Boreal and John Grey Season 2

by Thoma, Chrystalla

  He let it hang in the air.

  “I don’t get you.” Ella moved to stand in front of him. “You need John Grey to travel to the Nine Heavens. Do you deny this is your wish?”

  Dave gazed at her long and hard. “I don’t deny it,” he said finally. “This is the wish of all Guardians.”

  “Then why aren’t you keeping Finn here, safe and protected, and let the world go to hell? What do you care? And don’t give me that shit about your mission to protect the world. It’s getting old.”

  “But it is my mission,” Dave said. “My primary mission. What was programmed in me. I can’t override it.”

  “You expect me to believe that?”

  “Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do.” He gestured at the open door of the van. “I let him go do his thing, didn’t I?”

  “You may have other, hidden motives. What am I saying? I’m sure you do.”

  Dave clenched his jaw. “Okay, fine. Yes, my primary goal has always been to open a gateway to the Nine Heavens. A place where the Dark Elves can’t control us and hopefully can’t follow. Oh, they’d love to travel there. They’ve been studying the sky since forever, but the permanent cloud cover won’t let them see much. They’ve tried for centuries to see beyond — and it doesn’t matter, because even if they could, finding the way to the Heavens hinges on one person.”

  “Let me guess.” Ella swallowed. “John Grey.”

  “Yes. John Grey, but one who is strong, who has given himself to his power. One who’s able to open Gates and keep them open. One who has the map.”

  “What map?”

  He sighed and drew back. “To the Nine Heavens. What did you think his mark is supposed to be?”

  She blinked. “The starburst? Are you serious?”

  A map to the Heavens.

  “It’s supposed to change when he comes into power. Tell us which way to turn, which way to look. But this John Grey is a failure. He’s flawed and lost.” Dave scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I had hoped he’d be the one, but I’m not sure anymore.”

  “You’ve given up on him.” Ella frowned. “After all he’s been through to protect this world and make everything right.”

  “Exactly because of that. All that pain should have triggered his full power. But he’s still moping around, unable to control his magic. A puppet to anyone knowing where to find him. And last I checked, his mark hasn’t changed into the map I need.”

  Seething and fearing she’d give the truth away — Finn had found his power, his mark had changed, and fuck Dave anyway — Ella walked to the end of the van.

  Meanwhile, Finn was up there, fighting. He had to be frozen solid, dressed only in his thin shirt, and in pain. Dammit.

  She grabbed a leather jacket she found draped over the bench and jumped out, eyes searching for Finn’s dragon. As if she could just wave him over and put the jacket on him.

  It was killing her to be down on earth, grounded and useless as he hunted terrors up above.

  The snowfall had eased as Finn had predicted. The blizzard had come from the open Gate, and now it was dying out.

  Fire streaked across the sky. A dragon flew toward the towers that hovered, jewel-like, over the buildings. Fire burst from the dragon’s great mouth, engulfing part of the hovering tower. Ella couldn’t be sure — it was damn far — but it looked like a side of the tower was melting like hot wax.

  The tower wobbled in the air, more of it becoming visible — the top was opening like a blossom.

  Finn’s dragon flew higher and dived down toward it.

  Crap.

  Ella danced with frustration on the street, watching as the dragon let out another belch of fire — right into the tower’s top.

  And the tower exploded. Its upper part cracked and chunks of metal wheeled through the air. They tumbled down, crashing into the streets and on buildings. She didn’t want to think how many were dying out there. How many more would die if Finn didn’t succeed.

  The other three dragons swooped like hawks and Ella’s breath caught as the creatures fought in mid-air with claws and wings.

  Finn’s dragon dipped and flailed, then swung upward once more.

  Then again.

  Was it on purpose? Or was something wrong?

  She pressed her hands to her chest, trying to figure out what to do — take a policeman hostage and demand a helicopter? Find a rocket launcher and hit the dragons?

  The white dragon dropped in the air, huge wings flaring, then righted herself again. Was Finn even on her anymore? Had he fallen off?

  Relax, Ella. Finn knows what he’s doing.

  Her hands clenched and unclenched at her sides. She couldn’t tear her gaze from the terrible spectacle in the sky, the dragons giving chase to Finn, flames crisscrossing the sky.

  A whisper caressed her mind, an image of a vast, dark sky, and fear rippled through her.

  The dragon.

  Something was definitely wrong; she could feel it in the connection they shared. Ella needed to go to Finn, right now.

  Jacket clutched in her hand, she glanced around wildly. She’d steal a car, throw the driver out. Emergency measures.

  When she next looked up, Finn’s dragon was going down — flying, not falling, but flying in a downward spiral, way too fast.

  She set off running.

  ***

  Ella ran faster than she’d ever run in her life, dodging parked and smashed cars, the stench of gasoline, charred flesh and feces making her stomach turn. She swerved around craters in the asphalt, ducked when a missile whistled overhead, and kept going.

  Military airplanes thundered overhead. Finally. Missiles streaked through the night, hitting the elven towers. Would they bring the huge structures down?

  Focus. She had to reach Finn.

  An avenue opened in front of her and she ground to a stop. Small tanks were rolling down the street, passing her by, crashing over metal, rubble and probably bodies as well. Men jogged by, dressed in camouflage, carrying M-16s and portable missile launchers.

  Ella ducked into a side street. Where was Finn’s dragon? Looking up, she ran on, almost crashing into an overturned car. There, she could now see the white dragon spiraling down. She pounded round the corner into a square lined with trees.

  Then the dragon came down, crashing right in their path, hind legs first, wings spread wide.

  Ella skidded and came to a halt, bending over to catch her breath, clutching the jacket she hadn’t managed to drop during her sprint to her chest.

  The dragon took some running steps, knocking over a statue of some famous guy or other. Then she settled down on her haunches like a dog and lowered her head to the ground, her yellow eyes watching Ella’s every move.

  Finn.

  He slumped on the dragon’s neck, facedown, hands still wrapped on the horns. He’d slid down a little, and was now still. His back was bleeding. Crimson had seeped through the thin fabric of the white shirt he wore.

  Her breath froze. She straightened and approached. The dragon observed her without a movement, a touch in Ella’s mind like a whispered word and an image of fire and a caress...

  Ella closed in. She licked her dry lips and reached up, snagging her fingertips in bony protrusions, and climbed up, settling behind Finn.

  Fire hit the asphalt beside them, and the dragon jolted. The three dragons circled overhead, spiraling down.

  She brushed pale hair off Finn’s nape. “You’re frozen solid. Here.”

  Finn groaned. His hands tightened on the horns and he struggled to sit straight. Carefully she placed the jacket over his shoulders, helped him put his arms into the sleeves. He shivered.

  “Ready to fly?” she whispered, slipping her arms around his middle, steadying him.

  “Ella, no, you can’t.”

  “I’m coming with you.” She placed a hand over his racing heart and rested her chin on his leather-clad shoulder. “If you can take it, so can I. And I have an idea.”

  “What idea?”
<
br />   “The fire isn’t enough. We must use the threads.”

  He hissed. “I can’t. Too much—”

  “With my help.” She thought of how her threads had tripped up the men in the apartment where Finn had been held. How they’d held them down. How their powers meshed and tightened the weave. “We should hurry. Let’s get her airborne.”

  “Tell her,” Finn whispered.

  Ella blinked. “Right.” The tug was still there, on her mind, and she thought of flying up into the clouds.

  The dragon rose, powerful muscles shifting under Ella’s legs, wings unfurling with a crackle. Another bolt of fire hit the ground, making the dragon step sideways — then she was running down the avenue, flapping those huge wings.

  They were flying. Ella clutched at Finn, suddenly remembering why she hated this part.

  Oh my god, they were going high. Like, real high. Right into the path of the airplanes. “Look out!”

  “Just hold on tight,” Finn said.

  He didn’t need to tell her twice. Wounds or not, she pressed against his back, clung so hard they’d need pliers to get her off Finn once this was over.

  The dragon swerved and beat her great wings, rising higher as the air rushed past them and fire barreled over their heads. Ella focused on Finn’s pulse under her hand, his hair tickling her face. Deep breaths. No passing out. She couldn’t help Finn if she was unconscious.

  You can do this. You must.

  In her initial panic, she’d obviously stopped giving the dragon guidance and Finn had taken over. They flew up and up, dodging the fiery bursts of their enemies.

  The towers came into view, sparkling like crystals, throbbing like hearts. They circled around them.

  Then the other three dragons rose to block them. Ella could see the Boreals riding them, their snowy armor and helmets catching the gleam of fire.

  Time to see if her idea worked.

  Her arms tightened around Finn until she thought she was cutting off his air. “The threads,” she shouted over the roar of the wind. “Now, Finn!”

  He shivered and the threads appeared, a vast web of gold. They were flying through it, through the threads of light, and it took her breath away.

  Her threads greeted her, pulsing angrily, waiting for her emotions to catch up. Yeah, fury. For those who hurt Finn, who waited for a chance to injure and kill.

  She felt it rise inside her — the power, the heat, the song.

  The threads tightened, like her embrace, coming together.

  Crashing the dragons and their riders. Ella watched the dragons spin and thrash as the darkness swallowed them and they fell to their deaths.

  Finn’s heart doubled its pace, and her own matched it. Her chest ached. The threads pulsed and twisted, meshing until she thought her skull would explode from the pressure. Her teeth ground together.

  The towers boomed, and their dragon flew down, out of the path of the missiles as the air-force retaliated. Shouldn’t those towers be down by now? It was as if the only thing able to destroy them was the fiery dragon breath.

  “Enough,” Finn shouted, shaking. He could barely draw breath, and she wasn’t much better.

  It was time.

  Fire, she thought.

  Finn leaned forward and the dragon flew around the towers, belching flames. The first tower rocked, then tilted. Another burst of flame and a chunk of the tower slid off and fell, down on the city.

  The dragon flapped, rising higher, lungs rumbling, and belched a rain of fire on the remaining tower. It was already damaged, half it having melted from the previous attack, and now it broke apart and dropped as well.

  The explosion below from the falling towers was a blast of a heat wave. Then came the sound, deafening, and it threw the dragon sideways. She spun, wings folding.

  Ella hung on to Finn’s solid torso, wishing she believed in an afterlife, as the air whistled and whipped her hair over her face, her breath leaving her. She gasped until black spots ate at her vision.

  The dragon crashed on something solid and they slithered, crashing into antennas and walls.

  The terrace of a building. They’d landed on a building.

  That was Ella’s last thought before it all swirled to black.

  ***

  She was safe.

  That was Ella’s first thought. She was enclosed in warmth, pressed against muscled flesh, listening to a steady heartbeat. Scent of caramel and musk — and blood.

  Finn.

  She blinked, trying to get her bearings. She was held to his chest, his head bent over her, soft hair tickling her face as she shifted, staring up into the night sky with the lights of the airplanes and helicopters.

  “Are you...?” Her head pounded like a drum. “Is it over?”

  He shook his head.

  Not over? She grabbed his shoulders and struggled to sit up. “What happened? I thought the towers fell.”

  “They fell.” Finn’s voice rumbled in his chest. He brushed his fingertips over her brow. “It’s done.”

  “Then why the gloom?” She shifted and sat up. He’d managed to pull her in front of him, on the dragon’s neck, flush against his chest. She slipped her hands under the leather jacket and the shirt, and held on to his narrow waist. “We made it.”

  He nodded. His face was blank.

  “Finn, what aren’t you telling me?” Sudden worry hit her. Had he been wounded again? Was he bleeding? “Are you okay?”

  “Yes.” Strained. Not very convincing, really.

  Jesus. “Talk to me.”

  He let out a long breath. It made his sides heave. “Have to go.”

  “Yeah, Dave will have a fit if we don’t make an appearance real soon. He’s down there in a van waiting to see we’re all right.”

  He didn’t speak. His head dipped lower, his breath warming the side of her neck. His hands skimmed over her arms, then pressed into the small of her back — bringing her closer.

  “Finn, what is it? Tell me.” Her stomach was knotting so badly she thought she might throw up. Because deep inside she thought she knew. “Go where?”

  “Away.”

  Her lungs locked for a second. “Please, don’t do this.”

  “They know where I am, where to find me,” Finn whispered. “I need to move, hide for a while.”

  “Okay, you’re right. We’ll leave and hide somewhere. In another city. Nobody will know where we are. If you don’t open Gates, you’ll be difficult to track.”

  “I can’t.”

  She pulled back. She could see in his eyes how tired he was. “You’re going to Aelfheim, aren’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  “That’s the mother of all bad ideas.” She jabbed a finger into his chest. “You’re going to return to the place that hurt you, to the people who want to use you.”

  “Dave wants to use me, too.”

  “Yes, but Aelfheim is where the Dark Elves are. Where the war plans are being made. Where you said you never wanted to return.” Her voice cracked on the last word.

  Finn’s mouth tightened. “I need to see if my mother is alive, if she’s well. Norma said...” He swallowed. “She said I should.”

  Oh god, what could you say to that? “She’s dead, Finn. Your mother.” And Norma. Christ. “We talked about this. Your queen was lying.”

  He shook his head. “Not sure. Remember the device we took from the dead Boreal? Both she and my father are listed as living.”

  Ella just stared at him. He was serious. Holy shit.

  He’d lost both mothers and now he had a chance to get one back. Of course he wanted to go. “Not now, though, right? You’re hurt. You need to see a doctor, especially about your leg.”

  “Ella... Now is the perfect opportunity. The dragon is here, so they can’t hurt her. The tracker is out. Nobody is watching me right now.”

  Damn. “We’re not prepared—”

  “You can’t go with me.”

  His words struck her speechless. She gaped at him and tried
to get air back into her lungs.

  He gave her a calm stare that only served to piss her off.

  “The hell I’m not.” Her neck was heating with anger. “Take me with you.”

  “It’s too dangerous. I can’t.”

  “Too dangerous for whom?”

  He blinked. “For you.”

  “I can help you. We work well together.”

  He didn’t look convinced.

  “You can’t leave me here.” Ella was aware her anger was turning to panic. She tried to think but her mind ran around in circles and all she wanted was to grab him and never let go. “It’s dangerous for me.”

  He cocked his head to the side.

  Okay, good, he was listening. “Don’t you think they’ll be looking for the Stabilizer after seeing what I did today? Don’t you think Dave will find a way to use me — as a weapon or to force your hand?”

  If possible, his white face paled more. He hadn’t thought of that, had he? Hadn’t realized how similar they were now — two freaks on the same show.

  “Aelfheim is a tough place,” he said and her heart boomed. “I don’t know what I’ll face there.”

  Oh god, she would start begging and bawling like a baby. “Please, Finn. I know you don’t want me to come, but—”

  “What?” His hands gripped her ribcage. His eyes narrowed. “Damn, Ella, you have no idea...” He drew her back to him, crushed her to his chest. Pressed his mouth to her neck. “Not sure I can leave you.”

  “Then don’t,” she said, muffled against his shoulder. “I can’t... Can’t be without you.”

  A small eternity passed.

  Then she felt his lips tilt in a smile against her skin. “Okay.”

  He’d agreed. They were leaving. To Aelfheim.

  In a daze, she let him maneuver her, help her twist around and swing a leg over the dragon’s neck so she sat with her back to him. Her hands closed around the horns and Finn’s hands covered hers.

  “Are you ready?” he whispered in her ear.

  Not really. But he was leaving, and she wasn’t staying behind. “Ready.”

  The sparkle in her mind told her the dragon was preparing to move. She stood, opening her wings, shaking her spine. Crashing over the terrace she walked to the edge and sprang.