by Valia Lind
"We need to go, now," I say, breathing heavily and the rest of them move as one. They're following my lead for some reason, and I just hope I don't disappoint.
Before we step through the now ruined doorway, I pull up on my magic and step through, with it blasting both ways from my hands.
"Now that's impressive," Mitch comments under his breath, but I hear it and I grin. The three of them run out of the room, and I pull my magic back on one side so that they can find us an exit. Which of course, Eric already knew about because that boy is prepared.
"Come on!"
They race to the emergency exit on the other side of the hallway, with me on their heals. Once the door shuts, I throw a ball of fire at the handle, melting it in place. It won't hold them, but it'll slow them down for a second.
We run down the stairs, each on high alert. My magic is moving all around me, growing the more agitated I get, and I think it might sweep everything off its path if I let it.
"Stop!" I scream suddenly, because I feel it. There is something powerful at the bottom of the stairs. The team freezes in place and I lower my voice, speaking urgently.
"Letty, you have to portal us out. We can't fight what's down there."
"If I portal, they will be able to track it."
"Then portal us outside the building, but no farther than that."
She nods, understanding coming into her eyes. If I'm asking her to risk it, it means something is really wrong. We don't have to know each other for long for her to trust me on that. The guys don't question it as Letty steps to the wall and places her hand against it.
The magic below us grows impatient and I'm afraid we won't make it if Letty doesn't hurry. But then the wall ripples and she runs through, with us right behind her.
We come out in the middle of the street between the two buildings and I instantly turn toward the apartments. There are at least thirty men down at the bottom and they turn to us as one.
"Crap. Run!"
We sprint toward the opposite building, the noise of our pursuers hot on our heels. The only place we have to go is the warehouse, but when Letty yanks on the door, it's locked.
"Move!" I yell and she moves instantly. I push my magic at the door, and then we're through.
The inside is dark, much more so than I anticipate. I slam into a crate of some sorts before I take two steps.
"Stay with me," Eric says, coming up to me and reaching for my hand. When his fingers wrap around mine, I feel more grounded and then he's moving us through the building. That's when I realize he and Mitch can see with their shifter vision. I guess shifters can be useful after all.
A wave of magic hits us, lifting us straight up off our feet and slamming us down. I hear a yelp from our left, but I can't see what happened.
"Get Letty out of here!" Eric hisses, and I know Mitch can hear him. Eric and I stay close to the ground, while I try to catch my breath. I hear more than see Mitch moving away, and then everything goes quiet.
"What now?" I barely whisper, and feel Eric move closer to me.
"Mitch was near the other exit. He'll get Letty out. We need to find our own way."
"Are they inside?"
He doesn't have to ask who I'm talking about. Even before he answers I know the men have made it inside the building. But I also know they're not the ones throwing us around like rag dolls with their magic.
"Something's not right," I whisper, my mind racing over the possibilities. If they all have such fire power, why would they play this cat and mouse game? Another piece is at play here. We just need to figure it out, so we can get out.
"Can you crawl?" Eric asks, his face so close to my own that I feel the light breeze on my cheek from his words.
"Yes," I reply, right before Eric begins moving backwards. I mirror his movements the best I can, while still trying to fill out the rest of the place. The magic we were hit with seems to be everywhere, as if it's masking itself by the sheer amount of it.
"Stay low, but get to your feet," Eric says, before he crouches down beside me. I follow suit, staying as low as possible as we hurry behind what appears to be crates.
Just when I think we're through, one of the crates explodes right next to us, making me scream. Eric grabs me immediately, dragging me to the ground, and rolling us a few feet away, as another blast of magic sails overhead.
The shifter is now completely on top of me, as if he's trying to shield me with his body. The weight of him over me is a pleasant surprise, and I try to tell myself not to react. I don't need to make a fool of myself by doing something like running my hand over his face.
"If I retaliate, they'll know our position," I mumble, and I feel him nod against my shoulder.
"We need to get to the back of the building."
"Then I think our only option is for me to let lose."
Eric looks down at me and because he's so close I can make out most of his expression.
"Can you? With the binding?"
"I guess we're about to find out." I push at his shoulder, asking him to get off me. Once he's off, I roll to all fours, and call on my magic. "When I say go, I need you to run to the door."
"I'm not leaving you behind."
"I'm not giving you an option."
Then I stand, and rush straight forward, before I let my magic go ablaze, shooting it into the space in front of me. The fire lights up the area around me and I see exactly where the men are positions. Waving my arm in an arch, I send a blast to the left, then to the right. The screams fill the air and then a few crates burst into flame.
"Oops," I say, right as something grabs my arm. I twist, to find Eric there, pulling me after him.
"Let's go!"
I don't hesitate to grip his hand and race after him. The fire burns around us, picking up speed quickly and I briefly wonder what is in those crates. But it doesn't' matter. I let it burn, because it's the only way we're getting out of here.
When we finally burst through the back door, we don't slow down.
Chapter 17
A few blocks down street is when we finally catch our breath. I've been holding onto Eric's hand so tightly, my fingers have gone numb. We're covered in sweat and dirt, but we're alive.
"We need to get off the street immediately," Eric comments, spinning in a circle as he studies our surroundings.
"Any safe houses set up in the area?"
"No. But we need to move."
He reaches for my hand again, and I let him take it. We race down yet another street, when Eric swerves suddenly, pulling me into a courtyard. Without a pause, he races across the way, and into the apartment building, taking two steps at a time. It takes work for me to keep up with him, but I'm not about to be the one to show weakness.
We reach the fifth or six floor, when Eric pauses. Marching over to one of the doors, he does quick study of the outside, before he knocks. We wait in silence, and when no one answer, Eric reaches for the doorknob. It turns easily in his hand, and he pulls me inside after him.
The apartment in front of us is abandoned. There's no furniture as far as I can see, just a few blankets and a box of knickknacks left by the window. Eric shuts the door behind us, before stepping farther into the room. After looking around in silence, he seems satisfied and he motions me into the room. The windows face the street we were just on, and the moment I see it, I squat down.
"Eric?"
"Just stay below the windows."
He motions me forward as he settles down right under one of the windows, grabbing the box sitting there and pulling things out. I study the blanket on the floor first, before I finally sit down.
"This is your big plan?"
"It's the best I got." He shrugs.
"How did you know it was empty?" I ask, looking around.
"It felt empty." That perks up my interest and I turn to him, as he continues pulling things out of the box. So far there's an old notebooks, some books, a needle and thread set.
"What do you mean by that?"
"There are certain smells and sounds that come from a live-in place. This one had none of it." When I give him a puzzled look, he continues. "A place where people live has a mesh of smells, not an emptiness. The sounds are made by things that are placed within a room, or by people themselves. All you have to do is listen."
I cock my head to the side, completely fascinated. Since witches and shifters aren't typically friends, this is very new to me. I want to ask him a million questions right then and there, but if I've learned anything about him, it's that he's more like a flower blooming. It doesn't happen all at once. Which also makes me wonder.
"Did you always know you wanted to be this?" I wave my hand around vaguely, because I don't really know how to ask about the task force. It's still hard to believe it's a real thing.
"I always knew I would have a place in something of the sort."
I nod, because I can understand that to a point. I've always wanted to be a Protector, and here I am, kind of doing the same thing. Just on a different scale. Something tells me Eric won't be too open to more prying questions, so I turn our conversation to the next subject.
"What do you think that was, in the warehouse?"
He doesn't reply right away, mulling over the question. His jaw tightens as he thinks and I have the sudden urge to run my finger over it. Instead, I form a fist and place it on my thigh. I clearly need therapy or something.
"I have no idea. It was powerful magic though. I have no idea how they knew we were there."
"With magic of that caliber, they could've felt us out." Now it's his turn to look at me with confusion. "It's a type of scrying, but you don't scry for a specific person. You scry for a specific power. There were four of us in that room. That's a lot of power in the same place." He nods at that, but doesn't pursue it further.
I lean my head back against the wall, staring up at the ceiling.
"I hope Mitch and Letty made it out okay."
"I think they did."
We sit in silence for a few minutes, but it doesn't feel awkward. He's been with me every day for weeks now and even though we're not at the prison anymore, he's still watching over me. When I close my eyes, it doesn't come as a surprise that I trust him to keep me safe.
When I open my eyes next, it has grown even darker outside. I realize my head is resting on something and that's when I see that it's Eric's lap. Sitting up quickly, I straighten my close and push back my hair, but even though I see Eric is awake, he doesn't comment.
"How long was I out?"
"Only about an hour."
Enough time to get myself comfortable enough to sleep on his lap. Can't say I don't feel self conscious about that. I go to get up, but then realize I'm still right under the windows.
"What do you think?" I ask, and Eric inclines his head.
"I think we should try to get out of here."
I am very okay with this. We half crawl past the windows and into the little hallway, before we get to our feet. My stomach grumbles just then, hungry from not eating most of the day and Eric glances over at me.
"What? It's a normal human response to hunger," I say, giving him one of my most annoyed looks. His eyes sparkle with mischief long enough for me to catch it and I feel a small victory. Maybe he really isn't as unaffected to me as I think he is.
But now is not the time or place to discuss such things. Since it's dark out, Eric offers me his hand once again and I take it. There's no denying that I trust him to get us out of here. That I trust him with my safety. But it still feels strange doing so. After everything that happened, I told myself I would be more cautious. Yet, here I am.
By the time we're down the stairs and out of the building, I have second guessed myself fifty times over. Every thing about me seems unbalanced, and I'm not talking only about my magic. Which that in itself is a frustration. But even my responses to Eric are throwing me for a loop. It's becoming harder and harder to stay indifferent. But maybe I was never indifferent in the first place, and I'm just that good at lying to myself.
"You ready?" Eric breaks through my thoughts, giving my hand a quick encouraging squeeze.
"Let's go."
Without hesitation, we plunge into the night, staying as close to the shadows as possible. It's risky to go back to where we parked the car, but without Letty, that's our best shot right now. Eric doesn't have to tell me, somehow I understand that's the plan.
By the time we make it to the vehicle, I'm tired, but also surprised we didn't get ambushed anywhere along the way. But even once we're inside the car, Eric doesn't relax.
"What is it?"
"We can't go back to the compound. We have to find another, safe place."
I don't question him, because it makes sense. We might be followed without our knowledge. If the magic in the warehouse powerful enough, they can cloak themselves and we would never know. Not unless I used my magic, but that would just give them more fuel.
"So where to then?"
Eric is quiet for a few minutes, before he replies.
"I think I know a place."
Chapter 18
We drive for hours. Straight out of the city and toward the forest. There is a lot of green on these streets already, and large historical buildings. But once we hit outer limits of the city, it's even more beautiful. I can't believe that I finally make it to this side of the world and I can't even enjoy it.
"Are you planning on telling me where we're going?" I ask after we finally park in the middle of the large trees. My head is pounding from the lack of food and my bones are tired from all the magic I've expelled. But I know I'm not the only one. Eric has taken a beating in that room too.
"There's a place we're taught about. It's sort of a save haven slash library of knowledge for the magical community. It used to only exist in one realm, but since the borders are more open, so is this place."
"Have you been there before?"
"I've never had to, but we all learn about it. Just in case."
We drive in silence, and once again, it's not uncomfortable. There's something about Eric that makes me think Kelsey would've really liked him. I'm starting to really like him. And that is a very dangerous category to be. Not that I imagine Eric could ever feel about me the same way. It's just I know first hand how emotions can ruin everything. They make sane people run into burning buildings headfirst, with no protection. I don't need any more of that in my life.
"You know," Eric breaks the silence after a while, "You can always ask me anything. I know I'm not super upfront with information, but it's only because I'm not used to sharing."
He offers me those words like an olive branch and I can't help but feel my heart swell up at that simple gesture. Didn't I just have a talk with myself about being emotionally involved? Well, I guess it's too late anyway. I'm already emotionally involved.
"It's helpful when you share, so I appreciate it." I reply, instead of getting into it. Since I'm a private person myself I can understand how difficult it can be for someone to open up or be any type of extroverted. Plus, everything about his life is a bit secretive. This are all the points I have to remind myself of for some reason. Once I figure out that reason, I might feel better about it. Right now, I just feel confused.
"What would you be doing if you weren't doing...this?" I finally ask, settling a little more comfortably into my seat. Eric glances at me for a second, before turning his attention to the road.
"I'd be at the academy, learning to do exactly this. And then--"
"And then?"
"I'd like to teach one day. At the academy." My heart swells at his simple words, but I there's also a hint of sadness in them.
"You don't think you'll get to?"
"I doubt it. My life has pretty much been laid out for m
e my whole life."
That actually makes sense, especially if he's the next alpha. Wolf hierarchy is very specific and they are a loyal bunch who don't stray away from duty. That's something that has always been taught. Because it helps witches make their decisions accordingly. But now that I think about it, it has to be hard, not having a choice most of the time. Not that they would ever complain about it. They're too proud for that, and it's an aspect I can understand fully.
"I've always wanted to be a Protector," I say, glancing out of the window at the darkness passing us by.
"Why?"
I'm not sure why the question takes me by surprise. It's a normal flow of conversation. But I can hear genuine curiosity in Eric's voice and that makes me smile.
"Because I'm good at it. Kelsey was always good with books and could whip up a potion in minutes. But I never could. I was good at combat. I think because my magic is so active, I had to stay active. And I got good at it."
"I've seen you fight. You are good."
The matter of fact compliment warms me from the inside out. I've always been proud of the fact that I could hold my own. But to receive that praise from a fellow warrior? There's something special about it.
"We're almost there," Eric comments, as he pulls off the highway and into a rural area. I sit up straighter, trying to see into the trees, but there's nothing but darkness. The sun has been set for hours at this point.
When we finally park, we're deep in the forest. I get out, stretching my limbs, before glancing over at Eric.
"Now what?"
"Now we hike."
"I have to say, I never thought I'd spend this much time in the forest," I mumble, after we've been walking for close to an hour. Since escaping the prison, I've been out in nature more than ever in my life. Which may sound strange considering I am an elemental witch and nature is our friend. But I'm just thankful I have comfortable shoes for this one. The forest here is dense.
