Souljacker (24 page)

Lucy yanks me back to the present, but I
don’t give her a chance to speak. I grab her hand in mine and bolt.
The bus is just around the corner—we can make it! Lucy and Sync
barrel along beside me and I hear a keening scream rise up from
behind.

No. Please don’t let this happen.

“MaXXX!” Without a moment’s hesitation, Sync
doubles back for him and Lucy screams her name. I retain a vice
grip on her wrist, hauling her after me, but not before I see the
panicked glimmer of tears in her eyes. We reach the bus in a matter
of breathless moments and run up the steps. I head for the window
to see Lake, Caddie, and their group racing this way. A few of them
have dropped their bags in their haste, but it’s obvious why.

Hulking black cyberhounds snarl at their
heels, baying for blood. My head pounds. I can’t breathe. “Stay
here,” I command, then hurry down the steps just as Lake’s group
shove past me and onto the bus. I hear Lucy call my name, but I
can’t slow down. My feet slap against the pavement and I’m changing
mid-stride, trading skins, and it’s almost glorious to have four
legs again. Almost.

I slam my body into the closest hound and he
snarls as we roll across the pavement. I feel rocks scrape my back,
but I’m on my paws immediately, my fangs sinking into his throat as
I tear. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the rest of the kids
being herded towards the bus by MaXXX, who’s turned halfway around,
lobbing silvery energy balls through the air. They smash into their
targets and the cyberhounds shriek their displeasure.

I feel the surge ripple through the air like
heat shimmering on hot asphalt—Goddamnit!—and the ground is quickly
covered in a layer of icy mist. It swirls around us, thick as pea
soup and clammy against my fur.

My tooth pierces an eye and foul liquid
floods my mouth. The hound I’ve just wounded cries and I break away
from him and take off for the bus. I can barely see; I’m just
running in that general direction. The bus engine sputters to life
ahead of me and Lucy’s voice shrills high above the clamor of
everyone else: “We’re not leaving without him!”

Someone wails in terror and I know I’m close,
gaining on them. The bus lurches into sight, but I can’t slow down,
so I slam into the metal side. I bounce off, pain lancing through
me, and the doors swing open. I clamber into the bus, avoiding the
open-mouthed, wide eyed stares of the Mithos all around me. Lucy
breaks out of Caddie’s grip and wraps her arms around me in a bear
hug and my body trembles with the letdown.

MaXXX peels out of the lot hard enough that
the tires shriek. He’s yelling over his shoulder, taking control of
the situation. As commanded, Caddie and Cullen lean their bodies
out the windows on either side of the bus. Fire shoots from
Caddie’s fingertips at the hounds who’ve taken chase. I catch sight
of Josh, eyes pressed shut, his hands poised in the air.
Concentrating.

The headlights barely cut through the fog all
around us.

After several minutes of silent driving, the
bus barreling 85 down the highway, someone says, “I think we lost
them!” and the bus erupts into whoops and cheers. Nervous laughter
fills the space around us and I slowly shift back, sitting on the
rubber runner in the aisle of the bus.

I find my feet and make my way to driver’s
seat. I clamp my hand down on MaXXX’s shoulder, using more force
than necessary. “We shouldn’t go back to Polaris. It’ll lead the
hounds there and the camp will be a sitting duck.” My voice is
tight, strained.

MaXXX meets my gaze, holds it, and then
flicks his wrist in a way that causes sparks to ignite a wildfire
in my gut. Anger simmers deep inside of me as I stare at him.
“It’ll be fine. You worry too much, sweetie.” His words are
matter-of-fact, coolly spoken, as if we haven’t just escaped a
brush with death.

“You’re a fucking idiot.” The words rumble
from my throat in a growl. MaXXX’s eyes widen and the slight scent
of his fear touches my nostrils. I tighten my grip on his shoulder,
claws tipping my fingers. He winces and I whisper, “If they find
us, I’ll have your ass. Promise you that,
sweetie
.”

Then I stalk back to where Lucy and Sync are
sitting. No one speaks for the rest of the trip. When we park, I’m
the first one off the bus, slicing through the cloud of tension. As
people begin to unload the supplies we managed to bring with us,
bags in their arms, I grab Caddie and Lucy and pull them aside.

“We need to leave before things go south.
I’ve got a bad gut feeling about all of this.” We need to get out
of here, fast, because if my Pack finds us… I don’t even want to
think about that.

Caddie shifts her weight, scuffing the toe of
her shoe along the grass. “Maybe it’s stupid, but…I really wanna
stay.” She refuses to meet my eyes when I look at her. “I don’t
know how to explain it to you, Iofiel, I just…”

I glance at Lucy, who looks torn. “We fit in
here,” she says softly and it’s like I’ve been kicked in the gut.
The air wheezes out of my lungs and I can’t inflate them back up
again. The worst part is, I know it’s true: They’ve considered
themselves freaks for so long, and to finally find a place where
they belong… How can I take that away from them when that’s
everything that
I
want?

“…Fine. We’ll stay for now, but the minute I
smell bad news, we’re leaving. I’ll keep you safe.”

Lucy’s eyes soften and she hugs me. “I know
you will,”

I scratch the back of my neck, nerves making
me twitchy. “I’m gonna go tell Diesel what happened before MaXXX
has a chance to butcher the story. Hopefully we’ll be able to avoid
this mess.”

I leave the girls to their own devices. I
find Diesel tinkering on an android with the Realskin peeled away
to reveal wires and circuits underneath. I tell her everything and
she frowns and hmms to herself during my story. Then she wipes her
hands clean on the rag sticking out of her back pocket. “I’ll make
an announcement over dinner. I’ll see if I can’t get Gale to set up
a couple extra wards, get us off the radar. Don’t look so down.
It’ll be okay.”

If it’ll be okay, why does my world feel like
it’s caving down around me?

Chapter 28:

Lucy

I wake to screams, panicked and raw. The
thick scent of smoke jolts me fully awake and I sit up in bed so
fast that my head spins. Girls are shrieking and running around the
room like chickens with their heads cut off. Fallon is trying to
calm them down, yelling over the tops of the fearful cries.

What the hell’s going on? “Caddie? Sync?” I
yank my jeans on, looking around. Sync reaches my side, her hair a
frazzled mane of fiery curls around her face. “What’s going
on?”

“They’re saying it’s an ambush, Luce. We have
to get out of here!”

My heart pangs. God, Iofiel was right all
along. I could kick my own ass for not listening to him. Shit!
“Where’s Caddie?”

“I don’t know. A couple of the kids ran off
to try and hold off the hounds.”

Fallon runs up and clamps her hand down on my
arm, her lips set in a grim line. “We’ve been compromised—the
cyberhounds are invading Polaris. They’ve set fires, trying to
smoke us out. We need to get to the bus
now
. We need to get
out of here. Grab anyone you can and head that way. We’re
leaving.”

She breaks away, shouting as she herds the
younger girls out of the cottage. I see tear-streaked, red faces
and hiccups of fear as they run like helpless sheep away from the
danger that is the wolves. Or rather, the hounds.

“I can’t leave without Caddie and Iofiel,” I
tell Sync and she nods, resolute. We dart in the opposite direction
and I find myself engulfed in battle. Fire crackles, eating away at
the mess hall, leaving charred remains in its wake. The smell of
burning wood and flesh touches my nose, tickles the back of my
throat, and I want to retch. “Caddie!” People scream out, angry war
cries, and energy crackles in the air.

She’s throwing fireballs left and right,
backing away from the damage. She glances my way and I wave at her.
She shouts something that I can’t understand and hurries towards
me. Her hands are hot as she grabs me, shoving me towards the bus.
“We can’t keep them out—we have to go, Lucy, c’mon!”

“What about Iofiel?” Fear makes my voice thin
and tinny.

“He’s with Lake and Josh. Come on!” She wraps
her hand in mine and squeezes and we take off towards the bus.
Diesel’s at the wheel and kids are piling in, packed like sardines.
The bus isn’t made to accommodate this many people, but what other
choice do we have?

“Who’s left?” Despite the edge of panic in
her voice, Diesel is calm and in control. Fallon does a quick head
count and rattles off a number and Diesel frowns. A little girl
curls up in Sync’s lap, sobbing heavily, her hands clenching Sync’s
shirt. Sync looks lost as she rubs the girl’s back.

I can’t just sit here! I can’t! I climb out
of my seat and reach the doors, but Diesel grabs me. I wrench out
of her grip, tears making my eyes blurry. “I can’t leave Iofiel
behind,” I say by way of explanation. I hop down the steps and race
back into the streets, which are filled with snarls and growls as
the cyberhounds grow closer.

I see a streak of rust fur as Chip barrels
across the yard, throwing himself against a wiry black hound. The
fight is nearly silent, deadly so, Chip hanging on to the other
hound’s throat with all of his strength even as the hound tries to
shake him off. He’s clamped on tightly and the cyberhound staggers,
suffocating. It isn’t until the beast falls and stops moving that
Chip lets go.

He lifts his head and sees me and for a
moment, I feel a trickle of fear. He just stands there, watching
me, and it’s eerie. Then his tail begins to wag and he runs towards
me. He’s at my side, his entire body wiggling, and I rub him down
with my hands. “Good Chip, good boy!” His splotched tongue laps at
the air near my face.

“Luce!” Sync shouts and before I can grab
Chip’s collar, he pulls out of reach and runs towards the android.
I bolt after him and grab him around the middle, hauling his heavy
ass off the ground. I grunt and hand him to Sync, who holds him
like a baby despite his thrashing.

“Get him on the bus. We can’t leave him
behind,” I tell her. “I’ve gotta find Iofiel!”

“He’s already back on the bus, Luce. You’re
the only one left. Come on!”

Her words make my heart do a flip in my
chest. She runs effortlessly, carrying Chip like he weighs two
pounds instead of eighty. She climbs up the steps and deposits the
dog at the back of the bus and kids crowd around, hugging and
petting him.

The doors slide shut behind me, but I’m
scouring the crowded bus, searching for him. We see each other at
the same time, our gazes locked, and I crash into his arms. He
wraps them around me, holding me tightly, and we sink into a seat
that’s already got three people sitting on it. I sit pretty much in
his lap, my legs dangling into the aisle.

The bus jerks to life, rumbling down the dirt
road, jarring us around like a bunch of bobble-head dolls. Iofiel
holds me close to him and I snuggle in and steal a kiss, which he
gives without a word. “I’m so sorry, Io,” I murmur, kissing his
jaw. I should’ve listened. We should’ve left last night.

“It’s okay, Lucy. We’re okay.”

For now, I think, but I can only nod.

We drive for a long time, our headlights the
only light in the pitch blackness of three am. The littler kids are
either snoozing or fighting sleep, trying to keep their eyes pried
open, not wanting to miss out on anything. Everyone else seems to
be talking in hushed voices:

“I think we finally outran them.”

“Where are we going to go? Polaris was
home.”

“It’ll be okay. Diesel probably has a
plan—you know how she is.”

“I’m scared.”

Two seats back, MaXXX sits pressed against
the window, his head resting against the glass. His face is blank,
an empty canvas, but he looks so…lonely. And nervous. Polaris was
his home too, budding rock star status or not. It was where he was
accepted for being a freak, just like everyone else on this bus. I
have the urge to reach out to him, but I stuff it back down and
curl up in Iofiel’s lap.

I sleep for what only feels like three
minutes before I’m awake again. The bus lurches, gives a groan, and
dies. Kids begin to murmur frantically to one another. I peer out
the window to find we’re on an empty road with no other cars, lined
with forests on either side of the road. No headlights burn tracks
down the highway.

Diesel stands up, a concerned look flitting
across her features. “Stay on the bus. I’m gonna go take a look
under the hood,” she says, then cranks the door open and heads down
the steps. The bus is filled with a dreadful silence, people
huddled against one another. The little kids haven’t woken up,
thankfully, else we’d probably have crying on our hands.

She’s out there for a long time.

“This isn’t good.” Fallon stands up. “Diesel
can fix anything. Stay here.”

As the words leave her lips, a haunting howl
rises up, fluttering through the windows on the humid summer air.
Iofiel’s grip on my body tightens, clamping me so hard to his chest
that it’s suddenly hard to breathe. Someone whimpers and three more
voices join the hound’s song.

“They’re coming.” His voice is barely a
whisper in my ear and fear spikes my pulse.

We’re sitting ducks on a dead bus. We could
take off on foot, but how far could we really run before the
Unseelie monsters catch up? Before they rip into us like meat bags
and drag us, bleeding and screaming, back to their queen? My body
quivers, my stomach feeling like its inside out and dripping acids
all over the floor.

I blink back the hot burn of tears. “We have
to do something.” As much as I want to stay curled up in Iofiel’s
arms where I’m safe and loved, I know better: We have to face this
Armageddon. I stand up and walk on wobbly legs to the front of the
bus. I stick two fingers in my mouth and whistle, the shrill
cutting through the silence like a knife. Heads snap up and
everyone’s looking at me.