Ash and Cinder

31| One Last Time

"That's enough, Dieter." King's pillars sink into the earth. My eyes fly open. I catch myself before I crack my skull on the tile.

Sky barrels into me, rolling with me over and over until a wall stops us.

"Mate, what the hell was that?" He shoves off me and jumping to his feet. The look of utter betrayal he gives me hurts more than any physical blow could. And then he's collapsing, electricity scorching through his nerves and flooring him.

I should follow him, given the crashing going on across the room. Instead, I deflate. Numbness creeps over me, a fog of empty and deathly calm. I touch my neck gingerly, blood comes off on the tips of my fingers from the nick I gave myself. Hm. I sigh and let my hand drop onto my side. A dish shatters against the wall beside me, I don't flinch. I feel like I should feel something, but I don't. I can't. It's like floating but in reverse. Instead of me drifting outside my body, hanging on by a narrow thread to all the roiling emotions, the emotions are outside, and I'm held captive inside.

Yana is near, her hair falls in thick, loose curls over her face. Half her hairpins are scattered on the floor where she fell. Her legs wobble, her arms quiver, but she clutches an iron frying pan with both hands, gripped so tight her knuckles are bloodless.

Delilah fights in from the outskirts. Her loose clothes billow around her, the only part of her not charged with tense energy is her nerve-damaged pinky. She makes some leeway, but she's holding back. She keeps stopping to catch debris, to stop it from shattering or breaking holes in the walls.

And there, in the midst of it all, are King and Dieter, at each others' throats. The violence grows more volatile by the second. Pillars erupt from the floor, five in the blink of an eye, all gunning for Dieter. Magno-blasts crumble them and pummel King from whatever angle Dieter can get to. King's jaw is set, his nostrils flared, he dances in the cramped space. His feet kick and stomp and drag over the floor, each tap of his heels calling up new rocks from new angles. He has the skill, the experience, to beat Dieter any day.

Except, maybe, today. Dieter's rage is white-hot, he fights like a rabid bear, flinging himself at King, knife swinging, and when that gets batted across the room he settles for curling his hands into claws. He screams, spit flying, magno-blasts erupting at random and destroying everything they come in contact with. King is good, but the worried glint in his eyes is getting easier and easier to read. The table smashes on its side with a house-shaking bang and Dieter wastes no time scurrying over and ripping one of the legs off with help from his magnokinesis.

He turns on King, a war cry ripping from his throat. A massive wave explodes out from his core, sending everything and everyone flying. My head whips back and drives a hole into the wall, the headache is instantaneous. I blink away the black stars in time to see Dieter straddling King, table leg lofted above his head. King convulses, the shock restraints leaving him paralyzed and helpless against Dieter's attack. Suddenly I lurch back into myself.

King, the stake, Dieter.

I launch myself off the floor and crash into him at the same time the makeshift stake rams through King's sternum. We hit the wall and Dieter magno-blasts me across the room. Damn it! Blood pools thick and fast, pouring out of King. He claws at the table leg and wheezes a final, ragged gasp. The light leaves his eyes and his body stays rigid for a few seconds longer, like it doesn't realize he's gone.

I crack the tile on my fist. Damn it.

Dieter magno-blasts my head hard against the floor, blinding me for a few seconds more. I scramble to my feet, too dizzy to tell which direction is up. Staggering forward with my arms flailing for something to steady myself on, my vision clears in time for me to see Delilah nail Dieter in the ribs once, twice, raising a snarl from him. He grabs a fistful of her hair and cuffs her over the back of the head, magno-blast striking her skull point-blank. One more and she sags, two more and she drops like a sack of bricks.

No, damn it, no.

His cold blue eyes meet mine, pupils blown and framed by mottled skin. He turns and hauls Delilah out of the kitchen with him. I race after them, straight into the muzzle of a red-shirted guard's gun. The frigid metal presses into my chest for the barest of moments, sending a chill through my body. I grab the guard's wrist and twist, the gun clatters across the coffee table and lands with a thud on the floor. The guard has time to look sufficiently scared before I bash his nose into his brain and toss him aside.

Amiah yelps from outside. I burst through the empty hole of the front door. Dieter is at the end of the driveway, shoving Delilah's limp body into the back of a white cargo van. Amiah clutches her nose at the bottom of the stoop, blood drips on the sidewalk and runs down her arm. Steadying herself, she draws a sleek black handgun from a holster hidden under her jacket. With one hand pinching her nose and the other aiming the gun, she fires off three rounds at the van as it guns it out of the driveway and down the street.

She spits obscenities, dropping her hand to reveal blood-stained teeth and a gushing nose. She raises the handgun to fire again, but the van hits the main street, and the flow of other vehicles engulfs it.

"Start your car," I say, turning to run back into the house.

In the house, I glance at the Redcoat's body on my way past. His chest rises and falls shallowly, but the ugly bruise on his face says he won't be awake for a good long time. In the kitchen, I find Yana crumpled against the oven. She, too, is unconscious but breathing. I crouch beside her to check for any serious injuries. There's a nasty goose egg on the back of her head, but no blood spilling from her ears or nose.

"Mate." Sky limps into the room from the hallway, splinters and plaster decorate his greasy hair and torn clothes.

Stepping over King's body, I reach Sky and jam my fingers under the black band around his neck.

"Dude, dude, dude," he tenses under my touch. I grimace and with a quick jerk, snap the collar, then crouch to snap off the ankle restraints. When I stand, he traps me in a tight hug, the metal ex-fix biting into my scar.

"Don't you dare ever pull a stunt like that again," he demands, pulling away. "You scared the daylights out of me."

I grab his shoulders, give him a little shake to get his mind in the right place. I can't promise him anything, and now is not the time to discuss that. Our lives are on the line, the clock is ticking faster with each second we waste.

"Can you fight?" I ask.

"Of course."

I spot the block of kitchen knives toppled on the counter. "With a knife?"

"Yes."

"Good." I push the biggest knife from the block at him. "Let's go."

Outside, a car horn blares. Sky and I exchange glances, him with his knife gripped in his hand and determination gritted between his teeth, and me with nothing left to lose. I take a final moment to carry Yana to the living room and lay her on the couch with her mini newstab beside her. Away from King's body. Grabbing the Redcoat by the ankle on my way out, I drag him out onto the front lawn and throw him into the shrubs. I hope Amiah doesn't mind her greenery getting crushed.

I climb into the backseat of the car and shut the door. A wooden bat lays across Sky's lap, Amiah's handgun is stuck in the cupholder. The tires squeal as she punches it out of the driveway.

A since of finality hangs in the air, minglingwith the rage evaporating off of me. I know this will be the last time I evergo back to the Compound.