Magical

by Bria Berg

  Just as she was about to ask about Dracul, her father leaned forward and with a whisper said, “Where is your protector? Did you guys get my message?”

  “What message?” Tessa asked feeling a sudden pit form in her stomach.

  Jim’s face instantly paled. “I had to be discreet as possible in my warning so it could never be traced back to me.” His eyes pierced hers as he added, “I am going to take you tonight.”

  ***

  After Milo dropped Tessa off, he drove around for several minutes with no destination in mind. Even though Sam and Ethan thought Tessa was safe with her father, he wasn’t so content. Instead he was anxious, agitated even. He went to a grocery store to pick up a few things he thought they might need at home to pass the time, and bought Tessa a bag of her favorite chocolate candy while he was at it. When he was finished, he sat in his car, not turning on the ignition key.

  Something was wrong, he could feel it. His stomach lurched as he called Ethan.

  “Hey Milo.”

  “Ethan, what exactly did the post say about the weather?”

  It took Ethan a few seconds to process what exactly Milo was talking about, especially since he was distracted by the girl placing kisses on his neck. “Uh… It was about ice melting.”

  “Ethan!” Milo grunted in annoyance. “Focus I need the exact words.”

  “Hang on,” Ethan groaned. He stood up and headed for a bathroom so he could be alone to better concentrate. He pulled up Neutron’s site on his phone and read it to Milo word for word. “Always keep a look out for signs of unnatural weather. Frozen ice might appear harmless until after the bystander is gone the fire melts it away and the water floods the streets. Fire and water battle for the innocent prize.” Ethan added, “Every once in a while he will write something like that, that doesn’t really make sense I think to throw people off. It doesn’t mean anything.”

  Milo’s brain was telling him otherwise until it clicked. “He’s going to try and take her tonight!”

  “What? Why do you think that?” Ethan asked startled.

  “They are going for ice cream –frozen ice. Hailey is the bystander and I am the water that battles with the fire for the innocent prize.”

  Ethan sat on top of the toilet and gasped. Hearing it put that way, he couldn’t believe he missed it in the first place. “Where are you?”

  “I’m in my car, I don’t know where they went to get ice cream though,” Milo said starting the car in a panic.

  “I’ll call Sam, you try to call Tess. Jim has to drop Hailey off first right? So I think meeting at her mom’s house is as good as any guess where she might be.”

  Milo agreed and hung up with his brother before quickly calling Tessa. The phone went straight to voicemail and he cursed, hitting the steering wheel with his palm.

  Chapter 33

  “You don’t have to do this,” Tessa whispered to her dad as he drove Hailey back home.

  He had already taken her phone without her realizing and turned it off; Dracul had to believe completely that he was one hundred percent working with him. He glanced at Hailey briefly in the rear view mirror before he replied, “I don’t have a choice.”

  “What are you two whispering about up there?” Hailey questioned looking up from her phone.

  “Nothing sweetheart,” Jim replied. “How is that boyfriend of yours treating you?”

  Hailey talked a little about Jake, not going into too much detail about their relationship. Tessa zoned out feeling her eyes burn with tears. Without the brothers, especially Milo she felt helpless and totally exposed. How could she have thought she would be safe with her dad?

  Hailey’s chatter suddenly died off and Tessa glanced back and found her sister slumbering soundly. “What did you do to her?” Tessa accused glaring at her dad.

  “I just helped her fall asleep so we can talk,” he answered.

  She huffed out a breath. “Talk about what? How you are giving me to the most evil, powerful man alive?”

  “It’s not that simple and you know it. If I don’t do as he says, I cannot remain close to him and better protect you. As long as he has you I will do everything I can to free you.”

  “I have a Protector,” Tessa said wiping away a tear. “I don’t need your help.”

  “Yes, and obviously he is not doing his job. He should have never allowed you to go with me.”

  “I persuaded him to let me go with you, because I thought you might have actually cared about me!” she said through a sob. “I convinced him that I would be safe with you.”

  “I do care about you,” he said softly. “After thinking everything through, I’ve realized the best chance you have at seeing your nineteenth, twentieth, and several more birthdays, is to allow Dracul to have you. It gives us time to figure out how to get you out of his grasp.” He had already been buying time for Tessa. When Dracul discovered that he was her father, he dragged his feet as much as possible.

  “Why can’t you just let me go?” Tessa tried. “Say I ran away or something.”

  “Dracul would see right through that. Either I bring him to you, or I go to him having survived the battle with your Protector. More Elite are waiting outside of your mom’s house, there will be witnesses. Since Milo and his brothers didn’t seem to get my message however, I’ll have to bring you in peacefully. Don’t you see it’s the only way?”

  She swallowed, feeling her throat tightening so much she wasn’t able to speak. A hopeless feeling washed over her; she had lost. As they pulled into the dark driveway, she finally whispered, “Please try and keep Milo, Sam and Ethan safe. If you ever loved me at all you will at least do that for me.”

  He closed his eyes and breathed out a heavy sigh. “I will do what I can. Stay here and I’ll take Hailey inside. Don’t try to run, remember more Elite are here, and I don’t want you to get hurt.” With those as his last words, he opened his door and gathered Hailey into his arms before disappearing through the front door.

  Tessa couldn’t give up so easily. Even if there were Elite outside, she had to at least try to get past them; she would not go quietly. Reaching for the handle, she pulled it but it wouldn’t budge. The doors were locked. After pressing the unlock button several times, she realized it was hopeless. Someone was keeping her inside the car on purpose, most likely her father. She searched the darkness around her, trying to find any signs of the Elite hiding in the bushes or behind a tree but couldn’t see anything.

  With no other idea of how to escape the car, she began hitting her elbow against the window hoping to shatter it like she had seen done in movies, and like she had seen Milo do. It wasn’t working and instead it was only giving her a bruised elbow. Not yet ready to give up, she angled her body and kicked at the window as hard as she could over and over again, until finally she heard a crack. A renewed strength came over her while hope filled her veins as she kicked once last time and the window shattered.

  At once she climbed out, ignoring the sharp glass slicing into her skin. Just as her feet hit the driveway, a shadow came out from a tree, moving towards her. The air instantly began leaving her lungs as the shadow became visible and Mai’s face came into view. She wore the same sadistic smile that Tessa had seen on her before as she sank to her knees. Tessa’s lungs burned for air though with each gasp she took nothing came. Everything began to blur as she reached out hysterically trying to so much as touch Mai in hope, she would be able to draw enough power to counter her.

  “Stop!” her father’s voice bellowed. “Dracul wants her alive. You are killing her.”

  Mai’s eyes narrowed briefly at Tessa before she looked away. Finally Tessa’s lungs filled with air as she gasped hysterically trying to breathe. Two more figures stepped out from where they hid. Tessa felt helpless; she couldn’t run away from even just one Elite, let alone four, especially as she was still trying to fully breathe.

  “I told you to stay in the car,” Jim chided quietly kneeling down next to her.

  “You betra
yed me!” Tessa coughed.

  His eyes filled with sorrow before he stood and addressed his comrades. “I will take her to Dracul. The rest of you follow to make sure nothing goes amiss.”

  “I thought we would have to fight for her. This almost seems too easy,” Mai stated. “Dracul thought she would be guarded by the Ricks brothers. I was looking forward to facing off against them.”

  “Perhaps they don’t realize how important she is,” Jim brushed off the comment turning towards his car.

  One of the other Elite members came forward and grasped Tessa’s arm firmly. He was on the shorter side but very muscular. “Dracul instructed me to accompany you both to him in case anything goes wrong.”

  Her father stared at the man a moment, knowing his loyalty was being called into question. He had expected as much, he had just hoped it wouldn’t happen. He shrugged indifferently and moved to his car, his feet crunching down on the broken glass.

  Just as Jim reached out to open the car door, a bolt of lightning cracked in the sky before it flashed down, striking the man holding Tessa. He flew backwards, not to get up while she only stumbled forwards. The brothers had come and they were ready to fight. The closer Milo was to Tessa, the more control and power he had. He didn’t waste a second before aiming another lightning bolt straight at Jim. He collapsed instantly to the ground. At the same time, Ethan caused thick green tentacle like plants to grow up from the earth. The vines reached out and grabbed Mai, wrapping their thick leaves tightly around her. Sam called forth his element to the sky, and dozens of birds came to his aid, swarming the last Elite member.

  It all happened so fast, though Tessa couldn’t take her eyes off of where her father had fallen as she stood frozen in the spot. When she saw the lightning strike him, she instantly knew Milo had come for her, but at what cost? True she wasn’t particularly close to her father, at times she even hated him, but that didn’t mean she wanted him dead, even if he did just barely betray her. Strong arms wrapped around her, lifting her up against a warm, firm chest.

  “Is he dead?” she asked with a trembling voice.

  “No,” Milo said pulling her quickly away. “He got a good zap, but nothing lethal.”

  She looked over his shoulder back to her father just as he was coming to and relief spread over her. Quickly he pulled himself up to his knees and a blue ball of fire formed in his hand. Tessa didn’t realize what he was doing until he launched the ball straight at Milo’s back.

  “Look out!” Tessa cried but it was too late.

  The fireball hit Milo right in the shoulder. He lurched forward with a groan of pain shoving Tessa out of the way as he fell. She maneuvered quickly, staying on her feet and trying her best to break his fall at least a little bit. Milo wasn’t moving, and she began panicking as she cried his out name. His shirt was singed and still burning slightly where the fire had hit him so she used his element and suddenly large drops of rain water sprayed down on them. Her father had since gotten to his feet and began coming towards them.

  “Sam! Ethan!” Tessa screamed trying to get their attention to help her. She found them both facing off against one of the Elite. Like her father, this man too held the fire element and was shooting streams of deadly flames at the brothers while they dodged the blaze.

  She looked up just as her father was about to descend on her. Instinct took over, and with a firm hold on Milo, she absorbed his power. All of the water that had fallen from the rain clouds suddenly lifted off of the ground, hovering inches above the cement. One by one, the drops merged together, forming into a jet stream and pounded right into Jim. He flew back dozens of feet landing somewhere in the backyard. Without hesitation, she aimed the powerful waters at the man Sam and Ethan were fighting. Like her father, he was lifted forcefully off his feet only he was thrown right into the side of her house.

  Sam and Ethan ran to her in somewhat of a shock at the power she had wielded, but when they saw Milo, injured and unconscious, together they hurried to lift him up. It was only a matter of time before Mai would break free of the vines so they needed to get out of there as fast as possible. Since Milo had driven separately from them, Sam hopped in his truck while Tessa and Ethan laid Milo down in the back seat of Ethan’s SUV and sped home.

  Tessa placed Milo’s head on her lap, needing to see and feel that he was still breathing. “He’s going to be ok right?” she asked Ethan as tears rolled down her cheeks.

  “He should be. The elements help us heal much faster than the average human,” Ethan replied glancing at her in his rearview mirror. “What happened to him anyway?”

  “My dad,” Tessa stifled a sob. She couldn’t believe that her own father had tried to kill him. “He threw a ball of fire right at him while his back was turned.” All feelings of anger and hatred towards her father were momentarily put aside as she peeled Milo’s shirt away to get a better view of the wound. “We need to take him to a hospital! It’s really deep!” she gasped as fresh tears sprung from her eyes. It was a crater the size of a softball, charred and oozing bits of blood. The fire luckily had cauterized it enough that he wasn’t bleeding profusely, but it was still bad.

  “We can’t take him to a hospital, what are we supposed to tell them happened?” Ethan asked. Then quickly added, “Don’t worry, we have gotten hurt plenty of times so we know how to help each other heal. The best thing you can do for him right now is put a coat of snow over the burn. His element will help him heal faster.”

  Tessa reacted instantly, hovering her hands just over the injury. A soft glow erupted from her hands before she felt the cold, frosty, snow beneath her hands. Milo stirred just a little but didn’t open his eyes. “Please Milo come back to me,” she wept.

  “He’s going to be alright, Tess,” Ethan tried to comfort. At the moment that was all he could say. He was just grateful they had all gotten away with their lives. They fought against four Elite; that was something to be proud of. Of course if they didn’t have the element of surprise they likely wouldn’t have been so lucky. Their enemy was strong, and the leader would be even stronger.

  Chapter 34

  Milo opened his eyes to find the familiar surroundings of his bedroom, and Tessa. The relief knowing that she hadn’t been taken was so strong his eyes watered. Sitting in the chair from his desk, her upper body laid across the edge of his bed as she slept. One of her arms was stretched out where her hand was barely touching his. He was on his stomach, and he could feel the sting of the burn on his back, along with the freezing layer of frost one of his brothers must have placed.

  He moved slightly, angling his head towards the window. The blinds were closed but the light of the morning sun still leaked through the cracks. He caught movement from the corner of his eye as Sam came and knelt down beside him.

  “How do you feel?” he asked quietly, placing another layer of ice over the wound.

  “Like I’ve been branded,” Milo replied. “Is everyone safe?”

  Sam raised an eyebrow. “That’s a loaded question,” he said. “But if you mean all alive and home then yes.”

  Milo nodded as his eyes drifted back to Tessa. His fingers searched for hers until he was gently grasping her hand.

  “We couldn’t get her to leave your side,” Sam informed. “She was really worried about you.”

  “I keep failing her,” Milo said feeling his self-pity rise.

  “She is still alive right? You haven’t failed her, and you won’t so stop thinking it.”

  Milo opened his mouth with a retort, but Tessa stirred and her eyes fluttered open.

  “Milo!” she said sitting up abruptly, though she didn’t let go of his hand. “How are you? Do you need anything? More ice? Maybe some water?”

  He smiled slightly feeling a rush of emotion from her concern. “Not at the moment.” Then looking over her he said, “You were here all night, you should go get some sleep.”

  Her cheeks filled with a soft blush as she shrugged her shoulders. “I owed you. You stayed with me al
l night in the hospital, and you didn’t even know me then.”

  “Good to see you finally awake,” Ethan said strolling into the room.

  “What happened last night?” Milo asked. The last thing he remembered was being hit by the fire.

  Sam and Ethan took turns going over last night’s events. They didn’t leave any details out, especially Ethan when he spoke of his impressive vines that held Mai. Tessa noticeably paled when they recalled Jim hitting his back with the fireball. Milo could read her easily to know she was blaming herself for everything. They were similar in that aspect.

  “It’s not your fault,” he said to her at once.

  She swallowed the lump in her throat. “If I wouldn’t have gone with my dad…”

  “He’s your dad, you trusted him and there is nothing wrong with that,” Milo countered.

  “But he tried to kill you, and almost did!” She was trying so hard to contain her tears. She had cried so much throughout the night that her head hurt tremendously. The knowledge that she had almost lost Milo made her entire body ache with sorrow and fear.

  “Actually, I don’t think he tried to kill me,” Milo confessed.

  “He got you pretty good, what makes you think that?” Ethan asked. “It easily could have been a kill shot.”

  “He had a straight, clear shot of me but he hit my shoulder instead. Besides that, he did warn us that they would try and take her tonight.”

  When Tessa asked about this, Milo explained Neutron’s post, and how they didn’t catch it right away, but it had been a warning all the same. Tessa wasn’t as certain as Milo seemed to be. She recollected the conversation she had with her father about him actually wanting her to go to Dracul.

  “I think he had a plan A and plan B. He thought we weren’t going to come for you, so he resorted to the other plan,” Milo reasoned.

  Tessa shook her head not wanting to believe it, especially after he had hurt Milo so badly. She wasn’t about to accept that her father loved her or even cared about her at the moment. All she felt concerning him was betrayal, and she wasn’t in the mood for forgiveness. Standing up, she winced as she stretched her sore body and looked down at herself. The clothes she had worn the entire day yesterday were dirty and stiff, and she wanted to get clean so she told the brothers that she was going to take a shower and then make some breakfast.