“You’re lying,” I accused. He didn’t flinch, but his eyes drifted across the room to Rick again.
“I need to get ready,” he stated. He started to turn away but I grabbed his sleeve. He let out a sigh.
“Just say whatever you’re thinking,” I told him. “I know you want to.”
He ran his hand through his hair, looking irked.
“I just don’t like the idea of you spending time with someone who’s in love with you.”
He said it without emotion but I knew it was there. Even though it was hardly funny, a smile tugged at my lips. He narrowed his eyes at me.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing. I just never thought of you as the jealous type.”
He made a small sound, like a growl.
“I’m not jealous.”
“Sounds like it to me.”
“Whatever.”
It was a pretty childish reaction but it still made me feel bad. After all, he had been cheated on before and I knew how much it had hurt him, even if he hid it well. I gripped his sleeve again before he could stalk off.
“I’m sorry,” I said quickly. He didn’t meet my gaze. “But you know I’m not interested in Rick. I never have been.”
“But he’s interested in you.”
“So? He knows where I stand.”
“You told him about us?”
“Not in so many words,” I shrugged. “I don’t want to rub salt into the wound.”
“So he doesn’t know.”
I studied his face. Even though he was hiding it well, I could see the frustration in his eyes.
“He’s just a friend,” I insisted. “Even calling him a friend is… stretching it. But we’re talking again.”
“I know,” he admitted. “Just be careful. I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”
“And he’s seen the way I look at you.”
His eyes finally snapped back to mine. Everything that had happened in Avaria felt like a dream. It had been beautiful, too beautiful for me to really believe it would stay that way in this realm. We both had so much to deal with. Even so, my heart ached a little at the thought of our relationship deteriorating now we were back here.
“Can I kiss you?” I asked weakly. “Or will your buddies make fun of you?”
“They wouldn’t dare make fun of me.”
I leaned up and kissed him gently. His arm came around me, pulling my body flush against his. I wondered if he did that because Rick was looking or because he actually wanted to feel my body against his. When I pulled my head back, his eyes seemed to have darkened slightly.
“I missed you last night,” he said quietly.
“We can always change that,” I offered with a small smile. His eyes dipped back to my lips.
“I’ll be home around nine,” he said. “You can stay with me.”
“Sounds good to me.”
He released me, though his hand lingered on my waist.
“What will you tell your dad?”
“The truth,” I said. I wasn’t sure how that conversation would go but it’s not like he could disapprove. We were engaged, technically.
“Good luck with that,” he snorted. I rolled my eyes and peeled away from him. His eyes followed me. “We’ll be starting in a few minutes.”
I turned and walked back to Rick. His eyes were glued to the computer screen but I knew he’d seen us from the stiffness of his body.
“They’re going to start soon,” I told him. He didn’t look at me as he straightened his back. My stomach churned, sensing that my decision to kiss Blaine had ruined this fresh start with Rick. I probably shouldn’t have done it but I didn’t want Blaine to have doubts, not after what his ex had done to him. And I’d wanted to kiss him. If it were up to me, we’d spend all our time wrapped up together, reliving our time in Avaria.
“We’d better get out the way,” Ray said, joining us. We followed him to the back off the room behind the huge mirrors at the back. The mirrors acted as windows from behind, giving us a full view of the room.
“Are these those things they use in films?” Rick asked. “When they’re interrogating people in prison?”
Ray nodded with a chuckle. “Something like that. These are magically reinforced though. The mirrors tend to confuse the Impius.”
“Clever,” I mused, turning my attention back to the room. “Not much good if they get behind it though.”
“We have metal bars that drop down in an emergency,” Ray said, gesturing to a lever on the wall. “They’re coated in salt.”
We watched as Blaine and his team set up their weapons. Most of them carried heavy guns but some of them took their places behind the machineguns. I’d seen Blaine work before, but watching him order his unit around was strangely alluring. I guess a man in charge was kind of sexy. Everyone obeyed him, scattering to their positions. Blaine approached a man who was standing by a large, green box.
“How exactly do you plan on getting the explosives through the portal?” I asked.
“Using drones,” Ray said quietly. “They will carry the bombs through the portal. As soon as we know they’re safe, we’ll detonate them then close the portal.”
“Wait?” Rick paused. “You’re detonating them before the portal closes?”
“There’s a delay,” Ray explained. “About thirty seconds.”
“That doesn’t make me feel safer,” Rick muttered.
“We have to make sure they make it through without the Impius accidentally dragging them back through or we risk blowing up the lab. And the portal has to be open or our remote detonator won’t work.”
I turned my gaze back to the room and watched as they attached several small devices to a large drone. I had a bad feeling that this wasn’t going to go as smoothly as Ray anticipated.
“Preparing to open the portal,” a voice boomed through some speakers throughout the room. I held my breath in anticipation.
“Are we about to see some Impius?” Rick asked.
“More than likely. Hence the security.”
My eyes fell on Blaine. He was crouched in the middle, holding his gun. Even with all of his armour, I couldn’t help but feel my insides squirm with worry.
A countdown began through the speakers. I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly regretting my decision to watch.
All too soon, the countdown ended and the portal opened, the magic shifting within it picking up speed and the colour lightening. For a moment, nothing happened.
The drone took flight quickly and zoomed straight through the portal, disappearing into the mist.
“Stay quiet,” Ray whispered to us. “No matter what happens.”
The words had barely left his mouth when a black shape suddenly flew through the portal. Gunfire sounded, making my ears ring. An Impius skidded to the ground a few metres in front of Blaine, dead.
Suddenly, the entire portal was bursting with them. I stared in horror as over a dozen squeezed through the narrow opening, crawling over each other, straight into the line of fire. I snatched Rick’s hand and felt it shaking in mine.
A few managed to avoid instant death and lunged at the nearest person. He jumped out the way just before the monster sunk its claws into him. Blaine turned his gun and shot at it repeatedly until it let out a shrill sound and fell to the ground.
The portal closed suddenly, slicing one of the Impius in half. Its body flopped to the ground, eyes unseeing. Several others were still attempting to attack Blaine’s team but it only took seconds for them to be neutralised.
“All clear,” Blaine called after a moment. Ray rushed out from behind the screen. I followed slowly, not really sure I wanted to get any closer to the massacre. I glanced back at Rick, who had gone a sickly shade of green.
“You okay?” I asked him. He didn’t answer. Deciding to leave him, I followed Ray out into the room. I frowned when I saw him leaning over the bodies, examining them.
“Alright?” Blaine asked when he saw me. I swallowed
hard and nodded.
“What’s he doing?”
“Looking for bodies with the least damage for his lab work,” he replied.
“Gross.”
Blaine shrugged and looked back at his team, who were all talking, like it was just another day at the office. I was just contemplating joining Ray and asking what he planned on doing with the bodies when he let out a gasp.
“Everyone get down!” he roared. “One of the bombs is here!”
Blaine was suddenly at my side, dragging me back. My heart hammered in my chest as Ray slipped on the blood in his attempt to get away from the Impius bodies. Everyone was running for cover. I wasn’t sure how much damage these bombs would do but I had a feeling it would be devastating, killing many people in this room. Blaine pinned me against the wall, wrapping his body around mine. I peeked over his shoulder as Ray dove under a desk. My eyes zoned in on the body he’d been examining.
I thought of my shield, wondering if it would be strong enough to protect us. I doubted it, not if I made one big enough to protect everyone.
We probably only had seconds left. My eyes flitted around, trying to find a solution. Blaine’s arms tightened around me as he pressed me against the wall. He was protecting me, his body covering mine. I looked back at the place where the bomb was hidden, an idea suddenly dawning on me. Maybe…
It was a bit impulsive but the idea that it might work compelled me to act, not knowing if it would work or not. I twisted out of Blaine’s grip before he could stop me and shot my hand out. I wasn’t sure where the bomb was, but I figured it had to be close to the body Ray had been examining. I summoned a shield around the body, pushing as much of my magic into it as I could. Blaine grabbed me again but I refused to let him move me or distract me.
Then it exploded.
Chapter 32
The floor shook like an earthquake had hit and screams filled the room. My eyes remained on my shield, which was now filled with flames and smoke, all muddling together. The floor around my shield cracked and flames started to lick the outside of it.
My body shook violently as I felt the power of the explosion rattling against my magic. I kept pouring more and more magic into it, determined not to let it shatter. The effort to keep the shield in place made my entire body scream and I let out a choked breath, knowing that all that pressure from the explosion would be just as damaging if I let it go now.
I felt Blaine’s hand in mine and heat ran up my arm from where our skin touched. He was sharing his power with me.
It helped but I still shuddered as the explosion gnawed at my shield, singing it away, layer by layer. I rebuilt it as quickly as it burned away, watching as it slowly grew in size. Other than the flames that had escaped along the floor, I couldn’t see any fire inside my shield now, just black smoke. My arms shook.
“Let go,” Blaine whispered in my ear. “It’s okay now.”
I dropped my free hand and my shield fell away. As soon as it vanished, the smoke shot out in every direction, blowing my hair back from my face. I coughed as the rancid smoke filled my lungs. The world spun. Blaine pulled me closer, holding me up with his arm tightly around my waist.
“You’re a fucking genius,” he mumbled into my hair. I tucked my head under his chin, still shaking. I felt like I’d just run a marathon, my muscles aching and my head spinning.
“Everyone okay?” a voice called.
Some of Blaine’s team rushed forward, using magic to put out what remained of the fire.
“Go help them,” I said, shifting back from him. “I’m okay.”
He ran his fingers across my cheek then kissed me, hard.
“You just saved everyone here,” he told me. I smiled weakly at him then nodded for him to help his unit. He ignored me, studying my face. “You look really pale.”
“I’ll live.”
I glanced at the place where the bomb had gone off. Now the smoke was clearing, I could see a huge crater in the floor.
“Ashley!” Ray shouted, scurrying over to us. He grabbed my hand. “I am so sorry. It was stupid to invite you to see this experiment… You could’ve been seriously hurt.”
“She just saved your live,” Blaine stated bluntly. “She saved everyone in here.”
“I know,” he said quickly. “If you hadn’t erected the shield…”
He visibly shuddered. I gave him a feeble smile.
“I didn’t think it would work.”
“Well, it did.”
“How exactly did a bomb get in here?” Blaine asked. “I didn’t see or hear anything.”
Ray paled.
“It was inside one of them.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think they swallowed it.”
“Intentionally?” I asked.
“I doubt it,” Ray frowned. “They probably attacked the drone as soon as it came through and one just happened to swallow the bomb.”
“It’s a good thing you heard it,” Blaine sighed, rubbing his chin. “Or we’d all be dead.”
I leaned into Blaine, shuddering at the thought.
“We owe you our lives,” Ray said, staring at me intently. “That was an impressive shield.”
“I had a good teacher,” I said, looking up at Blaine. He gave me a half-smile.
“Are you okay?” Rick asked, appearing on my other side. I nodded, scanning him for any injuries, even though I knew he was fine. He’d wisely stayed behind the screen. “That was… terrifying.”
I pulled him into a hug. Despite the tension between us, I still was glad he was okay. He hugged me back, his arms tightening around me.
“I’m never coming here again,” he muttered and I laughed weakly, pulling back.
“I promise to never invite you again.”
“Good.”
Ray was looking at his watch again.
“How are your weapons?” he asked Blaine.
“No damage. Just need reloading.”
“Reloading?” I frowned.
“We need to know how much damage the bombs did,” Ray said. “With any luck, we cleared the area.”
“Get back behind the screen,” Blaine said, turning to face me. I sagged a little, exhausted at the idea of them opening the portal again. Hadn’t we endured enough danger for one day? I reached for his arm without even thinking.
“Be careful,” I said. He gave me a knowing smile and kissed my forehead gently.
“Don’t worry, Princess. I’ll be fine.”
When we returned behind the screen, Ray brought his tablet with him. He fiddled with it as they set up the surveillance drone. When the screen lit up with the live feed, I moved closer to watch.
“Do you think it’ll work?” I asked.
“No idea. We have seconds to figure out what’s going on out there. If there are still Impius around we have to close the portal instantly. If not… we might actually get some decent footage.”
I turned my attention to the room, watching as Blaine’s team returned to their places. Blaine crouched down with his gun, pointing it at the portal. I stared at him nervously, my heart lurching at the idea of him getting hurt.
The countdown began and I clenched my fists. As soon as the portal opened, the new drone flew straight in. I turned my attention to Ray’s tablet.
The camera showed mostly smoke at first but little snippets of fire and Impius bodies appeared. There were some still hanging around, looking injured.
A crashing sound made me look up. An Impius fell to the ground as soon as the bullets hit it. Even though these creatures were dangerous and intent on killing, I couldn’t help but pity them a little. We’d just killed dozens of them.
“Looks like the bombs worked well,” Ray said quietly, his eyes glued to the screen. “They’ve scattered.”
“Or they’re dead,” I added.
“Either way, this is a good start.”
“Wait,” I said suddenly. “What was that?”
The smoke shifted, revealing dark figured moving qui
ckly towards the portal.
The portal closed just as a couple came charging through. They were gunned down quickly.
“Well, it’s a start,” Ray sighed, rubbing his chin absently as the camera froze.
“What does it mean?” I asked.
“It means we can clear the area. It might take several attempts before we can secure it, but we know it works.”
“So you can secure the inside of the portal?” I guessed.
“Yes. That’s the eventual plan. But it’ll take a lot of planning and resources. Now we know that we can clear the area we can start preparing.”
I sat in the car beside Rick. Neither of us had said much since we left the research lab, too consumed by our own thoughts. My body ached and my head pounded from expending so much magic on the shield, so the silence was welcoming.
“You feeling okay?” he asked eventually.
“Yeah. Just tired.”
“I bet. That shield was impressive. I didn’t know you could make them.”
“Blaine’s been training me,” I said. Rick paused.
“I saw him try to save you before the bomb went off,” he admitted. I glanced at him. “He loves you.”
“I’m the heir to Avaria. He would always try to save me.”
“Maybe. But he does love you. I can see it.”
“How?”
“I dunno. It’s just the way he looks at you.”
I swallowed hard, lowering my gaze to my hands. They were still shaking. I ran my finger over the ring gently.
“And you love him, don’t you?”
“Maybe,” I replied quietly. “Do you hate me for it?”
“I could never hate you, Ash.”
“Even though I dragged you into a war zone?”
“I’ll stick to my desk job, thanks.”
I chuckled quietly.
“Shall we get a coffee?” he suggested. I hesitated.
“Let’s go through the drive-thru,” I finally settled. Honestly, I just wanted to go home and sleep. But I also didn’t want to disappoint Rick by not spending a little bit of time with him.
“Sounds good.”
We got our coffees then made our way back to my flat in the city, talking about nothing in particular. Rick told me about his drunken adventures. Apparently he’d been having some lads’ nights while we’d been distant. He slyly slipped in there that he’d hooked up with some girl, though he wouldn’t tell me who. I was a little surprised. He’d never had a one-night-stand before. But at least it meant that he was on the road to getting over me.
The Avarian Chronicles: A Tear In The Veil Page 20
