We began lowering the edges to complete the dome, my best friends and I glacial in our stances, knowing we were leaving to their deaths those who couldn’t reach us. The decision had been made. We were the Prodigies. With power came hard-hitting burdens, the choices, one of which we were currently enacting.
The edges lowered further as we began creating the shape of the dome.
Vampires began blurring from their sure safety to grab those among the growing number of Mysticals racing toward us, carrying them with speed. Mages hurled magical golden bubbles to capture hysterical Mysticals inside them and threw the trapped persons to Shifters in the protected zone. The Shifters caught them deftly, using their powered strength, and quickly placed the frantic individuals where they needed to be. The Elementals began an offensive attack on the Coms running in our direction. Any other Mystical who was close to reaching us dove under the dome just before its edges touched the ground.
Mysticals who hadn’t made it in time began pounding on the outside of the dome, pleading and crying to be let in, and Jack’s tone turned hard. “We make the spout now. In the center. As tall as before, since it will have to reach past the ocean’s surface.”
We nodded jerkily.
I tilted my head far back, staring at the section we wanted the spout, which in effect turned my attention away from the pleading Mysticals. The Coms were bearing down on them as the two battles became one outside the dome’s safety.
The spout was made.
Jack’s voice was as chilled as ice. “Time to move.”
Our elite guards were still protecting us against the few Mysticals inside the dome who were begging for us to lift it. Just loud enough not to break my concentration, I called quietly over my shoulder to them, “We’re moving out. Pass the word on.”
Felix decked a Vampire, who was crying for her mate on the other side of safety. Even before she hit the ground, he shouted to the anxious crowd, “If you’re not organized yet, get so now! We’re leaving, people.”
I heard resounding murmurs behind us as I looked forward. “Let’s go.”
Ezra glanced down at me, his eyes as haunted as mine. This wasn’t training, when Antonio had used his Mage magic to transfer his memories of war chaos to outside the dome’s walls. This was reality. Our friends, family members, and individuals we had spent the last year with were outside the dome’s wall. They were more than likely going to die.
Ezra wrapped his free arm around my waist, holding me close against him — both of us needed the comfort so to hell with our ‘no touching in public’ policy right now — as we began to move the dome with our will. Putting one foot in front of the other was difficult; we saw the will of our dome begin to shove Mysticals and Commoners out of our way as we moved toward the back edge of the school property. To the Sound.
I was trembling, my chest aching in anguish and guilt, as I watched from our shelter. Swiping tears away from my cheeks with my free hand, I rested my head against Ezra’s chest and focused the best I could. I was trying to ignore the cries for assistance when what had to be the second round of the attacks began taking place. Explosions rocked the ground again, shaking my entire body. To my left I saw a swarm of Coms, dressed not in plain clothes as the other Commoners had been, but in black tactical wear. They were racing from the trees, on foot or in military vehicles, and firing on any Mys they saw.
Jack murmured, “Keep moving. Will the dome to be impenetrable but see-through. No rockets or bombs should be able to get through it. Will it. Push it.”
I focused, doing exactly as he had said.
“Perfect,” Jack murmured.
Only a beat later, bullets from machine guns hit the dome and grenades were thrown.
“My mom,” Pearl whispered, her voice soft and cracking. She pointed with her free hand over Jack’s shoulder. Her mom was on the fringe of the battle straight ahead. “They’re almost on her.”
“Don’t watch,” Ezra ordered immediately, his gaze snapping to Pearl’s profile as his grip tightened around my waist. “Look down.”
Jack’s right arm snaked back, and he wrapped it around Pearl’s waist, tugging her close. He tucked her face against the crook of his neck before giving a harsh dictate. “Keep focused and keep moving.”
Pearl’s grip on his shoulder appeared brutal, keeping her will in contact, as she nodded her head of golden hair and as her soft sobs racked her body. But she kept her feet traveling forward, kept the dome from crumbling by her added will. She was tough on a whole other level.
I watched in horror as a group of trained tactical Coms advanced on the group of Mysticals where her mother was already fighting. My brows slammed together in sudden confusion, leaving me blinking, as at least fifty of the trained Coms began…sinking. With my eyes darting across landscape, my breath caught when I saw King Fergus, King Venclaire — my biological father — King Kincaid, and King Nelson off to the side of the group, almost hidden behind the trees. They were linked like we were, and King Fergus’s arms were raised, his eyes glowing fiercely. He was using his earth Elemental power.
The screaming group of Coms sank into the grassy knoll, two armoured vehicles included.
Buried alive.
King Fergus wasn’t done either.
He attacked another section of the new group of invading Coms, and their bodies and vehicles plummeted into the ground like it was quicksand.
“My God,” Ezra muttered. “That’s fucking awesome.”
Jack snorted. “Mine’s better.”
“What?” Pearl asked, sounding hysterical, her voice octaves higher than normal.
I explained quickly, “King Fergus just buried a shitload of Coms who were heading in the direction of where your mom’s fighting.”
Her breath caught. “She’s alright?”
“She’s still killing away,” Ezra mumbled easily as we watched her mom blow a Com’s head off in a gold-sparkled explosion. “Damn, she’s good.”
“Of course she bloody is,” Pearl murmured, her face still stuffed against Jack’s neck, even though she sounded like the prim English woman she was, her tone turning curt. “She’s my mother.”
“Focus people.” Jack cleared his throat harshly. “And water’s better than earth.”
Unexpectedly, my lips twitched. He sounded jealous. Even a smidge hurt. I squeezed his shoulder, focusing as he had instructed. “I’d want you over King Fergus any day.”
Ezra snorted. “Hell, King Fergus can’t blow water out of his mouth and drown everyone. Or freeze them solid from the inside out or the outside in. All he does is play with dirt.” He shrugged one shoulder, making my head press against his chest further. “Water is definitely better than earth.”
Still hanging tight to Jack, Pearl added, “Duh.”
Jack walked a little straighter. “That’s what I said.”
My eyes met Ezra’s, and even if this situation didn’t warrant our humor, it flickered.
Chapter Two
Taking one of the wide back pathways to the Sound, we began traveling over the sand. I had no shoes on, like my besties, so my toes dug into the burning granules warmed by the sun. I paid no attention to the crowd’s buzz behind us when we didn’t alter our course to the crashing waves. Instead, I glanced to the left and down the beach when a commotion caught my eye.
My feet faltered.
Ezra’s steady arm around my waist tightened, and he jerked me forward, keeping me moving while ordering severely, “Sweetheart, concentrate!”
“It’s them,” I mumbled, blinking in shock. And in instant fury.
“Yes, it is,” he muttered, literally lifting me off the sand and crushing me against his muscled frame to keep our progression moving forward. “There’s nothing we can do about it now.”
“Holy shit,” Jack murmured. “I can’t believe it.”
Keeping her left hand firmly on Jack’s shoulder, Pearl gently slipped out of Jack’s hold and began walking unassisted. Swiftly drying her eyes, she glanced to the
left, to where our attention had honed. Her jaw dropped. “Oh, my.” She blinked, peering closer. “Is that Elly with them?”
“Yes,” I hissed, staring at one of my friends, a lion Shifter, her white hair bouncing as she screamed at one of the men dressed in red robes. The exact group we had been searching for, who had initiated an attack on the Prodigies close to a year ago. A vicious event that had resulted in my mate, Dominic Kincaid, dying, and had left me as the Prodigy Shifter — the soon-to-be Queen Shifter — when his power had passed to me. The man Elly was heatedly arguing with seemed to be the leader, since his hooded red robe was embellished with a gold and black trim when everyone else’s were plain red. Men in black tactical uniforms were stationed in a loose protective circle around him and Elly.
“I can’t believe…” My voice trailed off as the man grabbed her in a frustrated embrace, his hood lowering as he kissed her deeply.
Elly didn’t fight it.
A menacing growl erupted from deep within my chest, my wolf taking voice.
“Focus!” Jack barked loudly. “I’m losing you, Lily.”
Grinding my teeth together, I snapped my attention from the kissing couple. Their assassins had taken notice of us, first pointing and then charging with guns firing. “She’s fucking dead.” My wolf’s growling wouldn’t stop, even as I focused to keep the dome steady. “It all makes sense now. Her father works for the damn MIA.” The Mystical Intelligence Agency. “Whoever that asshole is she’s kissing would have had access to our intel.” Elly was now the enemy, even if she hadn’t planned for this attack on her people.
Ezra’s Vampire even growled a little as we reached the surf. “Fucking bitch.” He shook his head. “I never would have thought her a traitor.”
“She may not be.” Just stupid. “But she’s still dead.” At the very least, she had gotten Dominic killed. She had even been there that night at Hell’s Gate. The possibilities for her betrayal were now endless.
My best friends nodded with me, and each of us threw a glower of promised retribution in her direction before turning our attention back to our task.
Ezra gently lowered me, the sand now wet beneath my feet.
I asked, “Can you reach into my pocket and get the compass?”
His arm loosened around me. “Right pocket?”
“Yeah.” It would be a little awkward with the way we were positioned, but it was easier for him to do than for me since I couldn’t disengage my right hand from Jack. Plus, I was still gripping my gun tight with my left. It made me feel better holding it.
As we continued in our trek, Ezra’s warm fingers dipped inside my pocket. The water was currently ankle-deep around the dome, and even louder murmurs sounded from the throng behind us. He bypassed the tube of lipstick and pulled out the compass, holding it over Jack’s shoulder. “For direction.”
Jack grabbed it. “North we go. Unless we hit coral. Or a large hole.”
“Christ,” Pearl muttered, rubbing her face with her free hand. “Will we be able to see down there?” Outside the dome, we were now waist-deep in the Sound.
“We may not at some point.” Jack shook his head. “It depends on how murky the water is.”
Listening in from behind us, Aros mumbled quietly, “I hope the spout’s tall enough.”
“So do I,” Ezra muttered under his breath, wrapping his crushing arm around my waist.
The spout was really tall, just as Antonio had previously instructed us. I had trust in the man who had raised me, but it was nerve-racking to see the water rise above eye level. We had made the pond-dome thin, but it was still tinged brown, not only from the water but also from how brightly Jack’s eyes were glowing with power.
“It’s a bright day. The sun will help.” I think I said it just so I would believe it more.
As we marched deeper, the sand and what felt like gravel under our feet turned colder, and the water grew darker. Kids began crying behind us. The chatter became more dramatic, the disquiet in the crowd brasher. I even moved closer to Ezra as my eyes began glowing more fiercely; the sun had seemed to disappear altogether, as if it had gone behind a cloud, leaving us walking blind beyond the dome under the depths of the water.
Ezra’s green eyes were glowing brutally, and he glanced over his shoulder, whispering to the elite guard, “Make sure to keep the horde back.” There were sure to be a few who tried to interrupt our progress, thinking us cracked.
A peek backward showed that the eyes of everyone who had gone through their Awakening were glowing. My breath seized momentarily at the view, which was striking in the darkness — a beautiful multi-hued radiance shining toward us. Shaking my head at the sight, I turned my attention forward and peered around Jack’s arm. My blue eyes spotlighted the compass in his hand as he followed the direction of north perfectly.
He smirked, even if it was tight. “I’ve got this.”
I nodded once, squeezing his shoulder gently. He really did seem all right, if only a little edgy. Resting my head against Ezra’s chest again, I sighed and continued to focus, ignoring the colorful comments I heard from the crowd about our sanity. “When we get there, they’ll thank us.”
Ezra snorted, bending a smidge to rest his cheek on top of my head. “No, they won’t. They’ll still be scared. Maybe in a few days they’ll understand.”
“I’ll probably need your help then, corralling them to the cars Antonio said were there.”
He nodded, his cheek rubbing against the top of my head. “I think I can manage that.”
“You think my mom’s alright?” Pearl asked, her voice vacant.
Sounding impressed, Jack murmured, “She killed everyone she looked at. She’s fine.”
“I’m sure your parents are alright, too,” Pearl whispered hearteningly.
Jack actually chuckled. “I know they’re fine.” Another snicker. “My dad’s crazy enough to sneak away without anyone seeing him or my mom.”
Pearl blinked, then groused, “We know Elder Zeller’s fine.” Thrilled, she was not.
“I can hear you,” Vivian called loudly, positioned directly behind our elite guard. A glimpse back showed she was still carrying the air Elemental. She was glaring at Pearl. “He is my mate.”
“Mom, be quiet or the guards will knock you out,” Ezra murmured, his tone amused.
“Oops,” Pearl whispered, not at all repentant…because Elder Zeller was that bad.
Vivian’s Vampire growled a little, but she intelligently kept mute because the guards really would make her unconscious if she said another word or threatened us.
Ezra chuckled quietly, pulling me closer when it became almost pitch-black around us. The only light was that which was filtering in through the spout, and it didn’t help our visibility of outside the dome at all.
Mind churning after what felt like forever, I peered behind me. “How long’s it been?”
Instant from Felix. “An hour.” He didn’t sound anxious, only factual.
“Anyone know how many miles it is across the Sound to Connecticut, going directly north from where we entered?”
Ross, one of Pearl’s two elite, stated, “I believe it’s somewhere around fifteen miles.”
“Thank you,” I said quietly, keeping my voice low and my focus steady.
“At this speed, it’s going to take us four more hours,” Ezra whispered. “Jack, can we move faster and not risk the dome?”
Gradually, Jack nodded. “Yes, but not much.”
“The elderly and children won’t be able to go much faster,” Pearl murmured. “And most of the Shifters already have their hands full with the injured.”
Jack debated silently, then he accelerated our pace only the barest bit, possibly cutting our journey by only fifteen minutes.
Lips thin, I was beginning to feel caged in. “Felix, as each hour passes, tell me.”
There was a quiet pause behind me, and then he stated efficiently, “Will do.”
“Felix?”
“Yes?”
/>
I knew what that pause had meant. “What is your opinion on the likelihood of the Shifters becoming hostile?” I felt Ezra and Jack stiffen at my words.
Another pause. “It’s…a possibility.”
Shaking the rising tension out of my left arm, I sighed. “Send Aros back to keep an eye on them. Have him report if it becomes a problem he can’t handle.”
I heard him murmur to Aros, and then he confirmed, “Done.”
“Hostile?” Pearl asked on a whisper, her tone vexed.
Already a tiny bit irritable, I snapped, “It’s fucking claustrophobic down here.” A bitty growl erupted; my wolf hated this something fierce. “Shifters need open space.”
“Jesus,” Jack muttered, and quickly rested his hand on top of mine on his shoulder, rubbing soothingly. He glanced back once. “Little help here.”
“I’m on it,” Ezra murmured. Because of the dome, he was unable to refocus any of his power, which could be used to sooth, directly on me. Instead, he began prattling softly, talking about summer days in California, where he had grown up. He spoke of the sun: its pounding heat. He spoke of the breeze: its harsh rustling. The rain: its damp coolness. The fog: its morning dew. The hillsides: their scenic view. The smells: their inviting hunger.
Two more hours lugged by and Ezra was still speaking unobtrusively, his voice becoming slightly hoarse, while I trembled inside his hold. I focused my will on the dome but listened to his words, his tone. I could tell that he really loved certain aspects of his home town while despising others, such as the traffic. With the following hour heaving by sluggishly, he began speaking about his parents, regaling with tales of his adolescence, such as his dad and him watching football on Sundays or how his mom would drag him and his dad away from the television on the occasional Sunday to attend church. It was obvious he adored both his parents.
Speaking for the first time in hours, I murmured quietly, “That sounds like my family, except substitute it with watching Saturday morning cartoons with Antonio, and then my mom hauling us to a park or out shopping afterward.”
King Cave Page 3
