And she didn’t look back.
Part Three
The Battle Begins
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Aedan
Aedan had to admit that after all that time spent filled with anxiety it felt good to actually be in the thick of it. Especially now that he knew Maya wasn’t trying to kill him anymore. He hadn’t had enough time to dwell on the idea that that was exactly what she’d meant to do all along. It was clear that she was more than capable of it. Especially since he would never purposely hurt her.
And Toby seemed all right. He hoped the guy would recover soon though because he was getting tired of carrying him around. The hospital gown was an improvement over his nudity in the mountains, but a pair of pants would be ideal. And his own clothes courtesy of Doc Parker were pinching him so tight he was surprised they hadn’t split down the seat yet.
“Burn it,” Maya said. Then she bounced off down the steps like she was already on to the next task.
Aedan blinked. He’d been lost in thought, staring at the damage Kari had willingly caused. Did she really just say that? He looked to Toby, who still sat on the concrete where Aedan had set him, leaning back against the adobe, his face pale and clammy beneath his filthy red hair and glasses. He shook his head and motioned for Aedan to come closer.
“Get the laptop first,” Toby whispered. “Please. It’s somewhere near the table.”
Aedan darted inside and located it almost immediately. He wasn’t sure if it could have really survived the beating, but he scooped it up and ran back outside where he tossed Toby over his shoulder.
“Come on!” Maya yelled from below.
Aedan’s inner fire flared. She was treating him like a cigarette lighter. Like she could just say the word and he’d comply. Like it didn’t take any concentration, or effort, or carry any risk.
“It’s okay,” Toby said from behind his back. “Just like the ropes. One intense burst, to incinerate any evidence. No flames left over.”
Just like the ropes? That was tiny compared to what they were asking here. Aedan understood the importance of it though. Or thought he did. They didn’t want Circle information falling into the wrong hands if and when Kari came back around. Because when she figured out he’d deserted, she surely would.
He focused on the contents of the apartment, picturing it like kindling packed inside a large metal box. An impenetrable box that wouldn’t catch fire. His chest expanded as he inhaled deeply, and when he let go with a great rush of air, it sounded like a sonic boom exploded from within the apartment.
Aedan’s knees buckled, but he threw out a hand and steadied himself against the metal railing at the top of the stairs. The heat seared his hand, and his body drew it inside like pure energy. He sighed, then scooped up Toby and made his way down the steps where Maya already had a car idling. A nice car. A little white convertible.
“Please tell me this one isn’t stolen too,” Aedan said, laying Toby across the backseat.
“It’s ours.”
As much as Aedan longed to be with Maya, he wasn’t sure whether he trusted she was telling the truth. He gave her a sidelong glance as he climbed in the front and she threw it into gear. He didn’t even know why it bothered him more than any of the other incredibly crazy things they’d already done that day.
A hiss, and a moment later an orange sack of fur fell into his lap. He jumped nearly setting the thing on fire.
“Copernicus!” Maya snapped.
Sure enough, Aedan realized the thing had a face. A face like someone had stepped on it, but still. “Nice kitty,” Aedan said, lifting a shaky hand.
It hissed again, batting at his hand with a paw. Great a Circle cat. It knew. It had to. Aedan groaned.
“Stupid cat.” Maya scooped it up one handed and tossed it back onto Toby’s stomach. “Keep an eye on that thing would you, Tob.”
But one glance and Aedan could see that Toby wasn’t in any shape to be wrestling with a deranged cat. In fact, he wasn’t altogether certain Toby was still conscious. A trickle of panic wheedled down Aedan’s neck.
“Maybe we should take him back to the hospital, Maya.”
“No. We have to get somewhere safe that’s all. I can help him with some of the stuff in here.” She pulled the black bag further into her side and hit the accelerator.
“But where’s safe?” Aedan asked, sinking down in the seat. They couldn’t go back to his place. That would be putting Edy in even greater danger.
In answer, Maya pulled into the parking lot of a small rundown building. The neon sign out front flashed Vacancy and promised hourly rates.
“You have to be freaking kidding me.”
“Do I look like I’m kidding? Go get us a room. I’m going to work on Tob.” Maya grabbed her bag and slammed the door shut behind her.
Fifteen minutes later and Aedan was setting Toby down on the filthy orange bedspread while Maya drew the shades closed. The room was disgusting. The carpet was about twenty-years-old and stained so that he wasn’t sure if the color was supposed to be brown or gray or white to begin with. Maya flipped on the ancient TV and unzipped her bag while Aedan reached beneath the dusty shade to flip on the light. It was like some kind of crazy unrehearsed dance they had perfected without ever discussing it.
“It smells like something died,” Aedan said, then immediately felt bad for saying something like that around Toby when the guy was so obviously on the brink. He bit back the urge to suggest the hospital again when Maya’s eyes cut him across the room.
“Go get a glass of water,” was all she said.
Aedan did it, and when he returned she was coaxing a pill inside Toby’s mouth. Without looking, she reached for the glass and helped him swallow. Aedan glanced at the clock. Already four in the afternoon. It had been a long day, but right then he wished it could stretch out even longer.
Maya caught him looking. “I just need to make sure he’s going to make it. Then we’re going to get Sam back.”
Aedan had been beginning to think Maya might be having second thoughts about trusting him. But now she was softer, her eyes two sparkling pools of clover. And her hand was on his shoulder. When she said the name, something inside of him broke, and it took all his concentration not to burst out in tears. Not very manly he knew.
And suddenly he was a tired eighteen-year-old boy. Not the Elemental. Just him. Aedan Sparks. And the weight of it threw him into the rust colored recliner in the corner, which groaned under the burden.
Maya bit her lip and turned back toward her patient.
“Maya?” Aedan asked, spotting the glint on Toby’s finger. He wondered how she’d feel when she saw Toby had it again and whether there was any way he could possibly ask for it back. It would make him feel so much better.
“What?” Maya asked from the bed. Aedan glanced over to see Copernicus strutting around Toby’s feet nearly blending in with the awful orange covers.
“Nothing.”
He was going to have to do this himself. He couldn’t possibly risk Maya. The thought of her lying wounded instead of Toby turned his insides into lava.
“I’m not killing anyone,” Aedan whispered. Saying it out loud made the promise real. Then he remembered his original, desperate plan when he’d burned down half the forest. Could he still pull it off? Really fool Kari into thinking he was on her side?
Aedan pulled some fresh clothes from Maya’s bag. Toby was a lot nearer his size than the Doc. Still a bit on the tight side, but workable. He was just tucking the blue plaid shirt in his waistband when Maya rose from her kneeling position by Toby, her face ashen.
Toby’s form was still, but his chest rose in a regular rhythm beneath the sheets. His glasses were set on the nightstand. Aedan stepped forward, but Copernicus pounced lightly between him and the sleeping figure, raising his hackles and ready for a fight. Aedan halted in mid-step.
“Stupid cat,” Maya muttered, tossing him onto the carpet.
“He’s just trying to protect you
guys,” Aedan said.
“Yeah, well, he needs to learn the difference between a friend and an enemy. Though I guess it took me a while too.” Maya’s shoulders slumped a bit and she wouldn’t meet his eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry? You have nothing to be sorry about, Maya.” Aedan reached out and pulled her toward him. “You were sent to find me and kill me. And it was for a reason. The truth is-” Aedan swallowed. This was hard to say. “Maybe you should.”
“Don’t say that!” Maya shouted, forgetting herself and looking him straight in the eyes. “I’m not letting you die, Sparks. Not on my watch.” And her face was so filled with fierce determination the protests died on Aedan’s lips.
Instead, he pulled her to him and held on for dear life.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Aedan
Maya wasn’t happy, that was clear. At least he knew he’d never have to worry about her masking her feelings for him. In this case, it didn’t help that he was terrified either.
“You can’t do this, Aedan. I can’t let you do this.”
“It’s the only way to save Sam, Maya. Think about it.” Aedan traced his fingers over the back of her hand. “I’m perfectly safe, they need me alive. And I know you’ll be right behind me, watching my back.” Perfectly safe was a relative term of course. Yes, his life was safe with the Scimitar. But what sort of life was it? After seeing what Kari was capable of – what she’d done to Toby – well, he hoped he’d be able to pull it off and make her believe he was still on her side.
Maya sighed heavily and pierced him with her emerald glare. “How do you find her?”
“I go home.” It seemed obvious the second he said it. If he had nothing to hide – if he’d been separated from her, but wanted to be found and expected his father back, he’d go right back to Edy.
“How?” Maya’s voice cracked slightly.
“You get me close, then drop me off and I walk the rest of the way. It would have easily taken me this long to walk back if I was coming from Sabino Canyon.”
In the end, Maya relented, agreeing that it was the only way. And they drove in silence to the outside of Aedan’s subdivision. Maya threw the car into park and beat a fist into the dashboard between them. Aedan glanced at the clock. Five forty-two. He blew a long slow breath out between his lips.
“It’s going to be fine,” he said to the windshield and felt her hand on his shoulder.
When he turned, Maya’s face was right there, centimeters away. Her warm breath made his skin tingle. Then she clasped his cheeks between her palms and pressed her mouth to his. The kiss was just as intense as the first one they’d shared, but behind it, Aedan sensed Maya’s desperation and fear. It was a sudden glimpse of what she tried so hard to control. Her real self. He knew the feeling.
Aedan responded by gently grasping her head, guiding her away just slightly, and then moving toward her gradually, purposefully until his lips grazed her own, forcing her to slow down, feel every moment. And as he moved his mouth against hers, she relaxed, melting into his embrace. She climbed across the console, and over his lap, pressing her body against his – not as a ploy or a game as she’d done before, but with far greater abandon. And Aedan’s hands slipped down her neck, over her shoulders, beneath her shirt, enjoying the feel of the smooth skin of her back.
Her hands trailed over his face, sending flames of longing through every inch she touched. She reached beneath his shirt as well, tracing the ridges of his abdomen, making him gasp, inhaling her warm, sweet breath. A small moan escaped her lips, as his thumbs ran along the edges of her bra.
The fire within flared hot and alive, but he’d practiced enough with Kari, that he knew his limits, and he was still well within safety’s range. So that wasn’t the reason he stopped. Not the reason he pulled away, turning his face against the headrest, which was cool in comparison.
“You’re so hot,” Maya panted. “I mean temperature wise. Not that you’re not hot…”
“Yeah, I know.” He grinned and turned to face the girl still straddling him. Her chest still heaved, barely concealed beneath the small white tank. It was the same shirt she’d warn that first day of “tutoring.” The same one that showed off her cleavage and made it impossible for him to rise from the table. He wondered if she remembered that. It seemed so long ago, and yet it was only weeks. “I need to go.”
Maya swallowed and pulled Merlin’s ring from seemingly nowhere. Wordlessly she slipped it on his finger, letting her own flesh linger for a moment before crawling off of his lap. It meant more than she could ever know.
He blew out one more long breath and left the car. Neither of them said another word. Everything he wanted to say stuck in his throat in one giant lump, and he suspected it was the same for her.
He had to focus on Sam now. He had to get it together. And as he reached the front door, he glanced down, remembering his clothes. Fuck. Aedan searched quickly around and seeing no one, concentrated. His clothes burst into flame. He counted, one-one thousand, two-one thousand, three-one thousand. And the flames died, sucked back inside. Aedan threw the door open.
“Edy?” he called. His voice cracked.
She came running toward him from the kitchen, her plump body bouncing toward him. He opened his arms to catch her just as she flung herself at him, sobbing into his chest.
“Oh, Aedan! Where have you been? I’ve been so worried. And Sam – is he with you? Have you spoken to him?”
“Shh,” Aedan coaxed, leading her into the family room, and into Sam’s recliner. “It’s okay, Edy. Everything’s going to be okay.” It hurt seeing her like that. But he had to get away and up to his room. “I’m sorry. It’s a long story. But-”
“Aedan, is Sam okay?” Edy grasped the scraps of his shirt and searched his face with wild eyes. She shook him lightly.
“Yes. Yes, he’s okay. He’s just – he had to be at the store. Late. He told me to tell you. It’s all okay.”
“But the fire, Aedan. Your clothes,” Edy said, seeming to notice his appearance for the first time.
“I’m fine. It wasn’t me,” he lied. He’d had practice at that much, and looked her right in the eye. “I tried to stop it, Edy.”
“Oh. Oh, my.” She sniffled a little. “So Sam is at the store because of the robbery? He’s okay though, and… and he needs to stay there for now? Did it have to do with the fire?”
But Aedan was already straightening up, heading toward the stairs. “It’s okay. He’s okay. But I’m tired right now, and… and hungry.”
Edy leaped out of the chair at the mention of food. “I’ll go make you something.”
“Great. I need a good shower. I’ll be down in an hour or so, okay?”
“Okay, Aedan.” She squeezed his arm on the way back toward the kitchen. Aedan felt a strange mixture of regret and relief as he climbed the stairs two at a time, and rounded the hall into his room.
“About time,” Kari said. She was sitting cross-legged on the bed, looking a bigger mess than usual.
Aedan fought down the rage that literally flared inside of him at the sight of her, and forced himself forward.
“You look upset,” she said, climbing to her knees on the mattress.
“You saw the fire, I take it,” he said.
“I don’t think a single person this side of Flagstaff missed that.” She grinned. “So much for all that practice controlling it, huh fire boy?” She pursed her lips. “Poor baby.”
“Well, he’s dead. So’s half the canyon.” He decided to use his anger. It was totally believable after all.
“Yeah well, I hope you’re over your nerves now. The Scimitar will expect you to control it better next time.” She pulled at his hand, trying to get him to sit on the bed, but he jerked away, grasping the back of his chair hard.
“Let Sam go. You said he’d be okay if I did what you wanted.”
“Well, that’s not going to be quite as easy as I’d thought.”
The fire very nearly surfaced a
t her words. A wind blew through the room, forcing his eyes closed. He tried to get it under control. Tried to focus. Only Kari knew where Sam was.
“Where is he?” he asked when the wind died, each word punched from his lungs.
“It isn’t so much where, as who that’s the problem,” Kari said, standing. “I’m sorry. I am.” And she sounded sincere, which only fueled the fire.
“Who then?”
Kari sighed. “Serena.”
“She’s one of the Scimitar?” Aedan asked though he was sure he already knew the answer.
Kari’s head fell forward in defeat. “She’s more than one of them, Aedan. She’s our future queen.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Maya
Patience was not a virtue Maya was intimately familiar with. Still, for Aedan’s sake, and Edy’s, she waited. Toby should be all right. He’d sleep for at least a good few hours from all the meds she pumped him with. She just hoped it would be enough. What was she thinking? It had to be.
She touched the tiny chip inside her ear, grateful whenever Aedan’s voice surfaced. It was a bit muffled, she’d slipped it inside Aedan’s back pocket – while they were kissing. In retrospect, she probably should have told him she was bugging him. But as nervous as he was, he probably would’ve given them up in three seconds flat. And then how could she protect him?
Her knuckles ground into the empty passenger seat when she thought about what she’d like to do to Kari. But first they needed her alive, so she could lead them to Sam. What the hell was taking them so long?
One glance at the sky told her the deadline was very near. Tons of smoke still hovered menacingly overhead, but it was the deep copper color battling it all that made her heart catch in her throat.
She was about to get out and storm the house, promises be damned, when she saw them. Aedan’s truck was a few doors down, repositioned from the cyclone Kari had caused when they’d fought, but at least it was right side up. The two figures climbed inside, Aedan in the driver’s seat. Maya ducked as they passed by. Then she was up and throwing the car into gear. At least they were moving now.
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