Gravity
1933 Words
Chapter 6
Kael Arden had always believed there were two kinds of fear. The first was the instinctive kind, the simple biological reaction that made a person freeze when confronted with something larger, faster, stronger, or more dangerous than themselves. The second was the kind that came after understanding. The first happened when someone saw a g*n pointed at them. The second happened when they realized the person holding it had no intention of missing. Kael had spent enough years around violence to recognize both, and the Vanguard agents in the street had experienced the latter. He could see it in the way they kept their distance, in the slight tremor of their hands, in the way their eyes repeatedly shifted toward the weapons lying uselessly on the pavement. They knew what he was capable of. More importantly, they knew he had chosen not to kill them. That distinction mattered. Kael had always been far more frightening when he was calm.
Tonight, however, he wasn't thinking about them.
He was thinking about Elara.
He stood beneath the broken streetlight and watched her disappear around the corner, her coat pulled tightly around her body as she hurried through the rain. He waited until she was completely out of sight before allowing his shoulders to relax.
Only then did he notice the Vanguard agents.
One of them was slowly getting back onto his feet.
Kael looked at him.
The agent froze.
"Don't."
The single word was enough.
The man stopped moving.
Kael turned away.
His attention went to the rooftops.
Something was wrong.
He could feel it.
Not with his Anomaly.
With instinct.
The same instinct that had kept him alive when he was younger, before he had learned to control gravity properly, before people had started calling him Blackfall, before the government had decided he was easier to hunt than understand.
Someone was watching.
He looked toward the building opposite the street.
Nothing.
The rooftop was empty.
Kael narrowed his eyes.
He could sense disturbances in gravitational fields. Most people never realized that every living body affected the world around it, however minutely. To Kael, those disturbances were as obvious as footprints in wet sand. Humans had weight. Vehicles had weight. Buildings had weight. Everything did.
And someone had recently stood on that rooftop.
He could feel the residual pressure.
Kael looked down at the street.
A tiny object rested near the curb.
A phone.
He crossed the distance in three steps.
He picked it up.
The screen was cracked.
There was no password.
One message remained open.
SHE'S WITH HIM NOW.
Kael's expression changed.
His thumb moved across the screen.
Another message appeared.
THEN WE KNOW WHERE TO HIT.
For several seconds, Kael simply stared.
The rain fell around him.
His grip tightened.
The phone bent.
Then cracked completely in his hand.
A nearby street sign twisted toward him.
The pavement beneath his boots fractured.
Gravity responded to his anger before he consciously commanded it.
Kael closed his eyes.
Breathed.
Once.
Twice.
Slowly, the pressure faded.
He opened his eyes again.
Blackfall was still there.
But something colder had replaced the anger.
Calculation.
He looked toward the direction Elara had gone.
Then he started walking.
Elara Finch had barely reached the end of the next block when she realized she was smiling.
She stopped beneath an awning and stared at herself in the reflection of a dark shop window.
She looked ridiculous.
Her hair was damp.
Her cheeks were warm.
Her heart was still beating faster than normal.
And she was smiling.
Because a dangerous, wanted criminal had kissed her forehead.
She pressed both hands against her face.
"Oh, this is bad."
A pedestrian passing behind her glanced at her strangely.
Elara lowered her hands.
"Not you."
The pedestrian walked faster.
"Fair."
She started walking again.
Her mind replayed the evening.
Kael arriving at the café.
The broken window.
His arm around her.
His hand at her waist.
The way he'd leaned toward her.
The kiss against her neck.
The whisper near her ear.
She stopped again.
"No."
She shook her head.
"Absolutely not."
She continued walking.
Two seconds later:
You enjoy making me nervous.
She groaned.
"Why does he have to say things like that?"
A passing taxi honked.
Elara jumped.
"Sorry!"
The taxi continued.
She sighed.
Then smiled again.
She couldn't help it.
Kael was infuriating.
Arrogant.
Dangerous.
Mysterious.
And apparently capable of being unexpectedly gentle.
That last part was the problem.
It would have been easier if he had behaved exactly like the monster everyone described.
If he had been cruel.
Cold.
Uncaring.
Then she could have hated him.
Instead, he'd touched her face like she was something fragile.
He'd looked genuinely worried when she'd been near danger.
And when she'd told him she cared about him, he had looked almost stunned.
Elara slowed.
That was the part she couldn't stop thinking about.
Nobody had ever looked at her that way.
Not because she was extraordinary.
Not because she had powers.
Not because she was important.
Just because she was her.
She smiled faintly.
"Kael."
She said his name quietly.
Just to hear it.
Then her phone rang.
She looked at the screen.
Unknown number.
Her smile vanished.
She answered.
"Hello?"
Nothing.
"Who's this?"
Silence.
Then a distorted voice.
"Stay away from Blackfall."
Elara's stomach tightened.
"Who are you?"
"You don't know what he is."
"I know enough."
A low laugh came through the phone.
"No. You don't."
The call ended.
Elara stared at the screen.
Her first instinct was to call the police.
Her second was to call the Vanguard.
Her third was—
Kael.
She hated that her third instinct had become him.
She opened her contacts.
Her thumb hovered over his name.
She hadn't even saved his number.
She stopped.
"Of course I don't have his number."
She stared at the phone.
Then realized something.
The number that had called her had been different from the one that had called her the previous night.
Someone was deliberately contacting her.
Someone who knew about Kael.
Someone who knew about them.
Elara swallowed.
She looked around.
The street was quiet.
Too quiet.
She hurried home.
Kael was already waiting outside her building.
Elara stopped when she saw him.
He was standing beneath the awning, hands in his pockets.
His expression was calm.
Too calm.
She approached him.
"You knew."
"About the call?"
She froze.
"How?"
"You've been looking over your shoulder since you turned the corner."
She stared.
"You were following me."
"Yes."
"Again."
"Yes."
She crossed her arms.
"You really need to work on your boundaries."
"I'll consider it."
"You always say that."
"And yet you keep talking to me."
She tried not to smile.
She failed.
Kael noticed.
His expression softened.
Then he stepped closer.
"What happened?"
She looked at him.
"Someone called me."
His expression changed immediately.
"What did they say?"
"To stay away from you."
He was silent.
"What else?"
"They said I don't know what you are."
Kael looked away.
His jaw tightened.
Elara watched him.
"You know who it is."
"No."
"You know something."
"Yes."
"Kael."
He looked back at her.
"Someone has been trying to use you to get to me."
Elara's heart sank.
"Because of you."
"Yes."
She stared at him.
For a moment, he expected fear.
Instead, she stepped closer.
"Then what are we going to do?"
Kael blinked.
"We?"
"Yes."
"You should leave."
"No."
"Elara."
"No."
He sighed.
"You don't understand."
"I understand perfectly."
"You are putting yourself in danger."
"So are you."
"I can handle myself."
"So can I."
His expression became frustrated.
"This isn't a game."
"I know."
"Then why aren't you afraid?"
She looked at him.
"Because you keep telling me you're going to protect me."
His eyes softened.
"I will."
"I believe you."
He stared at her.
She stepped closer.
"That's the problem."
Kael's breath caught.
She reached up and touched his jacket.
"You keep telling me to stay away."
Her fingers curled lightly into the fabric.
"And then you come back."
He didn't answer.
"You tell me you're dangerous."
She stepped closer.
"But you hold me like you're afraid I'll break."
His eyes lowered toward her.
"You tell me I'm a weakness."
She smiled faintly.
"But you look at me like I'm the only good thing you've seen in years."
Kael's expression changed.
"Elara..."
She looked up at him.
"Tell me I'm wrong."
Silence.
He couldn't.
She knew it.
His hand slowly settled against her waist.
He pulled her closer.
Not enough to frighten her.
Just enough that there was no space left for pretending.
"You make this difficult."
She smiled.
"You've said that."
"I mean it."
His voice was low.
His face was close to hers.
Elara could feel his breath.
She didn't move.
Neither did he.
For several seconds, they simply stared at each other.
Then Kael's thumb moved slowly against her waist.
Elara's breathing changed.
He noticed.
Of course he did.
His gaze dropped toward her lips.
"Tell me to stop."
She swallowed.
"I don't want you to."
That was all it took.
Kael leaned in.
His lips met hers.
The kiss was slow.
Careful.
Nothing like the violence everyone associated with Blackfall.
There was no urgency.
No force.
Just warmth.
A quiet tenderness that somehow felt more dangerous than anything else he'd done that night.
Elara's hand moved to the back of his neck.
Kael's fingers tightened slightly at her waist.
He kissed her again.
A little deeper.
Then pulled back.
Their foreheads touched.
Elara smiled.
"You know..."
"What?"
"You could have done that instead of terrifying an entire squad of Vanguard agents."
Kael's mouth curved.
"I considered it."
She laughed.
He looked at her.
"What?"
"You smiled."
"I do that."
"Not often."
"Apparently."
She reached up and touched his cheek.
"You're different with me."
Kael's expression softened.
"Yes."
"Why?"
He was quiet for a long time.
Then he answered.
"Because you're the first person who doesn't look at Blackfall when they look at me."
Elara's smile faded.
She gently touched his face.
"I see you."
His eyes closed for a moment.
The words seemed to hurt more than any weapon ever had.
When he opened them again, he leaned down and pressed a slow kiss against her forehead.
Then another against her cheek.
Elara smiled.
He moved toward her neck.
She felt his lips brush her skin.
Her breath caught.
He paused there.
"Still think I'm dangerous?"
She smiled.
"Definitely."
His voice was barely above a whisper.
"Good."
He kissed her neck once.
Then pulled back.
Elara stared at him.
"You're enjoying this."
"Yes."
"You've become very honest."
"I'm trying."
She laughed softly.
He smiled.
Then his expression changed.
His gaze moved past her.
Elara turned.
A black vehicle was parked at the end of the street.
Kael's hand tightened around her waist.
The warmth disappeared from his expression.
"Go inside."
Elara looked at him.
"Kael—"
"Now."
Something in his voice made her stop.
Not fear.
Trust.
She nodded.
He released her.
Elara took several steps toward the entrance.
Then looked back.
Kael was already walking into the rain.
"Kael."
He stopped.
She smiled.
"Come back."
His eyes met hers.
"I will."
She disappeared inside.
Kael waited until the door closed.
Then he turned toward the black vehicle.
The car started.
Kael smiled.
It wasn't a pleasant smile.
The rain began to fall upward around him.
"Let's see who thinks they can touch what is mine."
The car accelerated.
Kael raised one hand.
The entire vehicle slammed to a stop.
And somewhere inside it, someone began screaming.
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