“Cat,” I whispered. “Sing…sing me a song.”
Her calming voice began a melody, but not a water song. My fire leaped at the pureness in her voice. My head cleared, and the cramping in my gut stopped. Icy hands helped me lie down. Adam’s familiar gloved fingers stroked my cheek and my shorn hair. I kept my eyes closed, completely entranced in the music.
The last note faded away. “Thank you,” I said. “How’s Hanai?”
“Better,” he said. “Good call on the singing.”
I sat up and blinked on my therma-vision. Cat cried out, but Adam chuckled. “And Gabby thinks riding the air is weird.”
I glared at him. Even in the yellows and oranges of my vision, he was so sexy my breath caught in my throat.
“I’m freezing,” he said. “Come warm me up.”
I walked past Isaiah and stepped into Adam’s welcoming embrace, laying my head against his chest. The tension I’d held in my shoulders for days faded. He allowed himself to relax into my arms for just a moment before stiffening again.
“Adam, this is Cat,” I said, pushing away from him and gesturing toward her.
“It’s dark,” he said. “We don’t all have freaky vision.”
“All right, simmer down,” I said.
“Light us up already. I can hear the poor girl’s teeth chattering.”
I ignited my hands as I closed my eyes. Tangerine flickers of light danced against my eyelids. The hum of the therma-vision faded, leaving a dull ache in my head. I opened my eyes.
Adam’s smile in the firelight was beautiful. It slid off his face at the same time Cat screeched.
Terrified, she backed away. She clawed at the wall behind her, her mouth moving with no sound. Tears streamed down her face.
“Cat, it’s okay,” I said over her wails. “This is our Airmaster, Adam Gillman.”
She shook her head and closed her eyes, her lovely features painted with sheer fright.
Adam’s expression was impossible to read. He’d lost his normal confidence, and he swallowed several times. His shoulders drooped as his gaze settled on the ground. He looked ashamed.
“What’s the deal?” I asked.
“She—I—we’ve met,” he whispered to the cement.
Hot blazes, I thought. Under what circumstances could Adam and Cat have met?
Isaiah stepped in front of her, smoothing her hair off her forehead and whispering to her.
I left Adam’s side and joined them. “Isaiah?” I whispered.
He shook his head, his mouth set in a determined line. “Cattails? Stop crying, all right? It’s okay.”
But tears continued slithering from her eyes. “He killed Reggie, Isaiah. Alex sent him to kill us.”
My internal fire melted into a cold river. Adam said there were things he’d done that he wasn’t proud of. But murder?
I turned back to Adam, a dozen emotions teeming inside. I couldn’t order the words, couldn’t find the questions I needed to ask. I strode forward, my heart keeping double-time.
“Gabby.” Adam stopped me with that one agonizing word. I faced him, remembering how easily the lies rolled off his tongue, how true they burned in my ears. I pulled him further away from the others, so we could have some privacy to discuss this new development.
“I didn’t—dammit! I was a sentry, my brother’s protégé. I told you I’d done a lot of bad things.”
Was that a confession? I inhaled, wishing there was some smoke nearby to help me calm down. I needed Cat to charter the Council, just as much as I needed Adam. An inferno of indecision raged inside.
He ran his hands over his face. “Please say something. Tell me what to do.”
I studied him for a moment. Grief streaked the lines around his eyes. His voice carried his torment. I didn’t think he could fake that. I reached toward his face, stopping before touching him. He grazed my fingers with two of his. A slight tremor ran through his body.
“Don’t run,” I said. “It’ll work out. Cat just needs some time.” I stretched up and kissed his unyielding mouth. “Don’t run.”
He caught my hand as I turned to leave. “How did you know I was thinking of leaving?”
“That’s what I would’ve been thinking.”
He smiled, though it was just a movement and not a declaration of his happiness. Isaiah joined us just as Adam said, “I can get us in to see Davison.”
I returned the smile, but it felt breakable, like an empty eggshell. “When?”
Isaiah stepped closer to me. “Cat is done for the night,” he murmured. “Let’s find somewhere to crash. We can find Davison and ask about a charter in the morning.”
Adam’s smile vanished. He slid a gloved hand into mine. “Okay, look, I know you’re the lead guy—or girl or whatever—and I don’t want to step on your toes, but we don’t have until morning. I’m barely hanging on here as it is.”
I frowned and struggled to understand. “Hanging on to what?”
“The transmission. There are forty-two sentries here, Gabby. Forty-two. Their signals call to mine, almost like the command to Manifest an Element. All of you are now uploaded as suspects. We need to get in to see Davison. He can deactivate my sentry status, I think. I don’t know. But I do know I won’t survive the night. Or rather, you guys won’t.”
“Adam—”
“The only other alternative I have is to run. Leave you guys and join my brother.”
“Then let’s go see Davison right now.”
Adam shifted his feet. “Well, it’s not going to be that easy.” He glanced at the building over his shoulder. “He’s trapped on the top floor. Has been for about a week. My sources say he sequestered himself as the sentries poured in from Tarpulin, but now he can’t get out.”
I exhaled in a defeated way. “Blazing infernos,” I swore. “So now what? Can we ride the wind to the top floor? Burrow under the building?”
“Let’s go down,” Isaiah said. “I’m not trying to hold back a sentry transmission.” He spoke with finality. When neither Adam nor I argued, he said, “I’ll go tell the others,” and retreated into the darkness.
I turned to follow him, but Adam’s hands snaked around my waist, pulled me closer. “About earlier….”
“Earlier?” I tried to keep the thrill of his touch from infusing my voice.
“You…kissed me.”
My face suddenly felt hotter than usual. “I didn’t want you to leave.”
His fingers trailed over my jaw. “Can we try that again?”
Our breath mingled. A sweet Elemental breeze coated my skin. My heart pumped into overdrive. I waited, eyes closed.
Finally, his lips brushed mine, barely long enough to feel. Then they pressed gently, long enough to steal my breath. At last, he formed his mouth to mine and kissed me like he meant it.
“If you want me to stay, I’m not going anywhere,” he whispered.
“Okay,” was my lame answer.
“Okay, then.” He released me and my problems descended into my thoughts again. “If it’s okay with you—”
“Listen, you seem to know where to go and what to do. I defer.” I slipped my hand into his and returned to the others. Hanai and Cat were both standing. Cat clung to Isaiah, and though she had tear-stained cheeks, she seemed steady enough.
“Everyone okay?” I asked.
When no one answered, I sighed. “Look, I know we have a lot to sort through. But we can’t do it on the open street. I think we all agree that chartering our Council offers us the most protection.” I glanced at Adam, who was nodding. “That bond is almost impossible to break, and we all need each other. Anything else can be worked out later.” I filled them in on Adam’s issues. “He’s going to take the lead on this.”
“Okay, we have to get in that building.” He pointed across the street to a stone building ablaze in white light. “Top floor.”
“That door has seven sentry guards,” Hanai said. “And that’s just the outside entrance.”
“T
hat’s why we’re not using the door,” Adam said. “Isaiah, take us down.”
I groaned under my breath. Luckily, the sound of Isaiah’s Earthmoving smothered the sound. Another tunnel. I hadn’t forgotten that I’d gotten stuck trying to escape Forrester. Adam obviously had. He jumped in the hole Isaiah created without a backward glance. I didn’t want to go last, but Cat stepped into the opening next.
Hanai drew me into a hug. “I’m glad you found Cat.” Tranquility accompanied his words, settling in the cracks of my brave façade and boring its way into my nerves.
I clung to him like he was my anchor. “Me too.”
He smiled as he drew back, keeping my hand tightly in his. He gestured toward the rabbit hole. “Go on.”
I didn’t want to let go of him. When I did, the serenity fled. Then I dropped ten feet, landed hard, and suppressed a grunt. Hanai landed next to me with hardly a sound.
Isaiah filled the tunnel behind me with the dirt in front of him, literally sealing us in the underground passage. I pushed past the others until I walked just behind him. We made it to the cement footings of the building after only five minutes.
“Down or up?” Isaiah asked.
“Up,” I said at the same time Adam said, “Down.”
Everyone looked at me and then Adam. His expression was unreadable, his eyes cold and flat.
“Hot blazes. Fine, let’s go down. But can we hurry? I hate being trapped underground. There’s not enough air down here.”
As Isaiah tunneled down, Adam waved his hand and a gentle breeze drifted across my face. Showoff, I thought even if I could breathe better. That is, until the ceiling started caving in.
“Infernos, Isaiah!” Dirt showered me, slithering down the back of my shirt.
“I have to put the earth somewhere, Gabbers. C’mon!”
Adam stepped over the edge of the hole Isaiah had made, crying out in surprise. I exchanged a worried look with Cat and Hanai before they walked into the great black abyss. They both screamed like little girls.
I had it easier because I could see. Determined not to make a sound, I held my flaming hand low and stepped off the edge.
I screamed. I couldn’t help it. The vertical drop took my breath away, and I was only inches away from getting buried alive.
Adam slowed the free-fall with a cushion of air. I landed next to Hanai, who looked like he was about to hurl again.
“Move, Gabby!” Adam grabbed my arm and yanked me forward just as a column of earth filled the space. “Tornadoes, Isaiah. What’s the—?”
“They’re coming. Follow me.” Isaiah grunted as he cleared the path in front of us. He crawled forward, the bottom of the cement scraping the top of the backpack.
“Hanai, how many?” Adam asked as he crouched to enter the passage.
“Impossible to tell. Some are above, some inside. I can’t feel them all.”
“Can’t feel them all? Great,” I muttered, shuffling forward so I wouldn’t get buried alive. Isaiah yelled again, and the walls around me shook. The ceiling crumbled as Isaiah’s screech ended. Chunks of cement rained down.
“Um, Isaiah?”
“Keep moving, Gabbers,” he said from far away.
I ducked as a jagged piece of cement narrowly missed knocking me senseless. Hands grabbed the back of my shirt and hauled me up.
“Sorry,” Isaiah said, a grin on his face.
I snorted, brushing debris off my shoulders.
“Stairs are blocked,” Hanai said. “But five sentries are coming down.”
I now stood in a room made entirely of cement. Ancient industrialized washers and dryers lined one wall. A silver door gaped open with dangling metallic cords inside.
“Adam, fly us up there,” I said, sprinting to the old elevator shaft. I looked up into the dark cavern, already worried about going up in this very tall building.
“Hold hands,” Adam said.
I reached for Cat and Hanai. The door to the right of us slammed open.
“Freeze! By order of the Supremist, all Elementals must surrender!”
Cat sang one high note and water gushed from the pipes above, crashing onto the five sentries.
“Take us up, Gillman.”
The wind gusted. “Step into the shaft,” Adam instructed.
Step into nothing? I thought, squinting into the elevator shaft. It dipped about five feet before ending in more cement and cables. Hanai squeezed my hand, and with his touch I found the courage I needed to step onto an—invisible—air—current.
I hovered in midair, fighting down a healthy dose of fear and a fair amount of nausea. We rose slowly. Large white numbers shone on the walls. At twenty, we stopped, still suspended in air.
“This is it,” Adam whispered. His hands shook, and he squeezed his eyes closed in a long blink.
“Where?” I asked. The shaft walls looked smooth to me.
“There.” Adam nodded toward a tiny vertical line of light.
“Don’t drop me,” I growled. I released Cat and Hanai’s hands and held still. The cushion of air slid closer to the wall, taking me with it.
I tried to pry the door open with my fingertips. Status: Fail.
Adam grunted. I lost altitude. A strangled cry escaped my throat as the air steadied underneath me. The startled voices of my friends echoed as they dropped a few feet.
Adam groaned, a horrible grating sound from inside his chest.
I reached for my sentry blade and jammed it between the doors. I yanked as hard as I could. Result: The door squealed open a few inches. I poured my heat into the metal and pushed with all the strength I had. The doors widened enough for me to squeeze my shoulders through.
I climbed onto a black and white tiled floor. I shoved the doors open a bit more to accommodate Isaiah’s wider body. “Adam, it’s open. Bring them up.”
He groaned and then yelled as they rose. I pulled Cat up as Hanai and Isaiah heaved themselves into the brightly lit room.
“Come on,” I said, reaching for Adam.
His face twisted in pain as the black tattoo snaked up over his neck and chin. He reached for me. I leaned further, trying to grab him. His hand remained a breath away from mine.
“I can’t….” He moaned; his eyes clenched closed. He dropped a few inches.
“No! We need you.” Traitorous tears welled in my eyes. Hanai tried to pull me away from the elevator shaft, but I shrugged him off.
Adam screamed again, and the black marks exploded across his face. Then I stood there and watched him fall,
Fall,
Fall,
Fall into blackness, his voice echoing with terror.
“Back up, Gabby,” Hanai said, but I didn’t move. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the empty elevator shaft. Adam could control air. He could fly. He’ll be back any second now…. Any second….
A smoldering coal caught fire in my stomach and exploded into an inferno of heat and ash. Fire coursed through my blood, coating my senses and leaking from my fingertips. My own fire had never harmed me—but this hurt like the fiery pits of hell.
Hanai’s panicked voice vaguely registered in my ears, but only flames and pain and heat and agony and fire existed in my world.
My Element had turned against me.
The smell of burnt hair met my nose. Through the terrible explosions in my mind, I heard a voice. Deep and wise, another Firemaker called to my Element.
“The Councilman,” I gasped out, “needs me.” I stumbled blindly to my feet. Someone bumped into me, but I kept going. Screaming and shouting and a lot of banging echoed around me, but I didn’t turn around.
When I reached a wall, I flattened my palms against it and forced the heat away. The polished wood caught the flame instantly. The pain receded. I opened my eyes as my hands met those of another.
The Firemaker curled his fingers through mine and pulled me through the flames.
“My friends,” I croaked out, falling to my knees. “One of them fell.”
“We
’ll get them,” he said in his bass voice. He parted the fire like a curtain, and more people strode into the tiled room.
I stood—my friends needed me—but something sounded in my brain. A searing pain exploded in my shoulder. My brain felt like lava. I pressed my forehead to the cool wood floor.
Voices clambered.
An air raid siren wailed.
Someone touched my face. Cat sang a melody that made me smile, even through the rush of pain. A tangled tide of perfumed water covered me. It smelled like lilacs—like Cat. Another voice added to the soothing sound, tossing me into waves of dreamless sleep.
I woke up sometime later.
Problem #1: I was freezing. Pushing off the useless magic cloak, I sat up. Perhaps such a bone-melting experience with another Firemaker’s heat had robbed me of my own. My throat felt too thick. I couldn’t lose my power.
The room was darkening fast as I tried to calm myself. I ran my hands over my hair and down the front of my body, almost as if to check and see if I still had all the right parts in all the right places.
The silky fabric under my fingers felt foreign. I wore a navy blue robe, with buttons down the front like a man’s shirt. The robe flowed with me when I stepped and extended down below my knees.
Problem #2: I wore nothing but a pair of shorts under the robe.
The room spun, caging me in. The air evaporated. The crushing hands appeared, squeezing, squeezing the life from my lungs.
I turned, desperate to leave the confined space. Between my bed and the door lay an empty bed, and I collided with it. My feet tangled in the edges of the blanket along the floor. I sank back onto my bed and flung the covers away.
I lurched toward the door just as it opened. Hanai entered, concern lining his eyes. “You’re freaking out.”
I fell into his arms, sucking at the fresh air from the hall. “Where—is—?” I choked out, unable to say Adam’s name. I could still see him falling. Still hear his panicked cry.
His shoulders tensed. “Let’s go.” He led me into the hall, pressing his palm flat against mine. Bright electric lights shone from above. Hanai ambled down the hall, simply holding my hand, and I felt the world right itself again. With him, black tattoos and internal combustion didn’t seem to matter much.