Smoke and Ruin

by Tiffany Daune

  Tasar growled, and even though her windows remained closed, the battle cry reached all the way inside. Had Tasar and his sister come to kill her? Whose side were they on? They both had protected her, but had things changed? She let the window down, just a crack, when a dagger sailed through the air poised for Lina. Halen waved, misdirecting the weapon so it stabbed the side of a wooden planter instead of Lina's chest. Tasar nodded, his eyes gleaming with the same hope she had seen back at the church when she made spring bloom in the dead of winter. He turned, bounding toward the assailant.

  Lina waved her forward. "It's safe now—go!" She yelled.

  Halen drove the sedan out of the garage stopping beside her.

  Lina leaned in, clutching the window frame. "Thank you, Halen." Her gaze drifted to the blade stuck in the planter.

  Halen glanced toward the beach, where she spotted flames glistening along the waves. "What's happening?"

  "Rania’s army surfaced. You need to leave." She nodded toward the water stone.

  "Let me fight with you."

  "This isn’t your battle. You must stay alive, same as Natalie and Asair."

  "Do you know where they are?" A crazed sort of panic rushed through her as she met Lina's gaze. "Please, if you know where they are, I need to be with them."

  "You're best divided. Don't try to find them."

  Lina's beady black stare penetrated her to her core. She knew better than to push her. Still, Halen needed to know. She couldn't do this alone. "Please, tell me where they are!"

  Lina shook her head. "Stay safe—Halen." Tasar growled and Lina turned without another word, dashing toward the ocean and the wailing cries.

  Halen couldn't just drive away. She had run too many times. She pounded the steering wheel screaming. Her frustration blew out across the ocean, curling the water, forming a towering wave. She clapped her hands and the wave crashed washing over the surfacing Elosians. Lina glanced back, waving with gratitude, then hopped on her brother's back. Tasar bounded along the shore as Lina cast her spell across the water. Glittering stars cascaded from the sky as if the night was under her command. There was no sign of Nelia, but Halen felt with Tasar and Lina by her side, she would be safe. She prayed for each of their souls as she steered the car down the alley and onto the street. As she drove away from Rockaway, loneliness washed over her. Each second spread to an eternity, realizing she may never find her way back to Natalie and Asair. She may never see them again.

  TREES FADED TO long stretches of sand as Halen drove farther into Nevada. The GPS read three hours to her destination at Pyramid Lake. At the last gas station, she zoomed in on the map finding nothing but desert and the small body of water. Her magick sparked with thoughts of shimmering liquid portals, but at least the lake wasn’t as vast as the ocean; a lake had perimeters she could monitor. Now with her foot on the gas pedal and the distance growing shorter between her and Nelia’s shifters, she questioned more than the lake. Tari or not, Nelia had every reason to hate her. What if this was a trap? No one will find you, Nelia’s words played through her mind. Had she meant Natalie and Asair? Halen slammed her foot against the brake. What was she thinking? She needed a better plan.

  Her gas gauge neared empty and Halen also needed sleep. If she napped for a few minutes, then maybe her head would clear, but checking into a motel with Dax wasn’t an option. She pulled the car over to the side of the road. She scanned the desert for signs of life, but she was alone with the moon. Safer than a motel, she reasoned. Cutting the ignition, she then locked the doors and reclined her seat all the way back. Tucking her legs up to her side, she adjusted to find a semi-comfy spot.

  The full moon shone through the sunroof. Were Asair and Natalie staring up with dread knotting their stomachs too? “I’ll find you,” she whispered. “I have no idea how, but I will.” She closed her eyes, saying a prayer for her friends and a way out of this catastrophic mess. Curling into the leather seat, she pulled her hood up over her head.

  Heavy from the drive, weighted with the stress, her eyelids slid shut. Peter’s dead stare plagued her mind. She winced, hugging herself tighter. A low hum filled the car, and when she opened her eyes, the interior illuminated with a soft glow emanating from the water stone. The stone’s pitch wavered with a warning, assembling Halen’s sparks for battle.

  She peered out the window as she dug the keys from her pocket. Her hand shook with the sparks now rushing to her fingers. As she grabbed for the keys, her thumb swiped the fob. The trunk popped open with a resonating click. “Oh, holy Mother of Mary. Are you kidding me right now?” The water stone squealed like an animal being led to slaughter. “Stop!” Slapping her hands over her ears, the keys dropped to the floor.

  Fighting the sparks answering the water stone’s call, she fumbled along the carpet searching for the keys, when the car shook with a rumble.

  Her breath caught as she met the gaze of the gnashing beast on the other side of the windshield. The coyote’s fur bristled, its black lips snarled back over canine teeth. Her magick flickered to the surface of her skin, and she clutched the seat to tame the sparks.

  “Go away!” She shouted. Please, she begged inside. She wouldn’t kill again, yet Dax might.

  The coyote growled, swaying from side to side.

  She slammed her palm over the horn, but the creature didn’t budge.

  The car shook, this time from the above; a second canine peered in with a ravenous stare.

  Her magick surged. Her gaze darted to the elixir box, to the coyote, and the now silent water stone.

  The beast pawed the window, and with a strike, the glass cracked.

  “Get back!” She shouted. Her cells ignited with sparks, when she spotted the glowing residue of magick along the shattering glass. Shifters.

  The coyote struck the glass again, and though blood seeped through its paws, the beast hammered the fissures until the window broke away.

  The desert air rushed in, charged with the static of magick. The coyote on the hood howled and the darkness bloomed with flashing eyes. One by one the coyotes emerged surrounding her car fortress. She reached for the box of elixir, when the coyote descended from the sunroof.

  Her arm burned as its teeth sank into her flesh. Fear stirred her sparks, and she waved the coyote off. The coyote flew against the passenger window, its neck bending, and its spine crushing with a crunch. As the broken canine slumped in the seat, the coyote from the hood leaped on the roof. Halen thrust both hands skyward and summoned the wind, whipping the coyote up in the air and tossing it into the pack. The desert echoed with the howls.

  Through the side mirror, she witnessed a coyote dragging Dax from the trunk. He flopped to the ground, hitting his head on the road. His forehead spit with blood and Halen clutched her head where his pain cut above her brow. A coyote spread its jaws wide across Dax’s neck.

  “No!” She unlocked the doors, the click a warning she didn’t head. She jumped out, her feet firm on the asphalt. With a sweep of her hand, she shoved the coyote away from Dax.

  She ran to Dax’s side checking his forehead. When she touched his skin, her sparks spun with flames, and she thrust her hands outward. Her fire ignited in the coyotes’ fur. Their howls fueled her fear, spinning the panic to rage, churning the darkness inside. She couldn’t contain the force rising inside any more than one could outswim a tidal wave. Halen surrendered, drowning in the darkness of her seam.

  She stood, the power of the earth at her feet. She called to the energy deep within the sand and soil, to the dusted bones of the desert dead. With her head cast skyward, she unleashed the force of nature on the pack. The desert rose to her call; the sand whipped the coyotes, driving the dust down their throats, suffocating each rising cry one by one until only the stars spoke.

  In the ring of silence, Halen collapsed, sobbing into her hands of death while the coyotes burned bright around her.

  Magick twisted in her gut; the metallic scent of blood and charred flesh choked her breath. She heaved. Ha
len crawled toward the steady pulse of the water stone. A wanton need consumed her, while a burning hunger ravaged her sparks; the killing both horrifying and satisfying, as if two parts of her pushed against the other, splitting her in two—the water stone the only way to tame the quarrel.

  Dax lay still, his eyes closed to the carnage surrounding them. Yet, at the seam of her soul, he savored the dark massacre. If he couldn’t free Tarius, he would unleash another demon and harness her powers against the world. She had to take him away—far from any beating heart. She reached for the paper in her pocket. Pyramid Lake. She would take him to the place where no one would ever find them.

  Her skin pinched with fever, her bones ached from casting magick; first, she needed elixir. As she stumbled back to the car, a young woman blurred in Halen’s vision. Her spotted cape swayed as she stepped forward and cupped her hands. The woman blew, releasing a glimmering dust. The glitter spiralled, swarming Halen. She thrust her hand outward to block the dust, but it slipped between her fingers, drawing her hands down by her sides. As if bound in chains, Halen thrashed against the force. A boy stood at the woman’s side, his sharp gaze tore through Halen as she floated upward.

  The boy spun, his body transforming with feathers. He darted in the air and glided beside Halen, as she floated above the burning desert. With the owl boy by her side, she drifted higher, away from Dax, the elixir, and the crying water stone.

  "ASAIR, GET IN here—now." Natalie's shouting shattered Asair's thoughts. Asair closed his book, though he hadn't read a word; his thoughts always wandered to Halen. His chest ached with longing; a feeling so much more overwhelming since their separation. From his dimension, when he watched over her from the orb, he yearned to know her more intimately, fueled by curiosity. Now, after being a part of her, knowing each and every thought, the desire to be near Halen consumed him. He understood her struggle of having so much power, and yet, being tied to a Guardian and having none. Natalie found love with a Hunter, but like Asair, Halen’s heart was lost in the Guardian bond. When he found her, despite the silver beneath her arm, he would find a way to set her free. He owed her at least that much.

  "Asair!" Natalie's voice rose shrill.

  "I'm coming." He shut the door to his bedroom, even though privacy was moot in the Hunters’ fortress. He frowned, as the ceiling camera rotated to follow him down the hall. The Hunters claimed the surveillance team worked for their safety. He couldn’t argue the fact Natalie and he needed protection, but he hated the idea of eyes on him twenty-four-seven, recording his every move. He shuddered at the thought of the dozens of tapes with the day to day dealings of the fortress; most innocent, but some tapes were too gruesome to view. Not all the Hunters murdered sirens with mercy. He couldn’t fathom the idea of re-watching their kills. However, in the case of Tage and Halen's mother, the recordings proved useful. Asair wouldn't have agreed to come, let alone stay at the fortress, if he hadn’t viewed the tapes himself. Emil and Natalie stripped their guilt away, replaying the footage in slow motion, claiming nothing could have been done to save Tage. Asair begged to differ. Instead of pinning the siren boy Ezra to the ceiling, Natalie could have bandaged Tage. Those few seconds may have saved the girl's life. Natalie was quick to remind him that he too played a part in her death; had he not created the mermaids, then Tage never would have had the venom in her bloodstream in the first place. Blame was a game no one would win between sinners.

  He crossed the hall and headed toward the arched doorway at the end, where the theatre speakers blared with a newscast. As he entered, Natalie's back was to him, her wavy dark hair cascaded over the seat of her wheelchair, her attention fixed on the enormous panoramic screen. He stepped beside her, not caring about the news since she had already called him in three times that day for minor earthquakes in Indonesia and a flood in Venice, which had nothing to do with sirens or Halen. He figured she just like the company. Emil, usually by her side, would lasso the moon if Natalie asked, but currently the Hunter busied himself securing the perimeter with Vita and Jae. "What is it now?"

  "I found Halen." She pressed a button on the remote.

  His gaze snapped to the blurred images as she flipped through the channels. "Well, stop on one, so I can see." He held his breath as dozens of flame ravaged animal carcasses filled the screen.

  “I told you it was her. The nightmares we had last night were real,” Natalie said. “Dax is guiding her magick. Look at all the bodies. If we weren’t already a target, now the shifters will be after us for sure.”

  "What has she done?" He slumped in the armchair next to Natalie. As the cameras scanned the entire massacre, Asair winced as if he had been punched in the gut. "Where is she?"

  “She’s closer than we thought—Nevada.”

  “What? She’s in the same state. We have to go to her.”

  “Not so easy. She could be anywhere by now.”

  “But we can feel her. If we leave the fortress, use our bond as our guide—”

  “You know we can’t leave here. The other Hunters, the ones who did this to me,” she waved across her legs, “they will come for our souls. Besides, where would we start?”

  “There.” He pointed to the screen where a map of the surrounding area popped up. Asair rubbed the sides of his head, pressing his temples where a new headache sprouted. He had grown accustomed to the pain of inhabiting Quinn’s body. Jae assured him in time this too would pass, but now the throbbing only added to his frustration.

  “Putting our lives at risk to go hunting for her is not an option.”

  “We have to go.” His gaze slid to her wheelchair. “I can go.”

  “You think it’s because of this.” She clutched the tops of the wheels. “I may not be able to walk, but I’m just as strong as you. The arrow injured my spine, not my magick.”

  “I know.” He sighed. “I’m sorry. You've been the bravest of us all. I just thought it might be easier if I went." He thought of the forest, the arrow piercing her back as she collapsed in Halen's arms. She would have died, her soul trapped in the gold arrow, if Jae hadn't shielded her with her wings and spun healing magick to stop the bleeding and the possession. Only a dragon could have saved her. Silence consumed Natalie when Emil brought her the wheelchair, but if it bothered her now, she hadn't let it show.

  Asair stood. He leaned with his back against the wall next to a bronze bust of the Hunter Otho. Seven more busts outlined the living quarters, all cast in their original bodies—a reminder of who the Hunters were before the curse. As he wrung his scarred hands, he found it hard to recall his previous appearance. Despite the headaches, he'd grown comfortable in Quinn's body; even his magick flowed through Quinn’s veins as if he were born in this vessel, and now his sparks surged. "We have to bring her here."

  Natalie grabbed a blanket from the armchair and wrapped it around her shoulders. "I want to, I really do, but how? If you or I cast magick right now, we’ll draw the shifters and the other Hunters right to us.”

  "A portal," he said before considering the consequences. “Did you see the lake on the map—Pyramid Lake? She’s close.”

  “Oh, no.” She shook her head furiously.

  “Oh, yes.” He grinned. “It can’t be coincidence. Think about it. What shifter tribe occupies the lake area? With a disturbance like this, those scavengers would surface.”

  "They prefer to be called collectors. I’ve had my run in with the owls before. It’s too risky. If we go in… If they capture us, then there's more to lose than our lives. Believe me, I want her here just as much as you, but we have to think of the collateral damage."

  His mind reeled with each scenario as he paced the living room. He had witnessed many wars unfold from the orb. Asair thought he understood the mind of a soldier better than anyone, but he hadn't factored in the feelings of the heart. He pounded the wall. "We have to do something!"

  "And we will." Natalie grabbed her cell phone. "I'm calling Emil and Vita back to the fortress. We need to discuss our options
."

  "I could send the mermaids to the lake. They're restless in the reservoir. They would welcome the freedom, if only for a few hours."

  Natalie wagged the phone at him. "No way! If Halen is there, then those fish would snap her neck. I see how they ogle over you—especially Selene. She's pyscho. You never should have summoned them here. They can't be trusted."

  She was more than right. The spell bound with his blood broke when his heart stopped beating in the prison dimension, but the bond formed over a hundred years was still as strong as the day he cast the dark magick. "They would protect Halen if I asked."

  "They will do anything for you, but we are connected now." She shook her head. "Jealousy trumps reason. We need another way." Natalie strummed her black painted nails against her phone.

  With her this close, his magick connected with hers, the honey scented sparks begging for release. Even without the curse or a Guardian, he wondered if sirens could ever truly be free. He knelt in front of Natalie, placing his hands on her knees. His palms warmed. “You’re burning up. What’s wrong?”

  “It’s nothing.” She shoved his hands off. “Halen may have a fever.” Natalie wheeled away from his touch.

  “You’re feeling her?” He balled his hands to fists. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “Because you’re freaking out.”

  “Of course, I am. Doesn’t any of this bother you? What if Halen’s just lying in the desert, too weak to move?” He nodded toward the TV. "You know dark magick would leave her drained.”