Seeing him coming toward me, I wait patiently by the bottom of the steps for him. He stops firing when he nears me, but the clinking sound of the empty shell-casings rolling down the stairs follows in his wake. Gunfire continues around us. It radiates from rooms far and near. Forester and Lecto are killing anything they see move around us.
Raking me with his eyes, Kyon searches my face as I meet his blue stare. A slow smile creeps over his lips. He reaches out and touches my cheek. “You knew I was coming, didn’t you?” he asks softly. “You didn’t even flinch when his body hit the floor.”
“I knew,” I reply, feeling icy as the odor of the hot muzzle of his weapon assails my nostrils.
“They didn’t believe you?” Understanding grows in his eyes along with a sense of satisfaction. Shaking his head, he adds, “They have no vision, Kricket. They cannot see, even when they’re told!” He gazes around at the carnage he has created, but I refuse to look, keeping my eyes on him instead.
Kyon’s eyebrows pull together ruthlessly as he fires at a body not far away that is still moving. “You’ve turned my whole world upside down, do you know that?” Kyon asks me in a tense voice. “I came here to kill you!”
“I know…but you won’t.” I watch him stiffen. “I think your exact words the last time I was here were…‘I came here to kill you…but where is the passion in that?’”
Kyon lets go of his weapon, allowing it to hang loosely at his side by the strap around his chest. He reaches forward and grasps me by the back of the neck, pulling me to him. He lowers his mouth to mine and kisses me ruthlessly, bruising my lips. “I waited too long to do that,” he breathes against my mouth. “Knowing you were mine and having them keep you from me…” He kisses me again. “Do you know how special you are?” His eyes practically gleam. “You can see the future—”
“I can affect the future,” I correct him softly, watching his eyebrow rise.
“Yes, and you used it to thwart my rescue attempt,” he retorts with his eyebrows slicing down.
“That was just an opportunity for you to show your resiliency, Kyon,” I counter and then tense, knowing what’s coming.
In the next instant, Kyon slaps me hard in the face, sending me to the ground by the twisting marble railing of the staircase. I reach out and sweep the metal hilt under my dress before palming the knife in my hand that I had stashed there when practicing my entrance.
“Why do guys all insist on hitting me in the face?” I ask while looking up at Kyon’s twisted lips. “Do me a favor next time and hit me in the stomach or something because it’s really hard to hide bruises on my face.” I hold out my hand for him to help me up.
A slow smile creeps back to the corners of Kyon’s lips. He murmurs, “It’s difficult not to respect you, Kricket,” while he reaches down to help me up. Locking hands with him and using the momentum of his own force, I pull myself up as I arc the knife in my other hand toward his chest with all my strength.
Feeling the knife embed in the left side of Kyon’s chest, I watch his blue eyes widen in surprise as he staggers back. I stumble away from him on shaky legs while my mind screams for me to run. Instead, I continue to watch in horror as Kyon grasps the handle of the knife, pulling it from his chest. It clatters on the marble floor, as he grimaces.
“Kricket,” he says my name grimly, panting and raising his gun, pointing it at me. “I apologize if this disappoints you, but I’m not human…I’m Etharian. My heart is on the right side of my chest.”
“How stupid of me,” I reply, balling my hands into fists as I wait for him to shoot me.
I flinch and squeeze my eyes shut as gunshots puncture the air. My knees go weak, waiting to feel the pain of my body being ripped apart by bullets. When I open my eyes, I see Forester dance like a marionette as slugs riddle him. Another short burst from an automatic and Lecto is on the ground, too.
Looking toward the wide archways of the ballroom, Trey enters the room with stealthy military grace, his automatic weapon drawn up to his shoulder and trained on Kyon. Jax and Wayra flank him, while Hollis, Fenton and Drex come in through the sides, surrounding our position. They’re all yelling at Kyon to halt and drop his weapon. But Kyon hasn’t moved, the blue beam of his automatic is trained on me.
Gigantic booms, like mortar blasts sound outside, causing the ground to tremble and the chandeliers to chatter and sway above us. I look up, thinking the roof may come down at any second.
“DROP YOUR WEAPON!” Trey yells again at Kyon above the din of warfare from outside.
Kyon blinks a few times, swaying on his feet; he looks like he’s trying to keep his focus on me while blood continues to seep out of his chest wound. Narrowing his eyes, Kyon’s fingers tense on the trigger of his gun, but then they ease again. Breathing heavily, sweat runs down the side of his face. “She is meant for me,” Kyon says in a quiet tone. “Do you think she’s yours, Trey? You couldn’t even keep her from Manus.”
“Put your weapon on the ground!” Trey retorts, but Kyon doesn’t move.
“Why?” Kyon smirks. “She’ll be the death of us both. I’d be doing you a favor by pulling the trigger. Don’t you know that you should eliminate what you can’t have? She’s a priestess. She’s in your head, Trey.”
“My head, my heart, my blood,” Trey responds immediately.
“That’s unfortunate for you, because she belongs to me. I own her. I can end her now,” Kyon says, the blue beam of light sways a little as Kyon does.
“Gamble to win, Kyon. Kill her now and you lose,” Trey replies, his eyes narrowing as his fingers tense on the trigger of his automatic.
“Is he telling the truth, Kricket?” Kyon asks me with a slow smile. “Will I lose more if I kill you now or more if I don’t?”
“I don’t know,” I whisper.
“You don’t know?” Kyon’s face twists in anger. “Pay attention, my love, because I’m tired of repeating myself. If you’re not with me, then you won’t be with anyone,” he says, his voice sounding a little slurred. “Which will it be?”
“Kyon, please...” I breathe, feeling like I’m choking.
Another booming mortar shell shakes the ground just as the roof begins to splinter. Spidering cracks creak along the plaster, looking like dark, wildly growing vines. Big, thick chunks of the ceiling fall around us, while pillars of marble crash to the floor, fracturing and sending clouds of dust into the air. The lights flicker and I bring my hands to my ears to block out the tremendous noise.
“THEY’RE EXTRACTING,” Trey yells to Jax and Wayra, as the lights all die around us.
The only illumination now is the laser on my chest and the searchlights, swirling above as the ceiling of the ballroom is torn off, exposing a shadowy outline of an E-One in the starry sky. In the next instant, bright white circles of light lock onto Kyon and me from the belly of the hovering helicopter, blinding me. The blood in my feet feels as if it’s being forced upward into my head. My tiara flies from my hair and makes a rapid ascent towards the black metallic vehicle above. I begin to follow it as I lift off the ground into the air.