Cold Tomorrow

[43]

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

I hear the scream before I release it. It's the weird double reality thing – seeing the future thunder down on top of me. And then having it thunder down on top of me.

Across the stage, by the first row of pews, Caden drops to the floor. I watch it happen twice. As if it wasn't horrifying enough the first time.

And then it's the running. It's the tears on my cheeks and the word screaming out of my lungs: No. I'm on my knees and Caden's eyes, unseeing, are on the roof. He's not dead, not yet. Scott – who caught Caden as he fell – is yelling at me. I'm not hearing it; all of my senses have narrowed in on the crudely forged spike in Caden's chest. It's missed his heart, but the blood–

Oh, the blood.

Red in my eyes. Red on my hands. Red in my heart. Caden takes his last breath and is gone.

I darken. Keon is still on the stage, watching calmly. "What have you done?!" I scream. I'm on my feet. When I stalk up to him, I leave bloody footprints on the polished floor. "What have you done?!"

He's so calm. I hate him for it. I loathe him. I want to see him choking on his own heart as I tear it out through his throat. "This is what you get for denying me, Melissa."

"You're a monster," I spit.

The slap is strong enough to bowl me off my feet. I land on my back and the air rushes out of my lungs. Pain rattles around in my bones. My cheek feels like fire.

I haven't even begun to recover when there's a shout. "Lauren!" Harrison has seen his sister. He pushes past everyone, Katherine grabbing desperately at his arm as she tries to hold him back.

But he's too strong. He rips free, running to Lauren where she stands unmoved on the stage. "Lauren," he says again. "Sis, I know you're there. Please, just–"

Horrified, I watch her take him by the neck and slam him into the nearest wall. His eyes bludge. "I am not your sister." She pulls him off and slams him back again. Even from the other side of the stage, I swear I hear a crunch. "Do you understand?"

Harrison isn't answering. When she lets go, he falls the floor. He doesn't get back up.

This is enough to finally kick the adults into gear. It's an all-out assault. The church is suddenly wild with wind. Crackles of electricity arc through the air, scorching anything they touch. Other powers, too – things I can't name – are awakened. A maelstrom of supernatural energy in various shapes descends upon Lauren and Keon. It's like watching a tsunami crash down on land – if tsunamis were bright with colour and crackling with electricity.

I think, They're doomed.

Then I wonder who I mean by 'they'.

Keon and Lauren throw up their defences, and just like that I can't follow the fight anymore. It's too wild, too full of energy and power. I lose sight of people in the chaos. Tendrils of energy swirl around the room, race through the air. The sound itself is loud enough to make my ears bleed – and then it is thrown back at me again and again as it echoes.

In the frenzy, I remember Harrison. I scramble to my feet, ignoring the ache in bones. Already I'm healing, fractured bones fusing together, bruises fading on my skin. The jolt of energy Keon gave me has shot my abilities into overdrive.

There's a vortex of deadly tendrils of power between Harrison and I. Crossing straight through would be like walking through a torrent of bullets. So keeping to the shadows, I follow the wall around the perimeter of the stage. A few times I have to duck, arcs of Ethel's electricity searing the wall above my head. I nearly get hit by something ink-black and wispy at one point. It collides with the wall in a puff of smoke, centimetres before me. In it's wake there's a fist-sized hole.