Night World : Witchlight Chapter 3

Keller glum her head immediately.Nissa was put uping there, cool and imperturbable as al sorts, peerless sacrifice on her hip. Her short mink-colored hair wasnt even ruffled her eyes, dependable a shade or devil darker, were steady. And she was holding an ironwood fighting stick with a very sharp point.Keller growled faintly in relief. You couldnt pick up Nissa to be creative-her mind didnt work that way. al angiotensin-converting enzyme on any question of logic, she was unbeatable, and she had nerves of ice. More Copernican chastise promptly, she was a superb fighter.If you want to p b bothad, why dont you try me? she suggested, and whipped the fighting stick somewhat like an expert a few times. It whistled in the air, traced a complicated figure, and ended up casually across her shoulder. accordingly she slowly extended the point toward the vampires throat.Yeah, and dont leave me issue. This voice was husky and shaky save still grim. It came from goat the counter. Winnie was pulling herself up. She coughed once, then stood straight, facing the vampire.Energy, orange and pul sit d stimulateing, flared between her cupped work force. Witch power.Youre alive, Keller thought. She couldnt suppress the flash of relief.The vampire looked from one girl to the other. and so he glanced at Keller, who was lying on her side, feebly trying to influence her legs work. Her nookie lashed furiously. seeded player on the other vampire sh prohibiteded. He was staggering under the weight of the dragon, heading for the door. Lets perish Azhdeha out of here. Hes the most important thing.The first vampire hesitated one instant, then whirled and plunged after his friend. Together, they hustled the dragon out into the mall. thus they were gone.Keller gave one final gasping snarl and felt herself change. This time, it felt more like a pull together falling out of a shell. Her claws dissolved, her tail withered, and she slumped into her human body.Boss Are you oka y? Winnie came toward her, a wee unsteadily.Keller raised her head, black hair falling on either side to the floor. She pushed herself up with her ramifications and looked nearly, pickings stock.The shop was quiet It was also a wreck. Winnies impact with the beleaguer had knocked off most of the decorative plates and quantify there. Kellers fight with the dragon had trashed a lot of the shelves. on that point were shattered Christmas ornaments everywhere, little glittering fragments of scar permit and holly young and royal purple. It was like being in a giant kaleidoscope.And outside, chaos was gathering. The entire fight had just taken about(predicate) five minutes, but all the time it had been loss on, people had been running past from the shop and screaming. Keller had noticed them she had simply filed them away in her mind as unimportant. There had been nothing she could do about them.Now, there were security officers closing in, and someone had undoubtedly called the police.She pushed with her arms again and managed to stand up.Nissa. It pique her throat to speak. Wheres the car?Right down there. Nissa pointed at the floor. Directly below us, parked outside the Mrs. palm cookie store.Okay. Lets get Diana out. Keller looked at the young girl with the shimmering hair who as yet hadnt spoken a single word. Can you walk?Iliana stared at her. She didnt say anything. Stunned and frightened, Keller guessed. Well, a lot had happened in the come done few minutes.I know this all seems bizarre to you, and youre probably wondering who we are.Ill explain everything. barely right now, we present to get out of here. Okay?Iliana shrank a little, trembling.Not exactly a hero, Keller thought. Or quick on the uptake. Then she decided she was being unfair. This girl was the Witch Child she undoubtedly had hidden strengths.Come on, Galen state to Iliana gently. Shes right it isnt safe here.Iliana looked up at him earnestly. She seemed about to agree. Then she gave a little shiver, close up her eyes, and fainted.Galen caught her as she fell.Keller stared.Shes too pure to deal with this kind of stuff, Winnie verbalise defensively. Violence and all. Its not the same as being chicken.It was at that exact moment that Keller could pinpoint her first real doubts about the new furious indicant. Galen looked down at the girl who lay in his arms like a broken lily. He looked at Keller.You take her well surround you and cover you, Keller said, cutting him off. She knew her hair was in complete disarray, a wild cyclone of black around her. Her sleek jumpsuit was torn and stained, and she was clutching her right shoulder, which still throbbed in agony. barely she essential find looked fairly commanding, because Galen didnt say another word, just nodded and started toward the door.Nissa led the way in earlier of him. Winnie and Keller fell in behind. They were ready to fight, but when the security guards with walkie-talkies saw Nissa whirling her stick, they backed away. The ordinary people, special(a) onlookers attracted by all the noise, not only backed away but ran. Lots of them screamed.Go, Keller said. Fast. Go.They make it to Mrs. handle without anybody trying to stop them.A girl with a red apron flattened herself against a wall as they thrust their way behind the counter and into the sanctum full of industrial-sized ovens in the back. A tall boy drop curtainped a tray with a clang, and lumps of raw cookie dough scattered on the floor.And then they were bursting through the back entrance, and there was the car, a w run acrosse limousine illegally parked at the curb. Nissa whipped out a key chain and pressed a button, and Keller heard the click of doors unlocking.Inside she said to Galen. He got in. Winnie ran around the car to get in the other side. Nissa slid into the drivers seat. Keller ducked in ending and snapped, Go even as she slammed the door.Nissa shock it.The limousine shot foregoing like a dolphin- just as a security truck sped up from the climb up. A police car appeared dead in front of them.Nissa was an excellent driver. The limo swerved with a scab of tires and peeled out of another of the parking lots exits. A second police car swung toward them as Nissa dodged traffic. This one had lights and sirens on. Nissa gunned the engine, and the limo surged forward again. A freeway on-ramp was ahead.Hang on, Nissa said briefly.They were passing the on-ramp-they were past it. No, they werent. At the last possible second, the limo screamed into a ninety-degree turn. Everyone inside was thrown around. Keller clenched her teeth as her wounded arm hit the window. Then they were shooting up the on-ramp and onto the freeway.With a little patter, cats paws of rain appeared on the windshield. Keller, dip forward to look over Nissas shoulder, was happy. With icy rain and the low, gray fog, they probably wouldnt be chased by helicopter. The king-size limousine roared past the few other ca rs on the road and Winnie sat face out the rear window, murmuring a spell to confuse and delay any pursuit.We lost them, Nissa said. Keller sat back and let out her breath. For the first time since shed entered the mall, she allowed herself to relax minutely.We did it.At the same moment, Winnie turned. She pounded the backseat with a small, hard fist. We did it Keller-we got the marvelous Power We Her voice trailed off as she saw Kellers face. And, uh I guess I disobeyed orders. Her pounding was self-conscious now she ducked her strawberry-blond head. Um, Im sorry, Boss.Youd better be, Keller said. She held Winnies gaze a moment, then said, You could have gotten yourself killed, witch-and for absolutely no good reason.Winnie grimaced. I know. I lost it. Im sorry. But she smiled timidly at Keller afterward. Kellers team knew how to read her.Sorry, too, Boss, Nissa said from the front seat. She slanted a glance at Keller from her mink-colored eyes. I wasnt supposed to leave the car. But you thought we might get a little help, Keller said. She nodded, meeting Nissas eyes in the mirror. Im glad you did. The faintest flush of pleasure colored Nissas cheeks.Galen cleared his throat.Um, for the record, Im sorry, too. I didnt mean to charge in like that in the middle of your operation.Keller looked at him.He was smiling slightly, hesitantly, the way Winnie had. A nice smile. The corner of his mouth naturally quirked upward, giving him a hint of mischief in all but the most serious moments. His green-gold eyes were apologetic but hopeful.Yeah, who are you, guy? Winnie was looking him up and down, her dark lashes twinkling. Did rotary converter Daybreak send you? I thought we were on this mission alone.You were. I belong to Circle Daybreak, but they didnt send me. I just-well, I was outside the shop, and I couldnt just stand there His voice died. The smile died, too. Youre real mad, arent you?he said to Keller.Mad? She took a slow breath. Im furious.He blinked. I do nt-You stopped me. I could have killed himHis gold-green eyes payed in shock and something like remembered pain. He was killing you.I know that, Keller snarled. It doesnt matterwhat happens to me. What matters is that now hes free. Dont you understand what he is?Winfrith was looking sober. I dont know. But he hit me with something powerful. Pure energy like what I use, but about a ampere-second times stronger.Hes a dragon, Keller said. She saw Nissas shoulders stiffen, but Winnie just shook her head, bewildered. A kind of shapeshifter that hasnt been around for about thirty thousand years.He can turn into a dragon?Keller didnt smile. No, of course not. Dont be silly. I dont know what he can do-but a dragon is what he is. Inside. Winnie suddenly looked queasy as this hit home. Keller turned back to Galen.And thats what you let loose on the world. It was the only chance to kill him-nobody will be able to take him by surprise like that again. Which means that everything he does after this is going to be your fault.Galen shut his eyes, looking dizzy. Im sorry. But when I saw you-I couldnt let you die.Im expendable. I dont know who you are, but Im willing to bet youre expendable. The only one here who isnt expendable is her. Keller jerked a thumb at Iliana, who lay in a pool of pale silver-gold hair on the seat beside Galen. And if you think that dragon isnt going to come back and try to get her again, youre crazy. Id have died happy knowing that Id gotten rid of him.Galens eyes were open again, and Keller saw a flicker in them at the dont know who you are.But at the end, he said quietly, Im expendable. And Im sorry. I didnt thinkThats right You didnt And now the whole world is going to suffer.Galen shut up and sat back.And Keller felt odd. She wasnt sorry for slapping him down, she told herself. He deserved it.But his face was so pale now, and his expression was so bleak. As if hed not only understood everything shed said but expanded on it in his own mind. And the look of hurt in his eyes was approximately insupportable.Good, Keller told herself. But then she remembered the moment shed spent inside his mind. It had been a sunlit place, warm and open, without dark corners or shadowed crevasses. Now that would be gone forever. There was going to be a huge black fissure in it, full of horror and shame. A mark he would carry for the rest of his life.Well, welcome to the real world, Keller thought, and her throat tightened and hurt. She stared out the window angrily.See, its really important that we keep Iliana safe, Winfrith was saying quietly to Galen. He didnt ask why, and Keller had noticed before that he hadnt asked why Iliana wasnt expendable. But Winnie went on telling him anyway. Shes a Wild Power. You know about those?Who doesnt these days? He said it almost in a whisper.Well, most humans, for one thing. But shes not just a Wild Power shes the Witch Child. Somebody we witches have been expecting for centuries.The prophecies say shes going to unite the shape-shifters and the witches. Shes going to marry the son of the First House of the shapeshifters. And then the two races will be united, and all the shapeshifters will join Circle Daybreak, and well be able to hold off the end of the world at the millennium. Winnie finished out of breath. Then she cocked her strawberry-blond head. You dont seem surprised. Who are you, guy? You didnt really say before.Me? He was still looking into the distance. Im nobody, compared to you people. Then he gave a little wry smile that didnt reach his eyes. Im expendable.Nissa caught Kellers eye in the rearview mirror, looking concerned. Keller just shrugged. Sure, Winnie was telling this expendable guy a lot. But it didnt matter. He wasnt on the enemy side and anyway, the enemy knew everything Winnie was saying. They had identified Iliana as the third Wild Power the dragon proved that. They wouldnt have sent him if they hadnt been sure.But still, it was time to get rid of this int erfering boy. They certainly couldnt take him to the safe house where they were taking Iliana. secret code tailing us? Keller said.Nissa shook her head. We lost them all miles ago.Youre sure?Dead certain.Okay. Take any exit, and well drop him off. She turned to Galen. I hope you can find your way home.I want to go with you.Sorry. We have important things to do. Keller didnt need to add, And youre not part of them. Look. Galen took a deep breath. His pale face was strained and exhausted, as if hed somehow lost three days sleep since hed gotten into the limo. And there was something close to desperation in his eyes. I need to go with you. I need to help, to try and make up for what I did. I need to make it right.You cant. Keller said it even more brusquely than she meant to. Youre not trained, and youre not involved in this. Youre no good.He gave her a look. It didnt disagree with anything shed said, but somehow, for just an instant, it made her feel small. His greeny-gold eyes were j ust the opposite of the dragons dusky ones. Keller could see for miles in them, endless light-filled fathoms, and it was all despair. A sorrow so great that it shook her. She knew it must be costing him a lot to show her that, to hold himself so open and vulnerable. But he kept looking at her steadily.You dont understand, he said quietly. I have to help you. I have to try, at least. I know Im not in your class as a fighter. But I He hesitated. I didnt want to say this-At that moment, Iliana groaned and sat up.Or tried to. She didnt make it all the way. She put a hand to her head and started to fall off the seat. Galen steadied her, putting an arm around her to keep her propped up.Are you all right? Keller asked. She leaned forward, trying to get a look at the girls face. Winnie was leaning forward, too, her expression eager.Howre you feeling? Youre not really hurt, are you? You just fainted from the shock.Diana looked around the limousine. She seemed utterly confused and disoriente d.Keller was potty again by the girls unearthly beauty. This close, she looked like a flower, or maybe a girl made from flowers. She had peach-blossom skin and hazy iris-colored eyes. Her hair was like corn silk, fine and shimmering even in this dim light. Her hands were small and graceful, fingers half curled like flower petals.Its such an honor to meet you, Winnie said, and her voice turned formal as she uttered the traditional greeting of the witches. Unity, Daughter of Hellewise. Im Winfrith Arlin. She dimpled. But its really Arm-of-Lightning. My familys an old one, almost as old as yours.Diana stared at her. Then she stared at the back of Nissas mink-colored head. Then her eyes slid to Keller.Then she sucked in a deep breath and started screaming.