Page 3 of Broken Destiny

“You said we’re in a hurry, Geena. I’m just helping her.”

Geena scowls at me like I asked for the help. I didn’t. I continue to struggle in the man’s arms, threatening to send us both tumbling down the stairs. His grip merely tightens, one arm placed under my knees and the other behind my back.

“Be still,” he growls at me, his expression half amused and half frustrated.

I stop fighting, but only because I don’t really want to break anything else. I’m worried he’ll drop me out of spite.

Geena continues to scowl, somehow not losing any beauty while she does so. “Let this be a lesson, girl. We don’t take in charity cases, and I don’t know what Ansel is playing at. You may not be fully human, but you’re close enough, and your brokenness only makes you more human in our world. You pull your own weight or we’ll bring you right back to where you came from.”

I’m confident my eyes spit fire. People have been calling me lesser my whole life, but somehow it stings more than usual. Kodi stops laughing, his face morphing into a scowl aimed at the bitchy woman. I pull my braces across my chest so they’re not banging against Ansel’s body and smile sweetly at the woman, using my irritation to fuel my words.

“Yes, I’m certain I used all my feminine wiles and my poor disability to encourage this man to pick me up and cart me around like a bag of apples. And I definitely asked to be inducted into your snooty-ass society, so it’s all my fault. Please, do deposit me back from whence I came. Posthaste, too.”

Everyone frowns at me at that point, the first real expression I’ve seen on the old man’s face. Geena is speechless when presented with my awkward, half-archaic speech. She turns around with an elegant humph. Ansel’s eyes glitter and I tighten the arms I’ve crossed over my chest.

“Don’t look at me like that,” I grumble.

“Like what?” He arches an elegant eyebrow, somehow more perfectly than any model I’ve seen in a magazine ad.

“Like you actually give a fuck,” I hiss and resolve to ignore him. Even after he’s deposited me in the back of the cushy, long limousine, I don’t meet his gaze. Hopefully, I never have to see him again. I don’t want to be the half-human who arouses his need to do a good deed. I refuse to be used to assuage someone’s guilt.

Chapter Two

Zosia

The back of the limo is quiet. I’ve never been in such a luxurious vehicle, actually, anywhere that’s so nice. I swallow my sigh of relief that I can finally sit, but most of all, that I’m out of that man’s arms. He sees far more of me than anyone has in a long time. He seems to know every secret I have and still finds me worthy. I don’t know how to respond to that.

Kodi sits next to me, looking somewhat concerned for the first time since I met him. Benny is under some sort of spell, thank the nonexistent gods. I don’t want to deal with his brand of crazy in such a small space. The ill fairy slumps against the leather seats, her eyes closed.

Experimentally, I reach out and prod Kodi. He’s still comprised of the usual different shades of gray, but something gives when I touch him.

He jumps and glares at me. “Don’t poke me!”

“Why not? First of all, I wasn’t sure you could feel it. Second of all, you’ve been torturing me for years. Maybe it’s time for a little payback?” The silver collar the old man put around his neck glitters. Although I have no experience to draw upon, I’m sure that’s the reason he’s somehow morehereall the sudden.

“Isn’t it enough payback that you’ve dragged me along to wherever you’re going? I was perfectly happy being dead and haunting all the miserable orphans.”

I try to arch an eyebrow, but I’m certain I don’t look nearly as elegant as the infuriating supernatural. “Surely you’re not serious? Any place is better than there.”

“You keep telling yourself that, Princess,” he growls at me. “You don’t even know where we’re going.”

Remorse sparks within me. I am sorry for dragging him with me. It was a purely selfish compulsion. “I’m sorry,” I say in a quieter voice, glancing over at Benny. The first rule of predators: never let them see weakness. Thankfully, the freaky little monster doesn’t move. “I had no idea they could do whatever they did to you.”

I study him more closely. I recognized a fellow damaged individual in him when we first met, but we never spoke about what broke us. I don’t think he remembers any more than I do. He tried scaring the shit out of me a couple times, and I threw some books at his misty form. Eventually, we settled into an easy truce. He scared away the older boys who wanted to pick on the crippled girl. In return, I read to him and offered the only companionship he could find since no one else could see him. I owe him more than a couple stories for all the times he’s saved me.

Kodi shrugs. “Maybe it’s for the better. I was getting tired of that place anyway. Same old boring thing, over and over.”

I wait, hoping he’ll tell me what he knows without me having to beg for it, but of course, this is Kodi. He’s one of the most stubborn, infuriating guys I’ve ever known. I roll my eyes and grit my teeth together while he smirks and peeks at me out of the corner of his eerily inhuman eyes.

“Fine,” I spit after a second, “tell me where we’re going.”

“No please?” His lip hitches higher. I poke him again, surprised to feel even more give in whatever makes up his essence. He curses, rubbing his bicep with a pout. “Stop doing that. I’m all sensitive and shit after being unable to feel anything for years.”

My eyes widen, and I’m suddenly interested in a whole different set of things. “What did they do to you? Can you feel everything? Are you breathing? This must be weird.” I lean closer to him, intent on checking his pulse or his chest for breathing. He sinks back into the cushions, almost seeping through the leather like he would in his pure ghostly form.

“Zo, stop it!” he growls.

I ease my forward descent and study him anew. He’s attempting to hide it, but there’s a spark of fear behind his strange silver gaze. I sit back and fold my hands over my lap, my braces sitting on the other side of me like waiting sentinels. I always keep them within arm’s reach, even while sleeping. Not only are they my only hope of escape, however slow that might be, but they also make wonderful weapons in dire circumstances. I hope the all-knowing, superior beings grabbed my wheelchair. I can’t walk all the time.

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