Kelly Gay: The Better Part of Darkness

I met his gaze and it pleaded with me, seeming glassier than before. “Off you go.” He gave a nervous chuckle, trying to feign a genial tone for the benefit of the jinn, and then he leaned down and whispered, “Run, Charlie Madigan. Run .”

For as long as I’d known Auggie, he’d been selfish and greedy, but always reliable. Mutely, I shook my head at him. No way would I leave him to these guys, especially after he’d just tried to protect me. I shoved the matches in my pocket and turned as the three stepped closer.

“Get lost, brougá, ” the one in the leather jacket spat.

I sneered back, not appreciating being called the equivalent of a disease-infested whore.

Obviously the one in leather was the leader of this three-ring gang. The other two wore parkas. The jinn were severely hot-natured—even in the notorious heat of an Atlanta summer they wore sweatshirts. That was why a Nitro-gun worked so well. It could stun them into submission, freeze their flesh, and stop their blood flow, and eventually the heart, in one Level-5 blast, but that was a shoot-to-kill-only setting, not something an officer would typically use on the street to detain criminals.

“I’m not done with the spellmonger,” I told the one who’d spoken. “Why don’t you come back later?”

The ringleader made a step toward me. Without thought, I withdrew the gun from the holster under my arm and pointed it straight at his chest; at the same time my other hand held out my badge. A glow built in his violet irises. It meant only one thing.

Attack.

With my thumb, I moved the nitro level up. This jinn was a big one, and I had the distinct feeling he’d fight until his last breath and do his best to take me with him.

“ITF, huh?” A slow, even grin spread across his dark face. He flexed his big, beefy fingers. “I’m going to like breaking you in two. Human bones, they snap like twigs.”

Auggie cursed behind me as the situation exploded.

One of the jinn was on him in a flash. I got one round off against the jinn directly in front of me before the third struck a massive blow against my chest with the palm of his hand. It lifted me off my feet and sent me flying into the brick wall.

The sudden impact knocked the wind out of me. A bright flash of pain sliced through my skull and back.

Dear God.

My gun and badge clattered to the sidewalk. I slid down the wall to my feet, crouching down like some animal, one hand on the pavement as a surge of blinding anger, anger so powerful and excruciating, erupted through me, stinging a path all the way to my fingers and toes. It was hot and cold. I couldn’t contain it, whatever it was. But it erased the pain, so I welcomed it.

A loud hum vibrated from my core. I straightened as the jinn marched toward me with a leer. Calm settled over me, confidence swelled my chest. I wanted to fight, to get down and dirty and give this joker a big ole lesson in southern manners. I had no doubt from Auggie’s reaction that they had supplied the ash . The same substance that had killed, that had put Amanda, and numerous others, in the hospital.

My gaze darted to my weapon directly between me and the asshole jinn.

He paused. I smiled sarcastically.

The sane part of me screamed. What the hell was I doing? Dive for the gun! But the sane Charlie immediately evaporated, overcome by the hum of energy that squelched any opposition. I cocked my head at him. “Come and get it, you alien loser.” They hated to be called aliens. And I lived to irritate the hell out of them.

A low growl issued from deep within his chest. He hunched his shoulders and ran at me like a bull after a rodeo clown. At the last second, I sidestepped and stuck my arm out, connecting with the soft tissue of his throat. He gagged and fell back, gasping for air. I didn’t give him a second to recover before I jerked him to his feet by the parka collar, but he swung up and hit me in the jaw. Blood surged into my mouth. I grabbed at his head, but, like all jinn males, it was just as smooth and hairless as the rest of him. My fingers found the small, delicate cartilage of his ear, and then the two small metal hoops pierced through the skin. I yanked hard. He screamed.

I kneed him in the gut as the other guy, finished with Auggie, jumped on my back. My knees buckled, and we went down in a free-for-all of hands and feet. One of them fisted my hair, lifted my head, and then slammed my forehead into the pavement.

Pain exploded, radiating over the curve of my head. Tiny rainbow crosses danced in my vision. A wave of nausea clenched my stomach. My strength and confidence wavered. Desperate, I bit the hand closest to me, getting a mouthful of thick, hot blood as black and tasteful as tar. I turned onto my back and kicked as hard as I could.

There was blood in my eyes. I couldn’t see. I hurt all over. They were winning, hitting me over and over.

Frustration welled inside me. This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t happen. Not again!

I tried to tap into the anger of before, into the strange confidence and strength that had overtaken me. Please come back. Please help me, I begged, letting my body go slack and opening myself to the strange darkness I knew coiled under the surface even as their fists pounded into my belly and face.

The pain subsided and the familiar hum returned. I breathed a quick sigh of relief, nearly choking on the blood in my mouth, wanting to gag from the metallic spill sliding down my throat and pooling in my tense, empty stomach.

And then I fought back; like an animal, panicked, wild, hearing only my heart pounding through my eardrums and swinging at anything that touched me.

It seemed to go on for hours; a slow-motion dream that wouldn’t end.

“Charlie! CHARLENE ELIZABETH MADIGAN, STOP IT RIGHT NOW!”

Rough bands pinned me against the wall. I struggled against them, against the hard, scratchy surface. Tears made a hot trail down my face. The sensation of loss gripped me. Distant sobs echoed in my ears, and I realized with sudden clarity it was me making those horrid gasping sounds.

The wail of sirens filtered through my disorientation along with my sister’s voice saying my name over and over again.

I was so tired. Too tired to fight anymore.

Cold water splashed on my face, bringing me sputtering back to reality.

What the hell?

My feet were off the ground, my back pressed flat against the brick wall, held there by thick vines that wrapped around my limbs and torso. The vines had come from a potted plant near the map store.

Bryn stood in front of me, holding an empty bucket and staring up at me with tears and worry.

A crowd had gathered, a group of tourists snapping a few pictures. Others were drawn to the gruesome sight of Auggie’s lifeless body surrounded by broken and spilled vials, their liquid framing him in a macabre rainbow of color and blood; and the three jinn bodies, one frozen from the nitro blast and two beaten to death. Blood was everywhere. Mine and theirs. Red and black.

Bryn’s chest rose and fell quickly. Her healthy skin had turned ashen. The smile that always lurked in her eyes was gone. “Charlie,” she urged again, this time with a catch in her voice.

My mouth was too swollen to talk, but I didn’t have to ask. I knew Bryn had done this, had stopped me. I let my head fall back against the brick and pain shot through my skull. Bryn closed her eyes and mumbled. The vines withdrew, setting me gently on my feet. I crumpled to the sidewalk, and she was there, holding me, getting blood all over her pretty yellow sundress. She smoothed the damp hair from my face and talked to me in a soft, soothing voice, rocking me back and forth, her cheek pressed against my temple. The scent of herbs and spices clung to her clothes, skin, and hair. It was a good smell, the kind that eased my confusion.