A blockade shot up, forcing my friends back into the factory. They couldn’t break through the shield, which sent out machine-gun rounds of tiny, dark gray orbs if anyone got too close. One struck Tatyana in the shoulder, sending her tumbling to the ground with a bloodcurdling scream. Dylan scooped her up in his arms, her body spasming. There was no way out. My actions had made Katherine change her mind about waiting to kill us, that much was clear.
We could fight her until we were blue in the face, and it wouldn’t make a scrap of difference. With her self-healing abilities, we’d wear ourselves out long before we managed to capture her. Plus, I doubted Atomic Cuffs would have much effect on her. She had powers I didn’t even know existed, a way of combining the Elements to make entirely new forms of natural energy. Lightning, ice, torrents of molten lava.
Garrett had managed to wake up, and Stella was leaning on him. The ricochet from Katherine’s blast was evidently taking its toll on her body, her eyes unfocused. Meanwhile, Channing tried to pry a way out between two splintered sheets of metal. Dylan handed Tatyana over to Channing and tore the side of the factory open like a can of beans. The outside world beckoned—so close and yet so far. The same volatile shield faced them. Beyond, a wispy figure poked its head out from behind a stack of crates.
Micah… If he makes it, then maybe this’ll be worth something. But we weren’t finished yet. I was determined to fight like hell, until there was nothing left of me.
Raffe stepped forward. He stalked past me and headed toward Katherine. I grabbed his arm, prompting him to whirl around and face me. His eyes burned with scarlet flames, wisps of black smoke unfurling from his skin, which was changing color before my very eyes.
“What are you doing?” I hissed, thinking of Santana. If anything happened to Raffe, she’d never forgive me. “Don’t be an idiot. We can figure this out. There’s strength in numbers, remember?”
Raffe’s eyes burned even brighter. “I’m letting my dark side out, for real this time. What you saw before was nothing compared to what I am capable of. I’m giving Kadar the reins.”
His face morphed into a twisted mask that was both Raffe and not Raffe, at the same time. The crimson of his skin deepened to a dark maroon, the black smoke billowing out from every inch of his body until it became difficult to see the figure beneath. Below the hairline of his curls, two sharp horns appeared, glinting black in the sunlight that glanced in through the factory’s broken roof. Flames danced atop each one.
What the—?
I tugged my hand away from his arm, my fingertips singed by the heat of his flesh. Blisters appeared, though they were the last thing on my mind. Raffe charged toward Katherine before shooting up into the air with inhuman strength. He hurtled back down to earth like a comet, slamming into the ground with all his might. A pulse of delayed explosion jetted through the ground, spreading out like ripples in a pond. Rings of fire followed, expanding outward and knocking down the load-bearing beams of the factory. One hit Katherine square in the stomach, and she stumbled. The shimmering shield around the factory glitched for a moment, before dissipating into the air.
“RUN!” I bellowed, knowing this might be the only chance we had. I didn’t want to leave Raffe behind, but the factory was about to cave in on us. I only hoped that whatever had taken over his body was strong enough to protect him from what was going to happen next.
Everyone else turned and sprinted out of the factory, while my eyes sought out Isadora. She lay on the ground by Katherine’s feet. How she’d ended up there, I didn’t know, but Katherine was performing some kind of weird ritual on her. She held Isadora by the throat, two streams of purple light traveling from Isadora’s eyes and into hers. A second later, a portal tore open behind them, the rush of icy air spreading the licking flames of Raffe’s retribution.
I lunged forward, wanting to get to my aunt, but a firm hand pulled me back. Wade dragged me toward the exit of the factory as the first beams fell. Looking over my shoulder, I saw Raffe charge again at Katherine, the two of them locked in a fierce and terrifying battle while Isadora sank to her knees.
I struggled against Wade’s grip. “We have to go back for them!”
“We can’t, Harley,” he replied.
“We can’t just leave them!” As I spoke, the roof shattered, and the walls began to fold in on themselves. Debris tumbled from the ceiling, slates and beams crashing down. Before I could even react, Wade threw himself on top of me, protecting me with his body as the factory fell in. Through a gap in his hold, I watched Katherine shove Raffe away with a powerful shard of ice, before disappearing through the portal with Isadora in tow. As soon as the portal snapped shut, the rest of the factory gave way. Raffe ran for cover, the maroon shade of his skin fading to his normal olive as he dove out of a fissure in the wall.
A few minutes later, everything stilled to an eerie silence. We lay in the rubble of the old building, the whole thing collapsed around us. We were lucky not to have been hit worse, since it looked like only a few wooden planks had made any impact on my savior.
Wade slowly straightened out with a groan, his eyes gazing into mine. “Are you okay?”
I nodded. “I feel like I should be asking you that. You’re the one with a bunch of wooden slats on your back.”
“It was worth it,” he said quietly.
As I glanced past his shoulder, my eyes widened in a macabre sense of awe. The roof had gone, and there was nothing but blue sky above us, with a chorus of birds chirping in the distance.
Thirty-Four
Santana
“You could’ve been killed, you stupid, stupid, adorable, beautiful man!” I chided, as Raffe came to the end of his story. “Which one of you thought that’d be a good idea, huh? Because I’m going to soundly kick the ass of whichever one of you is responsible, do you hear me?”
He’d come back from the mission an hour ago and had been filling me in on what had happened ever since. It had taken him some time to warm up to admitting what he’d done in the fight against Katherine, and rightly so—I was horrified. To think that he might not have come back just didn’t even bear contemplating. You both promised me you would, and then you go and do a stupid thing like that? What were you thinking?
He shrugged. “I’m not sure which one of us took the lead on that.”
“Convenient,” I retorted, unable to keep the relieved smile off my face. I wanted to be pissed off at them both, but I couldn’t be. They were home, they were safe, and I was eternally grateful for that.
He smiled. “It all worked out, though, so you don’t have to worry.”
“I don’t have to worry?” I snorted. “When you go and do crazy things like that, I definitely have to worry. It sounds like you went a little deeper than you normally do. That was insanely dangerous, Raffe. I know you meant well, but don’t you ever do that to me again, okay?”
“Okay,” he conceded, taking my hand. “As for Kadar, he came out in a way I’d never experienced before. It was like there was more of him than there was of me, for the very first time. I didn’t entirely lose control, but it felt different than the other times I’ve let him loose. To be honest, I’m pretty shocked he went back inside afterward. He was so strong, he probably could’ve overwhelmed me for a bit longer, if he’d wanted to.”
I frowned. “You could have fought your way back through, though, right?”
“Yeah, of course. It just would’ve taken a lot more effort,” he replied, though he didn’t sound entirely convincing. The thought of Kadar taking over unnerved me. He was intriguing, but he wasn’t Raffe. The fact that Raffe was even using Kadar’s given name made me feel odd; he’d never done that so frequently before.
I might’ve named you, Kadar, and I might make your eyes flash blue all sexy-like, but it’s never going to be you over him. Team Raffe all the way, Diablo.
“How do you feel after letting him take control like that?”
Raffe shrugged. “Tired, kind of buzzy, a little bit weird.”
“I’m not letting you off the hook, by the way. I still think you’re both completely stupid for doing that; it’s just that you’re too cute to stay mad at.” I grinned at him, squeezing his hand tighter. It felt good to have him back.
“I think he’s trying to impress you by being on his best behavior.”
“Well, color me impressed, mi amor.”
Raffe’s eyes flashed red for a moment as I pulled him toward me with a seductive smile. My arms slipped around his neck, and he leaned across the hospital bed, his lips grazing mine with that same intoxicating passion that we’d shared before. My breath caught in my throat as he wrapped his arm around my waist and flipped me around, so my body was curled up beside his. I sank deeper and deeper into his embrace, reveling in the sensation of his mouth on mine and his tongue gently exploring.
Raffe’s kisses didn’t match his demeanor. Quiet, shy Raffe was an absolute demon when it came to the old smoocharoos. I could’ve kissed him for hours and never gotten bored. It was kind of weird, not knowing whether the passion came from Raffe or Kadar, but they were part of each other, so I guessed it didn’t matter. It definitely didn’t feel like it mattered right then.
The sound of someone clearing their throat by the door, in the most awkward way possible, made us both freeze. I didn’t want to turn around. If it was Harley or Tatyana, or even Astrid, they’d have made a quip or whistled or something. This presence felt infinitely more… parental.
Grimacing with hot embarrassment, I relinquished my saucy hold on Raffe’s chest and glanced at the door. My mom stood there, looking just as mortified as I felt.
Well, at least we both wish the ground would open up and swallow us all whole, so there’s that.
“Might I have a moment in private with my daughter?” my mom asked.
Raffe jumped up as though I’d suddenly sprouted scales. “Yes, of course. Sorry, Mrs. Catemaco. I… well, it wasn’t… what I’m trying to say is, I was just—”