Beyond Everlight: an Urban Fantasy Novel (Fearless Destiny Book 1) Page 4

  I broke into a run.

  “Hey! Wait up!”

  They either didn’t hear me, or more likely the djinn did but decided to ignore me, while the human was too enraptured to care. Heart pounding dangerously in my chest, I burst through the peeling double doors and into the building.

  The scent of incense hit me. Polished wooden pews, a multitude of flickering candles, wide arched windows filled with stained glass, and an impressively ornate alter behind which hung a tapestry of the universe.

  I was in a house of worship.

  A House of the One Creator.

  I dropped the veil and stifled a gasp as the ceiling morphed into a shifting replica of the tapestry. A billion stars, a hundred moons, a cosmos of possibilities were suspended above me. My breath hitched and my chest grew light.

  A clatter broke the eerie connection.

  The couple I’d followed was standing by a long table to my left. It was laden with a variety of food, from cakes to pastries to soups. They stared at me with open curiosity. Okay. What to do now?

  The woman smiled and made to take a step toward me, but the man—the djinn—grasped her elbow to stop her.

  Heat flared in my chest. “Let her go.”

  The woman’s smile wavered. She glanced at her companion.

  “It’s alright Susan,” he said, with that echoing velvet voice of his.

  She nodded and smiled.

  “No, it isn’t okay. Let go of her now.”

  The djinn’s brows came down in a frown. With the veil down I could see him for what he was—monstrously beautiful, with savage features, emerald skin, and ruby red eyes.

  I needed to get through to the woman. “I’m a Fearless Officer. And I . . . I can sense that your companion isn’t human.”

  Her mouth formed an ‘O’.

  Finally.

  And then she burst out laughing.

  The doors to the house of worship opened and more people spilled in, laughing and shaking sparkling raindrops from their limbs. I barely noticed, my attention on the woman who was having a proper laughing fit, and then the djinn joined in and I lost it.

  “What the heck is so funny?”

  She held up her hand and shook her head. “I’m sorry. It’s just . . . you looked so worried. It’s okay. I know what Farhaan is. I’ve known for some time.”

  She knew? But . . . I didn’t understand . . .

  The djinn picked up a cup of something and held it out to me tentatively. “Water?”

  Someone giggled.

  I turned to spear the offender with my best don’t-fuck-with-me glare and almost lost it all over again. The place was filled with djinn and humans, and . . . was that a Twilighter?

  “What have I missed?” A voice cut through the silence.

  The crowd parted and a short balding djinn, dressed in black robes dotted with winking stars, sailed through. His gaze latched onto me and his wide mouth opened in a smile that had me backing up.

  His eyes widened. “Oh, my dear. You do have a strong sense don’t you?”

  Best to let him think I was going on vibe alone. I nodded.

  “Well, we won’t hurt you.”

  “What is this? Some kind of indoctrination? Take over a house of worship and convert humans so they procreate with djinn? Some kind of otherworld cult?”

  His bottom lip jutted out in a pout. “Now that would have been an interesting approach, but totally counterproductive. God doesn’t want brainwashed souls. In fact, god wants the exact opposite. He wants enlightened souls.”

  He wasn’t making any sense.

  “What have you done with the pastor?”

  “He is the pastor,” Susan said.

  I turned to her. “You can’t be serious. This is a house of worship.”

  “Yes. One god for all.”

  I pinched the bridge of my nose. “So you’re the pastor. A bloody djinn. And you’re all here of your own free will?”

  I made sure to make eye contact with the humans. Some looked away, others glared at me in defiance, but it was Susan who responded.

  “Why shouldn’t we be? The djinn and the Twilighters aren’t so different from us.”

  “Aside from the fact that they have no humanity. They have their world. This one is ours.”

  Susan rolled her eyes. “Listen to yourself. Did your mother never teach you to share?”

  The heat in my chest was now in my throat. Didn’t they understand what was at stake here? Our world, our freedom, and the one thing that distinguished us from them—our humanity.

  “You can’t share humanity.”

  Her hand went to her stomach. Her gaze softened and a smile tugged at her lips. “Yes. You can.”

  Oh fuck.

  Her djinn lover wrapped his arms around her, and I took a step back.

  “Wait, won’t you stay awhile?” The pastor said. “Have a bite to eat? We’d hate to see you leave in the terrible rain.”

  But I was already pulling open the door. They were crazy, the lot of them, and there was nothing I or the government could do about it.

  CHAPTER6

  I t was midnight by the time I snuck into the house. I had to be up in five hours for my next shift. A yawn ripped through me as I crept up the stairs, eager for bed. I cracked open my door and slipped into my room. The blinds were drawn, but the glow of everlight peeked through the gaps, mingling with the soft glow of everlight that lit up the ceiling.

  In the capital you were never completely in the dark.

  I undressed quickly and slipped under the duvet in just my sports bra and panties. Oh god that was sooo good. I closed my eyes.

  My stomach growled.

  No, no, I just wanted to sleep, dammit.

  There was a soft knock at the door. Mum let herself in carrying a tray of what smelled like lasagne. Exhaustion took a backseat.

  I sat up and held out my arms. “Gimme!”

  Mum frowned. “You really need to take better care of yourself.” She set the tray on my lap and parked her butt on the end of my bed. “Eat up.”

  I dug in, shovelling food into my mouth like a demon. It was gone too soon, leaving a warm huggable feeling in my belly. “Oh man, I needed that.”

  “How was your day?”

  “Good.” Susan’s face came to mind. “Except . . . I discovered something disturbing.”

  “What?”

  I licked my lips. “I went into a house of worship.”

  Her eyes lit up. “You did?”

  I sighed through my nose. “Not by choice.”

  “Oh?”

  I rolled my eyes. “The point is, this house of worship was run by a djinn. And there were other djinn there, with humans. Mum, the humans knew they were fraternising with djinn. One of them was even pregnant by a djinn.”

  She stared at me levelly.

  “Did you hear what I said?”

  “I heard you. I was just waiting for you to get to the disturbing part of your story.”

  “Are you serious?”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Why does this bother you so much?”

  “Why doesn’t it bother you? Seriously? We’re under constant attack from the denizens that come out of Evernight, out of breaches to their world, and now the few refugees that we are tolerating are actually actively fraternising with humans. I can fight the denizens. I can protect us from that threat, but I can’t do anything about this.”

  She shrugged. “And why should you?”

  I couldn’t believe she didn’t get it either. “This world is all we have left, and it’s becoming theirs. Magick has changed it, and it won’t be long until what we were is lost. That’s inevitable. But we have our humanity, and that’s something they can’t take from us. Not unless we let them.”

  Something akin to annoyance flashed across her face. “And what makes you think you have the monopoly on humanity?”

  What the heck was she on about?

  Her lips turned down. “Don’t give me that look. Humanity is a gift to be
shared, and if you can’t understand that, then I obviously haven’t raised you as well as I thought.”

  My chest squeezed at the look of disappointment on her face.

  She placed a hand over mine. “You vowed to protect your people. Surely the djinn and Twilighters who chose to make their home in our world fall under that umbrella? Remember, many of them have been here, living amongst us, for longer than you’ve been in this world. This is their home too. Protect this world and its creatures from those that mean us harm.”

  Her words were like shards piercing my chest. My cheeks grew warm. I couldn’t look at her. She was right. Of course she was right.

  “The creator gave us all life. One god for all, Kenna.”

  My muscles stiffened. “Don’t.”

  “Kenna?”

  I held up a hand. “No mum. We’ve talked about this. God is something we’re gonna have to agree to disagree on.”

  She sighed. “Drink your milk.”

  Milk all glugged, eyes heavy with sleep, I was ready to conk out.

  “What time you up tomorrow?” she asked.

  “Five.” I yawned.

  “I’ll be up. You’re having a proper breakfast young lady.” Her stern expression softened and she smoothed my hair. “Sleep tight baby.” She took the tray and slipped from the room.

  It was a while before my mind relaxed enough for sleep to crawl in. Mum’s words ran through my head, accompanied by a queasy feeling which I recognised as shame. What was I achieving by ostracising the otherworlders amongst us? The threat was without, not within. Focus had to remain on the denizens.

  Sleep was wrapping me in its deliciously warm arms when I felt the covers being pulled back. The bed dipped as a small body cuddled up against my side.

  I rolled onto my side and pulled her close. “Bad dream, sweetie?”

  Bella nodded her head, her hair brushing my shoulder.

  “It’s just a dream, it doesn’t mean anything.”

  “I know. I just . . . I wanted to be close to you.”

  “Was the bad dream about me?”

  “I can’t remember.”

  “It’s okay. Just go to sleep.”

  She’d been having these dreams on and off for a couple of months now, and it was always me she came to. I didn’t mind her sharing my bed, but I hated that she was having nightmares. Mum was adamant that it was just a developmental phase. I hoped she was right.

  I held Bella until her breathing evened out, and then I finally allowed sleep to take me.

  ***

  Filled with porridge, toast, and a cup of coffee, I turned up at base ready to do battle with whatever shit the world decided to throw at me that day. First thing on the agenda was the escort line-up, but I didn’t even make it to the notice board because Brett got to me first with a steaming mug of coffee and a grin that told me all I needed to know.

  “Really?”

  He nodded. “We’re off the hook, bud.”

  I glanced around the floor and clocked a few sullen faces. No one liked escort duty. It reminded us of our helplessness, of the fact that we were beholden to one of the monsters. It reminded us that one day out of the year we were forced to become the monsters.

  I tucked myself into my cubicle ready for a day of the mundane when Brett slid his chair over.

  “So . . . Danny wants to go out for a meal tonight.”

  I looked up from booting up my laptop. Danny did not do restaurants. “Really . . .”

  Brett caught his bottom lip between his teeth and raised his brows. “I know, right? That’s what I thought so . . . I think he’s gonna pop the question.”

  “Oh my god! Shit! I’m so happy for you!” I leaned over and threw my arms around him, or tried to—the guy was huge.

  “I’m fucking nervous as hell. I love him but this is a huge step. Things have been rough with all the back to back shifts and the late nights. I honestly thought it wouldn’t work.”

  “You want this though, right?”

  He nodded. “It’s just, our jobs are so unpredictable and shit is getting bad out there, I just . . .”

  “No.” I cut him off. “We do not stop living just because we may die any second.”

  Brett sat back in his seat and stretched out his long legs. “Wow. Deep.”

  “Shut it!”

  Brett chuckled. “You’re right. I know. I just don’t want him to be left alone.”

  “He won’t be, cos I got your back,” I winked. “So on to the most important question of all . . . what are you going to wear?”

  ***

  The morning passed quietly. Two dispatch calls came through. Zeta Unit took one and Delta took the other. I was Alpha Unit, split into two smaller teams that rarely went out together—yeah we were that good. Brett and I made up one half, and Adam and Nathan the other. We only ever got called out as a whole unit when the big guns were needed, or another base was short staffed.

  I watched the other units head out, wished them luck, and continued scanning the last six months of reports in the central data base. All the reports from all the bases were filed here. I filtered the data and pulled up the Everlight cases for the past six months. There were eight. It didn’t sound like a lot, but it was double from just two years ago. I checked through each report and then looked at the family history, relatives, any trips taken a month before the incident occurred, and sure enough there it was—the connection that I’d been looking for.

  “Brett, check this out.”

  Brett slid his seat over and studied my laptop screen. “Shit.”

  “Yep.” All the people involved in the incidents had visited the same area in the same borough a week before the incidents were called in. The borough wasn’t one of ours; it was Riverside, which was covered by Southside base. Technically we had no jurisdiction, and I should call it in. But this case felt personal. I’d expelled that denizen. I’d found the connection. I wanted to see it through.

  Brett’s regard was hot on the side of my face. “We could get in the shit for this, you know?”

  I smiled slyly. I loved the way he could read my mind sometimes. “We?”

  He snorted. “Er, yeah. You don’t think I’ll be letting you go alone, do you?”

  “This is why you’re my best bud.”

  Brett shook his head. “Come on then. It’s a forty-minute ride and I have dinner plans this evening remember?”

  Shit! I’d almost forgotten. Now I just felt bad about taking this on.

  “Don’t,” he said. “We do this and we all sleep a little better tonight.”

  I nodded, glancing across the floor toward Blane’s office. He’d said he wouldn’t be in today, but I’d hoped he’d make an appearance. By the time I checked the Riverside Borough area, my shift would be up. Scrawling a cheeky note, I headed to his office to drop it on his desk.

  “Excuse me? Where do you think you’re going?” Vanessa said.

  I paused on the threshold to the office. “To leave a note on Blane’s desk.”

  Vanessa held out her hand. “I’ll take that, thank you.”

  I gave her my best, you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me look. “Er . . . No you won’t.”

  Vanessa raised her perfectly plucked brows. “You can’t go in there.”

  Okay, so she was doing her job, and it was kinda dodgy for anyone to just saunter into the boss’s office when he wasn’t there, and yep, she was his secretary for a reason, but I was his girlfriend for Pete’s sake! Girlfriend trumped secretary and the rules. Although . . . I wasn’t supposed to be his girlfriend at work. I sighed, admitting defeat.

  Striding over to her desk, I placed my hands on its polished surface and leaned in. “I know you want his cock, but honey, it’s already taken. In the meantime, why don’t you make sure he gets this?” I placed the folded up note in front of her, knowing full well she’d read it, but not caring a jot.

  Her cheeks flamed and she swallowed.

  “Is that okay with you?”

  She pressed her
lips together and nodded, her eyes sparking in defiance even while her face did its best beetroot impression. Well, the girl had gumption, I had to admire that.

  I left her with my filthy note, imagining how she could possibly get any redder, and headed back to my desk where Brett was hovering.

  I shrugged on my jacket. “You ready?”

  Life was filled with too many dark things—they lurked on the outskirts of the everlight, they waited in pockets of darkness, and for the most part there was nothing permanent we could do about them. So when we got a chance to score a point against the destructive forces that surrounded us, there was no hesitation.

  “Let’s go close this breach.”

  CHAPTER7

  R iverside Borough was in southern Lindrealm. Made up of a cluster of residential and small market areas, it hugged the tail end of the Times River. A huge hydroelectric plant sat on the river bank. I couldn’t resist dropping the veil, just for a second, just to see the pretty rainbow lights that churned above the shimmering mauve river. Runes etched into the walls of the riverbank drew magick from the atmosphere, and the magick churned the water, powering the plant and creating electricity. This was Riverside Borough’s contribution to the capital, and how they paid their taxes. The electrical power kept what old technology we had alive. Everlight’s dependency on Riverside Borough would probably save it from having to pay the rising tax, until Shamateck made electricity redundant.

  As we rode along the opposite side of the river and over the bridge that connected the two banks, my mind was running over the facts of our case. All the affected had been children and they all lived in Everlight. A quick check for incidents involving kids in Riverside had netted me six hits in the last six months. The breach had to be somewhere all the kids may have gone.

  Somewhere outdoors. Somewhere like a park?

  We passed the plant and rode into the borough proper. We drove through the streets, passed the neat houses with their pretty gardens and waist high fences, and toward the two-square-mile area I’d mapped out using the results I’d collated.

  We pulled over before we hit our hot spot, and I flipped open the cover to the small tablet built into my ride to access the central database.