And all those people were safe from her.
Brooke clenched her fists and pressed them into her hot eyes. It made her want to scream. Half pissed that she wasn’t in control of anything that happened to her, and half terrified of being left on her own. She’d been through a fire, a kidnapping, and almost caused a disastrous, deadly flood.
She put her face in her hands, fighting back tears of frustration and fatigue.
There was no choice but to depend on others now. Her independence was an illusion. There was no way she would ever be able to navigate this new world on her own. She had to depend on Levi, had to depend on the other soldiers, or she would find herself at the hands of the Chaolt again. There was nothing she could do to save herself, no way to stop it, save stay with them and do what they told her to do.
She scrubbed a tear off her cheek.
She’d fought so hard for her independence. It just wasn’t fair. She’d been fighting to be independent of anyone since she was seventeen, and doing well. Until she’d moved here to Topaz Ridge and unknowingly put herself in the middle of this damn war.
Now, none of it mattered.
Maybe this was how her mother had felt when her dad left: crushed under the weight of a world she couldn’t control, couldn’t understand. Couldn’t navigate on her own. The difference in circumstances didn’t matter much when she looked at it that way.
Brooke should call her. They were more alike than she’d thought.
She flopped down on his couch and covered her eyes with her arm. She didn't feel strong anymore or sure. She was weak against the Chaolt. Weak when it came to facing the fact that there was a world that existed apart from her own.
Weak against her feelings for Levi.
So. Weak.
At least that last one didn’t seem so bad now. She’d missed him. She needed him. Not just for his protection, but also just because he was… Levi. And he’d saved her, again. He'd been her protector since the beginning of this, even when she didn't know she needed one. They’d shared a moment in the back of the vehicle as they drove back to base. The way he’d burned, caring so much about what she’d been through, it touched her. The way he’d kissed her so gently, pushing back the darkness and Charlie and the flood… It had been tender and amazing and deep, and she had no idea what it all meant.
The thought of giving her heart fully to him tightened her throat, but it was probably too late for that now anyway. She was pretty sure she was in love with him, human or not. She just wasn’t sure she was okay with it.
Ajax had said it was likely they would leave at some point. And even if they didn’t, their relationship still might end in any number of ways. She breathed around a pain in her chest at the thought of that. A pain that was almost as bad as the one the thought of killing all those people had given her. If he did leave, could she survive? Or would she just end up in a heap on the floor like her mother? She’d been working to avoid that for years. To not depend on anyone for anything, to not let anyone close enough to make her want to do that.
But today, after the dam and Charlie and the nightmare that almost came true… Today, she wasn’t sure. She kind of felt like crying in a heap on the floor right now, as a matter of fact.
She clenched her eyes shut against the sting of useless tears, refusing to give in to that weakness. She would take it moment by moment, and right now, she would not crumble. With a groan, she put her face in her hands.
She dropped them and stood when she heard the door open. Hopefully everything she was feeling didn't show on her face.
Levi came through with a plate of sandwiches and some wrapped bars.
"Hey," he said with a tip of his lips. "This is pretty much all we have in the kitchen. I hope sandwiches are okay?"
"Sandwiches are fine. Thanks."
He sat everything down on the table and separated it into two piles.
"No sandwiches for you?" she asked, eying his pile of weightlifter bars.
"Nope. Just need these," he said, holding up two of the crinkly, bright packages. "It's all I eat. My powers take a lot of calories, a lot more than other food can normally provide."
She shrugged and sat down beside him. There were at least fifty better ways to get those calories that she could think of off the top of her head. Brownies were the first forty-nine. She picked a sandwich up off the plate and took a bite. Sighed. Took another. Mouth full, she turned his way and raised an eyebrow. He was staring at her.
"Is it good?" he asked, motioning to the sandwich with his bar.
Chewing, she nodded. She looked down at the sandwich in her hands. Was this… ?
Was this the first time he'd ever made food for someone else?
It was just a turkey sandwich, but… with a swallow, she smiled and said, "It's really, really good. Thank you."
He leaned back with one arm behind his head, oozing male satisfaction and smiling around his bar as he bit it.
Light bulb. If all he ate was energy bars, had he ever even made a sandwich for himself? Those bars of his smelled like motor oil, and probably tasted like it too.
She almost giggled, but sighed for effect instead. "I just don't think I'll be able to eat this other half. Want it?" she asked, blinking in innocence. "More calories."
He sat forward and grabbed it gingerly. "Sure."
She hid her smile as he took a bite, eyebrows raising all the way to his hairline. With new appreciation, she bit into her sandwich, trying to imagine what the combination of meat, cheese, and mayo must have tasted like the very first time.
“It’s… good,” Levi said, staring at the sandwich as he chewed.
He sounded surprised, and she disguised her smile with another bite. Someday soon, she’d cook for him. If a turkey sandwich was the extent of his experience with human food, then she couldn’t wait to see how he would like other foods. Like lasagna or pizza. Or brownies. She probably owed him some humble pie while she was at it.
Peeking from beneath her bangs, she swallowed and said, "So you went back, huh? To your… world?" It was weird to say. Weirder to think about, but her heart demanded she do just that.
His chewing slowed and his face turned serious. Eyes down, he said, "Yeah. Had to get the intel for our mission tomorrow."
Nervous, she nibbled on her sandwich. “What's it like there?"
Levi tossed the last third of his sandwich on the table and looked at her, elbows on his knees. "It's different. Alien. Not at all human."
Her cheeks heated and she couldn't meet his eyes. She deserved every bit of embarrassment she was feeling at his reticence to share details. She'd thrown his origins in his face the last time they were together.
Brooke forced her eyes to his. "Levi, I'm sorry I was so rude about that… after." She wanted to add so many modifiers, like 'but this is so new to me’, 'I had no idea how to react', or 'I've never slept with any but human men before… ’ but she bit her tongue and let the apology stand on its own.
It didn't matter why she reacted the way she did. It was still wrong.
He must have seen the regret in her eyes, because he sighed and picked the sandwich back up. Leaning back, he threw one arm on the back of the couch and gave her a crooked smile. His eyes squinted off into the distance as his expression became thoughtful. What was he seeing? Her nerves stretched as she waited for him to talk, almost afraid of what he was going to say. Picturing bubbling pools of green goo and hanging egg sacs…
"It's darker. The mountains are made of a substance like black glass. But the sky, it's full of colors. Elementium, our world, is in a nebula. The shiny surfaces reflect the light, the colors."
She could picture it just the way he described it, dusky light reflecting off chipped rocks. "Sounds beautiful," she murmured.
He shrugged, muscles flexing beneath his shirt. "It is. But the first time I saw the sunrise here," he huffed, "I about burned my eyeballs out." His smile was bashful. And it melted her. "I couldn't look away. Our days are marked by which new stars rise
too, but none so close as yours." He held her gaze, and took a deep breath. "I do miss it sometimes. The first piece of glass art I bought was because it held all those colors I was used to. And when I found out how they made it…" He bit his bottom lip, and the high planes of his cheekbones reddened. "Just that something so beautiful could be made with fire."
He was so handsome and endearing right then that her heart seemed to flop in her chest.
She glanced around the room, eyes traveling from piece to piece. Looking for the one with the nebula inside it, while trying to calm the heartbeat that was going crazy over him.
"Ajax broke it."
She looked back at him in surprise.
"It was an accident," he assured her. And then laughed, and added, “I think. But you kinda never know with that guy.”
She chuckled, because yeah, Ajax was one hard guy to read. Unlike Levi, who wore his emotions on his face, and in the flames from his hands.
Sitting there relaxed, smiling, he didn’t look like an alien. He didn’t feel like a being from another world.
He felt… familiar. He felt like a magnet that was always pulling her towards him. He felt like a very important piece of her. And that was scary. The flame that drew the moth to its ecstatic death. But she wanted him still.
More.
“Levi?”
He looked up from the sandwich back in his hands. “Hmmm?”
“I really regret the way things ended last time we were together. I would like to make it up to you.” She gulped, steeling herself for the kind of rejection she’d given him. “Do you mind if we try that again?”
His eyebrows rose slowly, the same way they had at the first bite of that sandwich. “Hell yeah, we can try again.” He tossed the last bite of it to the plate and stood, dragging her into his arms.
His kiss was deep, his hands strong.
She didn’t know if she could erase her reaction from his mind, but she would be glad to try.
Chapter Sixteen
Brooke looked around warily. People of every sort imaginable were running all around them in a hurry to get out the way of the oncoming sandstorm. The whiteout had already begun, covering the once bright-white playa in clouds of gray dust. Spectators appeared and disappeared in the clouds like ghosts.
With their unique tattoos, Levi and the other soldiers almost fit right in.
Almost.
She could tell they were going for casual, and yet they were oddly still and attentive. With everyone else busy storm-proofing, their idleness stood out. Not to mention that the five of them stood in an area of unnatural calm. No wind, no sand. Luckily, most everyone was too busy dealing with the wind and sand to notice.
It was her first time here, but she'd heard plenty about it. The Burning Man Festival, in the Nevada desert. Over fifty thousand revelers, artists, and crew, and very little in the way of isolation or concealment. The crush of people and the carnival atmosphere meant everyone and everything was a spectacle, including them.
This had to be the complete opposite of what they were going for.
"So are we really going to do this? Here?" Ajax asked.
Walker chewed on his toothpick, his watchful eyes on everything that was moving. "Yeah, we are. If we can get these people outta sight soon enough. Ajax, man, you gotta speed this up a little."
Dust storms had to be pretty commonplace on the playa, but rarely storms of the magnitude Ajax and Micah had already summoned. The wind picked up more, sending another dose of flour-like alkali dust and sand flying into unprotected eyes. The banners lining the commune flapped in the wind. People yelled to be heard over the gale.
"If I speed it up any more, these people will lose their shelters and be stuck outside",” Ajax said. At his words, a flimsy tent cart-wheeled past their spot like a tumbleweed.
"Well, shit,” said Levi, his ever-burning cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth.
“Exactly,” agreed Ajax.
Walker cursed. "We're cutting this awfully fucking close. You sure this is the right spot, Levi?"
"Sorry man, didn't know the festival was the Burning Man," Levi said.
Ajax muttered, "Yeah right."
Levi smiled with lots of teeth, cigarette dangling, "And yes I'm sure. These are the coordinates the Premiers gave me."
As it had been explained to her, there was a large portal to the Elemental plane here, just like the smaller one in Topaz Ridge. Erratics were drawn to the portals subconsciously, happiest settling somewhere nearby. Which explained why she'd felt at home in the little town the day she'd showed up, and why, despite being positively dull in comparison to most of the people here, she felt… calm inside yet excited, thrumming with energy. The Elemental portal was calling to her blood.
But this place was pretty inhospitable and a national park. So instead of settling nearby, tons of Erratics who felt the same way she did just migrated here for this huge yearly festival. The thought of all these people, many of them just like her with latent powers, all being attacked by Chaolt at once…
She broke out in a sweat, and it wasn't from the desert heat.
"What's the plan if we can't get these people inside in time, Walker?" asked Ajax. “We were never supposed to have an audience, much less one this big.”
Walker and the soldiers critically eyed everything in sight, probably even recalling most of what was obscured behind the dust.
“Obscure us. That's Plan B," he said, "At least until your powers are completely drained. After that?" He took the toothpick out his mouth, tossing it to the ground. "Who knows. Levi, you set off the pyre early and see if you can draw everyone to it out of curiosity. That will keep their attention off us. The rest of us will go to the coordinates. Ajax and Micah, you guys feel free to kick up as much sand as you can to conceal us. Try to keep everything looking natural," Walker said with a cautioning gesture.
"Roger," they all said in unison.
"Brooke," Levi said turning to her, "You stay with Walker. He'll keep you safe. Do not, under any circumstances, get too far from him, okay?"
She nodded, gulping. "What about you?"
He grinned, his smile sexy and off center, a tell-tale glow starting in his irises. "I'm gonna go start a fire."
Grabbing her by the shoulders, he gave her a hard kiss. Then with a nod to Walker, he strode into the dust. She watched his shadow fade as he made his way deeper into the storm.
There were still other shadows, though. The crowd had thinned, yet too many still remained.
When he disappeared, she turned back around. An uneasy feeling settled in her stomach, a strange buzz in the back of her brain. All the soldiers were looking skyward, and she followed their gaze. In almost imperceptible increments, the sky began to darken. It was like a cloud was moving over the sun, blocking the light bit by bit.
"You got anything to do with that Ajax?" asked Walker.
"No sir," Ajax drawled.
"It's go-time fellas,” murmured Walker. “Plan B."
They began to walk, and she hurried to stay by Walker's side as Ajax and Micah moved the wall of wind and sand with them.
Levi eyed the sandstorm as it began to move, tracking across the playa around Brooke and the other soldiers. They were making their move.
In minutes, people appeared from their shelters and RV’s. Cheers went up as the wind began dying down and the sky became clearer. Some onlookers watched the white wall of sand depart with awe. But everyone, while surprised by the isolated, fierce sandstorm, would still think it had been totally normal, totally natural.
Natural? Yes. Normal? No. Levi smirked.
No one seemed to notice that the sun was dimmer, and if they did, they just chalked it up to the extra sand in the atmosphere. Normal. Natural.
It was hard to let Brooke go with Walker, but she wouldn't exactly be safe with him if the Chaolt sent his powers out of control. Which could happen if he tried to use them at all, especially if the enemy was close.
Levi mingled o
n the edge of the gathering crowd. Now that the storm had passed, everyone went back to getting ready for tonight's burn. Even hours before sunset, people were claiming their spots, camping out for the best view of the spectacle.
But another look at the dust storm told him there would be a lot of disappointed people tonight.
Something is wrong.
The Chaolt nulled their powers, so why did that dust storm have every appearance of getting out of control? What the hell was Ajax doing?
Cold slithered down his spine. Brooke.
Where it had looked pretty typical before, now it had taken on shades of black and purple, had violent swirling currents visible inside it. It created its own shadow, and above it gray and white storm clouds were exploding upward. Pieces of conversation drifted to him that showed it was definitely beginning to draw attention.
He shifted from foot to foot, crossed and uncrossed his arms, all the while gnawing on the end of his cigarette.
He was going to have to burn it now. Right now.
“Sonofabitch,” he muttered. He couldn’t wait any longer.
Slowly he made his way to the edge of the crowd closest to the wooden sculpture. The people who had already gathered to watch the burn weren’t going to have to wait for as long as they thought.
He kept his eyes on the playa dust storm, but his concentration was on the statue. In his mind's eye, he focused on one spot in the wood. Then one splinter of it. Then a small group of cellulose cells. Once inside the cells, he summoned his fire. Carefully, slowly.
His arms began to tingle and he clenched his fists, closing his eyes for greater concentration. The seductive urge was there to ignite the entire thing at once in an enormous blaze. He wanted to let go and unleash all the fire inside him at once.
Brooke. Have to get to Brooke.
With all his will, he concentrated on just that one small spot until it was strong enough to burn on its own. Within seconds a tendril of smoke appeared on the shoulder of the Man. With a feeling like regret, Levi left the fire alone to grow and opened his eyes.
The little flame needed no more encouragement, fuel was readily available in the mass of dried wood. In minutes, the tall wooden sculpture had become a large blaze. The shoulder was engulfed and the fire was spreading up across the head and chest.
Burn (Elemental Hearts Book 1) Page 16
