approached the feeding frenzy, but no
vampires made a move to capture her yet. Maybe they had finally
learned how powerful she was. Or maybe, she thought sickly, they
knew they had all the time in the world to wait and watch what she
did.

The conduit man on the ground barely
struggled anymore. Limp limbs fell against the grass and the sun
kissed skin turned gray like snowy ash. Too late, Kira thought
wildly. Her emotions were starting to careen out of control just
like the car they had been in. And just like that car, Kira feared
she was about to go down in flames.

Finally close enough, Kira let her power
loose and plowed through the three vampires, who never once looked
up at her approach. Now, through smoke and fire, they looked at
Kira in shock as their skin burst into flames and they evaporated
into ash.

Kira ran over the conduit and knelt down
beside him, searching his features for some familiarity. But, Kira
had no idea who it was. She leaned against his chest, listening for
a heartbeat, but there was none. She reached into his body with her
power, searching for wounds to heal, but unlike with Luke, there
was nothing she could latch onto. He was gone and it was all
because of her: all because she brought the vampires here.

Well, if they wanted her, all they had to do
was catch her.

Kira stood and slowly let her eyelids rise to
search around her. While she had been fighting, the vampires had
surrounded her. Icy blue slits circled ebony pupils as the vampires
stared with hunger in their eyes. Razor sharp fangs poked out of
open mouths that grinned in anticipation of what they thought would
be their next meal. Kira knew better. Silently, she dared them to
approach.

One vampire stepped forward and Kira went
straight for him, shooting her fire like a spear. It pierced his
heart and the vampire fell to its knees before crumbling apart.
Another charged and another fell. Kira was not messing around this
time. In high school, she had let Diana go free. She felt sorry for
hurting another person, but now Kira knew better. Tristan was
different. He was an anomaly in his species — a vampire with a soul
and a heart that was full of goodness. But, Kira could read the
bloodlust in these vampires' eyes and could hear the animalistic
growls rumbling from their throats. Even if she wasn't thrilled
with the idea, she didn't have time to hesitate.

Not waiting anymore, Kira flew little shots
of fire at every vampire circling her. Each one took a step back as
the flames hit their chests, but remained standing. Annoyed
expressions gathered on their features.

Come on, Kira thought, come at me.

For the first time, she found the fight
thrilling. Blood pumped in her veins, probably making the vampires
want her more. Tristan must be rubbing off on me, Kira thought with
a laugh. She let the excitement build. Her power bubbled with it
until Kira felt like she were a rubber band about to snap.

Then they came at her, all fifteen vampires
at once, and Kira let go.

She circled her body in flames, making sure
her neck was protected, and then shot the rest out. Finesse was not
necessary, just raw power. She let herself drain, turning in
circles, shooting instinctively in every direction. Luke would be
angry at her wasting so much energy, but Luke was beyond her
thoughts now.

The more power Kira brought forth, the closer
and closer she came to losing it. Her mind wasn't registering the
town square or the conduits anymore. Even the vampires had been
pushed from conscious thought. Her fight or flight instinct forced
her arms to keep moving, arching in circle, setting flames to
anything that moved towards her.

Small black dots formed on her pupils,
blinding her vision and expanding until she truly couldn't see
anything. Kira had been to this place before — the place where she
disappeared and everything became her power.

Had she been conscious, Kira would have
realized that she had singed every vampire around her minutes ago.
If any were still in the town, they would be running to face the UV
wall rather than confront her.

If she had been conscious she would have
realized it was Luke who approached her and not an enemy.

"Luke, what are you doing?" Kira would have
heard Vanessa shout. She would have seen the entire town watch her
go up in flames with admiration and also hesitation clouding their
features. They had never seen anyone with so much power and so
little control.

As it were, Kira saw something approach
through the haze of her delirium. Instantly, she focused everything
she had on that spot, the only one moving around her. Still it came
so Kira focused more. Why won't you die? She thought. It had never
taken this long to burn a vampire, not once she had harnessed her
energy.

"Kira."

She heard the whisper along the back of her
thoughts.

"Kira."

It was getting louder now. What was that?

"Kira!"

A scream now, ripping through her focus and
her mind, shredding whatever ideas had been forming until all she
heard was the screaming of her name over and over again. It sounded
like Luke.

A sense of calmness blossomed in the back of
her thoughts, pushing the anger and fury aside until there was
almost no space for it. The spots blinding Kira began to recede.
Her vision slowly returning into blobbed shapes.

Fire still roared from her hands, hands that
seemed pressed up against something soft.

"Kira, come back. Control. Remember, you need
to control it." Luke spoke into her thoughts. Kira pulled back
trying to rein it in. Her palms screamed at her as she sucked the
flames back in, making her blood boil in the effort.

Finally, Kira focused her thoughts. The first
thing she saw were Luke's eyes, right in front of her face, pulling
her back to reality. His thoughts in her mind and his eyes locked
on hers were all that saved her from herself.

Stumbling back and fully awakened, Kira still
felt confused. Luke reached his arms out to steady her. She looked
around at the dusty wind around her. The vampires. The attack. The
children.

Kira jerked around towards the center of the
square. Everyone stared back at her, but she looked through the
adults to see that even the kids were okay.

"Luke?" She asked, her voice raspy from
exertion.

He nodded reassuringly, still holding her
upright.

"I may have lost control." She smiled at him.
Luke barked out a laugh and pulled her in for a big bear hug.

"Maybe just a little," he said into her
hair.

"So, what now?" Kira pulled back and stepped
out of his arms.

"Now, you sit down and rest, and let us do
our job."

"Which is what?"

"Making sure all the vampires are gone," he
said. Kira nodded with understanding. She shouldn't use her powers
again for a while anyway, not when she was so close to the edge.
Letting her feet drop out below her, Kira plopped down onto the
ground.

Many of the conduits were still looking at
her, throwing sidelong stares in her direction and waiting to see
if she would explode again. After yesterday, Kira had thought she
was finally starting to fit in. They had watched her battle her
grandfather. She had gained his respect and theirs.

But she was still different, still an
'other.' And all she wanted was to find Tristan so that he could
hold her close and tell her it would be all right. He understood
feeling different; feeling like you'll never find a place in the
world where you fit in. Sometimes Kira thought the only place where
she could feel perfectly at home and in control was in his arms.
She wanted them wrapped around her right now.

But, Tristan was still out past the wall.
Locked out by the very thing that kept Kira alive: the sun.

Kira watched as Luke left with a bunch of
other men. The further from the square they got, the more he
blended into the crowd. Sonnyville was where he belonged. Kira
thought that could be true for her eventually. She hoped she could
find a place with her grandparents. But, if there was ever a time
to leave with Tristan, this was it. Staying in Sonnyville would be
a danger to everyone, at least until every vampire understood that
they couldn't mess around with her.

The only way Kira thought to do that was to
help Tristan hunt Diana down. She would kill her and any other
vampire that got in her way. It was the only way to show the world
she meant business.

The only real question left in Kira's mind
was would she leave Luke behind or take him with them?

Chapter
Nine

"Kira?"

She turned to the sound of his voice. In
shock, Kira looked into the eyes of her grandfather. He reached out
his hand and Kira took it as he pulled her to her feet.