After Flux (The Flux Series Book 2) Read online

  But as I watched, keeping back in the hope they wouldn’t notice me, I saw how it was only one of them at a time who tried to lift the objects in front of them. The concentration on their faces as they stared hard at the ball. Then the other twin stepped forward, and they lifted it easily together, suspended it in midair before allowing it to drop back to the floor. Then they changed places again. They were trying to act independently from each other, but it didn’t appear as though it was working.

  I kept moving, my stomach reminding me I still needed to eat.

  I did as Kit had suggested and gave Hunter some space, though it felt strange being in the Cavern with him somewhere and not being able to seek him out. I hoped he’d come around before this evening. I didn’t want to potentially be putting my life on the line and for him not to be there.

  Chapter Nine

  “You ready?”

  I was lying on my bed, reading. At the sound of his voice, I turned to see Kit waiting in the doorway, his ice-blue gaze fixed on me.

  Dixie was with Sledge, so we’d have to find them on the way out, and Natasha was in the common room. I hadn’t seen Hunter yet. He was avoiding me, and I felt wretched about it. I hadn’t done anything wrong, however, and I needed him to understand that I wasn’t about to be controlled by bad moods and ill temper.

  “As I’ll ever be,” I said, throwing down my paperback and getting to my feet.

  I swallowed down my nerves. I wasn’t sure I was ready, but when would I be? I didn’t even know what Kit had planned, but I figured he must have tried some of whatever it was on himself—after all, he was supposed to have the same ability to not get hurt.

  I wanted Hunter to come to me and say he was sorry and he would support me. The thought that he would let me do this without him by my side devastated me. He was the one who’d put the thought in my head in the first place, and now he was running and hiding. I’d thought more of him than that.

  I followed Kit out into the corridor. He paused to hand something to me, and I glanced down at the metal cylinder. A small flashlight.

  “It’ll be dark up there,” he explained, “even if it is a clear night, which, as you know, we can never rely on around the bay.”

  “True.” I lowered my voice. “Have you told anyone else what we’re doing?”

  “Not exactly. Just that we’re going to do some extra training with you. Everyone knows that’s safer to do outside than in here.” He gave me a quick wink.

  “You mean, in case I bring the roof down on top of us all.”

  “Exactly.”

  We made our way into the Cavern. I kept my eyes open for Hunter, but he wasn’t around. I wanted to ask after him, but stupid pride kept my mouth shut. I wasn’t going to chase him when he was the one in the wrong.

  Dixie, Sledge, and Natasha were all waiting for us. A couple of others milled around. I spotted the twins watching us, but Kit had briefed everyone that we were going to the outside, so no one asked any more questions.

  “You still sure about this?” asked Dixie.

  I nodded. “Yeah. I’m sure.”

  Natasha flashed her perfect white teeth. “Well, I think it’s totally nuts—in a good way, of course. Imagine if you find out nothing can kill you.”

  “And imagine if she doesn’t,” Dixie interjected, “and she ends up seriously hurt.”

  Clearly, Dixie still wasn’t happy about what we were about to do, but I appreciated she’d come to support me, despite her reservations.

  I waved a hand. “It’ll be fine, guys. I think we’ll know which way this is going to go before anything serious happens.”

  Sledged pursed his lips. “Sure hope so.”

  Me, too, I thought, but didn’t say. I was putting on a brave face, forcing a smile, though my heart ached that Hunter was missing from the group.

  Kit gestured toward the exit. “Let’s go, then.”

  We left the Cavern, making our way back out through the tunnel. We had the flashlights with us, so used them to light the way rather than Kit doing his trick with the candles. It wasn’t that lighting them with the force of his mind was a problem, more that it was a pain in the ass to replace all the stubs of candles after they’d burned down.

  We emerged onto the beach. Soft moonlight reflected off the waves of the dark ocean. In the distance, a large container ship crossed the bay, and the lights of several smaller vessels blinked out at sea. We were lucky it was a clear night, but fog could roll in at any moment, and we couldn’t rely on the moonlight and numerous blinking stars to light our way.

  We’d be hiking up to the fort, as we’d be able to move quickly and in near silence on foot. Kit led the way, with us girls in the middle, and Sledge bringing up the rear. There was still a steady flow of traffic over the bridge as we passed under it, the headlamps sweeping across the craggy headland in a rhythmical flow. It wasn’t an easy hike, and before long, our chatter ceased as we concentrated on moving upward. My thighs started to burn with the exertion, my calves tightening, and I naturally leaned forward to keep up with Kit. The heavy breathing of the others behind me filled my ears, and I was glad I wasn’t the only one struggling. How was I supposed to be resistant to harm when I couldn’t even do a hike without feeling like I was about to die?

  We left the bridge and its constant flow of traffic below us, the sea turning into an expanse of darkness, dotted only by the lights of the boats. Across the bay was the multitude of lights of the city. My eyes were drawn to the spot where we’d been the previous day—a spot, had I been close enough, I imagined would be the only place unlit, the electricity feeding the area most likely disrupted by the blast. My sorrow and anger and disbelief for all the poor people caught up in the bombing sat like a black, twisting whirlwind lodged in my chest. It had been there since Karina died, but was injected with fresh ferocity now I knew the bombing wasn’t a one off. Would there be another one before we had the chance to stop whoever was responsible? How many lives would be lost then?

  Something else crept to mind. If there was another attack, would it expose another of the Kin? If it did, it meant someone was out there, tracking those who had yet to display their talents. Those responsible must have worked out which of the women who’d taken the drugs had also died from a brain hemorrhage, and that was the link to having a child with special abilities. If so, someone had a list with each of us who was yet to be exposed to a traumatic event and spark to life their abilities. Someone was tracking down Kin who had yet to fully develop. But who? The Myriad Group, or someone else entirely?

  “Almost there,” Kit called back to us.

  “Thank God for that,” Dixie muttered. “I’m about to die.”

  I laughed, thankful I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. We finally reached the old fort and got to exploring, shining our flashlights around. The empty shells of the concrete buildings place felt spooky in the dark. Our lights caught glimpses of graffiti scrawled on the inside walls, between the metal bars of windows that were no longer filled with glass, if they’d ever been. I shivered. It was easy to imagine the soldiers of long ago hunkering down in this place, manning the canons and watching over the bay for any sign of invasion. Had any of them died here? This place would be perfect ghost territory. The thought caused hair to rise on my arms and the back of my neck, and a shudder wriggled down my spine.

  “Umm, Kit, are you sure this was the right place to come?” I asked, unable to hide the tremor from my voice.

  “Yeah, it’ll be fine. No one else around to question what we’re doing.”

  Except for the ghosts of long dead servicemen.

  “So, where do we start?” The location did nothing to quell my nerves.

  He looked up at the concrete shells of the buildings. “How about some jumps? I know I’m able to withstand jumping from heights. Shall we see how you go?”

  That sounded better to me than stabbing myself, or something as equally dramatic. I wasn’t a great fan of heights, but I could do it if I had Kit beside
me, jumping with me. It had only been a matter of weeks since I’d put enough faith in Hunter, who I’d barely known back then, to jump off the side of the Golden Gate Bridge. Doing this, with the knowledge I had now, was going to be easier than that had been.

  I nodded. “I guess so.”

  “We’ll start low and see how it goes. If you sprain an ankle on the first jump, we’ll know this is a non-starter.”

  He looked around, using the flashlight to scan all the different buildings around us. The fort was built on several different levels, with pits dug out to provide the servicemen somewhere to shelter if they came under attack from the direction of the bay. “We’ll start with that one,” he said, nodding in the direction he wanted me to go.

  It was single story building, about ten feet in height, with a flat roof. It didn’t look too bad from down here.

  I took a breath, “Okay, let’s—”

  My words cut off as a sound snatched my attention. A crunch of approaching footsteps.

  The ghosts I’d been thinking about?

  “Shh,” I hissed. “Someone’s there.”

  The others had all turned in the direction of the sound as well. I wasn’t imagining things.

  “Move.” Kit pushed me to one side, so we ducked behind one of the concrete walls. Who was it? It couldn’t be a hiker at this time. Had the Myriad Group caught up to us? Or else the people involved with the bombings?

  I held my breath, my eyes fixed on the spot where I’d heard the sound. A figure appeared from around the side of the building, and I froze as my eyes adjusted to the poor light.

  The person’s identity dawned on me, and I exhaled a sigh. My heart lifted, and I jumped to my feet.

  “Hunter!”

  I was so pleased to see him, I ran for him and jumped. My arms wrapped around his neck, my legs hooking his hips.

  “Hey!” he protested, half laughing at my over-enthusiasm.

  “You came!” I kissed him hard.

  “Yeah. I’m sorry I acted like an asshole earlier. I couldn’t sit around, knowing what you were doing. I might not agree with it, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be here to support you.”

  Conscious of the others watching, especially Kit, I unwound myself from Hunter and dropped back to the floor. The other greeted him, Sledge shaking his hand, Kit nodding, both the girls giving him a wave. Hunter’s arm was around my waist, and he gave me another squeeze, before dropping a kiss to the top of my head. I smiled up at him, appreciatively. I might have been trying to convince myself I could do this without him, but that didn’t stop me feeling hell of a lot better having him here.

  I turned to Kit.

  “Are we still doing this?” he asked.

  “Of course.”

  I left Hunter’s side to go to him. The ground behind the building was higher, so even though it was a ten foot drop on the side where the other members of the Kin were waiting, it was only about six feet to the roof on the other side. We moved around the back of the building, dirt crunching beneath our sneakers.

  “I’ll give you a boost up.” Kit crouched and looped his hands together to create a step for me to put my foot in, which I did, and he gave me a shove up. My hands grappled with the flat roof, searching for something to hang on to. I found the edges and hooked my fingers on, then used my upper body strength—what little I had—to pull myself the rest of the way.

  “You want me to help you up?” I called down to him.

  “Nah, just scoot over a little. Give me some space.”

  I did as he asked. Kit took a few steps back and then came at a run, jumping for the wall, and almost effortlessly hauling himself up onto the roof.

  I cocked my eyebrows. “Impressive.”

  He grinned. “Thanks.”

  The others shined the flashlights on the side of the building where we’d be jumping from. I moved cautiously, not wanting to topple over accidentally. I got to the edge and gulped. It seemed a lot higher up when I was looking down.

  Kit stood at my side. “Don’t think about it. Just do it.”

  I made a small strangled noise in the back of my throat—possibly not my finest moment. The distance from the top of the roof to the ground made my head spin, and we weren’t even that high up. “No, no, no. I think I’ve changed my mind.” I turned and started to walk away from the edge.

  “We came up here to do this. You need to find out one way or another, but honestly, Ari, I reckon you’ll be absolutely fine.”

  I gave a groan and forced myself to twist back around and face both the edge and Kit still waiting for me. He arched his eyebrows at me expectantly, and I made my legs step forward until I was back in position. Everything inside me was blaring a warning that this was a really bad idea, but Kit was right. I needed to know, and so did the rest of the Kin. This wasn’t just about me. It was about others, too. If I could be used as some kind of weapon to protect them, I wanted to know that.

  At my side, his fingers touched mine, tentatively at first, and then wrapping around to a firmer hold. “You’re going to be fine, Ari. It’s just a jump.”

  I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them again. Don’t think about it, don’t think about it, don’t think about. Pretend you are someone else and all of this is just an act.

  Kit’s voice came from beside me, “One, two, three...”

  I launched myself forward, more worried about Kit dragging me off the roof so I ended up falling at some weird angle than the jump itself. At some point, Kit had released my hand, but I wouldn’t have been able to pinpoint the moment. For a split second, only air was beneath me, nothingness, then I landed, my feet hitting earth, dust bursting up around me. Instinctively, I lowered to a crouch, my fingers meeting with the ground to steady myself.

  Applause broke out around me, and someone wolf whistled. I risked opening my eyes and looked up, light too bright in my vision. I lifted my hand to shelter my eyes, and whoever was shining the flashlight in my face moved it, allowing me to see. I rose to my feet.

  Kit grinned at me. “No problem with that one, I see. You okay?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

  “Good. Now for something higher.” He pointed to another derelict building. Everyone else holding the flashlights swung the beams around so we could see. It was two stories this time, another flat roof.

  “We’ll have to get on the roof from the inside, okay?”

  “I guess.” Moving around inside the building was freaking me out more than the idea of jumping off it.

  Taking another breath, and sharing a reassuring glance with Hunter, I followed Kit. I was pleased Hunter hadn’t made any attempt to stop me. What if this was actually real, and I was going to be able to leap off crazy heights without getting hurt? I knew this was only one of the tests we were going to need to do, but the implications were huge.

  Kit took one of the flashlights with us this time, leading the way. The entire place was concrete, including the stairs. Cobwebs hung in thick strands like gothic party banners, and I flapped my hands over my head every time I felt something tickle my face.

  Kit glanced over his shoulder. “They’re only spiders, Ari. You can’t get hurt, remember?”

  “I don’t care about them hurting me. I just don’t want them crawling down my back.” I shuddered at the thought.

  He laughed. “Almost there.”

  We emerged out onto the flat roof. The stairs had obviously been designed for easy access, and I imagined soldiers lying flat on the roof and taking shots at the approaching enemy.

  I looked over the edge, and the drop was dizzying. My friends appeared impossibly tiny on the ground, and I knew I couldn’t let myself pause for a second if I was going to do this. My brain would kick in, and I’d talk myself out of it. I was barely aware of Kit beside me, not liking how the flashlight was making the height we were at even more dramatic.

  “Are—” he started, but I didn’t let him finish.

  Without allowing myself another thought, I jumped.
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br />   Chapter Ten

  The rush of air snatched the breath from my lungs and whipped my hair from my face. I thought I’d be falling forever, but then my feet slammed into the ground. My teeth snapped together with an audible crack, every bone in my body jarring. I dropped down to the same crouch I’d done before, my fingertips pressing against the dirt. My breath, when I was able to draw it again, came hard, and my heart jack-knifed in my chest.

  Kit thudded onto the ground beside me, making me jump. He still had the flashlight in his hand.

  The others came running over.

  “Jesus, that was high,” cried Dixie.

  Hunter’s hand was on my back, his other hand on my arm, helping me up. “Are you okay?”

  I nodded, barely trusting myself to speak. “Yeah, I think so.” I trembled all over, and my jaw ached from my teeth clanking together, but I was unhurt.

  “That was impressive,” Kit said. “I didn’t even count you down.”

  “I wouldn’t have done it if I’d waited.”

  Hunter put his arm around my shoulder. “You’re shaking.”

  “I’m fine. It was just the shock of actually doing it, I promise.”

  “Something higher now?” said Kit, warming to the adventure.

  Hunter’s arm around me tightened. “I think she needs a break.”

  “How much higher are you talking?” I said, ignoring him. The buildings didn’t go any taller than the one I’d just jumped from.

  Kit jerked his head toward the cliff faces behind us. “That much higher.”

  I chewed my lower lip, considering the prospect. “How do we get up there?”

  “We climb.”

  “Are you sure?” Hunter asked me.

  I shrugged. “In for a penny...”

  I knew I had to see this through. There was no point in coming this far and not proving anything for sure. I’d jumped two stories and been fine. Perhaps it was just luck, but surely I should have felt something—a jarred knee, or bruised ribs. Plus, Kit was also unharmed. What were the chances of both of us jumping that height with neither of us getting injured? I didn’t know how far his resistance to injury went, but so far, so good.