Greys IV - Chains

Chapter 28 - Have Faith

Malachi wasn't quite as good as Nevaeh at getting us rides - but he was close. Where she could simply make someone give her whatever she wanted, Malachi could take whatever he wanted. And in the past twelve hours, that had mainly included a string of luxury cars, each one faster, sleeker, and more ridiculous than the last. He hot wired some with a deftness and ease that would have given pause to any other big sister in the world, easily swiped the keys to others, and convinced owners to hand over still others willingly - with a little help from his Gift and a charming smile. He said Human emotions were easier to manipulate than Darklings, and I knew firsthand that his power was strong enough on our own kind.

When Ailech finally had enough, after the fourth car in eight hours, Malachi assured him that this was the most untraceable way for us to move. That switching vehicles often was smart, and that he used to travel either in 'a suburban tank' or a nondescript mid-grade during his hunts. He also knew that his old master knew how he thought, and he knew he would assume we were traveling more cautiously than we were, more inconspicuously during the day.

Though it sounded like a strange plan, I trusted Malachi. And if he said short but flashy thefts was the best way to not get caught, by being so reckless the Collector's followers would never even consider it was us, then I chose to believe him. I supposed in a twisted way it made sense, just like Malachi. But even with my brother's attempt at lightheartedness, the bodily thrill of the speeds we reached, and knowing that in the span of a day I had gone from thinking James was dead to now knowing his location, all I felt was dread, a sadness, an ache, a pit growing wider and deeper within me. Kael's words repeated in my mind.

He isn't him right now. It isn't him.

Whatever Danny and Zodiac had seen, whatever they thought they knew of my Pair, they hadn't seen him as I had. My dreams of him were returning, slowly emerging from my unconscious like memories of a blackout. They had been coming back ever since my mother showed me her past, ever since her death, like her Gift was seeping into me, surfacing more in me as she sank further from this world. I had been seeing through my Pair's eyes for weeks, watching him hunt, then wait, kill, then stand there, staring. But he only just Shifted this last time, and it had been like a beacon to me. Which meant this could be a trap, one I was rushing headlong into...again, and bringing my Clan, my family, along with me.

I suddenly understood how James must have felt, why he had been so adamant that only he would face his father, why he had threatened me, why he would have hurt me if it meant I couldn't follow him to the manor that fateful night. But I had gone, we all had, and we still lost. My earlier plan of following in James' footsteps, of dying so I could come back a Fallen, hardly seemed wise anymore. Not until I knew if his resurrection had turned him dark...or if it had been the months of torture and training, of Ambriel's Gift and whatever magic or curse or power his tattooed chains had over him. It would do me no good to come back more powerful just to join the side I wanted to fight against.

The drive was long, but I couldn't close my eyes. Every time I tried, every time I so much as blinked for more than a moment, I would see James with Ambriel; his empty stare, him tearing through entire Clans or nests or buildings before standing and waiting for his master like an obedient dog. Images from all I had seen in the last twenty-four hours mixed with the new memories my mind was pulling from the dreams I had forgotten, as still my imagination conjured up even worse images. Soon I didn't know which were true and which were fabrications of what might have happened to him over the last months. Soon I couldn't tell what images were my sick thoughts or my power, visions or memories or nightmares, or nothing at all.

I knew seeing James in the Vampyre nest had been a vision of the future. Just as I knew that his night with Ambriel, his first Shift, had been happening just as I saw it, just a few hours ago. Which meant he was traveling to Holden just like we were. That made me feel less like this was a trap. I had already seen it. I knew he would be there, I knew he would kill them all, then wait. And I knew Ambriel would show up. My teeth clenched so hard it hurt, the anger I felt for her, the black hatred and rage, I had never wanted to hurt someone as much as I wanted to hurt her, to make her suffer, to destroy her again and again in the most depraved, twisted ways I could think of. It would never be enough for what she had done.