The Gemini Age: Book One

[7-3] A Hard Rain to Fall - Part Three

    Under the sunken clouds, the rain splashed against the paving tiles and swilled in the divots and slopes worked into the concrete. Raindrops dived through the air, yet the spatter of spray from the side of the road crowded them out with dark water and darker gravel that swiped out at eye-level. The rain was loud, the traffic was louder, and the bassy gulp of an opaque puddle choking down a pedestrian's foot was the most egregious sound of all. Such a sound was also a rarity, for most of the city's inhabitants had retreated indoors to indulge in one of many long-running grumbles. Tonight's subject would no doubt be the lack of action by the government's Tempereds regarding the North Atlantic jet stream and its constant rain.

    Out of Point Locke's far-reaching shade, Jade's frustration festered into a rancid blend of razor-sharp anger and deflated sadness. Penelope's sudden performance of aristocratic reticence had wounded her, and the stark contrast with the twinkle-eyed girl that knocked on Wilfred's door last night drove a dagger into her heart. Yet what twisted that dagger was her own shame at falling for Penelope's sweetness, her rosy daydream that somebody as socially otherworldly as a lord's daughter might connect with somebody ordinary like herself. 

    Now, Jade knew it was a miracle Penelope had bothered to remember her name, though she may not have had to. There was more than enough space in that tech-strewn compound for some gadget that aided the Lockes in that regard. They were too important to exert their own memories over such minor matters.

    Jade heard the bells of the cathedral toll throughout the city and took a moment by a roadside bollard. Only as she took in the raw scent of petrichor did she notice the rain soaking into her hair, yet she decided against bubbling herself out of the wet weather and drying herself magically. Such a feat needed a lot of concentration to pull off in the rain, but on a deeper level Jade sometimes preferred to be so close to the Cold elements. The water rolling over her fingertips invigorated her as it dove into her mind and resurfaced with sepia-tinged memories of childhood. 

    Years ago, after she first manifested her Cold soul, Jade would leave her shoes behind and run outside on the warmest and wettest of April days, just to feel the cool, black dirt against her bare feet. Some days, she would run as far as the bank of the Lune and walk in one of its many minor branches until the stream deposited into a pond large enough for her to lay back in and flow with the currents. Come winter, and she would sling her coat over the naked limb of a nearby ancient tree and let the first flakes of snow settle and melt against her arms and face. Jade allowed herself a small smile of wonder at how her parents refrained from screaming at her every evening. She ruined enough pairs of dungarees to warrant it.

    A flash of light snapped Jade from her daydreams, and she carried herself over the standing water in time to see the first wing of flame skirt by her face. She raised a pillar beneath her feet and watched for another spark to come her way. The next feather of fire singed the rim of her platform as it directed her eyes to the shaded form of her attacker. "What's the big idea?" Jade called out through the rain, snapping off a piece of her platform to lob at the stranger.

    Two more blasts of flame, bright and hot despite the rain, flew by her shoulder. "Stop wasting my time!" the stranger said as they whipped up a wind to topple Jade from her perch. The gust was so powerful and precise, Jade barely realised she had slipped before she hit the pavement below and cried out from the dull pain in her shoulder blades. She blocked the stranger's approach with a fan of water from the pavement fired by her heels.

    Jade picked herself up as a thin stream of fire dissipated over her shoulder. It was much weaker than anything the stranger had thrown up to now, yet it had also come from behind Jade rather than the alley opposite her. A second unfamiliar voice confirmed Jade's suspicions. "Stupid girl! You had orders to guard our getaway!"