Refuge(56)

Opening my power, I let it saturate the air around me. After a few minutes, I noticed the karks closest to me were moving slower than the rest before they began to flutter down drunkenly to perch on the stair banister, the chandelier, or any surface nearby. I walked over and picked up one to get a closer look at it. Its snow white fur was downy soft, and I stroked it with one finger as I studied the small bat-like ears and teeth and soft white leathery wings that looked almost fragile enough to tear.

“They must be getting tired,” Mark said. “Should we try to catch them now?”

Glancing up, I caught knowing looks from Nikolas and Tristan. Thankfully, no one else seemed to notice. “Go find some crates or boxes or whatever you can to put them in,” Tristan told Mark and Josh, who immediately ran off to do as ordered.

Nikolas came over to stand by me and spoke so no one else could hear him. “Are you doing this?”

“Yes, but I’m not sure how long it will work on them. I hope Sahir gets here soon.”

Tristan walked up to us, followed by Celine who was still trying to get the sticky kark dung out of her hair. “Someone needs to be reprimanded for this disaster.” I ignored her pointed glares in my direction. No matter how much she disliked me, there was no way she could blame this mess on me.

“Here, we can put some in these.” Michael ran into the hall carrying two of the mesh equipment bags from the training rooms. He spotted Tristan and headed for us. “Will these do?”

“Good idea,” I told him as he opened one of the bags and I laid the kark inside. “Come on,” I called to the other trainees. “Help us out here.”

With the help of Olivia, Jordan, and Terrance we managed to round up at least three dozen karks that were close enough to reach, but there were still over two hundred of them whipping around the room with no signs of slowing down. To make matters worse, more of the creatures decided they had to go potty, and soon we were all dodging their little stink bombs like we were in an eighties arcade game. If my nose hadn’t been burning from the stench, I probably would have burst out laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation.

“Watch where you’re going,” Celine snapped when I backed into her to avoid getting hit by a white glob of poo. Unfortunately, Michael chose that same moment to slip on the stuff and come barreling into us, sending the three of us tumbling to the hard marble floor. Lucky for me, Celine broke my fall, but she was not as happy about that as I was, and I was pretty sure the elbow she jabbed sharply in my ribs was not by accident. I grunted and rolled off her and right onto poor Michael, who let out a moan when the back of my head butted his nose.

“Ah hell,” I muttered when I sat up and saw the white streaks on my jeans. My eyes watered at the smell. It was going to take all day to get rid of this stench, and my clothes were ruined for sure. I spotted a small streak of yellow on my sleeve and hoped it was not urine. I rolled my eyes. Like a little spot of pee would make a difference now.

“Need a hand up?” Chris’s voice quivered with amusement, and I scowled up at him, which only made him burst out laughing. Tristan joined in, and I glared at both of them before they each grabbed an arm and pulled me to my feet.

“Ugh!” I groaned when I looked down at myself. I really didn’t want to know what my hair looked like right now.

Nikolas helped Celine up, and she clung to his arm. How was it possible for her to be even filthier than me and still look ridiculously gorgeous?

“If anyone needs me, I’ll be soaking in my tub for the next two hours,” Celine declared, and I couldn’t help but notice the meaningful look she gave Nikolas. I couldn’t see his face, but I heard his soft chuckle at her blatant invitation. Annoyance stiffened my limbs, and I stalked away from them. We were covered in poop with no idea how we were going to bag the two hundred or so karks whipping around, and those two were flirting with each other like they were at a cocktail party.

The door opened and Sahir slipped inside with a respirator mask hanging from his neck and carrying a foot-long metal canister with a rubber hose attached. On the other end of the hose was a spray nozzle. “Sorry it took so long. I had to dilute the sedative and transfer it to a spray canister so it will reach them.” He lifted the nozzle and sprayed a couple of karks as they flew by him. At first it appeared to have no effect on them, but after a minute or so they fluttered to the floor.

I immediately picked them up to make sure they were still alive, and I smiled at Sahir when I felt their strong heartbeats. “It worked.”

He turned to Tristan. “I diluted this, but it still might knock people out if they breathe too much of it. We should clear the hall before I spray more of it.”