Embraced by Embers

by Kasey Mackenzie

  Everyone snickered at that, since we’d taken to watching reruns of How I Met Your Mother after long days of magical practice as I tried to master both my Phoenix ability to channel the physical element of Fire, thanks to my dearly departed mother, and my Mindbender ability to channel Spirit, no thanks to Daddy Dearest. The television marathons were how we’d discovered Nic’s preference for scruffy men.

  Rhianne hugged both her brothers in turn before bumping hips with the rest of us. “Apparently Aunt Ju Hai got a vision of what you were out here planning before you even started planning it—so annoying when she does that—and she and Mom said you could take the rest of the day off. They’re in there with the Firsts and other Clan Elders planning the best way to, and I quote, transport the captives. The goal is to leave by noon tomorrow, assuming they secure a refrigerated truck by then.”

  I pretended to shudder. “The last thing we need is to get pulled over by mortal police with a dozen unrefrigerated corpses in August.”

  “Tell me about it,” she agreed. “Oh! I’m supposed to pass on a message from your sweetie, Dia.” Her voice took on a singsong tone used by annoying younger siblings the world over. Never mind that she wasn’t actually Dia’s younger sibling. “Isaac got held up by Freeholder business so he’ll have to meet us at the monastery for the ceremonies rather than here like he originally planned.”

  I had to shove aside the pang of guilt that struck, since I suspected his Freeholder business involved Dorian Garcia stirring up all kinds of shit for Isaac ever since my father revived Garcia after I sent him back to Daddy Dearest in pieces.

  Dia frowned slightly. “Why didn’t he just text me that himself? Or better yet, call like a grown-ass man should when he’s in a relationship.”

  “Ooooh,” Rhianne teased in that same singsong. “So you admit that the two of you are, in fact, in a relationship?”

  Dia’s hands darted out once more, this time to playfully tug on Rhianne’s sarcastic air quotes. “You keep that up, and I’m gonna relationship you in the face.”

  Jake and I shared indulgent smiles, feeling very much the mature older siblings. Which lasted the 2.5 seconds it took for Dia and Rhianne to catch on to our superiority complexes. They narrowed their eyes, nodded at each other in a way that could not bode well, and embraced their Elemental abilities so unexpectedly I could only shriek when Rhianne’s Selkie abilities combined with Dia’s Gryphon control over Air to splash water from the nearby lake onto our clothes.

  Things devolved very quickly after that, with Liam and Nic trying (but failing) to take cover away from the fray and me hijacking the two women’s abilities to give them a dose of their own medicine. Jake jumped into the thick of things by adding his Earth into the mix, resulting in mud missiles flying every which way. Within minutes, all six of us were sodden, dirty messes torn between maniacal laughter and getting in our last little magical digs before we finally called a truce that actually stuck. At that point we decided to clean off by jumping into the lake fully clothed, sunbathing to dry off, and enjoying what could be our one last respite before all hell broke loose again…

  Chapter 2

  Noon the next day found us literally trucking away from the Clan Zi headquarters, consisting of the Greener Pastures farm and surrounding forestland, toward the monastery nestled near a private lake we’d nicknamed Dragon’s Rest, just outside Branson. That old saying There’s a first time for everything couldn’t even begin to cover the fact that we had a dozen dead bodies sealed inside cadaver bags rolling around the back of the refrigerated truck one of the Clan-owned businesses had loaned us for the day.

  Okay, so maybe they weren’t literally rolling around the back of the truck. It was still creepy as hell.

  “I can’t believe my life has come to this,” I muttered as Jake navigated his zippy convertible behind said corpse-mobile.

  Jake’s lips twisted in a sympathetic smile. “First time for everything, right?”

  “Oh. My. God. That is exactly the phrase I just thought to myself!”

  For once, there were no sarcastic comments from the backseat. Liam and Nic had volunteered to drive the refrigerated truck since both had experience driving commercial vehicles. Dia had decided to catch a ride with Rhianne and her parents Breena and Wen, who had of course also borne my one true love and both annoying little brothers. Several other clan vehicles were zooming along ahead of the corpse-mobile, but I’d pulled rank to discourage anyone from catching a ride with us while we served as rear-guard. At least there was one perk to this wartime general role that had been thrust upon me by the circumstances of both birth and my sperm donor’s genetic manipulation.

  And claiming that I was completely wiped out from practicing magic nonstop had the benefit of actually being true.

  That was proven by the fact I nodded off about five minutes into the drive and only blinked awake two hours later. We’d made it forty minutes away from the monastery without being pulled over by the police, something I considered a minor miracle. Granted, we shouldn’t have trouble using magic to avoid arousing suspicions if we were pulled over. but I’d far rather be safe than sorry. The fewer run-ins with human authorities (who didn’t even know Elementals existed), the better. If only we could so easily avoid run-ins with my evil father and brother.

  I made a sour face, something Jake noticed out of the corner of his eye. “Surely the fact we’re on such similar wavelengths can’t be that bad.”

  That made my lips twist slightly upward. I leaned over to snuggle my head against his shoulder, and he shifted to wrap one arm around me while keeping the other on the steering wheel. Just feeling his warm hand caressing my hair and neck inspired butterflies in my stomach and heat to pool somewhere farther south. “I was just thinking about Daddy Dearest and Baby Brother.”

  He made a sour face of his own and wiggled his eyebrows, causing me to giggle. “No wonder you looked like you overdosed on dill pickles. Thinking of those two is enough to give anyone indigestion.”

  I sobered as my gaze focused on the refrigerated truck several car lengths ahead. “I wish indigestion was the worst they dished out. I’m worried, Jake.”

  His lips pressed softly against my head and he stroked my hair with his free hand. “That’s only natural, sweetheart. You’re new to leadership, but believe me when I say you’re doing a great job. You’re listening to the right people and absorbing the lessons they teach. You don’t shy away from making tough decisions or from delegating. You also know just how much you have left to learn, but in emergencies you aren’t afraid to act. Those are all great qualities that we’re going to need to turn the indigestion table back on your father and brother.”

  “Of course I listen to the lessons your—our—Clanmates have to teach. Most of them are decades if not centuries older than me.”

  Clan Zi had originated in Eastern Asia during the time of the last known liegelord, Hikaru, who just so happened to be father to both Ju Hai and Riku (the true leader of Cassidy’s Own). However, over the centuries Clan Zi had grown to encompass Elementals from all across the world, people of various skin colors and human cultures who were united by their shared ties as members of the Beholden: Clans charged with keeping magical balance in the world. Freeholders, like Dia’s old-flame-turned-new, Isaac Harris, were loosely-affiliated unions who treasured their independence above all else.

  The main reason we were booking it to the monastery was so the Firsts could officially declare war against my father. Only then could Isaac convince his Chapter of Freeholders to declare war themselves. At that point, they would be contractually obligated to dedicate a significant chunk of their number to bolster the Clan’s own forces. It couldn’t come a moment too soon.

  “And the fact you recognize that rather than giving in to ego is one of the reasons our Clan is putting so much faith in you.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Here I thought they put so much faith in me because I’m sleeping with their Golden Child.”

  He guffawed at th
at, which was my goal. When the two of us had met, he’d been on the outs with most of the Clan over Colin’s supposed death. Many of them had mistakenly blamed Jake for his magically weaker twin’s decision to commit suicide. Only recently had they learned that the altercation between them had just been a pretext for Colin to fake his own death. Colin wasn’t even actually the magically weaker twin; just weak at channeling Earth. He was nearly as strong at channeling Spirit as me. Nobody in Clan Zi had known that except Ju Hai. Those not-so-little secrets she’d been keeping (like the fact her brother Riku was still alive and leading a secret Elemental police force) were the reason she and Jake’s mother were currently not on speaking terms.

  So much drama, so little time.

  The distinctive revving of what could only be multiple Harley Davidsons echoed in the air, slightly muffled because we had the top up so the air conditioner could take the edge off the late August heat. I started to glance over Jake’s shoulder, but his hand began stroking my bare skin gently, something that had me shivering and tuning out the Harleys.

  He sought to reassure me. “That’s a very small part of things, I assure you.”

  I couldn’t resist an eyebrow wiggle of my own. “It’s not a very small part, let me assure you.”

  “My face is up here,” he deadpanned with a wink.

  “Don’t worry, I love that part of you, too.”

  He opened his mouth to respond only to get a panicked expression that had my head whip straight up. The Harleys had managed to completely encircle us on all four sides. No small feat, considering that meant two of the eight hogs were speeding along the road’s rough shoulder at better than 70 mph. Rather than the old-fashioned helmets I associated with most Harley enthusiasts, all eight cyclists wore full face masks that made identifying them impossible. But then goosebumps broke out along my flesh, and I embraced Elemental vision. Sure enough, magical flows of all four physical elements were flying in the air around us.

  “Elementals!” I choked out.

  Jake gave a grim nod. “Do your thing, baby!”

  I bared my teeth in an expression far more fierce than grim and did just that. The incessant practice of the past days and weeks made me—if not perfect—then damned close as far as this one spell went. Magic responded to my call, my own birthright of Fire responding in an instant; with Earth, Water, and Air joining the fray when I hijacked the abilities of a Dragon, Selkie, and Gryphon from among our attackers. Their own spells immediately dissolved. Only then did I thread in the Spirit that was also my own natural ability.

  A second-level firewall sprang into existence around our convertible. Elementals would see a relatively short wall of Fire surrounding us, with a much taller wall composed of shimmering strands of all four elements shooting several feet into the sky. Only other Mindbenders would see the glittering black shards of Spirit. And then everyone except Mindbenders using Spirit to counteract the spell would see nothing as that final element cloaked us in invisibility.

  Whoever our presumed attackers were must have been forewarned about my ability, because they didn’t flinch or slow their speed. One of them pulled a gun strapped to his back, sending my heart into overdrive until I reminded myself that bullets couldn’t break through my firewall. But when the cyclist pressed the trigger in rapid fire, paintballs sprayed out instead of bullets. Fire-engine red paint splattered against the side and top of Jake’s convertible, glowing with a thousand points of prismatic ebony everywhere I looked. Rather than being absorbed inside the invisibility my firewall created, the paint latched onto the car’s surface like a parasite.

  “Holy shit!” I muttered. “Someone created Spirit-soaked paint so they can track where we move.”

  Jake’s hand that had previously been caressing me with gentle pressure slammed against the dashboard with a sharp crack. “Meaning they’re most likely your father’s minions.”

  Also meaning they were willing to kill us all if that’s what it took to reclaim my siblings and me. Thank God we sent Bianca and Keith to the monastery last week! That meant four fewer people (counting the twins she was pregnant with) for us to worry about; four fewer pawns to be used against us.

  “I can’t believe they’re attacking us in broad daylight on I-44!”

  Jake cast me a sardonic glance. “Your father wants to take over both the Elemental and human governments, sweetheart. I don’t think they’re going to let a little thing like fear of viral videos stop them.”

  “Why are they just boxing us in and making us slow down? Why aren’t they attacking?”

  And then my breath gasped out when a second group of Harleys blew past us in the left lane—headed straight for the refrigerated truck now a half-mile ahead of us. “They’re not after me. They’re after what’s in the truck!”

  Meaning they’d most likely been sent by Drew to retrieve their fallen comrades. Possibly because he didn’t want Daddy Dearest to learn about their absence?

  I narrowed my eyes and rolled my window down. Scott glanced over from the driver’s seat, merely arching a brow instead of protesting. That earned him a fierce smile and a quick, “Don’t slow down!”

  He nodded grimly. Wind whistled in my ears as I leaned out the window to get a better look at our nearest enemies. Their flows of Elemental magic hadn’t been channeled into offensive spells; they’d been used to create shields against whatever we might toss at them. Those whose flows I’d hijacked had been shielded by their comrades, indicating they had some method of communicating. My lips twisted into a tight smile when I noticed that their cleverness hadn’t extended toward infusing their shields with Spirit. Probably because that would have required an active Spirit user to be physically present. Even then, the odds they could augment this many personal shields would have been pretty much nil.

  “Get ready to pass them on the shoulder!” I warned Jake before tapping into his Elemental magic once more. I braided vibrant green Earth energy into several razor-sharp shards that I augmented with the three other physical elements before adding the coup de grace. Spirit. Then I flung wicked little spears toward all four tires of the two motorcycles speeding along the shoulder. Laced with all five elements, each spear ate through the shields made of only one element and just as quickly deflated the vulnerable tires.

  Shouts rang out when both motorcycles began wobbling dangerously, and their operators squealed to abrupt stops. Jake and I exchanged triumphant high-fives before he whipped onto the shoulder and pressed his accelerator to the floor. His sleek convertible responded in an instant, leaping ahead of our other attackers despite the rougher edge of shoulder. Once we passed the two cyclists who had been ahead of us just moments before, he flipped them off and pulled in front with feet to spare. They had to brake heavily to avoid impacting our bumper: something that would have hurt them way more than us.

  Inspiration struck, and I reworked the firewall’s threads to send several smaller firewalls flying toward the six cyclists still giving chase. I bumped the second-level spell up to third-level, willing it to immobilize rather than kill. Last time I had been unspecific with the request for Spirit to protect me nearly ended in permanent death for Breena and Ju Hai. Next time death came calling via my use of Spirit, it would damned well be intentional.

  Tires squealed as all six cyclists found their muscles rebelling, but fortunately for them their magical shields held as they crashed in a screeching pile of metal and flesh. Jake high-fived me again before focusing his attention on the half-dozen more Elementals pursuing the refrigerated truck ahead of us. They began flanking the truck to each side, three speeding along the empty lane on the left and three hurtling along the shoulder.

  Adrenaline from winning one battle only to face another thundered through my blood. That was quickly joined by fear for the brother who had only recently become a part of my life. “I’m gonna check in with Nic!” I informed Jake so he wouldn’t freak out when I slumped back against the seat. When he nodded, I shut my eyes and embraced Spirit, my psyche leaping
easily from our racing convertible to the commercial truck by virtue of the fifth element and proximity.

  Nic keyed in to my psychic presence immediately thanks to all the practicing we’d been doing. ((What the hell’s going on, Cass? Who are these assholes chasing us?)) His mental tone sounded concerned but calm.

  ((Probably sent from Drew to retrieve our captives, but don’t quote me on that. I shut down the eight trying to keep us off your tail, but you got six more on you.))

  ((Yeah, Liam counted six, too. Also, our cell phones are jammed.))

  Which meant they’d already tried to contact the others ahead for help—and failed. Lovely.

  ((We need to get these goons off your ass for our 007 plan to have any chance of success. The fact Drew’s trying so hard to get them back could work out for us in the long run, so I don’t want to just kill them.))

  ((Liam says there’s a bridge coming up in just about a mile.))

  That had me inwardly smiling. ((You thinking what I’m thinking?))

  ((If there’s at least one Selkie behind whose ability you can hijack, and you’re thinking we should send these guys up the river, then yes I am.))

  ((You really are my brother! Also, I just checked and one of the goons on your tail is a Selkie.))

  Amusement flooded across our bond. ((As if there could be any doubt considering we have like the exact same taste in television and movies. You take the jokers on the driver’s side since you can see them better, and I’ll handle the ones easing up on the passenger side.))

  ((Okay. Make sure Liam is on the same page as us, and I’ll do the same with Jake.))

  ((Be careful.))

  ((You, too. No, actually, you more considering you’re the one riding inside a corpse-mobile.))

  ((Thank you very much for that image!))