Page 101 of Dead Wrong

Once we left the woods behind, hitting the paved road that led away from the quiet mortal town, Kaine took point, revving the engine as our speed climbed and climbed. The wind whipping past my ears was the only thing I could hear, and as we reached the open road, the sting of raindrops against my skin felt like electricity biting into me.

Lightning streaked across the sky, lighting the way for us in spurts. The rumbling thunder indiscernible from the rumbling engine beneath me as I clung to Kaine, burying my face into his back to escape the painful impact of the rain.

The ride would be long and grueling if this rain persisted, however, when we reached our destination, Death may very well be waiting to greet me.

If these were to be the moments leading up to my finale, I couldn’t have asked for a more dramatic backdrop.

Loosening my grip on Kaine’s waist, I lifted my head from his back, squinting into the streams of stinging rain. Each collision reminded me I was alive. I was still here, no matter what happened, no matter what memories still lurked beyond the chaos of my mind.

I was alive.

Spreading my arms wide, they caught the wind as it rushed by. And in the next rumble of thunder, I let loose a howl of my own from the very depths of my soul, crying along with the heavens.

I was alive. At least for the time being.

We made it into the Magi City in a little over an hour. Kaine was right. The train would have taken at least double the time. Irwin and Reed split off from us once we hit the outskirts, each with their own assignments I wasn’t privy to. Kaine seemed to operate as the de facto leader when Azrael wasn’t around, and the other took their lead from him.

“We’ll lay low for now,” Kaine told me as we stopped to let me stretch my legs and regain feeling in my ass. “The Council isn’t scheduled to meet till later this evening, so that gives us a few hours to get eyes on the key players. Adoranda will show, no doubt about that, but Lynette still hasn’t been sighted again.”

I wrung the hem of my sweater out, the rainwater spattering the ground like an animal relieving itself. Thankfully, the rain moved on just as we entered the city, but the oppressive clouds stayed behind, blotting out the stars. With the wind funneling through the buildings, I couldn’t escape the chill.

“My apartment isn’t too far from here,” I told Kaine. “There’s no need for us to skulk on the street like a couple of vagrants. Plus, we can get dry. And I think I owe you dinner, if I’m not mistaken?”

“That’s not part of the plan,” Kaine argued, brushing the rain-slicked hair from his eyes.

“Plan or not, I need dry clothes. There’s no chance they’ll let me anywhere near the Council looking like a drowned rat.”

Kaine seemed to chew on the idea for a moment longer before conceding.

“I go in first, and if there’s anything suspicious, we hightail it outta there. Understood?”

“Whatever you say,” I agreed.

I gave him the directions, and we were off again, thundering down the familiar city streets. Once we arrived at the high-rise that contained my apartment, Kaine stashed his bike in the alleyway, muttering a string of words under his breath to make it vanish before my eyes.

“That’s handy,” I said, eyeing his work.

“Being ‘Unseen’ certainly has its perks.”

The air around him shimmered and he disappeared next, tapping me on the shoulder to alert me that it was time to move.

Inside, the doorman thankfully let me by without a fuss. He even provided me with my spare key so I wouldn’t have to resort to breaking in my own door. The lift carried Kaine and I up to the twenty-seventh floor, and a short walk down the hall later, we were inside my apartment.

I had only been gone for a few days, so the space still felt lived in. Materializing, Kaine went straight for the fridge, rummaging around and making the odd comment about how I didn’t have any real food.

“Order something,” I told him, pointing to the stack of menus by the rotary phone on the wall. “Tell them to bill it to my account.”

This seemed to please Kaine as he excitedly flipped through the pages.

Down the hall to my bedroom, I closed the door behind me, exhaling a sigh of relief at the sight of my own bed. The cleaning staff had been in since I last left, so the sheets were tucked tightly, and the pillows arranged just so. Peeling the wet, mismatched clothes from my body, I tossed them into the bathroom. No amount of laundering would ever get the smell of wet-Kaine off of them, so I’d probably end up burning them after this was all over.

I took a moment to refresh myself, washing my face and passing a comb through my damp hair. My reflection was hardly recognizable at this point, the dark bruise-like circles under my eyes, something I would normally conceal, on full display, my shoulder bandaged together, and my lips splintered from the wind. It was hardly the time to care about such things, however.

Pulling on a clean pair of jeans and a sweater that actually fit, I swapped the dirty sneakers for my favorite pair of boots and headed back out into the hallway.

“What kind of food did you decide on?” I called ahead of me, stopping short of the living room to grab a jacket from the hallway closet.

Silence.

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