One Broken Legacy

Chapter 6: Ducking Out and Planning Ahead

"Your girlfriend!" Anya barked, her canines bared. "That's rotten luck."

I didn't have time to explain the whole situation to Anya. After what I had faced, bringing Kiri in would expose one of the best things in my life to some of the worst things.

"She can't see me here. Not until everything is smoothed out and safe." I spoke more to myself than Anya. "Is there a back way out of the club?"

I ducked as a rotating light flashed by. God, I was jumpy. I looked like a cheating girlfriend. If Kiri saw me. I shuddered at the thought.

Anya shook her head, pointing to the door. "You leave the way you came in. The emergency exits lead to the sewers. You don't want to go out that way."

I cursed and stuffed my phone in my back pocket as I plotted my way through the club. I needed to keep my cool. "I'll contact you sometime tomorrow."

"Good luck, Morill. I'll keep you on the down-low, so your girl won't see."

I thanked her and slipped off the seat, leaving a few crumpled bills on the counter. My heart pounded. I couldn't get the wild beats under control. I thought a few weeks apart would dull the guilt, but it hadn't. If anything, it made things worse, and I couldn't get my pounding heart under control.

When everything calmed down, I would find her and tell her what happened. Kiri would understand, she always did, but I needed to think. To prepare. To figure out what I was going to say without saying too much.

Keeping my head down, I scurried along the wall, brushing past couples and dancers as I was jolted around. A young shifter bumped into me, her hair flashing a dull blond before returning the previous vibrate orange.

Through it all, the sound of Kiri's song followed me, beating down like a waterfall. She sang of loss and the rage that followed betrayal as the club rippled around her, pulsing and throbbing like a belligerent fighter.

Kiri had always been a fighter. Strong-willed and solid, she was different from any other Siren I had met. An outsider from her species just as I was from my family. It only took a few weeks of friendship before it turned into something more, much to her family's disdain.

Sirens were not commonly tied down by human constructs. They lived to survive, dating was anything but instinctual. However, they were very possessive of what they saw as theirs.

I retrieved my jacket, watching Kiri out of the corner of my eye. Even at the distance, the familiar flutter in my heart returned. It wasn't the fleeting butterflies, rather the comfort like everything had become simpler.

As I slipped out, I felt the weight of eyes on me. I didn't look back to check who's they were. That would only be pushing my luck.

My hands shook as I pedaled back up the silent road to the dorms. It had stupid not to scan the town for more Coth. I spent too much time looking and not watching.

My front wheel ran over a yard sign with an image of claws and eyes that had been blown from some random home. Amidst the immaculate yards with flowers and shrubbery, they were only constant. Leave it to a shared hatred of others to bring people together.

Headlights turned onto the road ahead, and a busted red truck came into view. It took half a second for me to see it, suck in a breath, and tip my bike into a ditch.

I hugged the earth, pebbles cascading around my face and lodging in my hair. The smell was what you'd expect in a ditch: oil, gas, and mold. It was worth it to keep out of sight and off the radar of the people inside the truck.

I knew The Children of Man patrolled the streets in some haphazard attempt at unity. I just thought they were too stupid to come out this far.

They were ignorant, but ignorance did not translate to harmless. The Children of Man were more dangerous than anyone realized. Anya had been quick to dismiss them, and Nick joked about their 'club'.