Flux Flame (A Flame Moon Novel

by K. J. Jackson

  Skye’s body jerked with a gasp. An agonized scream followed.

  Shiv’s hand shot to Charlotte’s shoulder, trying to push her off of Skye. “Stop. Stop it. You’re hurting her.”

  Charlotte stayed rock-solid against Shiv’s onslaught.

  “I’m healing her,” Charlotte snapped, glaring at Shiv’s hand shoving her shoulder. “Don’t let her move. I’m not going to say it again. Leave if you can’t handle this. Go back to a boat. Go anywhere, I don’t care. But if you’re staying, be helpful.”

  Shiv’s hands went back down to Skye, holding her writhing body tight to the wood.

  Within minutes, Skye’s body stilled, and her breathing evened out as Charlotte’s hands put organs and flesh to right.

  Satisfied with the heal, Charlotte removed her hands from Skye, but a worried look immediately replaced the concentration on her face. Skye should have been moving by now. Talking. Something.

  Charlotte leaned down, looking closely at Skye’s back. She didn’t see anything wrong. “This isn’t right. Help me flip her over.”

  Shiv flipped Skye’s arms, Charlotte lifted her body, and they got Skye onto her back. Her belly looked fine. Then Charlotte looked at Skye’s face. And she saw the problem.

  Charlotte kicked up in the water and moved onto the board so she could hover over Skye. Skye’s head was tilted back, her eyes, half-closed, flickered, leaving for another world. The damn Malefic rapture.

  Charlotte pulled Skye’s eyelids open, hoping to find Skye could focus. She couldn’t. “It’s happening, Skye, isn’t it? I can see it in your face—it’s happening.”

  Skye gasped, her mouth trying to form words, but she couldn’t get sound out. Her eyes rolled back into her head.

  “Oh god, what’s happening to her?” Shiv let go of Skye’s arms and pulled herself onto the wood to see Skye’s face.

  “It’s what her body does when there’s pain around. Others, her own, I don’t know—I don’t know the rules for it. You’ve seen it—don’t you know? Aren’t you like this? How do we stop it?”

  Shiv didn’t have a hold on Skye when the next wave hit, and Skye slipped off the chunk of wood, her head dipping below the surface of the water. Shiv’s hand shot out, grabbing her before she could sink.

  Shiv wrapped her arm around Skye’s chest and heaved her upward, spreading her out on the wood once more. She looked up at Charlotte, petrified. “No. Not like this. Mine is…is…drunk…a good ‘shroom. I know where I am, what I’m doing. Not this. This isn’t what I saw before in her. This is harsh. It’s like her brain is fried. You need to help her.”

  “I don’t know if I can.” Charlotte slapped Skye’s cheek.

  Skye’s eyes crept open, but there was no focus in them.

  Charlotte grabbed Skye’s face in one hand, thumb and fingers squeezing her cheeks. “Skye, listen to me. You need to focus up and fight it.” She shook Skye’s face. “Don’t you dare let it take you over. Not now. Not after what you went through. Not after what it took for you to make it here. You stop it right now.” She slapped her again. “You can do this. Get back here. Stop it.”

  Charlotte went in at Skye, their noses almost touching, her voice desperate. “Skye, focus. I can see you fighting it. Fight it. You have to get back here right now so we can fix this. You need to send back time. You need to save Aiden. Aiden.” She was yelling now. “Aiden. You need to save him. Aiden. Only you can do this, Skye. Get back here for Aiden. Aiden.”

  Skye jerked and gasped. Her lurch flopped her face into the wood and she sucked in a skim of water. The gasp turned into hacking as she tried to clear her lungs. But she still nodded her head through the racket of her body.

  She was back.

  “Thank god,” Shiv said.

  “Are you here?” Charlotte asked, looking hard into Skye’s eyes.

  “I am.” Even in the weakness of Skye’s voice, the words sounded strong.

  “Did you see what happened to Aiden?”

  Skye opened her mouth, but sound didn’t appear. She paused, then nodded, eyes closed.

  “What’s that?” Shiv pointed toward the mainland.

  Charlotte and Skye’s eyes followed off Shiv’s finger. Far off in the distance, light on the mainland was disappearing.

  Silently, all three watched as chunks of light flickered and went dark.

  “What is that?” Shiv repeated herself, trying to make sense of what she was seeing.

  “That’s California slipping into the ocean,” Charlotte whispered.

  “Oh, fuck.” Shiv looked away from the land.

  “Skye, can you go back? Are you ready? We have to stop this,” Charlotte said.

  Skye’s eyes were transfixed on the disappearing land as they bobbed on the waves. The moonlight threw shadows over the water, and without the land’s light pollution, it was becoming impossible to see where water ended and land began.

  “When we go back,” Skye said, “it may just be us—Triaten, where is he?”

  It was Charlotte’s turn to choke on her words.

  Skye pulled her eyes from the land and looked at her friend. She reached out to squeeze Charlotte’s arm. “I know. But we can’t dwell. Not if we’re going to stop this. Aiden, Triaten, they might not make the time shift. They might stay dead. It may just be us.”

  Charlotte shook her head emphatically. “No, they will make it, it’s not possible that they won’t. Tri will fight the entire underworld to get back to me. Aiden’s the same with you. They will make the time shift.” There wasn’t a sliver of doubt in Charlotte’s voice.

  “Alright.” Steely resolve shone in Skye’s face. “I know the moment I’m going back to. It’s a gamble, but it’s our best chance. Charlotte, you need to get into that half-breed and kill her as quickly as possible.”

  “I can help you swim really fast underwater into that middle opening,” Shiv said.

  “No. Malefic help is not needed, nor trusted. Stay out of the way.” Charlotte’s answer was quick.

  Shiv’s eyes narrowed at her. “You really do seem to hate me. Even though I can help.”

  “Now is not the time.” Charlotte returned the cold look. “You tried to make me question Triaten’s love. Should I have any other emotion for you?”

  “Char, you’re right,” Skye said. “Now is not the time. You two can hash this out after—if—we get out of this alive. Until then, we’re all the best of buddies. And Charlotte, Shiv is going to help you get to the half-breed. I knew what was happening underwater when I was sinking, and Shiv saved me—swimming is clearly her power. We can’t afford not to use it and waste time. Agreed?”

  “Yes.” Charlotte immediately said.

  Shiv rolled her eyes. “Fine. But—”

  “No buts.” Skye’s voice took on a decidedly big sister tone. “We need to concentrate. I need to concentrate. Shiv, it’s going to be jarring going back. You ready?”

  “Well, I didn’t save you for nothing, Skye. That,” Shiv pointed over her shoulder at the disappearing land mass, “is not the society I want to live in. So have at it, sis. It’s time for you to save the world.”

  { Chapter 26 }

  Blackness. No sight. No senses. Then out of nowhere, his muscles were on battle fire, skin still wet from the ocean, wind at his back, and Triaten was staring past the Folotto brothers at Charlotte falling into the ocean. Good girl, Skye. Good girl.

  The Folotto brothers looked at each other, momentarily flummoxed at the time shift. It gave Triaten just enough time to turn across the deck to Horace.

  His father looked at him. In that instant, Triaten was surprised at how old his father looked. When had that happened? Even in battle gear, a sword and a dagger in each hand, the combat black tight on his body, his shoulders stooped. Old, and weary. But a hard twinkle came into his eye as he looked at Triaten.

  With a grim smile, he dropped the dagger and pulled an explosive from his utility belt.

  Horace gave one short nod. “Go.”

  That wa
s it. Horace allowed no time for regrets, no time for lost emotions. He simply clicked on the device, and with the speed a young Panthenite, force of wind at his back, Horace charged the brothers. They had no time to react.

  Triaten did, and his body was flying through the air, clearing the boat and hitting the water just as the boat, the Folotto brothers, and his father blew into particles.

  Shards of the boat tore through Triaten’s flesh, but they didn’t slow him. He was already swimming at the opposite boat, at the water where Charlotte had disappeared.

  He was alongside the platform, past the guards’ notice, fighting against the rushing water and the rubble from the boats, when he came up for air and just happened to glance at the platform. What he saw simultaneously stopped his heart, and made it beat again.

  He changed course and let the circling water take him inward.

  ~~~

  By the time Charlotte finished going through the motions with Damen on the boat, and fell once more overboard, Shiv was already waiting for her. This time, Charlotte kept her sword tight in her hand.

  Shiv treaded easily against the constant centripetal force of the water, keeping her position by Skye’s boat. Charlotte re-surfaced, and the two silently gave each other a nod. Shiv grabbed her arm so the waters wouldn’t take her away.

  “You can just get me into the middle opening and go,” Charlotte said as she slid her sword into her scabbard.

  “I don’t plan on staying,” Shiv said.

  “And best to stay away from that green ray that girl is putting down into the water,” Charlotte said. “I have no idea what that would do to flesh and bone.”

  “Don’t worry. I’m not looking to experiment. Are you ready?”

  “As ever. Let me get a dagger in hand.” Charlotte pulled a dagger, then took a deep breath and gave Shiv a nod.

  Without bothering to take a holding breath herself, Shiv tightened her grip on Charlotte’s arm and dove, bringing them quickly under the wide circular platform to the round opening in the middle. Amazed at the quick delivery, Charlotte tapped Shiv’s hand on her arm and gave her the thumbs up. Shiv let go, and disappeared out into the blackness of the water.

  Charlotte swam straight up, avoiding the green ray that continued to pump and throb down into the depths of the ocean. The proximity to the center of the spinning water afforded Charlotte actual control over her own path in the water.

  She could see the half-breed above her, her hands in the water, creating the green ray, and Charlotte aimed at the opening just to the right of the half-breed’s hands.

  With as much force as she could gain, she busted through the water, dagger aimed in the general vicinity of the half-breed’s heart.

  But when Charlotte’s eyes broke the surface of the water, what she saw made her deflect her knife off target at the last second.

  Since they had gotten out to the boats, the figure had been shrouded the entire time. And Damen had said she was his daughter. But Charlotte wasn’t expecting this. Not the wide eyes of a young girl, maybe ten, looking down at her in shock and terror.

  Charlotte couldn’t kill a child.

  The girl jerked away from the water in fear, and was immediately kicked back down by a brutal-looking Malefic from behind.

  Then the Malefic saw Charlotte.

  Gripping the side of the platform, Charlotte flipped the blade in her hand and drove it into his foot. She used the moment of pain to pull herself out of the water, and rolled into him, knocking him down.

  Charlotte yanked her sword free and swung, slicing through his arm and chest into his heart. He was still, but as Charlotte looked up, she swallowed hard. The Malefics lining the outer edge of the platform had all turned inward. And half of them were advancing on her.

  The girl was immobilized behind Charlotte, hands still in the water. Charlotte could hear her sobbing quietly to herself. She ran through the few options she had in her head.

  Grab the girl and dive back into the water? She didn’t know what the girl could do to her, and how far she could get under the platform, dragging the girl, before the Malefics caught up. Plus they would be waiting for them at the outer edge. She shouldn’t have excused Shiv so easily.

  Get on her feet and fight? She wasn’t going to win against this many Malefic warriors. She was good, but not twenty-against-one good.

  And that summed up her options.

  Just as Charlotte was going to turn and grab the girl, she saw three Malefics on the outer edge of the platform drop.

  Triaten.

  “Hell, yea,” she whispered with a smile to herself and got to her feet. “It’s on.”

  And she ran at the closest Malefic.

  ~~~

  “Interesting.” Edmund sneered.

  Skye exhaled the deep breath she had been holding. Aiden was standing across the deck from her, alive. Under the ball of fire, but alive. He made the time shift, and that was all she needed. His eyes met hers, and she could swear she saw the slightest twitch of a smile from the corner of his mouth. His pinky moved ever so slightly on the hilt of his sword.

  Skye’s eyes swung back to Edmund. He was on the deck, near Aiden.

  “Very interesting. So here we are again,” Edmund said. “But not before this moment? An odd choice for you.”

  “I imagine you know all about the limitation of my power, Edmund. I can’t go back past a point I’ve shifted to.”

  “Of course I know.” Edmund’s ancient eyes seared into her. “This is fascinating.”

  “Yes, fascinating, Edmund. Fascinating.” Skye couldn’t hold in the sarcasm. “So I’m sure you now understand how committed I am to this very moment. This moment of choice.”

  Skye pulled herself upright on the railing again, only this time, she cut off any attention to the pain in her body from the last strike of electricity. She wasn’t about to let the pain beat her in the slightest on this go-around.

  She let go of the railing and took a steady step onto the deck toward Edmund, not letting her eyes veer off him. “I could have chosen any moment in time from the last few months, but I didn’t. This is the moment, and there is no going back.”

  “You have my attention, half-breed.”

  “Things get incredibly clear when you’re sinking to the depths of the ocean, Edmund. When your life is slowly getting sucked out of you.” She took another step. “Who I am. Choices I made. Who I could be. The clarity is profound. How easy life could actually be.”

  Skye paused, her legs rocking with the waves as she studied Edmund. “But this moment of choice has nothing to do with some bitch electrocuting me. I may have stumbled in weakness once before on this boat. But I stumble no more.” Skye yanked the dagger strapped to her thigh and spun, hurling it. Aim true, the blade impaled the heart of the Malefic on the bridge who had electrocuted her.

  The Malefic fell over the upper railing, her body clunking off the side of the boat as it fell into the ocean.

  Skye turned back to Edmund. He was waiting for her to attack him next, and the fireball dove, licking Aiden’s hair.

  “I am not going to attack you, Edmund. But I do want you to know how serious I am. Apparently, my spine is stronger than either of your races. Stronger because it’s made from both. I will not make a choice driven by pain, driven by fear. A choice like that, you would not believe.”

  Edmund’s hand remained raised, holding the ball of fire above Aiden, and his tone took on a victorious note. “I take it you’ve reconsidered that choice you made about joining us as gods?”

  “I say she’s reconsidered.” Aiden’s voice was strong in conviction. “I say we will take our place as gods alongside you.”

  Startled, Edmund looked at Aiden, eyebrows cocked in disbelief. “From you, Aiden? From her I expected this choice. I expected her to value herself more than a couple million souls. But you, Aiden? There is no higher ground than the greater good for you.”

  “You have us, Edmund. We will join you,” Skye said. “I’ve already see
n it, California slipping into the ocean. You did too. And it did nothing to me. No horror. No heartache. I thought there would be, but there wasn’t. My only regret was losing Aiden. And I don’t intend to repeat that this time around.”

  The fireball above Aiden’s head lifted slightly as Edmund turned to Skye. “I am not believing you, girl. You’re half malefic, therefore prone to lies.”

  Skye guffawed. “And you’re not? Your lies beat anything I could ever conjure.”

  “You don’t need to believe her, Edmund,” Aiden said. “But believe me. I will make it happen. I would not choose it, but if this is what Skye wants, she will get it. We will turn this earth into a world where power is taken, not given. Both of us. The alternative is not an option. I give you my word on it.”

  Edmund’s chin tilted down as his eyes narrowed at Aiden. He studied him for minutes. Aiden took the scrutiny, not flinching under Edmund’s glare.

  “Your word?” Edmund finally asked.

  Aiden nodded. “My word.”

  The fire ball eased a notch closer to the dark sky. Edmund’s wretched face twisted into a smile and he looked at Skye. “Excellent.”

  Before the word completely exited Edmund’s mouth, Aiden spun, blade wide. The decapitation of Edmund was instant, and it left his body, with its arm still raised, controlling the fireball upright for the smallest slice of time. A slice of time long enough for a dive, and Aiden took it, launching himself at Skye, tackling her as he flung them off the boat.

  The fireball hit the boat before they were clear. The explosion was intense, and sent shards of fire, wood and metal in a radius from the deck.

  Cocooned so completely by Aiden’s body, Skye was hit by none of it. But it ripped the entire back length of Aiden wide open.

  They hit the water, and Aiden promptly fell away from Skye, sinking down from her grasp before she even knew he was in trouble.

  A few precious moments went by where Skye thought she could find Aiden under the water, and she dove repeatedly, trying to find him. Desperate after several futile attempts, her head broke the surface, and she screamed for Shiv. And screamed. And screamed.