Destiny's Blood by Marie Bilodeau (best authors to read .TXT) 📗

“You shouldn’t have let her die. You couldn’t have let her die,” the Kilita’s voice remained as calm and as steady as his hands, only his unblinking eyes betraying his intensity.

Josmere’s green hair flicked her arms as she shook her head, as though at a loss for words.

“She would have killed us,” Layela said.

“She would have killed you,” the Kilita answered, his eyes still on Josmere. Layela dared to lower her hands, which the intent Kilita appeared not to notice. She held her breath. With or without mists, she was certain he meant to kill them.

“She would have killed you, but you would have lived!” He hissed, as though only breath was left to him, his voice as lost as the look in his eyes.

Josmere kept shaking her head and Layela didn’t bother wondering what he meant. She reached for her gun and fired it, striking the Kilita in the shoulder. Orange blood oozed out and mixed with the green. He returned fire from his wounded arm, the bullet ricocheting harmlessly on the wall beside them. Even with his shoulder wounded, he was fast. He switched his gun to his other hand and fired again. The bullet struck Layela’s gun and grazed her flesh as she fell back against the wall.

“Run!” Josmere screamed. She grabbed Layela and pushed her, first down one corridor and then another. Bullets followed them closely.

“He’s slow but determined,” Josmere whispered through gasps. She hobbled behind Layela at an amazing speed. “Just keep running!”

Layela didn’t bother replying, her ragged breath echoing in her ears. She turned down several corridors, passed by what she thought might be her room, and kept running. Soon, she was hopelessly lost on the big ship.

Turning down another corridor, she realized the gunshots had stopped. She chanced a glance back as the main lights flickered, and then they died, leaving only the eerie flash of red lights. Her blood turned cold.

Somewhere along the way, Josmere had stopped following her.

Her heartbeat quickened further as she turned around and ran back, fearing her wounded, foolish friend had decided to take on their foe alone.

i

A few corridors and some minutes back, Josmere had ducked into an entryway and watched Layela vanish around a corner. Her own footsteps and ragged breathing would be enough to fool her into thinking the two were still together.

She pressed herself heavily against the cold metal wall as the Destiny lurched again. The main lights flickered twice before dying completely. Only the eerie glow of the flashing red lights remained. She was Berganda, and her sight depended greatly on daylight. She wished she knew if the Kilita, being an ether race like hers, faced the same limitations. Still, she could see well enough to battle, and the darkness might yet be to her advantage.

A grunt around the last corner alerted her that he was coming and she pulled her gloves free.

Cover all exits. Yoma had often repeated as the two snuck through the shadows, wraiths rarely seen but with great consequence. And success. The memories of her oldest ally made her grin and feel stronger as she pulled her knife from her boot.

In her grief for the family she could now never have, Josmere had almost forgotten about the family she did have: the Delamores. Josmere’s hesitation could have cost Layela her life. She was all she had left right now, and she didn’t intend to lose her, too.

She clutched her knife tighter. She wasn’t certain her powers would work, but her long blade always did.

The smell of sap overpowered her senses, and a second later he passed without noticing her in the shadows, his gun trained forward on Layela’s path of escape.

I hate heroics, Josmere thought. She jumped out and slashed down toward his neck. The Kilita moved sideways swiftly, the failed blow sending her forward and throwing her off balance. He turned around, victory flashing in his eyes. He had set a trap of his own.

And she had leapt right into it.

CHAPTER 27

Layela ran towards the Kilita harder than she had run away from him. Her chest throbbed and her breath burned, but still she ran. Her footsteps echoed on the metal, and she did not care.

She tried to figure out how long it had been since she had heard Josmere behind her. The answer frightened her and she pushed herself even harder. She had no weapon, but the sight of Josmere’s wounded leg and the flash of her grin was all she could think about.

She turned the next corner so quickly she rammed into the wall. Josmere was at the end of the corridor; the Kilita’s gun was drawn.

Josmere crouched, about to jump. The Kilita screamed deeply and fired. Josmere’s leg failed her and she stumbled, her eyes wide and impossibly white against her green skin despite the ship’s flashing red lights.

Layela’s gasp burned her lungs. Josmere’s body was flung against the side of the corridor, hit in the centre of the chest. Her green blood coated the wall as she slowly slid down it, her eyes closing. Her head collapsed forward on her chest.

“Josmere!” Layela screamed, the sound mixing with the Kilita’s holler.

The Kilita turned around. His pupils were devoured by grief and his eyes glowed such a deep red that Layela took a step back.

i

Romero aimed his gun like it was an extension of his limb. He wondered if the girl had seen her own death, and if this would be it.

With the scent of sap still filling his nostrils, he suddenly longed to feel the girl’s ether again, to force her mind to travel past the brink of death and show him the afterlife he now needed to believe in.

Her eyes met his with a chilly sadness in them. She was seeing his death again, he knew, and he wished the ether still courted him and allowed him to remember more of her memories and visions.

He felt relief as he aimed and pulled the trigger. This wretched pain