CHAPTER 24
Pamela
Blaz landed next to Eve and Marco, and they eyed me up. I flushed but said nothing. Charlie hopped down and hobbled on his peg leg. “How can I help?’
I thought for a moment. “We’ll need a place to stay after this, after they find the Destroyer. People will be hungry. Can you go to Giselle’s, make sure there is food and everything’s ready?”
He gave me a grin and tapped my hand. “Yous got it. Be brave, Pamela.” Eve offered to fly him to Giselle’s. She was fast, swinging back into view in less than half an hour.
Then the four of us hunkered down to wait for Rylee and the others.
Which turned out to be not much of a wait. Three figures started toward us, the sun at their back, highlighting their figures.
Those three headed our way are elementals, Pamela. You are the first line of defense against them if they attack.
“Why would they do that?”
They don’t want Rylee to find the Destroyer. And they will do anything to stop her.
I turned to them, taking in their very distinct images. White, brown, and black were the immediate colors I saw. The woman in the front wore black and had flaming red hair. The tall man to her left was in white, with long swirling white hair. The man on the right was not so tall, had black hair and was dressed all in shades of brown.
“Child, step aside,” the woman said to me, her voice soft. Kind.
I’d been fooled once by a voice like that. Underneath it, I heard the truth. This woman would kill us all if given the chance.
I drew myself up and moved toward them. I remembered what Deanna had taught me about magical duels. “I challenge you to a battle of skill and wit. One to one. To your knees.”
The woman shook her head, flame hair dancing on the breeze, catching the morning light. “You are a child. Not old enough to call a duel of those better than you.”
The man behind her wearing all white laughed. “Do it. She has to take all three of us out one at a time. I think the chit needs a lesson in humility.” His smile was not kind and I stared back at him, an eyebrow raised.
The red-headed woman nodded. “Let it be then. The first to your knees.”
I didn’t wait on her to make the first strike. I flicked my fingers at her, a blast of flame slamming into her with enough force to knock her back twenty feet. But the flame didn’t hurt her, it curled around her like it was a lover, caressing her skin, dancing along the edges of her hair.
Her element is fire. Use something else.
“You could have said that sooner,” I snapped, embarrassment heating my cheeks. I didn’t wait for her to regroup. That I’d learned from Milly.
I gathered the earth below me and shot it straight up under her, tossing her aside like a wave. She was on her knees, her jaw hanging open. I’d won, but even I knew the fight had been too easy. And that worried me.
Her eyes narrowed and she let out a snarl as a wave of flame rushed from her to me. I flung my hands up, calling the wind to block the flames from reaching us.
The white haired man laughed. “I cannot wait to take her on. But it looks like you are breaking the rules, Magma. You aren’t supposed to keep fighting after you’ve been dropped to your knees.”
“The little bitch is going to die,” she hissed and the flames inched toward me as she took a step in my direction.
“Blaz. I don’t want to kill her.” I didn’t want to end up like Milly. I didn’t want to be inside the darkness.
Intent, Pamela. Your intent is to protect your family. Those you love. Defend them however you must. Take her weapon from her, she won’t expect it.
I was going to have to move fast. I dropped my hold on the wind and fell to my belly. The rush of flames over my head singed my hair, the crackle and smell of burning keratin chasing me. I army-crawled while the woman, Magma, shot thick streams of fire at where I once stood. Sliding underneath the flames, I could see only her ankles; hopefully, the flame blocked me from her view.
I couldn’t hear anything, the fire above me eating the sound and stealing my breath, scorching my back. Each inch felt like a mile, my hands and knees, cheek and chest scraped along the hard ground, rocks and dirt biting my bare skin. None of it mattered. I had to stop her. Had to buy Rylee the time she needed to find the Destroyer.
If it was the last thing I did, I would do as Blaz said. I would defend my family.
Another few inches and I was at the fire elemental’s feet. I grabbed her ankles and jerked hard. She screamed and the flames puffed out of existence. I scrambled up her body, but she was no slouch. She flipped me over and we rolled as she drew back a fist and slammed it into my side. A grunt escaped me, a burst of air gone from my lungs. I clawed at her face, fingers hooking into the edge of her eyes. She screamed and bit at me.
Behind us, male laughter erupted. “Maybe we should throw some oil on them.”
On cue, a patter of rain fell, soaking us within seconds, creating a perfect mud bath.
“Assholes!” Magma screamed and I hated to agree with her. But the mud helped. I lifted it with my magic and slapped it over her face, covering her eyes, mouth, and nose. She tried to get it off, pulling at it. She was distracted and I pulled her knife. Just in case. I held the mud tight to her face, my every thought focused on stopping her as I scrambled back, slipping in the muck and falling flat onto my back. The fall broke my concentration and Magma flung the mud off her face, gasping.
“You sneaky little bitch. I’m going to strangle you with my bare hands. You don’t deserve to die by fire.”
I spit at her. “Piss off, you wanker.”
I kept the blade tucked low as she lunged at me. I let her get on top of me, let her hands circle around my neck. Let her squeeze. I met her eyes, saw the hatred. Saw the darkness behind the crazy orange irises.
I thought of nothing but those I loved.
Frank. Alex. Blaz.
Liam.
Rylee.
Tears streaming, I brought the knife down hard, slicing it through the leather of her suit, through her ribs and straight into her heart. Her eyes flickered in shock, her body stiffened and her hands loosened on my neck.
“Damn. I didn’t think it would be you who ended me,” was the only thing she whispered as life left her. I flipped her off me, and yanked the blade out, as I turned to face the other two. Shaking hard, I barely managed to keep on my feet. But I did.
They will be wary now.
“Got it. Who’s next?” I flicked some of the mud off, like that was my only concern. Let them think I was overconfident. Inside, I was trembling with what was coming. Two more deaths.
Let me have the strength of heart to do this.
The man with the black hair stepped forward. He was devastatingly handsome, his green eyes piercing, reminding me no small amount of Doran. Before everything that had happened, this would have made me blush and trip over my own tongue. He held a hand out to me, as if I hadn’t just stuck a knife into his companion’s chest. “Witch. This is not your fight. Leave and you will live.”
I shook my head, bits of mud flicking out around me. “My family makes their stand here, against Orion. You’re either with us, or against us. You don’t want to be against us.”
He smiled and spread his hands, but I was ready for him. Or so I thought. The earth softened beneath my feet, the mud giving a burp as it gulped at me, and I knew he was an earth elemental. How did I stop him?
The clouds dotting the sky weren’t perfect for lighting, but they would do. I raised my hand as I sunk. As if I had all the time in the world. I refused to be rushed. Refused the fear and mud that grabbed at my ankles and slowly swallowed me.
Lightning danced and struck the ground chasing him, bolts that he dodged with ease. The power swelled in me until I thought I would burst with it, but I held back. I needed him to think I could only send one bolt at a time. I was to my waist in the mud, but still I didn’t hurry. “Leave. And I will let you live.” I repeated h
is words back to him.
He stumbled back as a lightning bolt arced into the ground between his legs. He narrowed his eyes at me, mere green slits.
“Magma was a fool. You got lucky with her. But you won’t with me.”
A laugh bubbled up in me. “I have no desire to get lucky with you.”
His jaw dropped and I called down three bolts at the same time. He dodged the first on his right, but that put him into the path of the next two. They hit him one after the other, a double strike that arched his back and split his leather suit like a sausage casing.
I didn’t hold back but flicked my fingers three more times, sending the electricity through his body. He would hurt those I loved. He would kill them if I didn’t stop him. Blaz was right; I didn’t want to do this. But I wouldn’t hold back, now the course was taken.
A slow clapping of hands stilled my body. The white-haired man watched me, eyes roving my body. I pushed myself out of the ground, the mud starting to cake on my skin, pulling on it. None of that mattered. I was almost done here.
“My name is Nimbus, I feel like you should know my name before we do this. It is an intimate thing, to kill another person. To feel their soul leave their body, to know you held that power over them. Like a god.”
I clenched my jaw. “It is not power, but a curse. I do not want you to know my name.”
He ignored me and continued to talk as if I hadn’t interrupted him. “And what the others failed to see is that you have some of our blood in your veins. It is what makes you the powerful witch you are.” He strolled around me in a loose circle.
Air elemental, Pamela. He will be the most dangerous.
How could air be the most dangerous? He continued to circle me, like a lion stalking its prey. I followed him, turning in time with his steps so I never lost sight of him. “What, you aren’t going to try and make a deal with me? Tell me we can be friends? Tell me that you’ll let me go if I just step away?”
His grin was slow and looked genuine. “No. Because you are a fighter. As am I. This will be to the death. You know that. And I welcome the brutal reality of it.”
I nodded and the knowledge settled on my shoulders. “At least you are honest.”
He shrugged. “No point in denying the truth. You will die.”
“Then you will have to go through Blaz. And he will tear you apart.”
“Why not let him do it now then? Why do you fight alone, without your supposed friend to help?” His pale gray eyes glittered with maliciousness. He was trying to turn me on Blaz. I was not going to fall for that kind of shit again.
I straightened my back, knowing for the first time my place in our family. Understanding it to the core of my heart and soul. “I am the first line of defense. If you make it through me, then you can introduce yourself to Blaz.”
“And me,” Eve called.
“And me,” Marco echoed.
But what warmed my heart was the full-bodied roar that came behind them.
Peta.
The snow leopard stalked toward Nimbus. His eyes widened and he stumbled backward. “No. She cannot be free. I have not felt her prison break.”
The distraction was what I needed. I used the earth elemental’s trick and softened the ground below Nimbus.
I grinned. Dangerous my ass.
But I was too cocky, far too soon.
And it was about to cost me.
CHAPTER 25
Rylee
“I see light,” I said, shimmying through another tight corner.
“Thank the gods,” Berget mumbled. Her breathing was heavy and close to hyperventilating. But she’d stayed the course and made it through with me.
Breathing out, I pushed myself toward the light and promptly got stuck. The rock on either side of me pinned my pelvic bone. “Berget, I’m fucking stuck.”
“Here, I can help.”
“Just be careful.” I bit down on a yelp as she shoved me—hard. The rock scraped against my bones, biting through the jeans and gouging into me. But I popped out into the small open space. Berget slipped out behind me. Bending over, her hands on her knees she panted. “I don’t know how we’re going to get out. I’m not sure I can do that again.”
I couldn’t answer her. I just stared at the box in front of me. Twelve by twelve by twelve. A perfect cube to keep Larkspur trapped for almost eight years. On it, a stick figure was drawn, completely obliterated by a huge circle wrapped around her. She was in there, I felt her, felt her heartbeat and the steady thrum of awareness that told me she was not quite asleep. Not really awake, either.
The room was lit with witch light. Or something close to it, anyway. As we took a few steps closer, the light faded, flickered and went out. “Figures,” I muttered. I took the lantern from Berget and held it up as I reached out and put my hands on the big-ass box. I jerked back at the light shock I got off the thing. “It’s plastic.”
“Is she . . . even alive?” Berget eyed the prison, and I wondered what she was sensing. If it was important, she’d say.
“Yes, she’s alive. Back up, I need room.” After handing the lantern to her, I pulled my blades out and considered the options. Best place to open the plastic prison would be away from her, near the top. I took two fast steps and drove the blade into the box near the edge of the top right hand corner. My blade cut in, but it continued to meet resistance until I had the three foot blade almost in to the hilt. “Fucking hell, this is crazy.” I glanced back at Berget. “This is damn thick. I think I need you to help me.”
Berget took the second blade from me and drove it into the box. She pushed it in the opposite direction. “We’ll meet on the other side.” She nodded.
Cutting the lid off was not easy going. The plastic stuck to the blade worse than bone or metal, forcing me to let Berget do most of the work. Minutes ticked by, minutes that brought more rumbles from up top, rock clattering down around us.
I Tracked Pamela, felt her vibrant and alive. Determined. “Hang on, kid,” I whispered.
We finally got all the way around the top of the box. “Here, you push it off, she’ll not recognize me.” Berget boosted me up, cupping her hands like a stirrup. I shoved at the top cap. It didn’t budge. “Too fucking heavy.”
We switched positions, and Berget shoved the top off. It bounced across the floor to the far side. Berget looked down at me and shook her head. “You sure she’s alive?”
“Switch.” Once more we changed positions and I scrambled on top of the box. Heaving my body along the rim, I leaned into the dark hole. Huddled inside was a woman, her blonde hair matted and darkened. But I knew her.
I knew her.
She was my friend, one of my mentors, and in a weird way, she was family. Not like the others were, bound by love and friendship. Lark was blood family.
Which meant there was only one way to deal with her.
“Larkspur, get your ass up here,” I snapped, hanging over the edge.
Her head lifted and her eyes, one green and one gold stared up. Not really seeing me. She blinked and the briefest of smiles stretched her lips. “Took you long enough, Tracker.”
Laughing, I held my hands down to her. She stood, slowly unfolding herself. The box looked big on the outside, but it was layered over and over, making it so there was barely room for her to be curled inside. Her hands grasped mine and a pulse of energy flowed from her to me, and back again. Like its own heartbeat.
“That felt just like last time,” I said.
She gave me a weak grin. “Yes and no. I’m not going to be much good to you, so I really hope it isn’t elementals I’m feeling close by.”
I helped her out and Berget took her the rest of the way down. Or tried to.
Lark jerked away from her, eyes more than a little wild. “Vampire, have things changed so much that you would help an elemental?”
Berget spread her hands. “I am young. I’ve never had dealings with elementals before.”
“And she’s my sister, so cool your jets,”
I said, dropping beside Lark. She glanced at me, slowly relaxing.
“If you trust her, then it’s fine. My past experiences with them . . . well, let’s just leave it that they were not friendly.”
“Oh, then you’re going to love Faris.”
“Another vampire? What have you been doing?” She draped an arm over my shoulders and leaned on me.
“Trying to survive while you’re just laying around,” I muttered, helping her across the room to the slit in the wall. She grinned.
I put my hand out and took a good look at the opening. “Fuck, it’s been closed off.” Damn, whatever Pamela was doing up there had blocked our only way out.
But that was without Lark in the equation. She laid her hand on the solid rock and let out a slow breath, her body trembling ever so lightly. “I have enough juice to get us out of here.”
“There’s a cavern on the other side of the crack. Can you get us there?”
“That’s the easy part.” She stood back and flicked her fingers at the rock. Not unlike the way Pamela worked her magic.
In front of us, the rock rumbled, a dull thudding like distant drums. Slowly, the stone peeled back, opening enough to see Faris and Alex staring, slack-jawed.
Lark slumped against me and I caught her. Berget went to her other side, helping me pack. “She’s solid, isn’t she?”
Lark’s eyes flicked open. “You calling me fat, tiny fangs?”
Berget laughed. “Never.”
Lark gave a bare smile as her eyes fluttered closed. We carried her to the main cavern.
Alex hopped around. “Wow, you found someone! Who is it?” He stuck his nose right in her face, breathing her scent in. “Kinda smells like Griffin.”
Her eyes popped open and Alex scrambled back. She sat up. “Is Griffin here?”
“No. He said you would be pissed at him. Look, I know you probably have a shit ton of questions, and we can discuss it all later, but things are going from bad to worse at the moment.”
“I don’t have a lot left, Rylee.” She looked at me and I saw the pain there. The hurt and need for rest.
“Can you get us up top? Three hundred feet? The way you did in the labyrinth.” I was hoping to hell I was right and she could; otherwise, we had to wait until dark when the vampires could climb out.
Rising Darkness Page 17
