Hidden Worlds

by Kristie Cook

  Jonah pays her no mind. He reaches up and tries to open the door, but it refuses to budge. Then he leans back and kicks it open. “Don’t you leave,” she orders, blinking rapidly as she tries to focus.

  He pulls himself out of the car, not answering. A quick glance at Kellan shows him unresponsive, his temple bleeding heavily. She fumbles for his pulse; once reassured, she lets go and heaves herself out of the car.

  Jonah’s already ten feet away, the black shapes forming a crescent in front of him. One of his hands is out—each small flick brings about another round of intensified screaming. He winces at the noise, but never backs down.

  “Get back here!” she yells at him. “That’s an order!”

  She might as well be talking to herself. Whatever he’s doing, he multiplies the effort, and the black shapes constrict, drifting toward the ground in oily pools as he, himself, crouches lower. And then, a strong wind blows past Giules as one of the black shapes shoots directly at Jonah. It hits him full on, knocking him to the ground.

  Giuliana reaches up toward the sky; clouds build up quickly, like one of those nature documentaries using time-lapse photography. “Come on, come on,” she chants, watching the black shape push down against Jonah. He tries desperately to connect with it, but his hand moves through it as if it was smoke. Then it twists around his arm, leaving a small tail behind; the tail cracks, like a whip—the noise the only sound as the rest of the shape shifters had fallen silent. She hears Jonah’s arm break in a number of places, but Jonah makes no sound himself. He simply winces, hard, and yanks his mangled arm away.

  The clouds finally build up enough that she’s able to pull down lightning bolt after lightning bolt, striking the area surrounding Jonah. The black shapes he’d downed earlier have begun reforming, some enough that they are edging toward where he’s lying. She races toward him, throwing more lightning down until they relent and race off into the distance.

  The screen goes blank when Alex lifts his hand. My heart is beating hard, so hard that I wonder if Karl can hear it. I want to scream and throw up at the same time, or better yet, do something—anything—to these beings that think they can attack people I love.

  “Damn,” Karl whispers. “We got off easy, didn’t we?”

  I don’t answer because I’m staring at Jonah. He’s listening to something Iolani is whispering, completely unfazed by the memory, which boggles my mind.

  “Karl?” Alex is asking. “Is there anything you guys saw that varied from the behavior we saw here?”

  “Don’t you dare,” I hiss, suddenly aware that my inabilities and lack of decisive action might be up on a screen for all to see. With my unforgiving, easily embarrassed parents in the room, no less.

  Karl ignores my warning. “Only that they were able to cause an explosion.”

  “Do you mind if we have a look?” Alex asks.

  Karl gives it to him, offering me some half-assed “It’s for the good of the group” spiel. Alex’s eyes unfocus once more as he touches the projector, allowing Karl’s memory to be seen by all.

  It’s like watching a car wreck, no pun intended. I know what’s going to happen, and as much as I want to look away, I can’t. It’s almost as if I have to see just how ineffective I was in Karl’s Hummer that day.

  Thank gods Karl is more selective than Giules with what he allows the others to see. He starts at the moment he’d began weaving toward the other side of traffic, leading up to the Hummer spinning and gunning in the opposite direction.

  Karl looks at me, and I’m surprised by appearing much calmer than I remember being. And then an explosion rips through the air behind us—Karl sees the entire thing in the rearview mirror. The black shapes mass into one giant entity, stretching out like a rubber band and then snapping back in. The moment they constrict inward, a fire bomb goes off, exploding in every direction. The shape shifters follow the explosion lines, streaking hot and fast towards the Hummer.

  We lift off the ground, lurching toward the left before slamming hard into the pavement. Karl watches my head smash against the glass and even reaches out to brace me a split second too late.

  I don’t remember him doing that.

  There’s a lot more blood everywhere, more than I remember. Cora’s babbling hysterically—I don’t remember that, either—before grabbing my head. Karl yells at her to get it together (good gods, do I remember any of this correctly?), and she does, masking her panic with soothing words I can tell are hard for her to say.

  Karl’s eyes flick back to the rearview mirror; he’s putting enough distance between us and the black shapes so he’s able to turn some focus back to me. I’m white as a sheet, my eyes unfocused and nearly black. Cora screams at him about concussions and a cracked skull.

  Thankfully, Karl cuts the memory off here, right before I pass out.

  I am dying of shame.

  Gods. Jonah had gotten out of the car, had fought those things. What had I done? I’d been frozen, unable to think of a single thing to do. My mother is shaking her head, not in a I can’t believe my daughter almost died sympathetic way, but more in a Gods, can’t that girl get it together and stop shaming our family way.

  I do not allow myself to look at anyone else, even though I can feel Jonah’s eyes burning a hole into me. I want to turn around, hide behind Karl even, but I simply stand still as can be, counting the cracks in the parquet floor.

  “That is most interesting,” Oliver Crocus says, breaking the uncomfortable silence in the room. “They have the ability to create fire and explosions, which leads one to believe an early form of an Elemental is present.”

  Meg’s father says, “I thought only Blazes do that.”

  “Indeed,” Oliver says mildly. “Today. But not with the Elders—their Elementals would have had control over the four elements.”

  “And the deaths?” Lizzie’s mother calls out. “What are they gaining by the deaths? Why mostly Council members?”

  “Are not our Council members most potent?” Oliver queries.

  The room explodes in an angry, scared frenzy, with almost every single person talking at the same time. Just as Cora grabs her bullhorn, Raul races in.

  “They’re on the move, spotted within thirty miles of here,” he says. “Meeting over!”

  Chaos erupts. Everyone frantically clambers down off the bleachers.

  Karl grabs my arm so tightly I can feel bruises being born. “Is Kopano still on the roof?”

  Raul nods. “The shield is still functioning. But they’re moving fast, brother!”

  Karl swears under his breath. “Where’s Zthane?”

  “He and Kellan have taken off toward the direction they’re moving in.” Raul searches the room until he finds Kiah. “Redrock, you’re needed out there!”

  “On it!” she yells, sprinting to the door.

  Karl turns to Iolani and Jonah. “This room is getting locked down in,” he looks at his watch, “five minutes. You have your orders.”

  Orders?

  I grab at Jonah’s attention. He gives me a very calm, very measured look that tells me not to panic, but I am.

  Holy cow, am I panicking.

  Karl tells Raul that he needs to get back outside to help defend the building if Kopano’s shields fail. But, I need to do something. I can’t just sit back this time and do nothing.

  Iolani and Jonah are now standing with us, debating whether or not to have the entire building sealed. I can do this, I know I can. It’s easy—takes little to no effort. But if the building is sealed, and Kopano is inside, then it’s still at risk.

  I can … I can … make the shield permanent, right? I can do that easily, too. I will just make the atoms in the shield hold still.

  “Let me solidify the shield,” I say, interrupting what Karl is saying.

  They all stop talking and look at me. And then, every single one of them, Jonah included, say, “No.”

  Raul dismisses himself and heads back outside.

  “I can do it,” I t
ell Karl. “You know I can.”

  He lets go of my arm and gives me a toe-curling frown of disapproval. “I know you can. But letting you outside would be idiotic, considering you’re our number-one concern.”

  “The building will be at risk if there’s no shield,” I argue. “And we don’t know enough about these Elders to know whether or not they can sense us through walls. So, let me go outside and solidify the shield. That way, everyone outside can come inside, and no one has to risk anything.”

  Again, every single person standing by me says, “No.”

  “Chloe,” Iolani tries, “you must realize that our number-one priority is to protect you.”

  I look up at Karl, whose arms are now crossed. He will not budge; of this I am sure. Don’t do it, the little voice warns, sounding far too panicky when I feel so bloody calm for once.

  But I do. I turn on my heels and sprint out the one remaining door as fast as I can. I build a number of barriers between me and the door so anyone following won’t be able to get through easily. Then I grab Raul who is standing outside, talking on his phone. “Get me on top of the roof right now.”

  “Did Karl agree—”

  “NOW,” I order, trying out my very best Council voice.

  “No need to be nasty,” he sniffs. Dark clouds suddenly mass above as thunder booms so strongly the ground shakes. And then the winds around us whip furiously into a small, thin tornado.

  Karl is screaming from behind the wooden planks I’d thrown up, but thankfully the thunder is so loud, Raul can’t hear him.

  “Ready for a ride?” Raul asks, grabbing me tightly around the waist. He flicks out a hand and the tornado veers directly toward us.

  He’s kidding, right?

  There are those rides at amusement parks, the ones that move so fast that you can no longer move your limbs easily. And your face sorts of starts moving on its own, all stretched back or to the side because the pressure against you is too much. This is what it’s like when the tornado barrels down on us. And rather than being terrified, like I ought to, I feel completely calm. Rationally, I figure I’m about to die, but my mind is razor sharp, clear and focused.

  Seal and solidify the shield. Protect those I love.

  It doesn’t matter that I’ll probably be found dead in an hour or so, not killed by the Elders, but because a house or a barn or a car has smashed down on me two counties over. I’m going to be that Witch whose shoes Dorothy stole. Only no one will want to steal my ratty Uggs.

  Raul grips me tighter and throws us right into the tornado. It’s five million times worse than any of those rides that smash your face up and incapacitate you. Raul is saying something to me, something against my ear in this bizarre, intimate way that ought to unnerve me. I have no idea what it is, nor do I care. Because all I know is that I’m not going to fail this time.

  When we crash down on the roof, my hands bleed against the gravel. I don’t bother checking them out as I tell Raul, “Text the team outside and tell them to get inside right now. I’ll seal the building once it’s complete.”

  He nods and pulls out his phone.

  Kopano is still seated, ear buds in, hands out in a meditative pose. “I cannot focus if you are going to be doing that around me,” he says.

  “They’re coming,” Raul says, fingers flying across the keyboard. Kopano’s hands drop; the shimmering around the building begins to fade.

  “Wait!” I stumble over to where he’s sitting. “Build it up again. I’m gonna make it permanent.”

  Down below, Karl is screaming my name. Jonah is, too, and it tears at my heart. Raul lowers his phone briefly and asks, “What’s this?”

  “Ignore them,” I say firmly. “Kopano, put the shield back up now.”

  He looks toward the ledge nervously. “I cannot guarantee it will be perfect now that I’ve lost my build-up.”

  “Whatever you do will be enough. Now, please, before it’s too late.”

  Kopano and Raul exchange an uneasy glance, but Kopano spreads out his hands and chants something, low and soft. When the shield shimmers and reappears, I surge into his mind to collect the image of the scene replaying over and over. Then I scramble to the side of the building and grip it tight.

  SolidifySolidifySolidify

  Horrible screams begin to fill the air around the building. Raul sprints across the roof and skids to a halt at the very edge. “Lord Almighty! They are even closer than we thought!”

  “Is everyone inside?” I ask quickly.

  Raul peers over the side. “Er … no.”

  “Get them in right now. Tell them I’ll be done in less than a minute and we’ll meet them inside.”

  He pulls out his phone and calls Karl.

  Kopano unfolds himself and leaps to his feet. “Time to go, Chloe.”

  “Are they inside?” I ask, feeling the last bits of the shield solidifying.

  “Yes.” Raul stares into the distance. “Gods! Half a mile at the most! Let’s go, Chloe! You’re in deep shit, by the way.”

  “You sure everyone is inside? Everyone but the three of us?”

  “Yes, yes,” he says impatiently.

  The calm clarity expands. Everyone I really love is safe inside this building. Jonah. Kellan. The Cousins. Karl. Caleb. Even my parents. But it doesn’t guarantee anything. The Elders could still figure this out. They could still be at risk.

  Because they want me. I’m the big catch, right?

  So I do what I have to do. I erase the remaining door to the gym.

  chapter 26

  “We need to get out of here,” I tell Raul and Kopano as a ladder spreads out below us.

  “We need to get back into that building, girl,” Kopano argues.

  I throw my legs over the side of the building and climb down. It’s surprisingly faster than tornado travel. “It’s me they want, and there are just too many people in there to risk. So let’s get going already!”

  “You’re INSANE!” Raul yells as he scuttles down after me. “Chloe, Karl wants—”

  “Yeah, yeah,” I mutter as I drop to the ground. “What about what I want?”

  “To die?” Kopano asks as he drops to the ground next to Raul. “Because that is what you are asking for if you do not get into the building.”

  I am not going to stand by and watch anyone else get hurt. I just can’t. Jonah and Kellan had not been afraid of the Elders. They’d stood their ground, whereas I’d passed out. Not again.

  “What I want is everyone to be safe. So why don’t we give those things out there something to chase after? They want me, right? If they follow us, they’ll pass this building up with no thought.”

  “But Karl—” Raul tries again.

  “Aren’t you two Guard?” I demand. “Can’t you defend me just as well as he?”

  “Yes, but—”

  My fists ball up tightly. “I am leaving with or without you. So, choose.”

  They stare at me for what feels like forever. The screaming around us intensifies to where it’s impossible to hear anything else. But then Raul grabs my arm and we sprint to his rented Corvette. I have to share a cramped seat with Kopano, who holds onto me like he’s afraid I’ll fly away. I haven’t even buckled our seat belt when Raul peels out of the parking lot toward the main drag in town. “Where to?”

  I unroll the window and scan the horizon. Sure enough, the Elders are right behind, split into two long tails on either side of the road. “Somewhere crowded, where it’ll be nearly impossible to pick out a small group of Magicals.”

  “I’ve been wanting to see San Francisco,” he yells, swerving around a minivan. “Here’s my chance!”

  The Corvette’s top lowers. I unbuckle my seatbelt and stand up, surprisingly steady due to the death grip Kopano’s got on me. He swears as one of the black shapes darts away from the pack and streaks toward us. I gather as much energy as I can from the power lines above and roll it into a miniature sun between my hands. Then I launch it at the shape as hard as I can.
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  Two summers of softball hell with Cora finally pay off. Just as the shape comes within a foot of the Corvette, the energy ball smashes into it and explodes. The Elder shrieks, shooting high into the air and then to the right.

  Damn. They’re still alive. Maybe I’m not strong enough to kill them after all? Maybe … because I haven’t Ascended yet?

  Two more black shapes break rank and dart into the road. A number of cars behind us squeal to hasty stops before being knocked over by the shifters. “Hold on,” Raul tells us, throwing the car into fifth gear. He reaches an arm out to steady me, despite Kopano’s grip.

  I quickly yank as much energy down as I can. I’ll have to be content with maiming rather than destroying. My little fire bombs strike true, forcing the shape-shifters off the road. But more and more break from the pack, hurtling past and tipping over car after car in their pursuit of us.

  They’re fighting in the open, the little voice marvels in horror. Where anyone can see them. This is not good.

  I hesitate as more cars skid to halts behind us. People are fleeing their vehicles and running toward anything nearby that offers safety.

  “Hit them!” Raul yells. “Don’t worry about the public! Someone will take care of them.”

  “People are getting hurt!”

  His eyes stay steady on the road. “Focus, Chloe! Get those things off of us. This car can only go so fast!”

  A cell phone rings in the cup holder below. Sure enough, Karl’s name flashes on the screen. But I am not going to lead them here. No way.

  I snatch the phone and lob it in an arc. It disappears in a ditch. Kopano’s goes off not a second later, prompting me to snatch that one as well. “What the hell?” Raul demands. “We need those!”

  I build up another ball. “For what? So they can follow us?”

  He grunts, swerving around two cars. Kopano’s grip on me is now close to cutting off my circulation. “Stronger, Chloe,” the Hider says. “Do not worry about damage. The Guard will come and clean up any mess.” Then, despite still holding onto me, he closes his eyes and chants. The car begins to shimmer.

  “What’s going on?” I ask Raul.