Page 73 of Envious Of Fire
Nothing will ever compare to this feeling.
He doesn’t want it to end.
Kyle is quicker to react this time when he notices Lazarus come to a stop. It is behind a ledge of rock that they now lurk, over which they peer at the edge of a city.
Kyle blinks, amazed. Which city did they travel to so fast? They were miles from any sign of life just moments ago, he had thought. “Where are we?”
“Few will be on the streets at this hour,” says Lazarus, “andfewer will be awake.”
“Is this Flagstaff? This can’t possibly be Flagstaff.”
“The name doesn’t matter. Only what’s in it. We will have to utilize our stealth. We can’t be seen. Or at least I can’t.”
“Why can’t you?”
“You’re human in appearance. I am not.”
“Oh.” Kyle frowns. “And Drake …?”
“He’s like you. That’s why he plays the role of our bait.”
“Bait?”
“To lure out our dinner.” Lazarus glances at the sky. “He should’ve been back by now. Something’s wrong.”
The prickling presences of so many people in that nearby city flood Kyle’s brain, even from this distance. He hasn’t felt so overwhelmed by his Reach since last weekend when he was in Las Vegas. Is this secondary ability of his made even more powerful by the blood? Or has it simply sharpened due to his state of mind?
“Let’s move,” orders Lazarus, then hops the ledge of rock and speeds toward the city.
Kyle is like glue upon Lazarus’s heels. Seconds later, they are in front of some closed fast food joint, the parking lot dark, backs against a grey sedan parked by the curb. Another minute later, they’re under an overpass, nestled by a stone column, out of sight, a gas station in view. Then the two of them are flying through the shadows between buildings on a college campus.
Despite a sickening sense of urgency building inside him with each passing second they spend outside under the looming sky, Kyle feels exhilarated as he keeps up with Lazarus, dodging obstacles with expert focus, flying up and down steps on the pathways, whizzing around corners in the semidarkness.
“You’re nimble,” observes Lazarus as they come to a stop within a thicket of trees on the edge of campus. “A natural.”
“I played football as a human,” says Kyle, as if that explainseverything.
When Lazarus continues on, it’s slower and more cautious now, as if they’re zeroing in on their target at last. Kyle mirrors his caution, following behind him in front of a short dormitory building lined with trees and narrow patches of grass lit warmly with lampposts. It isn’t along the path Lazarus walks, but right next to the building, blending in with the pale stone, now and then stopping and narrowing his eyes.
Then he sighs, sounding annoyed, and turns. “He’sbusy.”
Kyle lifts an eyebrow. “You’re communicating with him?”
“No. I’m listening.” He nods at Kyle. “Try it yourself. Go. Listen beyond the wall. Do you hear the blood?”
Kyle doesn’t ask what he means. He just closes his eyes and trusts the request, centering himself and trying his best to listen for what he presumes Lazarus means to be pulses.
But it isn’t what he hears that captures him. It’s the four fully-awake humans his Reach finds. Their minds swirl with delirious glee, yet their thoughts are disconnected, as if floating in space. Kyle tries to make sense of it, but whenever he thinks he has a grasp on one of them, it slips away, like their minds are children that keep running off toward the playground, sugared up and too giddy to pay attention to anything. Are they drunk? No, Kyle has felt the emotions of many intoxicated individuals at the bar. This is a different kind of influence that moves their emotions. Are drugs involved? Are they high? Far more likely.
Then he feels a fifth presence.
Entirely separate from the other four.
A light and flirty flair, thin and detached, curious, playfully aloof—yet entirely distinct and in control.
The moment Kyle senses it, it’s gone.
When Kyle opens his eyes and turns to say something, he discovers Lazarus gone as well. He pushes away from the wall, looking for him, listening.
