The Death Series: A Dark Dystopian Fantasy Box Set: (Books 1-3) (33 page)

“What about the other officer? Wade, I think,” Jade asked.

Garcia nodded. “Chuck's a good man.”

That was a relief. There were three good cops at least.

The night slid past, Sophie and Onyx's profiles in the front seat, Garcia's cruiser moving through Jade's neighborhood like a silent trespasser. As Brett's house came into view, the yard still littered with the gopher mounds, a look passed between Jade and I, remembering.

Garcia said, “If I work with McGraw, I have a chance to eventually expose those hypocrites.”

“What are they?” Jade asked.

“People bent on exploitation for warfare, controlling crime for gain. Instead of using these paranormals' gifts for the betterment of humankind, they're scheming for ways to control. It's always about control, about power.”

Garcia pulled up in front of Jade's place. He turned to wink at me. “I'll stay here with the dog.”

Not bad for an adult.
Jade and I got out of the car.

The tall fence blocked our view of the house, except for a portion of the porch and roof. I opened the gate and left it ajar. We walked to the front porch, where the outside light cast a soft pool of pale color on the steps.

I grasped Jade's other hand and turned her to me pulling her close until she touched my body in a tight embrace, our bodies married together. Pressing my mouth on her lips, softly at first, my hands slid out of hers, moving to the small of her back. She wrapped hers around me. My free hand working up into the nape of her neck, the silky hair winding around my fingers as my mouth moved on hers.

The door wrenched open and Aunt Andrea stood there, anger making the planes of her face a brutal thing. As Jade and I jumped apart, her face flushed with high color, rosy under the glow of the light.

“Where the hell have you been?” Andrea asked, anger twisting her words into a snarl.

Jade jumped back, looking shocked and confused. “Ah... I pulsed you—”

“I wasn't going to get into it on pulse, but this boy”—she jabbed a finger in my direction—“is bringing you home too late. It's one twenty in the morning, and you're fourteen years old!”

I stepped back to stand next to Jade. A bulky figure appeared behind Andrea.
Jade's dad.

Shit.

A look of terror came over Andrea's face.
That
was it, the drunk dad had made an appearance, and she was covering.

Jade's dad said, “Get your ass in this house right now. You and me, we got some talkin' to do.” If he'd been shouting, it would have been less threatening. But that soft voice promised bad stuff was going to happen.

“Is there a problem here?” Garcia asked, strolling up the steps behind us.

Sophie peeked around him, eyes like saucers in a pale face. I was betting she was familiar with old Daddy Dearest.

Garcia's hand hovered above the baton he wore on his utility belt,  a whisper away from use. Jade's dad shoved Andrea aside, slamming her into the doorjamb.

“Jade!”she shouted in warning, clinging to the wood.

I heard the baton escape its sheath with a high whistle, at the same time that I threw myself backward, with Jade attached to my front. My arm was hooked around her waist, her dad's dinner plate sized hand, brushing the zipper of her hoodie as we flew, my body slamming into the grass behind us.

Every bit of air left my lungs in a single crush.

Slippery ass-monkey.

Garcia jumped off the steps and planted a knee in LeClerc's spine. He pressed the baton into the base of the guy’s skull.

Leaning down, Garcia said with soft menace, “We're taking a little ride, LeClerc. We're going to come to an understanding.”

“No we're not, pig!” LeClerc’s words were muffled by the grass he was being forced to eat. “She's my girl! She's gonna stop being with that boy! He's evil! A dead-lover! Satan worshiper!”

Right, that's me, a star in the basement.

“He's AFTD, in case you're too slow to understand,” Garcia said, losing patience. He got out his cuffs and slapped one on a thick wrist. He was reaching for LeClerc’s other arm when Jade's dad bucked hard, throwing off Garcia.

Moonlight slid off the loose cuff as it dangled from his wrist swinging it down toward Jade. As I rolled  her away from that descending hand with my body, his fist connected with her side and she screamed. I let her go. She lay flat on the grass, putting her hands above her face in a defensive position that broke something inside me to witness.

Garcia's not gonna get to us in time.

I rose up on all fours between him and Jade, and he brought up both fists, obviously ready to pound me to get to her. I scooted back to get some distance so I could stand. Then, I leaned back on one foot and brought my other leg around in a roundhouse kick learned in my second year of judo. My heel connected, and his nose exploded with a satisfying crunch.

He staggered back, holding his face with both hands. “My nose! You broke my fuckin' nose!” Blood sprayed between his fingers.

Garcia jumped up, jerked LeClerc’s hands behind his back, and locked the remaining cuff. LeClerc’s frantic breathing caused a big bubble of snot and blood to grow from his nose, pulsing with each breath.

Jade moaned, her hair fanning out behind her, grass stains on her pink hoodie. My eyes burned with the need to cry. But I was the guy here and my Jade was hurt.

“Where does it hurt?” I asked, gently exploring her side.

She hissed when I touched her lower ribs on the right side. I pulled up her lightweight shirt and saw a terrible welt, bright red, in the shape of the cuff, with a grape-colored bruise, blooming at the edges of the mark like an obscene flower.

I looked up at her dad. “You touch her again and I'll kill you.”

He smirked, snot edging toward his mouth as his face was mashed against the ground. “You'll try.”

LeClerc smiled that nasty grin of his, the blood slowing to a trickle, his swollen nose like a clown's.

It wasn't enough damage to satisfy me.

“Caleb,” Garcia started, “... what did you say?”

Andrea and Sophie had their arms twined around each other as my eyes met Garcia's.

“He said he'd kill me, you dumb-ass! He's the one you should be arresting, the zombie-lover!” LeClerc shouted.

“I didn't hear that,” Garcia said, trying for neutral and missing by a kilometer.

Garcia smiled and started hauling Jade's dad away, who shouted over his shoulder at Jade, “Keep your head down, girlie, get away from that loser.”

“Look who's talking,” Garcia said.

“Can I help you get up?” I asked Jade.

She nodded, and I gently helped her to her feet.

Brett jogged over from the direction of his house. “What happened to Jade?”

I couldn't
believe
the night I was having. There must have been a trouble-find-me beacon flashing above my head.

Sophie answered before I could tell him off. “It's her dad, Brett.”

Brett nodded. “Yeah, I saw him in the cop car,” a range of emotion swam across Brett's features. “What did he do to her?”

I didn't think he deserved an answer, but I remembered that his father was just as bad, so I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. “He was pissed because she was with me.”

“Yeah, he wants her with someone normal.”

“Like you?” I scoffed.

“Maybe,” he admitted.

“Stop, both of you,” Jade said, her face pinched.

Brett and I stared at each other. I could taste the trouble we were gonna have trouble in the future; like smelling rain right before it pours.

I made myself turn away from him, gently towing Jade inside the house. As we stepped onto the porch, I heard Sophie whispering with Brett.

Andrea led us into the family room, and Jade walked stiffly to the couch. Pivoting, we lowered her together as Andrea propped pillows behind her. I looked around and saw a smiling Jade in every corner, photos framing her childhood.

“Don't look at those,” Jade said. “They're dumb.”

“Nah... you look cute,” I said.

She gave me a dopey smile.

Garcia poked his head through the door. “I hate to do this to you...”

“It's okay,” I interrupted. “I can walk home.”

“I just can't have you in the car, as it is, he's fighting it.”

I could hear Jade's dad, hammering his feet against the inside of the car door.

A prince of a guy.

I bent over Jade and gave her a kiss on her forehead. She grabbed a fistful of my shirt, jerking my mouth down on hers, kissing it softly.

“There,” she said. “
Now
you can go.” She smiled through a wash of tears.

I followed Garcia out of the house and down the path that led to the front gate.

He paused just inside the gate. “Did you mean what you said earlier?”

I could have pretended I didn't understand what he meant, a purposeful misunderstanding, but I didn't. “Yeah,” I said finally. I glanced at the car. Jade's dad was slamming his feet against the back glass. “That gonna hold?” I asked.

“Yes,” Garcia looked at me, taking my measure.

He reached out and squeezed my shoulder. “You're a good kid, Caleb. Don't worry so much about what you'll be. Just keep doing the right thing, and you'll get where you're meant to go.”

He went to his cruiser and opened the front passenger-side door. Onyx flew out, giving a single bark at the cruiser and a parting growl then bounded over to me.

Stroking his head, I couldn't say I blamed him.

CHAPTER 33

Onyx peed on everything vertical the entire way home. Mom must have been watching through the window because she opened the door before I even got on the porch. She gave me a bone-crushing hug. I glanced over her shoulder at Dad.

“Garcia phoned,” he said. People didn't phone anymore, but my parents still used the expression. “And I think it's time you came clean with us, son. He let us in on a plethora of disturbing occurrences.”

I nodded, disentangled myself from Mom, and followed them inside. I walked over to the couch, and Onyx jumped up ahead of me.

“No. Down, Onyx,” Mom said.

Onyx obeyed immediately, hopping down to lie on the floor, giving mom the big-eye.

I sat down. My eyes burned with that grainy and itchy feeling. My parents looked tired, too.

Dad studied me for a moment. “I think it goes without saying that you won't be having quite as much leash in the future. We know there were extenuating circumstances. Garcia said something about Graysheets?” Mom asked.

I went through the whole story. I was so exhausted afterward that my bones ached. I'd never wanted to sleep so badly in my life.

Mom rubbed her eyes. “Well, we can't solve all of this in the middle of the night.”

Dad had his eyes closed, chin resting in the fist of his hand which was balanced on a knee. “Dad?”

He opened his eyes, bloodshot lightning running through them. “Mom's right, but one thing that keeps nagging at me is this EMP phenomena.”

Mom and I both rolled our eyes.
Unbelievable!
I had nearly been kidnapped, and Dad was dwelling on the electrical snafu.

Mom sighed. “Okay, enlighten us, quickly. What
is an EMP?”

“Electromagnetic pulse,” Dad said.

“Like
pulse,
pulse?” I asked.

“No. Not like our pulse technology, but related. Think on this: what caused everything to stall? The helicopter, everyone's pulses, Garcia's police car?” Turning to Mom, he asked, “How long has it been since our house was compromised?”

Mom thought about it. “A month.”

“That's what we need to address. It's the one puzzle piece that doesn't fit.”

Mom frowned. “Are we safe?”

“For now. I think they'd be fools to attempt to reacquire him anytime soon. Anyway, we can talk about this tomorrow.” He slapped his knees, standing. “Let’s all get some sleep.”

I suffered through a last hug from Mom and Dad.

Onyx and I climbed the steps to my room. As I opened the door, Onyx nudged it aside and jumped up on my bed. He circled to find the perfect dog spot then settled at the foot.

I kicked off my shoes, got undressed, and climbed under the covers.

I was so tired that I was wide awake. It made no sense but that's the way it was; I'd tried to stay awake so long I had gone over the line.

I hung over my bed, digging in my jeans pocket and slid out my pulse. I flopped back on my bead and sent a message to Jade.

Caleb:
Just so you know, I love you
.

I knew that she was probably asleep, but she'd wake up to my words glowing on her pulse.

It'd be the first thing she saw.

I started to drift off just as Mom came into my room pulling up the covers until they were just under my chin. She hadn't tucked me in for years. I was in the twilight of sleep, just as you're sinking under into unconsciousness but awake enough to be aware.

Her breath was warm on my face as she kissed my forehead, my thoughts ending as sleep pulled me under into dreamless oblivion.