by Sarah Jaune
That’s when he struck. Eli spun, twisting his hand around to grab the woman’s wrist, turning it until she dropped to her knees with a gasp. He didn’t have to tell Ivy to grab the gun. They’d both practiced disarming people countless times in the last six months. The moment the police officer hit the roof, the gun was in Ivy’s hand and pointed at the other woman’s head.
She stared at them in horror.
“We’re not going to hurt you,” Eli assured her as he let go and stepped back.
“Nope,” Ivy agreed as they backed towards the fire escape. “Please call them off. It’s better this way. We’re leaving the city.”
The woman didn’t answer. Eli turned to the step and saw why. About half a dozen men had stationed themselves below what Eli now saw was a metal fire escape, with winding steps down to the sidewalk. “Daggers,” he ground out between clenched teeth.
“You aren’t getting away,” the police officer said from behind him.
Eli knew exactly what Ivy was thinking, which was they should try to get out without using their powers, but this was desperate times. “I’m going for it.”
“No!” Ivy hissed. “I just… wait, I have an idea.”
“Come down from there!” a voice from below commanded them forcefully.
Ivy turned to the River Walk and Eli stared as she closed her eyes. “What are you doing?”
“Shut up, I’m concentrating!” she told him.
Then he heard it.
The rumble started out low, but gradually picked up speed and volume until it thundered like a freight train barreling down on them. Eli was frozen, staring stupidly at her.
What was that?
He glanced down at the men and saw them running as a wave of water rose up from the river, over the wall, and shooting down the alley, knocking everyone off their feet. The current, which wasn’t even three feet deep, then rushed off into the San Antonio streets away from the River Walk, carrying with it any trash cans, old bottles, or lawn chairs that happened to be in the path of the water. What was left after was a damp residue that bespoke of the wave and an alley clear of police.
“Well…” Eli turned to stare at Ivy who was shaking like a leaf. He was seriously impressed. “That was something.”
“I can’t…” she reached out and almost collapsed into his arms. She dropped the gun to the roof, but Eli didn’t bother to pick it up. Eli took her arm, holding her up so she didn’t fall.
He turned back to the police officer. “Don’t come after us. I was being honest before. Leave it at that because you can’t beat me.”
It wasn’t bravado, just a statement of fact, and he said it that way. She eyed him appraisingly before nodding.
Eli picked Ivy up like she wasn’t his size, which left the officer gaping after him as he started carefully down the fire escape’s steps. She wasn’t heavy, not to him. The only awkward part was that he couldn’t see where he was stepping on the metal stairs. The ones towards the bottom were wet, and unfortunately slippery, but he somehow managed not to fall.
“I can walk,” Ivy said into his neck, even though she made no effort at all to lift her head off his shoulder.
“Sure you can,” he said with a short laugh as he headed back towards the River Walk. “Next time don’t try to move a whole river, okay?”
She sighed once and passed out, going completely limp in his arms. Eli didn’t worry, though. He’d see that very reaction before when their friend Zen had healed a girl with terminal cancer. He, too, had passed out for most of the night. It was the level of energy needed that did it.
Eli could outrun a car, but only for thirty seconds or so. Any longer than that, and he’d keel over from exhaustion in the same way Ivy had. Eli had been testing the limits of his magic over the last six months and had figured out, for the most part, how far he could push himself. He could carry an object of about a hundred pounds indefinitely. Any more than that and he’d begin to tire. He could dead lift up to two-thousand pounds, but, if he trained consistently, he could lift more and for longer lengths of time. He could run at a normal speed forever as long as his energy was there. If he’d eaten enough food, he could keep going.
That was the only tricky part. The more magic he used, the more fuel his body needed. He was, not to put it too bluntly, expensive to feed. They weren’t supposed to hunt or grow their own food, but Pablo had been hunting deer and rabbit to supplement their food supply. Eli, Graham, and Oliver had gone with him a few times, too.
Unfortunately, he had a good five mile walk to get to the jeep and there was no way to sneak back, not while carrying an unconscious girl. By the time he made it to the jeep, Eli would be exhausted and starving. Picking up the pace, Eli began a jog down the small streets, searching for anywhere that might hide them for a few hours. If Ivy could wake up enough to walk, he could get her to the jeep by only half-carrying her.
Then, as though he’d called for it, a car slid to a stop in front of him. He stopped short, staring into the black limo.
The tinted window rolled down and an older woman peered out at them.
Coral’s mother.
She nodded to him. “Get in,” she ordered as she pushed the door open and moved over.
Eli didn’t see much of a choice in this. He maneuvered Ivy in and set her on the bench seat along the side of the limo, pulling the seatbelt around her so she wouldn’t slide off.
Ivy looked so peaceful this way, but her skin was definitely pale. She’d done way too much.
“Driver,” Coral’s mother called out. “Take a right out here, then a left on Peach Street. We’ll be on that for a few miles until you see a blue jeep that’s parked off in the trees on the right.”
Eli sat down across from the woman in the comfortably appointed car and was not quite so surprised that she knew where he’d left the jeep. He winced as he felt the raw scrape on his back from where he’d landed hard. In all the chaos, he’d forgotten it was there. “I appreciate this.”
“I know you do,” she smiled gently. “I can hear it. I could feel your panic over what happened. I appreciate you not harming our fine law enforcement, well…” the older woman laughed softly, and Eli realized he had no idea what her name was. “They’re all wet, but they’ll dry. Cuts and bruises at the most. That was impressive, by the way. I don’t think Ivy knew she could do that with the water.”
Eli shook his head. He hadn’t realized either.
“I am Pearl, by the way,” she told him. “You were wondering. Also, my husband… he is very strong, but as you know, broken bones will slow anyone down. I tried to convince him to come to Savannah with us for healing, but he is stubborn. He was hoping for someone more like you for our oldest child.”
Eli couldn’t imagine that anyone would want him in their family. Daggers, his own family didn’t seem to want him. He hadn’t seen his sisters in years. Zen was a much better choice because he wasn’t an emotional cripple, which Coral had known just from being near him.
“I agree with you, although,” Pearl told him, a little bemused, “you aren’t doomed to the life you think you are. There is hope for you if you continue to make good choices. Mostly, you shouldn’t underestimate her,” she said, pointing towards Ivy.
“I don’t,” Eli replied sincerely. At least, he thought he was being sincere.
Pearl nodded as they pulled up beside the jeep. “I know she underestimates herself.”
CHAPTER 5
PLACES TO RUN
Eli moved Ivy into the car, buckling her into the jeep. It had only taken Eli a moment to zip over to where he’d hidden the key for the car and get back. Ivy didn’t as much as stir as the early morning light began to pool around them, lighting up the small stand of trees where he’d abandoned the jeep.
“She’s having a very interesting dream,” Pearl told him as she emerged gracefully from the limo carrying a brown, paper bag and a book. She handed both to him. “It involves her mother talking to herself.” The woman touched Ivy’s brow ge
ntly, moving her hair away from her face. It was the exact sort of move that Maia did with her sleeping daughters. “Poor child… so many hard days.”
Eli had only a small inkling what that might mean, but Pearl didn’t seem like she would be open to answering any questions. Instead, he said, “Thank you, again, for helping us escape. We’ll head home, check in, then make sure the kids in New Orleans are being taken care of.”
“I know you will,” Pearl inclined her head. “Drive out of the city, up towards the Oklahoma City Zone, and on the way you’ll see a large dome that appears to be about to fall down. It’s not. Stop there and rest until you’re feeling well enough to drive. Use your first aid kit to put something on those scratches. They might get infected.”
“I will,” Eli promised as he moved around to the driver’s side. “Tell Coral we said ‘bye,’ okay?”
“Okay,” Pearl repeated with an indulgent smile as he swung into the jeep, started the ignition, and drove off and away from San Antonio.
Three hours later, he spotted the rundown dome that sat off to the left, off the side of the road. He checked to make sure no one was watching and pulled off, driving around the back until the Jeep was completely hidden from the road.
The dome was huge, at least four stories tall and stretched out for two hundred yards, maybe more. The white paint was cracked and peeling off the surface which seemed to be metal in some places, but fiberglass in others. Eli turned in his seat to see Ivy staring at him, her green eyes huge and a little glassy from exhaustion. “Morning.”
“Where are we?” she said through a croak as she rubbed at her eyes. “Ugh, my head hurts.”
“Here,” he pulled a water bottle out from under the seat. “Drink up, you earned it. You’re probably hungry, too. I’ll get food out in a minute.”
“I’m starving,” Ivy admitted as she drank the entire bottle of water in one go. It wouldn’t matter, though. She could pull water from the ground and refill it before they left. “What happened?”
“You moved a river,” Eli reminded her as he opened his door and went to inspect the dome. She didn’t follow him, but that didn’t surprise him. If she was able to walk in the next six hours, it would be a minor miracle. He skirted around the dome, searching for a way in and found a door just up ahead of where he’d parked. Eli pulled on the handle and it swung open, revealing fake grass lining the whole length of the dome. “What on earth?” he muttered as he moved inside.
It was blessedly cool in there. The grass, which had probably been very nice at one point, was painted with white lines that crisscrossed until they ended at… goals. A slow grin spread across his face as he realized just what this place was.
It was an indoor soccer field. The dome was, probably, meant to represent half of a soccer ball! But this did seem like a very odd place to put a field. He turned and spotted what appeared to be a closed off interior room to the right of the main door. This door was locked, but Eli had no trouble picking the lock with the paperclip he always kept in his shoelaces. Inside was an office, with a long couch, and several comfortable looking chairs.
Perfect.
Eli went back for Ivy, who had fallen back to sleep, and moved her into the office, to the couch, before bringing in the supplies so that he could doctor his wound and eat some kind of breakfast. What he found in the bag was enough to make Eli laugh in relief.
Pearl had included food for them, enough food for at least breakfast and lunch. She’d also included a couple of bottles of spices. He ate, enjoying the flavorful food, and turned to the book that she’d given him, wondering why she’d bothered to give it to him.
The title read, ‘An Accounting of Magic’, by Madalyn Cotton. It didn’t look to be a very old book. It had definitely been read a few times, but wasn’t falling apart.
Madalyn Cotton… it sounded so familiar, but Eli couldn’t think of why it sounded so familiar. There was something there, though…
“Eli…” Ivy’s voice was barely above a whisper.
“Hey,” he grinned and set the book aside. “Are you hungry?”
Ivy struggled to sit up, and her whole body seemed to sway as though she were on a rocking boat. Blurry, mossy colored eyes met his as her hair fell half across her face. “Yeah,” was all she seemed to be able to manage.
Eli fixed up a portion for her and brought it over to the couch. It seemed to Eli that even lifting her arm was a chore, but Ivy managed to eat. He hopped up to put the excess food away, and his back screamed at him in protest. “I need help bandaging my back,” he explained at her look of concern. “I hit something when I jumped onto the roof.”
He didn’t wait to see the annoyed glare he was sure was stabbing him in the back as he went to retrieve the first aid supplies he’d brought into the soccer dome. When he turned around again, Ivy appeared resigned to the fact that he’d carried her with an injured back.
She’d have done the same… well, if she could have lifted him, she’d have done the same. Eli handed her the kit and turned his back to her.
Wordlessly, Ivy moved his shirt up and out of the way. Her gasp of horror told him that the wound looked as bad as it felt. “Okay,” Ivy sighed heavily. “Hold your shirt up. This is going to take a few minutes.”
It stung like crazy.
“This looks bad, Eli,” Ivy said as her fingers lightly dabbed ointment on his skin. He hissed out a breath, unable to completely control his reaction. All he knew was that if he spoke, it would be to scream. He didn’t know how he’d ignored it through the whole trip to the soccer dome.
Moments later, although it felt like several hours to Eli, she stuck the bandage to his skin and eased his t-shirt back down. “Elijah…”
“Ivy,” he finally managed to say between clenched teeth. “Let it go. It’s done, now.”
“You’re really hurt,” Ivy pointed out as he turned to stare at her. Her concern was etched over her features as her brows drew together. A faint buzz of a fly distracted him for a moment as he tried to remember how to breathe. His stomach felt strange as her gaze skimmed over him.
“You were unconscious,” Eli reminded her. “The whole river thing?”
She flushed and turned away. “That was stupid.”
“It wasn’t stupid!” Eli promised. “It was really impressive, just, you know, too much all at once.”
“That’s why it was stupid,” Ivy sighed. “I knew I couldn’t do it.”
“You could do it,” Eli argued quickly. “You just need to work up to that so it doesn’t drain all your power.”
She attempted to stand, but swayed and crashed back onto the couch. “Where are we?” Ivy asked as she turned to stare around them.
“A soccer dome,” Eli answered as he cleaned everything up, throwing the food and the book back into the backpack. “Coral’s mom told me to stop here to rest, but I think we should keep going.”
“Aren’t you exhausted?”
Eli shook his head. “I’m wishing I had a soccer ball, but otherwise I’m okay.”
Truth be told, his painful back was going to keep him awake even if he wanted to sleep. The healing ointment was stinging like a dagger to the back.
“I want another few minutes,” Ivy said. “I want to be walking before we take off again.”
It was a good bit longer than a couple of minutes before Ivy was walking, and even then it was clutching Eli’s arm. He didn’t have to struggle to support her, but she seemed to be determined not to further injure his back.
After they finally left, Ivy was asleep again in moments. Eli grinned as he pulled back onto the road and headed north. There was a major road to the north that would take them west into Portland and without his navigator awake, he knew he needed to head the way that he could recognize.
The sky around them, which had started out as a clear, sharp blue, was slowly being overrun by dark, stormy clouds. Eli kept his eyes on the sky, unsure of what they were in for, but he hoped it wasn’t a thunderstorm. Ivy was scared of them
.
This was unexpected, because it was all water, which was her thing.
He went on for another hour. At first, they’d driven parallel to a storm system that was rolling through the sky above them. It looked to be almost like a solid wall of clouds that marched on, relentlessly overtaking them.
The wind began to pick up with alarming speed, but nothing was around them except fields of crops or wild grass. Occasionally, Eli would spot a tree, but otherwise the land appeared deserted. He didn’t know why, but the black clouds left him incredibly nervous.
He tried to think about what he knew of storms, but his brain didn’t want to work. It looked like they would soon be swallowed by clouds that were so dark now that the sun was completely blotted out, leaving the air around them tinged with green. He flipped on the headlights just to be able to see.
