Earth(64)

The pressure from my right wrist let up. Sharp teeth retracted, leaving behind searing pain. There was a flurry of growls and barking as I struggled to push the dead dog off of me. As soon as I made it my feet, all I saw was the tail end of two animals retreating into the dark.

"You shouldn't be out here," a male voice chided me as he ripped material in half.

I recognized that voice.

My throat went dry as I croaked out his name, "Micah?"





Chapter 41





Meet Fido





The familiar body in front of me froze for a brief second. He pulled on my arm – my good arm, until I was out of the shadow of the tall building behind us. Moonlight spread across my face.

"Kaitlyn?!" He squeezed me. Eyes wide, Micah's breath caught in his throat. "Oh my God. What are you doing here? I thought you'd be in Utah by now. Is Susan here, too? Where's Bee? What happened to your face?"

His other hand brushed the tattoo along my cheek, then ran through my hair. I moved to stop him, wincing at the throbbing in my wrist. He halted the interrogation long enough to wrap my wrist in the strands of material he’d torn from his own shirt.

He looked at me again. "I barely recognize you."

I smiled. "That's sort of the point."

He almost returned the smile, until his brain got in the way. "Hell - I could've accidentally shot you with that arrow. Why didn't you just fire bomb those dogs?"

I shrugged. "I got a concussion a while back and lost my powers. I've managed to get water and air again, but not the other two."

His mouth dropped open. "You are powerless?"

"Half powerless," I corrected him.

He shook his head, as if he couldn't believe it. "We need to get you out of here. Shawn's here—"

"I know – I came with One Less."

I didn't think it was possible, but his mouth dropped open even wider.

I rushed on, "We have a lot to talk about. Where are you staying?" I laid my hand on his arm, and static shock jumped from him to me. Our eyes met. "I can't tell you how much I've missed that," I whispered.

He stepped forward, closing the distance between us, and kissed me. I opened my mouth and closed my eyes, drawing him in and melting into him all at once. My hands crept up behind his neck, pulling at him. His arms went around my waist. We kissed until my lips cracked and we were out of breath.

Even when we stopped, we didn't pull away. We rested our foreheads against each other.

"You don't have fire because you were missing passion." His lips went to my forehead, then followed the trail of cherry blossoms down my neck and over to my ear. "Try now," he whispered.

I shuddered at the sweet sensation that warmed my body. Without looking, I flicked my good hand toward the tin trash can. Flames sprung up from the wood piled inside.

I felt his cheek pull back in a smile.

His stubble scratched my face. "See! I told you—"

My lips on his cut off his gloating. I needed more of him, all of him. He obliged, allowing me to run my hand up under his shirt and my tongue over his teeth.

Heat licked at our faces as the fire in the metal can grew.

He pulled away. "Take a deep breath, Kaitlyn, before you burn the city down."

"Right," I said, "baby steps."

We broke apart, and I held my injured wrist to my chest.

"Come on, Kaitlyn. We should get that checked out." He put his arm around me, leading me away. "Speaking of, how is the baby? Is she here?"

I stopped walking, causing him to turn around into me.

"What?" he asked.

I looked at him, forehead creased. "She's not a baby anymore, Micah."

"Right, I know." He rubbed the back of his neck. "What is she now…two?"

"And I'm not Kaitlyn anymore." I held my wrist to my chest as it throbbed.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm Lucy. And Susan and Alex had to take Bee away from me…" My throat constricted. "And you've just missed so much." I focused on the wrappings around my wrist, trying to hold back tears. Blood was already seeping through, enough to drip on the ground.

"You're losing too much blood," Micah said, voice lowered. "I don't have anything to help you. You're going to have to get that looked at by One Less. They have all the best doctors."

I thought of Sabrina. "They have one less of those, too," I mumbled.

"What?"

"Not important." Where would I even start with that one? "I'm going to need to explain what happened."

Micah nodded and walked to the dead dog. He pushed the arrow through the rest of the way and hoisted the body up on his shoulder. As he passed the alley he paused at two beady eyes peering out. "Those dogs shouldn't bother you anymore, Felix."