Threads That Bind (Havoc Chronicles Series Book 1) (12 page)

Breathing was the secret to controlling my powers? I supposed it made sense. The other times I had stopped glowing it had happened after I had started to calm down.

But could I trust them? That was the bigger question. I had only seen Rhys and Eric before, the others were complete strangers to me. Although they had helped me fight the creatures. Didn’t that count for something?

It couldn’t hurt to give it a try – weren’t those famous last words? I pushed my natural distrust away and began breathing deeply, counting slowly to four for each breath.

“It’s easier if you close your eyes and imagine yourself someplace peaceful and safe,” said Rhys. “But I understand if you don’t feel comfortable doing that right now.”

I continued breathing, trying to relax, but the excitement of the battle and the pressure to do this with everyone watching made it extremely difficult. And to be honest, I was hyper-aware of Rhys watching me, which was not relaxing in the slightest.

Gradually, the breathing seemed to have an effect, and my body began to relax. Towards the end, I even closed my eyes and discovered that Rhys was right about it being easier. Without the visual stimulus to distract me, my heart rate slowed down and my hands and arms began to feel warm and somewhat heavy.

As my body relaxed, my senses dulled and I felt the power fade. I was my old self once again.

I don’t know what I was expecting to see when I opened my eyes. Perhaps some smiles congratulating me for stopping the glow, or even the rush of bodies moving in for the kill. I didn’t think that was likely, but it wouldn’t have surprised me.

What I hadn’t expected was the look of shock and fear that dominated their faces.

The Asian man had dropped into a crouch and appeared ready to spring at me. The football player guy clenched and released his massive hands as if he wanted to crush something. Rhys had pulled out his bone sword, and stood in an offensive posture, apparently ready to slice me in half. Mallika looked thoughtful, but there was a strong sense of worry in her expression, as if she were watching a dangerous animal that could attack at any minute. 

Even Eric had lost his standard-issue sardonic smile, but only for a moment. It was back so quickly I wasn’t sure if I had just imagined the lapse.

“This isn’t possible,” said Rhys, never taking his eyes from me. He had such beautiful eyes that it almost physically hurt to have them looking at me with such malice. “Do the Binder records speak of anything like this?”

Mallika looked up while she thought for a moment. “Nothing that I have read indicates that this could be possible,” she said.

“Ok, enough with the cryptic talk,” I said. “Which of the thousands of ‘impossible’ things are you referring to? The fact that we can all glow and have freakish strength? The hundreds of nasty turn-into-goo creatures we just fought? Or maybe that dinosaur thing with the long neck that trashed my mom’s car? Because, let me tell you, all of those seem equally impossible to me.”

Eric’s grin widened as I spoke, and he looked at Mallika with a raised eyebrow, clearly waiting for her response. The rest of them did not seem to find the situation amusing. If anything, the serious expressions on Rhys’ and Mallika’s faces deepened.

“No one is trying to be cryptic,” said Rhys.

“Then will someone please tell me why you’re all looking at me like I’m the family dog who just went rabid?”

“Because you are a girl,” said Mallika.

“Because I’m a girl?” I repeated. They were freaking out because I was a girl? Seriously? Hadn’t they been able to tell that before?

“There are no female Berserkers,” said Eric. He walked over and stood close to me – a little too close for my comfort - facing the others. “Which I’ve always felt was a monumental injustice. Hanging out with the guys is fine, but I always thought the lack of girls was a major flaw in the whole Berserker infrastructure.” His mischievous grin widened as he spoke.

Rhys rolled his eyes. “There are plenty of girls-”

“Not in the ways that count,” said Eric, interrupting Rhys. “I would think you of all people should understand.”

There was a tense moment as Rhys and Eric stared at each other, an unspoken argument raging between them.

The Asian man broke the silence. “Perhaps we should consider whether this conversation might not be better served in the house.”

The Football Player guy nodded. “I’m with Shing,” he said. “Let’s go back to the house and talk through this. Osadyn might come back with reinforcements.”

“I’m going to need help,” said Mallika. “I don’t get around the way I used to.”

Without hesitation, Rhys strode over and effortlessly lifted her in his arms. In an instant he started glowing again. Then with a flash, he was gone and running through the trees toward the house. Shing and the Football Player guy – I really needed to learn his name because Football Player guy is pretty big mouthful – turned on their glow and followed them, leaving Eric and me alone.

“Can you ‘zerk on demand?” he asked.

“You mean with the glowing and destroying things?” 

Eric nodded. “Well, yes, I suppose. Definitely the glowing, but not so much with the destroying right now. Just running.”

“Yeah, I’m not so good at separating the glowing from the destroying.” I shrugged. “But I don’t know how to get it started. It just happens.”

“Then in the interests of my not having to walk all the way back to the house, how about if I give you a lift?”

Without waiting for a reply, he scooped me up the same way Rhys had picked up Mallika and turned on the glow. Within seconds, we were hurtling toward the trees at a speed that felt like certain death. Instinctively, I closed my eyes, threw my arms around Eric’s neck, and held on as tightly as I could.

After what couldn’t have been any more than a few seconds, Eric stopped.

“Ok, let go,” said a hoarse whisper.

I opened my eyes expecting to see the house, but instead we were somewhere in the middle of the woods. My vision and other senses were heightened, and without looking down I knew that I was glowing.

Eric looked pained, his face red, my arms clearly choking him. Aparently, during the few seconds since he started running, I had ‘zerked, and my squeeze had gone from tight to head-popping. I released my death grip, and he gently set me down.

He bent over and rubbed his neck and throat for a moment, then stood up, looking very serious. “Well, that was an experience I don’t think I’ll soon forget.” His lips twitched as if trying to hide a smile. “Shall we run then?”

Eric sprinted off, and I followed just a few heartbeats behind. We sped through the woods, changing directions to run around obstacles and trees with ease.

This was the first time that I had run while ‘zerking without being half out of my mind. Without horrifying emotional trauma to ruin the fun it was exhilarating.

Keeping pace with Eric wasn’t a problem. If anything, he had trouble keeping up with me. We reached an open area and Eric looked over at me. He smiled and sped up. Taking it as a challenge, I ran faster, not only keeping up with Eric, but actually passing him. I could tell from the surprised look on his face that he wasn’t going easy on me.

We reached the house in less than a minute. The others hadn’t even stopped ‘zerking yet. Clearly we had made up some time on them during the run.

It took me a while to stop glowing – unzerk? – and then Mallika led us all inside the house. If the outside of the house looked like a supersized cabin, the inside looked even more so. A massive stone fireplace dominated the living room, and the entire house was full of overstuffed leather chairs and wooden furniture.

A woman with curly auburn hair stood in the living room, hands on her hips, clearly upset. She looked maybe twenty or so, with determined green eyes blazing in a face dusted with freckles. I had seen that girl before. Only the last time I had seen her she was covered in slime and being ripped out of a monster’s body.

“And where did you lot run off to in such a hurry?” she demanded. Her voice was angry, and I had to concentrate to understand her thick Scottish accent.

“Easy, Kara,” said Eric. “There was an emergency and we didn’t have time to explain.”

If her eyes had blazed before, Eric’s comment made them practically burst into full-on flames. The girl looked ready to spontaneously combust.

“No time to explain?” Her voice grew louder. “Sure, I’m just a Binder, I can’t break trucks with my bare hands, so what do you need me for?” She threw up her hands and turned her back on Eric.

Eric reached out to put a hand on her shoulder. “Osadyn was there,” he said. “It really wasn’t much of a party.” He turned her around to face him. “I promise.”

For a moment Kara looked appeased. She let out a huge sigh. “Fine, I understand.”

Then she saw me and gave Eric a look of panic, her hands flying up to cover to her mouth.

Eric looked back at me and shrugged. “Don’t worry Kara,” he said. “She’s one of us.”

If Eric had thought that would soothe her, he couldn’t have been more wrong. Kara burst into tears and threw her arms around Eric’s neck, mumbling into his shoulder.

Laughing, Eric disentangled himself from her arms. “None of the Binders died,” he said. “She’s the new Berserker.”

Kara’s expression showed an odd mixture of relief and curiosity. “Berserker? But...”

Mallika crossed the room and embraced Kara. “We know, Kara. We were all surprised.”

Kara stared at me, her face unreadable. I stared back as blandly as possible, trying to hide all the emotions – fear, exhaustion, annoyance, curiosity, and a big dash of holy-crap-what-have-I-gotten-myself-into. After a moment her face softened, and she gave me a sisterly hug. I cringed as she touched me, thinking about the monster slime that had been on her, but I forced myself not to pull away. The slime had obviously been cleaned off.  

“Oh, you poor thing,” she said. “This must be terrifying for you.” She guided me to a large couch with a brown leather ottoman in front of it. She sat down and motioned for me to join her.

I didn’t really want to sit down next to her and not just for the slime. Emotionally she seemed about as stable as someone standing on a floor covered in greased marbles during a particularly violent earthquake – but I didn’t really see any other choice. I collapsed into the soft leather, which after all the recent fighting felt surprisingly good. I hadn’t realized how exhausted my body was.

Mallika, Eric, Rhys, and Football Player Guy all sat down in the loveseat and other chairs in the living room. Only Shing remained standing.

He looked from person to person before addressing me. “It appears that the Berserkers are well-represented here,” he said, with a slight bow.

What was I supposed to say to that? He looked at me as if expecting some sort of response. “Uh, yes,” I said. Shing didn’t move. He seemed to be waiting for more. “Definitely represented.” I glanced around looking for help from the others.

Surprisingly, it was Kara who came to my rescue. “That’s right, Shing,” she said. “There are plenty of Berserkers here. Perhaps your time might be equally well used elsewhere.”

Eric groaned. “Kara, don’t tell me he’s got you talking in circles now too.” He winked at me, a wicked gleam in his eye. “I just barely figured out how to understand your accent. If you start talking like Shing, I’m going to have to hire an interpreter.”

Kara grabbed one of the pillows and threw it at Eric’s head. He easily caught it and instead of throwing it back, simply set it down on his lap.

Shing meanwhile bowed to me, his face a mask of deadly seriousness. “You are in capable hands,” he said and left the room. I stared after Shing, not knowing what to make of him. Why had he wanted to leave? Had I somehow offended him?

“Don’t mind, Shing,” said Eric. “He was just looking for an excuse to go meditate.”

Oh yeah, that cleared everything up.

“Shing likes to meditate after using his Berserker powers,” explained Rhys. “He says it helps restore his balance.”

I nodded as if I understood, but I was missing too much information to make sense of it. I knew what the individual words meant, but it felt like everyone was speaking a foreign language.

“So, is someone going to tell me what’s going on here?” asked Kara. “Is she really a Berserker?”

Rhys held up a hand. “Hold on Kara,” he said. “I think we owe our guest an explanation first.” He paused. “In all the excitement, we never introduced ourselves.” He crossed the room and held out his hand. “My name is Rhys.”

I shook his hand. “I already knew that.” I pointed at Eric. “His name is Eric. Or at least that’s the name he went by at school.”

Eric and Rhys exchanged looks. “Clearly our undercover skills need some work,” said Rhys. “We were trying to be inconspicuous.”

I let out a laugh. With all the tension I had been feeling, the release of laughter felt wonderful. The idea of the two of them being inconspicuous at Woodbridge High was ludicrous. “In a town like this, it’s not possible for two new guys to be inconspicuous, especially if they’re cute.” Did I just say that out loud? Cute? It was all I could do to not clap my hands over my mouth in horror, but that would have just made it worse. Instead I stiffened and hoped no one noticed my neon-glow blush. It was a long shot, but sometimes irrationality was my only defense.

Rhys didn’t seem to think much about the comment, but as soon as the word “cute” came out of my mouth, I saw that twinkle in Eric’s eyes.

“Well, normally that’s not a problem when Rhys works alone,” he said. “I blame myself, really.” He let out a dramatic sigh. “This isn’t the first time my good looks have caused me problems.”

Football Player guy groaned loudly and rolled his eyes.

“Was it your looks or your arrogance that caused the problems?” asked Mallika.

I wasn’t sure what to make of Mallika. Her comment sounded like a joke, but she looked so serious and proper.

Eric apparently took it as a joke. “Both really,” he said. “But is it arrogance if it’s true?”

Kara threw another pillow at him. This time he didn’t even bother to dodge. It bounced off his head and landed near the Football Player guy. He picked up the pillow and handed it back to Kara.

Up close he was even larger than I had thought. He was easily one of the biggest men I had ever seen in person – larger than even my dad, and that was saying a lot. He stood a full head taller than everyone else and his shoulders were about the width of a city bus. He was the kind of guy you wouldn’t want to get stuck next to in an airplane. At least he wasn’t falling asleep and drooling on my shoulder.  

“We haven’t been introduced yet,” he said in what sounded like an Australian accent. He shook my hand, his massive fingers completely enfolding mine. I felt like a toddler shaking hands with someone wearing a baseball glove. “My name is Aata.”

“Ata?” I said, unsure I had heard correctly. It was not a name I had heard before. Maybe just calling him Football Player guy would be easier.