Chapter 9

I landed face first in a field of dandelions, my head still throbbing and my stomach doing flip-flops. I struggled to my knees in time to heave up the water sloshing around in my empty belly.

“Jette.” A hand fell on my shoulder, but I shook it off.

“Don’t,” I growled, embarrassed as hell for Starke to be witnessing my puking. Real attractive.

Finally, the puking eased off to some dry heaving and I sucked in a shaky breath. A piece of cloth appeared in the corner of my vision. A handkerchief. Seriously? Who the hell used a hankie anymore? Oh, right. An old-fashioned Fae prince.

“Take it,” Starke insisted quietly, before I yanked it away. Wiping my tear-filled eyes and my mouth, I resisted the urge to breathe into my cupped hand and smell my breath. God, what I wouldn’t give for a toothbrush right about now. Blowing my nose for good measure, I pushed myself back to my feet and held out the hankie. He arched a brow.

“Hmm, consider that a gift.” He eyeballed it, making a face like he just stepped in something, before concentrating on me. “Are you okay?”

I nodded. “Fine. That was a rough jump. Didn’t help that Asha was mind fracking me. I don’t feel her presence now though. Did we lose her?”

“I believe we did. She was trying to hijack the jump, but if her or any of her morquals had succeeded, they would have come through with us. I think we’re good.”

“Yeah, well, good is a relative term nowadays.”Looking around the patch of dandelions, I saw my sai laying in the grass where I dropped them, silently thanking my lucky stars I’d missed them when I’d emptied my stomach contents. Retrieving them, I sheathed the blades underneath my coat and looked around for Jill. She was standing off to the side, arms wrapped around her chest.

“You okay, kid?”

Her wide-eyed gaze was the typical deer in headlights, but her nod was firm. She was shook up, no doubt, but dealing with it to the best of her ability.

“You think this is the right world this time?” She asked quietly.

I wanted to snap at her, how the hell do I know? Is any world right? But I took a deep breath and calmed my frazzled nerves.

“With the way our luck is running, who knows? Where exactly are we, anyway?”

For the first time I took in my surroundings.

Unlike the last world, this one was alive with blue sky, vibrant colors, and air so fresh it almost hurt to breathe. The field of dandelions was a ray of sunshine spread wide across the meadow, flanked by a tree line to the north of us, and snowcapped mountains to the south. The sounds of birds chirping and insects buzzing inundated the air. An indication that this world was probably a little safer than the last. Fingers crossed. There wasn’t a house or a road to be seen. No smoke or smog marred the perfection of the clear blue sky. Nothing to indicate any sign of civilization.

“Well,” I exhaled. “A bit of an improvement on the last place. Now if it’s free of aliens and cannibals then I think it would make a great vacation destination. Whadda you think, Starke?”

“Always expect the unexpected,” Starke remarked, and I scowled at him.

“Can you be positive for once?”

He ducked his head. “As you wish.”

He closed his eyes as if in deep thought. Then, “There is magic here. Slight, but you can feel it. Positive enough?”

I glanced at him in surprise. “How can you tell?”

“If you remain quiet and still long enough, you can sense it.”

I narrowed my eyes. Did he just politely tell me to shut up? But I did as he suggested, concentrating on my surroundings. It didn’t take long to feel it. A series of tiny vibrations began skimming over my skin, like humming electricity, causing the hair on my arms to stand on end. The vibrations were caressing. Soothing almost, and I felt my raw nerves calming under their touch. I stared up at Starke in wide-eyed amazement. “I can feel it.”

“Me too,” Jill added. She spread both arms wide and laughed up at the sky as she spun in the field of dandelions. Her enthusiasm was a bit unnerving at first but was quickly contagious. She stopped twirling and ran at me, grabbing both my hands in hers. Tugging on me as she began moving again, we both started skipping around in a circle, like we were playing a game of ring around the rosy. She spun me harder and I was running to keep up with her when I tripped on a mound of dirt in the middle of the field and went down. Jill stumbled over me. A loud ‘oof’ escaped my lips as she landed on my gut, our arms and legs a tangled mess. Jill raised her head, her brown eyes filled with laughter. I couldn’t help it. I started laughing. It wasn’t really that funny, and to be honest, her elbow digging into my gut, hurt like a son of a beehive. But I couldn’t stop the hysterical laughter spilling out of me anymore than I could stop breathing. Maybe it was the days of stress and fear catching up to us, but we lay in the dirt in the middle of a sea of dandelions, cackling like two people just given free access to laughing gas at the dentist’s office.

Eventually my laughter subsided to hiccups, as Jill rolled off of me and onto her back. I wiped the tears from my eyes, my hiccups echoing across the field.

“Are you two done?”

I squinted up. Starke was highlighted against the bright sky, arms crossed and legs spread like he was losing patience.

I lifted myself up on my elbows. “Oh, come on, Princey. Loosen up a little. Join us down here amongst the flowers. It’s—” I hiccupped. “nice.”

That only made Jill’s giggling start up again.

“Sweet Endova.” I couldn’t see for certain because of the glaring sun, but I’m pretty sure he was rolling his eyes. “Millions of people to choose from and you two turn out to be the elementals. Get up. We need to find the air elemental.”

That surprised me. “You know the air elemental is here? You’re positive?”

“Yes. I can sense remnants of her power. The portal brought us to a place where she has recently been.”

My brow creased as I surveyed the field. “What would she have been doing out in the middle of nowhere like this? There doesn’t seem to be anything around for miles.”

“When we find her, we can ask. But right now, we need to concentrate on finding her and getting out of this world as fast as we can. I’ve placed a concealment ward around us, but they are not infallible.I am uncertain how much time we have before Asha tracks us again.”

“Okay, okay, slow your roll, bro. Just give us a minute to catch our breath. And maybe find something to eat? I don’t know about you two, but I’m starving.”

“Yeah, me too.” Jill’s head bobbed up and down. “Can’t you magically whip up something, Starke? Cheeseburgers maybe? Or popcakes?”

“I haven’t a clue what a popcake is, but I’m all for the cheeseburgers.” I pointed at Jill. “At least your world did one thing right if they invented the burger.”

I heard Starke’s sigh of frustration.

“But…” I continued, trying to avoid the lecture I knew he was about to deliver. “If Starke has taught me one thing, it is that we can’t create something from nothing. We can’t just create things from thin air. Magic can manipulate and alter, but it cannot create.” I glanced up at him. “Did I get it right?”

Starke thawed a little as he grinned at me. “What’s that saying in your world? You can’t teach an old dog new tricks? I think you just busted that myth, Jette.”

The quick rush of pride at his praise was quickly replaced by confusion.

“Wait a second. Did you just call me an old dog?”

He didn’t rise to the bait. “You’re also correct. We do need to eat to keep up our strength. And find a place to camp for the night, if we don’t locate the girl before dark.”

He let his arms drop and raised his face toward the sun, eyes closed, like he was simply drinking up the rays. Then his angular jaw tightened, and he stared down at us.

“We move north, to the tree line. That is our best option for food and shelter. Let’s move.”

Sighing, I stood, dusting off my butt with my hands.

“I really don’t know what you have against resting. Seriously, ten minutes to chill wouldn’t hurt anyone. After the walking we did these past three days, we deserve it. This place seems nice enough. And quiet. What would ten minutes hurt? Like really?”

And as if fate decided to answer me at that moment, a scream of ‘let me go’ pierced the air, rooting us all in place.

“That came from the trees,” Starke shot over his shoulder before making a beeline straight toward the source and drawing his sword as he ran.

I rolled my eyes skyward. “Seriously, fate? Not even ten minutes. What did I do to piss you off?”

I drew my sai, a bit more confident now that I was fully charged again, and chased after Starke, Jill close on my heels.

By the time we reached the thick grove, I was totally out of breath as sweat dripped from my forehead down into my eyes. I caught up with Starke who was now hunched behind a couple of dead trees that had fallen over on top of each other. Jill and I dropped at his signal to get down, and I moved closer to the trees on my haunches, as more cries rent the air.

The trees tapered off to a clearing below alongside a wide lake that reflected the afternoon sun with the clarity of glass. But it wasn’t the scenic beauty that caught my eye. It was the girl struggling with all her might against the men in black. A girl with caramel skin and curly black hair that I recognized all too well.

The air elemental.

Two massive guards flanked her on both sides. Dressed in black from head to toe and wearing weird skull helmets with mirrored face shields, they were super imposing. They dragged Curly along, lifting her in the air at times as she tried to dig her feet into the dirt. To give her credit, she was putting up a good fight, even with her hands shackled in…glowing handcuffs? There also appeared to be a glowing collar around her neck as well. What new kind of nuttery was this? Despite the restraints, her cussing and swearing as they yanked her unceremoniously was colorful enough to make the most seasoned of sailors blush. Four more black clad bodies followed behind. They didn’t appear quite as big as the giants flanking Curly. I couldn’t tell their genders behind the menacing masks they wore, but not like that mattered. After all, the heavy looking batons they had pointed at the girl’s back didn’t care who wielded them, man or woman. Four guards and two giants to take down one skinny runt of a girl? Bit of overkill if you ask me.

Starke glanced my way. “Is that the air elemental?”

I nodded. “Yeah, of course it is, ‘cause you know, things can never be easy for us, right?”

Curly yelled again as they pulled her closer to a big, block truck-like vehicle parked haphazardly across a dirt road that looked more like a cow path. The truck was the weirdest thing I’d ever seen. The front of it had a rounded hood like an old VW beetle, but the back was a big, bulky square, that resembled an old-fashioned police paddy wagon, complete with running boards and all. It kind of looked like something you’d see from the 40’s or 50’s in my world. I looked at Curly a little more closely. She was also dressed in black, only her clothing resembled prisoner garb. A set of overhauls that hung from her thin frame.

“Let me go, you idiots. You’ve got the wrong person. I’m no witch. I’m a nobody.”

I sucked in air. Did she just say witch?

“Shut up,” one of the guards following snarled at her and struck her in the back with the baton. A crackling sound mixed with Curly’s scream of pain and I realized what it was. An elongated version of a cattle prod.

“Gee-zus,” I muttered in disgust. “Poor girl.”

“What are we going to do?” Jill whispered over my shoulder.

I turned my attention to Starke. “If you got a plan now’s the time to spill it.”

He turned to us; his normally placid face etched with worry. “I did not suspect we would have to extract the girl from soldiers. Are you two confident you can control your powers long enough to take out the four in the back while I deal with the two guarding the girl? We can’t afford collateral damage in the assault.”

I grinned. “You mean I actually get to use my waterpower on those nimrods? Hell yeah.”

Jill didn’t seem as confident. “I can’t promise anything. I already told you I can’t control my fire. I’ll probably burn the whole forest down.”

“Fine. You be the distraction. Jette, you occupy the four in the back. I will remove the other two. Jill, while we handle the guards, you extract the girl and get her to safety. Both of you got it?”

I nodded in agreement.

“What did you say her name is again?” Jill whispered.

“Curly.”

“Zoe.”

Starke and I answered at the same time.

“What he said,” I added. It was hard to comprehend these people were actually real and not just my oddly named hallucinations.

“Okay, concentrate your magic. On the count of three.”

My body buzzed with adrenaline as the icy flame ignited in my gut. The magic, already abundant, grew stronger, strumming over my skin as my heart thudded against my ribs.

“One…”

I lifted my sai toward the lake, my plan to use my element to my advantage. The magic strummed through my bones.

“Two…”

Magic electrified the air as all three of us pulled on our respective powers. The guards seemed to get an inkling of it as well since the heads of the four in the back raised in the air as one, like they were searching for something.

“Three…”

I felt my magic leap from my sai and hurtle its way through the air towards the lake. The water answered my call immediately and then everything seemed to happen at once. As explosive walls of flame sprouted up all around them, the guards began to yell in panic, dancing around frantically. So intent were they on the fires circling them, they didn’t notice what was coming at their backs.

The water answered my command. It crept its way up over the riverbank like a wild animal hunting its prey. It moved as one solid object, rising up into a wall of water at least ten feet high. By the time the soldiers noticed the tsunami heading their way, it was too late. It consumed them, sweeping them off their feet and dragging them screaming into the lake beyond and down into its depths.

“Yes!” I pumped a fist into the air. ‘Starke did you see—"

My gloating cut short as I noticed the two massive soldiers practically dragging poor Zoe behind them as they ran for the truck.

“Why are they still moving?” I asked in bewilderment.

“They’re warded. My magic is being deflected,” Starke shouted over his shoulder as he leapt over the trees hiding us. “We will have to do this the old-fashioned way.”

“Wait, they’re ginormous,” I screamed at his back, but he was already halfway down the rise to the lake.

“Dammit,” I hissed as I jumped over the trees and followed him down the slope, my magic charging my sai as I ran.

I let the charged magic fly at one of the behemoths dragging Zoe, but it bounced harmlessly from the guard like he was protected by an invisible bubble. Warded, like Starke said.

The two guards started yelling as soon as they saw us, their free arms lifting into the air. Not to wave a friendly hello to us, I was pretty positive of that. A flash of red light shot from the heavy equipment attached to their wrists seconds before something whizzed by my ear and I ducked. Something electrifyingly hot since I smelled the unmistakable odor of singed hair.

Damn, that was close. What were they shooting at us? Lasers? Seriously? Did they have freakin’ lasers attached to their wrists? Terrifying and awesome all at once.

The dude on the right lifted his arm again but before he could get off a shot, he was knocked off his feet with a Starke tackle that would have done any pro linebacker proud. The second guard wasn’t as taken aback as I was. As I stood stupefied watching the two men roll around on the ground trading punch for punch, the other guard fired another shot at me. He probably would have taken my head off if Zoe hadn’t body slammed him, pushing him to the side. He stumbled, catching himself from completely hitting the ground with his lasered wrist. All the time I needed to pivot on my heel and wallop him with a roundhouse kick to the chest. He flew backwards and hit the ground hard, his helmet flying off at impact. Or I should say her helmet. The woman that stared up at me had nothing but cold hatred in her dark eyes. I watched in disbelief as she flipped nimbly back to her feet, all six feet of her at least, and I suddenly got a flashback of the tyrannical principal from the movie Matilda. The titan pulled the cattle prod from the holster on her side and spit a gob of phlegm my way as if that’s what she considered me. A goober to dispose of.

She grinned as she stepped toward me, the fury etched in her face letting me know she was done playing nice.

“You thought you could beat me that easy, witch?”

“That was my plan, yeah. See I don’t like bullies that pick on little girls.”

“You witches like to stick together, don’t you?” She sneered, showing me a mouthful of yellow teeth. “All together in your little coven. I will see you dead, just like your brethren you tried to rescue.”

I quirked a brow. “Seriously? You people are advanced enough to have laser wristwatches but still believe in witch hunts? Please don’t tell me this place is named Salem.”

“Shut up. I will not listen to the lies that fill your mouth.” She held up the baton. “Let’s see how talkative you are after I shove this up your nose and fry your tiny brain.”

If she thought she was going to intimidate me, she was sadly mistaken.

“First of all, you have no idea how big or little my brain is. And secondly, I don’t believe that’s going to happen, dipshit.”

Her head tilted to the side like she couldn’t believe I had the nerve to speak to her like that. Obviously, she didn’t know me.

“What? You can’t touch me with your magic. I am too well warded for that. And you certainly won’t take me down with those puny weapons.” She gestured to my sai.

I shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. But you see I don’t have to. I only needed to distract you long enough for that.”

I pointed over her shoulder with my chin. The chick whirled, only to come face to face with Jill and the thick tree limb she swung at the guard’s head like the best Louisville Slugger. It connected with a solid thunk, spittle flying out of her mouth. She wobbled, disbelief etched in her face, before collapsing on the ground, the cattle prod slipping out of her grasp. Jill swept in and scooped up the weapon, tossing it my way.

“Help Starke,” she yelled.

I snatched the prod from midair and whirled to the two still fighting it out on the ground. Starke had the upper hand at the moment and got three quick punches to the giant’s face, before the man bucked and threw Starke off. Starke grunted as he landed hard on his shoulder and the guard pushed himself to his feet, ready to move in with a swift kick to the ribs.

“Hey friend,” I yelled as the guard swerved and I shoved the cattle prod into his neck, the only piece of flesh showing from the heavily padded suit. I pulled the trigger and he began spazzing like he’d just stuck a knife in a toaster. His eyes rolled back in his head as he went down, twitching and jerking all the way. Intense. Was not expecting that reaction. Zoe didn’t react that way when they used it on her. Maybe I used the electrifying setting instead of stun? Either way, it outta keep him down for a bit.

I ran to Starke, my heart twisting in concern. He took my offered hand and I yanked him back to his feet.

“You okay? You’re bleeding. You don’t look so good.”

“You should see the other guy,” he responded, his stupid grin turning to a wince of pain as he gingerly touched his split lip.

I snorted in relief. “I don’t know why you’re talking like that, but epic fail. I can see him. He’s right there, and he’s not bleeding.”

He sighed. “Your human sayings always sound so cool in theory.” He glanced between the two fallen guards before his approving gaze fell on me. “You did well, little rabbit.”

Five simple little words but they inflated my chest with pride as my insides turned to mush. Worse, I could feel my cheeks growing all warm and flush like he’d just told me how pretty I was or something stupid instead of what a good job I’d done kicking butt. Man, since when had I let him get under my skin so much?

“Hey! What the heck are you doing?”

Jill’s panicked cries interrupted my moment. I spun on my heel, expecting to see more black clad soldiers. What I didn’t expect to see was Zoe’s back as she was running straight toward the weird looking truck and totally away from us, obviously leaving us to fend for ourselves.

So much for gratitude.