The scientist stepped closer. “Shall we go call Exis?”
Again, I nodded. “Yes.”
Her lips spread smugly, and she nodded as two of the soldiers stepped into my cell and prepared to put me in cuffs. I held out my arms willingly, coaxing them to let their guard down. As soon as they took their eyes off mine and focused on my wrists, I dropped to the ground and kicked, knocking both soldiers into a pile on the floor.
The third soldier raised his gun as if to shoot, but there was no clear shot in sight. If he missed me, he’d hit his fellow soldiers instead, and he needed them to help bring me down. I watched him nervously shift from foot to foot, trying to find a better angle.
The scientist and the alchemists had fled. It would have been nice to simply inject myself with serum again, but that clearly wasn’t possible. If I’d waited until I was cuffed, I wouldn’t have been able to fight my way out, and now that the scientist was gone, the syringe was gone with her.
One of the soldiers tried to get back up, but I grabbed her ankle and pulled her down again. That was when the third soldier decided to shoot. The bullet skimmed the side of my leg and landed in the thigh of the soldier behind me. Blood sprayed as his skin split and he cried out. Acting quickly, before I lost my nerve, I ran a finger through the spreading redness and popped it into my mouth. As soon as the iron tainted my tongue, my body rebelled, and I started to gag.
No! I scolded myself, forcing my stomach to stay down. I hadn’t come all this way just to puke up my last chance of escape.
The guards were back in motion the next second, one rushing to the aid of their bleeding companion, one charging at me with ireful eyes. He crashed into my body, the momentum knocking the wind from my lungs and pushing us both toward the glass bars of the cell. Miraculously, we slipped through, which meant the blood had done the trick after all.
We slid to a stop in front of Paxton’s cell. Pushing to my feet, the world spun, and my head throbbed in pain. That soldier had certainly hit me with all he had.
He grabbed my legs and pulled me down again, but I quickly landed a series of punches into his temple, effectively knocking him out—at least for a few minutes.
“Can you use your powers?” Pax hissed anxiously. His knuckles were white as he squeezed the bars.
I lifted my palm and a tiny flame appeared in the center. It was smaller than I’d ever seen, from myself or anyone, so I’d obviously not drunk enough blood. The thought of consuming any more made my stomach roll uneasily. Then I glanced at the overarching ceiling. Maybe there was more power suppression even outside of the cell?
“Get us out of here,” Pax pleaded, reaching for me beyond the glass. “Do what you have to do and get us out!”
I nodded, and disgust curled through my chest as I crawled back over to my cage. Even if our powers were suppressed out here, drinking more blood, and therefore the serum, should counteract it. Reaching into the cell, I grabbed the wounded soldier’s ankle and pulled. She screamed and clawed at the floor.
The soldier helping her grabbed her arms and fought against me, and the soldier I’d just taken out woke back up, latched onto my own ankles, and heaved. It was a ridiculous sort of tug of war.
I couldn’t let go of her foot; more than anything else, I knew that. If I let go, I’d lose my chance. The tiny bit of antidote I’d scrounged from her blood wouldn’t last forever.
The soldier at my feet pressed his gun into my calf and fired. Three bullets tore through muscle and bone in rapid succession, spraying red across us both. I screamed but tightened my hold on the soldier’s ankle, digging my nails into her skin.
I couldn’t let go—no matter what.
Yanking hard, I slid her across the floor and through the bars onto my side. I was just about close enough to grab her gun and hopefully another fingerful of blood.
Crawling closer, I cried out as the pain from the gunshot wound flared up my leg. Tears stung my eyes, blurring my vision, but not my resolve. The third soldier pressed the barrel of his gun into my other calf.
I closed my eyes, and tears spilled down my cheeks. I could hobble out of there on one bad leg, but not two. If I changed tactics and focused on the other soldier instead, I would lose my grasp on the wounded soldier, possibly indefinitely. If these three escaped, the Sect would never send another person down here again. It would truly be over.
Gritting my teeth, I tried to steel myself against the incoming pain. Reaching her—and her blood—was worth every bullet I would have to take.
I hauled myself closer to her as another burst of bullets tore through my flesh. Sobbing, I dropped my lips to her thigh. She punched the back of my head, over and over, trying to push me away. Blood filled my mouth and dizziness shook my skull, but I was in too much pain to even notice the metallic taste. I swallowed, and power surged through my veins like a physical force, healing my damaged legs.
My eyes widened and my mouth fell open. I could hardly believe it.
It was too much, though. I’d been without my power for so long, it refused to be held back any longer. It erupted out of me in multiple tidal waves of violent blue flames and deadly icy daggers before finally calming down.
The smell of charred flesh filled the air. Blackened ashes were all that remained of the three soldiers. I scampered away from their flaky corpses as new energy surged within me, mutating my powers. It was the consequence of killing more of my fellow Elementals—absorbing their power in unpredictable ways. Previously, I’d gained the ability to create extra-heavy snow, as well as an icy force push that knocked people away from me in a cold blast. I’d also created a fire-whip, and I had no idea what skill I’d receive from this fight.
Ignoring that thought, I directed my power toward Paxton’s cell. I tried water first, but the bars refused to be manipulated by it, which meant they must have been made of glass—thick, un-breaking glass that refused to crack no matter how much force it was met with. I tried fire next, attempting to melt the bars, but again, nothing happened.
I jerked my head to the side and tried to crack my neck, but I mostly just strained my muscles. I was way too tense for that.
Grimacing, I put my right hand up to a bar, but my fingers passed right through it.
Oh shit. I had the serum in my body, so I could no longer touch them. It was as if they weren’t even there.
I took a step back and racked my brain for some idea of what to do next.
Suddenly, a siren wailed through the air. We were seriously running out of time.
Fucking scientists! I grumbled as my anxiety built.
“The blood!” Lilly shouted, pointing across the hall to my old cell.
Of course! They’d have to drink it, too. It was the only way to get them out. I’d accidentally annihilated the soldiers, but luckily the one who’d been shot had lost a lot of blood on my cell floor earlier in the fight.
“Hurry!” Lilly hissed. “I’ve heard those sirens only once before.”
I swiped my hand through a puddle of blood and hoped to hell it was the soldier’s and not mine.
“What do they mean?” I asked as I reached her cell and held out my palm.
She licked it without a second thought but cringed as she fought to get it down. “Breach.”
I waited for her to elaborate, but she didn’t. “Someone’s breached the walls?”
She nodded.
Cade! Hope filled me with renewed determination.
“I think that means my fiancé is busting us out of here. Let’s get as many Elementals free as we possibly can.”
She slipped through the bars and smiled. It was just a small spreading of the lips at first, but it slowly grew until the very air around us felt lighter. After a grateful nod, she entered my cell and collected some blood then ran down the hall to the left. I moved right, toward Paxton.
The sirens were still wailing, and strange vibrations started emanating from above. Dust broke away from the ceiling. Someone must’ve been wreaking a hell of a lot of h
avoc up there.
I smiled anxiously. “Come on, Pax. Let’s get out of here.”
He met me at the bars, eyeing the blood warily.
“I can’t believe drinking blood actually worked,” he muttered.
I laughed out loud. “Do you just have some sort of thing for vampires?”
“Not exactly.”
I shoved my hand out. “Drink it. Quickly. We have others to free and not a lot of time.”
He took a quick lick and immediately started choking. “It’s not what it’s cracked up to be.”
I suppressed another laugh and got to work. There weren’t many of us down there, only twelve total.
Lilly and I took the lead and led the way upstairs. We were like a herd of rhinos, barging through locked doors and ploughing through Sect personnel. We had no idea where we were going, but we were certainly on a mission. When we reached the main floor, I suddenly froze. Holding out my arms, I stopped the rest of the group.
“What is it?” Lilly asked, her bouncy black curls moving across her face.
“The wall,” I said, pointing straight ahead of us. “There’s something weird about it…”
An Earth stepped forward and closed his eyes. When he opened them, we shared a knowing look. “It’s gonna blow.”
“Everybody back!” I shouted as we scattered.
A moment later, the wall exploded. Chunks of concrete flew through the air, crashing to the ground like meteors. The earth vibrated fiercely under our feet and all around us. The smell of smoke and chemicals mixed strangely with the telltale scents of the outdoors, and fresh air filtered in with hints of evergreen and summer rain.
When the chaos seemed to have stopped, I shared a look with Lilly and we carefully picked our way through the debris. Dust covered everything in a fog-like layer, but when it started settling, we saw a man stepping through the wreckage.
I was flabbergasted. “Holden?”
Lilly leaned into my ear. “Jesus, your fiancé is hot as hell.”
“This isn’t him,” I said to her before directing my attention back to Holden. “What are you doing here?”
He smiled cautiously, almost sarcastically. His coffee-colored eyes pinned me to the spot.
“Seriously?” He hopped down off a chunk of concrete and strolled toward me. “I risk life and limb to break you free, accomplishing something no Elemental has done before, and you can’t even say thank you?”
Heat climbed up my cheeks. “I just meant…you’re not who I was expecting to see.”
This time his grin was downright mocking. “Of course not. No matter what I do, I’m never the one you want. Cade could be sitting on his ass at home playing video games and he’d still be the one you’d choose, wouldn’t he?”
“But he’s not home sitting on his ass, is he?”
Holden cocked his head. “Isn’t he?”
I narrowed my eyes. “Where is he, then?”
“No idea. I haven’t seen him in months.”
“Then how do you know he’s not looking for me?”
Holden spread his arms out and spun around in a circle. “I don’t know, Valerie…I guess because if he were looking, he’d be the one standing here right now, not me.”
He had a damn good point, not that I was going to start doubting Cade’s intentions. In fact, I was now worried about his safety more than ever. Had he been captured, after all?
I looked around, knowing that at any moment, the Sect would get back on its feet and start shipping out soldiers. “We need to get out of here.”
Holden crossed his arms and shook his head. “Still no thank you.”
“Holden, we were this close to breaking out of here by ourselves. One minute longer and we would have passed beyond those walls, and with much less of a mess.” I sighed and allowed myself a small half-smile. “That said…thank you for your efforts. It’s good to know my friends still have my back.”
“Friends…”
“Yes, you’re my friend,” I said, driving my point home. “Thank you.”
“That’s not enough.”
“Well, it’s all I can give you.”
He glared and gritted his teeth. “Can, or will?”
“Both! Listen, we don’t have time for this shit.” I spun around and addressed the recently freed Elementals still following me. “This world is at war. There are a lot of things that have changed since you were captured. I risked my life breaking you out, and now I’m asking you to return the favor. Please. Help me defeat the Elitists.”
They looked around, unsure. They probably had no clue what I was even talking about.
A chuckle echoed from up ahead. Bits of rock and debris tumbled downward as another person entered the gaping hole in the wall and stood next to Holden. She crossed her arms and smirked. For the first time in a while, surprise surpassed my severe loathing toward her.
“Loren? What the hell are you doing here?”
She glanced at Holden and raised a brow. “You’re right. She really doesn’t know when to say thank you.”
I dug my heels into the floor and widened my stance, preparing for yet another fight.
She merely chuckled again. “Oh, Valerie, you’re so narcissistic. As if I came here just to squabble with you…” She shook her head, stepped closer, and addressed the small crowd. “It’s true that we’re on the verge of war, but don’t join the losing side. Don’t join people who—like your lovely previous captors—demand the suppression of your power! Join those of us who are sick of hiding what we are, who are tired of being shamed for it. Join the Elitists! Be who you were always meant to be!”
“I didn’t realize we were always meant to be tyrants,” I bit back.
Loren rolled her eyes. “You didn’t realize you even were an Elemental until last year. Your opinion hardly counts. Besides, Elitists are not tyrants.”
“You want to enslave all of humanity—how is that not tyrannical?”
The group members’ eyes darted back and forth between us like they were watching a tennis match.
Loren straightened her posture and held her head high. “Elementals are descendants of the Nature Gods. For fuck’s sake, Valerie, Ida—the Fire Goddess—personally Gifted your family’s line! It is our divine right to rule over humans.”
She still believed the old stories, but it didn’t matter that her history was flawed. She was still mostly right.
To my dismay, a few of the Elementals in the crowd nodded their heads.
I took a deep breath. “No, as descendants of gods, we are not gods, and therefore we are not in the position to divinely rule over humans. We are part of them. We need to protect them.”
Thankfully, there were also a few who nodded at my words, including Lilly and Paxton.
Loren stepped right up into my face but continued talking to the crowd. “Do what you want, but the result will be the same. Elementals will rule, and anyone who opposes us will die.”
With that, she quickly grabbed my wrists and squeezed, crumbling both of my bracelets into a useless pile of dust.
I screamed in frustration. “God damn you, Loren!”
A sadistic smile lit her lips. Whispering just loud enough for me to hear, she said, “Good luck trying to be the savior now.” Then she glanced down and sneered. “Nice ring, by the way.”
She ripped it off my finger, and before I could even blink, she disappeared into the woods beyond the wall.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Gritting my teeth, I ran into the forest, searching everywhere for her. I must’ve looked like a madwoman darting through the trees, but it was no use. She was already gone. She must have had the help of an Earth Elemental in order to disappear like that.
I let my head fall back and stared up at the sky as it started to rain.
My heart ached as the realization set in: I now had zero stones to help me control my power, and my engagement ring was gone. It was the last and most important thing I had from Cade. What if I never saw him again? What would I
have to remember our love, besides beautiful memories that would surely one day fade away?
The rain suddenly fell faster, obscuring the woods in a sheet of cascading gray.
Is it storming because of me?
Loren was right—I needed the help of those stones. Without them, who knew what sort of havoc I would unintentionally create? Granted, I’d been training for months, but it had always been with the assistance of the stones…stones that were now ruined, scattered like ashes in the Shadow Sect’s back yard.
Now what the hell was I supposed to do?
Lilly put a sopping wet hand on my shoulder and squeezed. I’d barely even noticed her approach. My fingertips iced over as I jumped.
“For what it’s worth,” she said, quickly letting go. “I’m with you.”
“Me too,” Paxton said from behind us.
I turned around and saw that half the group remained, nodding their heads. Six powerful Elementals had chosen to fight for our side. That was more than I could have hoped for…but now I wondered if it would even be enough.
With nothing left to do and feeling terrified of being recaptured, we started the journey home immediately. I was shocked to learn we had been held in West Virginia. Hardly the most predictable place for Shadow Sect Headquarters, but I supposed that was the entire point.
It would have taken days to make it back on foot, but luckily, Holden had come prepared. His truck was parked and waiting a few miles away. I was certain he hadn’t been prepared for quite so many stowaways, but his truck bed was big enough for the extras.
I caught up to him as we hiked through the forest undergrowth.
“I really do owe you a sincere thank you,” I said. “Coming here with every intention of breaking me out, risking your life to do it, and having a getaway planned in case you succeeded…that was really awesome of you.”
He grinned to himself then finally at me. “You’re welcome.”
“How did you find me, anyway?”
“Loren.” He held a tree branch out of my way, and then kept walking. “Her father was captured too, as were other important Elitists that needed freeing. We sort of became reluctant allies in order to achieve what we each wanted.”
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