Wrath of the Gods [Legacy, BK 3 - Hiatus]

1.3 - Jett

This kid was on something. I couldn't tell what, but he had to be tripping. How'd I get stuck out here by myself? I pulled the door to the club open again, the music growing louder and washing over me with the cloud of escaping smoke.

"Hey, is this guy bothering you?"

The new voice belonged to a Mr. Fancypants in a decent suit, and to my surprise, he was looking right at me. I was more used to being the one to take the blame for causing the trouble. It was one of the downsides to expressing my individuality as I did. Everyone thinks that anyone dressed out of the norm was a troublemaker. So, why the hell was this guy looking at me?

Before I could say anything the guy with the bird stepped in front of me.

"I'm not looking for trouble. You still have a chance to walk away from this."

Oh, I wanted to laugh at this guy's tone. But there was a serious note in it that made me think he was trouble. Was he hiding a gun under that hoodie?

Mr. Fancypants stopped a few yards from us, a sneer on his face as he focused on the guy with the bird. Even though I was standing away from them, I felt caught in the middle. What the hell was going on? Was this some sort of turf war?

"Call your demons, Reinhardt. The bounty on your head is mine."

Reinhardt? The name stopped my heart, just as it had when the bird had said it. But before I could even think on it, Mr. Fancypants raised a hand that burst into flame.

The bird took off, diving straight for the human torch, who then threw the fire he'd been holding.

Had I been drugged?

A hand grabbed my own, pulling me deeper into the alley, where the shadows were darker than the light-polluted sky. The guy in the hoodie stopped, let go of me, and started waving his arms around.

I had to get out of here, I didn't want to be caught up in some crazy gang war. The bird let out a loud caw. Mr. Fancypants was stalking us. Blood ran down his face, and he looked pissed.

A flash of light, and I was pulled by the arm again.

"Come on," he yelled and yanked me backward. I stumbled over my feet and fell. I threw my hand out to catch myself, expecting the hard wet concrete to break my fall. Instead, I landed in a soft pit of untouched snow.

Rolling over, I found that I wasn't in the alleyway, but in a park. Trees loomed tall over me, and nearby, a wooden pavilion. Suddenly, I recognized where we were. Wagner Cove was a hidden gem of landmarks in Central Park. I only knew about it because Mark had been going on and on about how he wanted to propose to Mel here in the spring.

But how in the hell did we get across the city in a matter of moments?

"Are you okay?"

The guy in the hoodie stood a few feet away, the bird was back on his shoulder, preening its feathers. He took a step closer and offered me a hand up. The guy in the suit was nowhere to be seen.

I stared at him, ignoring his gesture of help. "How did we get here?"

He dropped his hand with a sigh. "This so wasn't how I wanted this to go."

Climbing to my feet, I tried not to cringe at how much money a cab back across the river would be. "Look, I don't know how you did it, but I want you to take me back."

The guy winced. "That's probably not a good idea."

"Enough of this shit. You better start talking or I'm going to find some cops-"

"Alright," he said, holding up his hands. "Alright. This isn't easy to explain, but I've looking for you. For a while now, actually. My name is Ezra Reinhardt."

That name, again.

This was a nightmare come to life. I hadn't heard that name in years, and suddenly, it was like my past had come back to haunt me. Everything that I'd tried for so long to forget. Everything that they'd said wasn't real.

Ezra tilted his head to the side. "You recognize it, don't you?"

An image of the guy in a suit, holding fire in his hands like it didn't hurt. It was like that bad dream that wouldn't give me peace. The one with the fire in the darkness, the screaming, and the red glowing symbols. Mom telling me to close my eyes, then suddenly she was gone, and I was left alone in my uncle's Brooklyn walkup without any idea how I'd gotten there.

"Jett?"

I focused on him.

"You know the name, don't you?"

"My last name was Reinhardt before my uncle died and I was placed in foster care." I looked away, not wanting to talk about it. The question stuck with me, just how were we related?

Ezra stepped closer, but he tucked his hands into the hoodie's front pockets. "I don't have a lot of time to get into the details right now, and I know you have no reason to trust me, but if you come with me, I can explain more. About our family, who your parents were, what you are."

I looked up at him sharply. "What I am?"

He smiled, but it wasn't a happy one. "Yes, what you are. A Necromancer. The same as me."

The bird bobbed on his shoulder, turning its bright eyes on me.

"This is just another dream. This can't be real." I mumbled the words, more to myself than to say them out loud.

"We need to get somewhere safer," Ezra said, and shivered. "And warmer. What do you think? Come hear me out?"

"You'll tell me what happened to my parents?" I asked.

Ezra shifted his stance, turning toward an open space of snow-covered grass. "I don't know exactly what happened to them, but I could make a good guess."

He started waving his hands again, but this time I could see that it was a controlled, practiced motion. A red light bloomed across the snow, and in the air before us, red symbols and a design glowed, rotating as Ezra moved. With a final flick of his wrists, the circle changed, and I was looking at an empty grey room.

Ezra stepped closer to the edge. "This is a portal. It helps me travel between places. A neat little trick those of our family can do."

"You can teach me to do this?" I asked, skeptical of what he was implying, but also wanting answers. It was like standing on the edge of Alice's rabbit hole.

"And a few other things," Ezra said. "But we need to leave here now before we're found."

"You'll bring me back, though. When we're done?"

Ezra nodded. "If you want me to."

If I wanted to. There was something about that statement that felt ominous, and wildly dangerous. But the thought of finally having answers to all the questions that night my parents disappeared is what made me nod.

"Alright then." Ezra stepped into the portal and then turned to look at me from the room.

"Okay," I said and followed him.