Braving the Elements Read online

  I leaned my pounding head against the pole. “You apparently think I’m an idiot without a shred of observation. Or maybe you just deal with men too much. That mage fellow wears a cape, for cripes-sakes. A white, velvet cape. You think he’s going to play with the leftovers of a bunch of minions? Plus, and I think you’ll agree with me here, I’m slightly more valuable than a ragdoll plaything. As you probably remember…”

  Andris stared at me quietly.

  “Let me clarify: I’m calling your bluff,” I enunciated. “Your move.”

  “Your mouth will get you in trouble, little girl. It’s not wise to taunt me.”

  “I’m tied to a pole, in a secret place Stefan doesn’t know about, awaiting some loser in a cape to suck all my blood out. I’m already in trouble. But seriously, I can’t believe that guy wears a freaking cape! He reads way too many comics.”

  Andris slapped my face, the sound ringing out through the room. As my head painfully ripped to the side, he said, “Put her in the cage.”

  *****

  “Boss!” Charles limped into the Planning Room, his body fried from head to toe. He’d had to cut his way out of that damn box, searing himself halfway to the burn ward to do it, but damned if he would stay out of this fight. They’d taken Sasha out from under his nose. He’d rip their whole world down to get her back.

  The Boss turned at his voice, dark eyes assessing the quickly-scabbing carnage. “If you would’ve held on, I sent trackers to find your location.”

  “I didn’t know that, nor did I plan to hold on. Andris was in charge of the extraction.”

  The Boss nodded thoughtfully. “I figured as much. We don’t know where they’ve taken her. I know their general area, but it’s within our territory.”

  “How do you know her general area?”

  “She has always acted as a sort of homing beacon to me. Since the blood link, it is now more precise. The problem is, we don’t know anything about this location—the defense, the number of guards, nothing.”

  “Send me in first. I’ll figure it out and report back.”

  Stefan shook his head. “We don’t have the time. We’ll go in strong and cut our way through. We’ll have to think on the fly.”

  “No problem.” Charles hefted his sword. “I’m good at thinking on the fly. I’ll go suit up.”

  “One more thing—“

  Charles turned back to the still figure, a rock among crashing waves, immovable and solid despite what he personally faced.

  “Get Jonas. I’ll need him for this.”

  Calling in the big guns. Although, Charles wasn’t sure it was the best move. The Boss had always trusted the man, but he was often the only one. Plus, Jonas hated Sasha. Hated her. It would be a bad day to find out the Boss’s trust had been misplaced…

  *****

  An explosion rocked my cage, deep and distant. Everyone in the room—only moments before lounging and waiting like robots on sleep mode—hustled to the doors, peering out. Another explosion on the opposite side of what seemed like a large campus. Through the link poured determination and cold vengeance.

  Stefan had shown up.

  A surge of sweet gratitude and deep rooted love welled up in me. I could’ve cried. I wanted to, in fact, but a part of me said to stay strong. Stay vigilant. To help Stefan with the rescue as much as possible, however possible.

  An outpouring of men burst through the double doors—my dear friend, Andris, with some stern-eyed fighting men, nearly head-to-toe covered in glowing orange and red tattoos. They headed straight for me, Andris’ eyes burning a hazel fury.

  “How did they find us?” he yelled, ripping the door to my prison open and yanking me out by my hair.

  Pain flared as I squinted up at him. “You forgot to paint the outside in camouflage? Let me guess, the building is white…”

  He shook me and flung me to the ground. Another crowd stormed through the doors, holding a scantily clad man fighting for his life. Guards dropped him to the floor, aiming three well-placed kicks to keep the man down.

  My heart wrenched. It was Jessiah. His wild eyes gaped out of a black-and-blue face, fear running rampant. This is what happened when you sold yourself to an enemy for a bartering chip that could be taken from you. Once you proved yourself a traitor, with nothing to sit on after the deal was done, you made yourself expendable. I shouldn’t have felt compassion for what he’d done to me, but it was hard to look at him without it.

  “How did they find us?” Andris repeated, staring at Jessiah now.

  “I-I don’t know. The Boss has been trying to find this place for months. He’s never been able to.”

  “Unless he sent in a spy…” Andris turned back to me. “Did you let yourself get taken, little girl? Are you smarter than you seem?”

  “Smarter than I seem? Hell, I’d have to be pretty dumb to end up in this situation, hmm? Which makes me wonder how dumb exactly you think I am…”

  “A smart mouth at a time like this? You will lose your cool when the White Mage—ah, here he is now.”

  Cape billowing behind him, the runt of the litter came marching in, his face a terrible mask of fury. His eyes found Jessiah first, hard and cold, staring down at the once-attractive man with that shrewd gaze. “You’ve been holding out on us. How did he find this place? Only you or the girl could have told him. You are the only traitor of the two, so…”

  The White Mage’s tattoos flared, bright white. Jessiah started to scream, a shrill plea for help as his body convulsed on the floor. I could almost feel the magic as it brushed against the blockage, seeking admittance to my body. I scrabbled at it, my warning butt tingle telling me danger was in the room.

  “Tell me what I wish to know, and I will spare you,” the White Mage said softly, bending down toward a panting Jessiah.

  “I do-don’t know. I only spoke to my contact about all this. That was all.”

  “Did you alert the girl before you ambushed her?”

  “No! I swear! She wouldn’t have followed me if she’d known. Nor her bodyguard.”

  White flared again, a palpable thing. The room must have been drenched in magic, the power so intense, I could almost taste it. When the pain washed away, Jessiah lay, crying and broken, spilling secrets no one cared to hear. His body bent strangely and blood vessels had burst in his eyes. It seemed like he’d been electrocuted to within an inch of his life.

  “Finish him. He’s of no use, as I suspected.” The White Mage straightened up and looked at me, someone else dragging a sobbing Jessiah away.

  Terrible fear washed over me as tears dripped down my face. I backed against the wall, shaking and crying, never having seen anything so absolutely violent in all my life.

  “What do you know that you aren’t telling me?” The White Mage stalked closer, cornering a trapped animal.

  “Your cape is ridiculous and your face is something not even a mother could love.”

  If army men were the gasping type, the room would’ve been stuffed with inhales. I knew, though, that anger made people do stupid things. Rash things. The White Mage would kill me—obviously—so I could only hope I pissed him off enough to do it quickly, or make some other mistake that freed me. Yes, I was grasping at straws, but I couldn’t see any other way.

  “He found this place only after I took you and that sniveling wretch into our walls. The missing link exists with one of you, and I am betting on you. You have only a fraction of time to tell me before I feed you to my Dulcha.”

  I pushed and yanked at that damn block, trying like hell to get it out of the way. My inner compass on all things danger said to stall. To keep pushing at him. To prompt some sort of response.

  I was not having a good day.

  “Then what?” I glanced around, noting exits, planning an unlikely escape, feeling Stefan coming, but slowly. So, so slowly.

  “Then they will suck the magic out of you, of course. They need to feed, to replenish their magic supply. Humans with power as high as yours don’t c
ome around all that often. You’d be a great treat.”

  Another blast, shaking the compound. Pain bled through the link; Stefan had taken a hit.

  I forced down the desperation. I had to get the show on the road.

  “Bring ‘em on in. You won’t get anything out of me—“

  Agony.

  Blinding, consuming, soul wrenching agony.

  My mind detached and drifted away, shutting off the ripping, tearing, heart-stopping pain. Like pure fire burning every inch of my body while electricity fried my thoughts and peeled away my skin. My hair pulled out one by one. My teeth pulled without drugs. Needles jabbed in my eyes and under my finger nails.

  When I distantly realized my body stopped hurting, I floated back into my head gradually, embodying the residual pain enough to laugh like a madman. Blood oozed out of my mouth. I must have bitten my tongue.

  “Fuck you, Trek!” I spat, a long red smear on the wood floor. “Bring your useless Dulcha. Before I die, I will kill you.”

  My mind drifted away again, closing off into a chamber without pain. A place I knew I couldn’t exist for long without my body dying. But at the minute, my body was dying anyway, might as well cut off the pain.

  Chapter 9

  Stefan stabbed a man through the stomach, then swung his sword around and took off his head. Blood sprayed his body.

  The door to the warehouse loomed just up ahead. Their guards were falling one-by-one, unable to counter the excellent fighting of Stefan and his men. At the opposite end of the long, white, rectangular building, Jameson led another crew, trying to divide and force their way in, as well.

  Stefan knew very well that heavy magic awaited them inside.

  Shock and fear bled through the link thus far, which was fine. It meant Sasha lived. But he’d just felt a body-consuming pain; so much so, he staggered, narrowly missing a dagger to the face. They tortured her, most likely. It meant he had no time.

  “Hurry!” Stefan screamed, charging forth. “Give it all you have. We must get through!”

  He ran forward, blade swinging, cleaving and felling anyone in his path. Slash to the chest, another to the gut, one more to cut off an arm, and he pushed closer still.

  A magical blast pulsed out from the warehouse, vibrating Stefan’s core. Sasha’s magical influence in his body reared up, soaking in that blast and ingesting it. He felt high from giddiness. If he had to face off with Trek, he might just win. After taking Sasha’s blood, he was still a small step behind in power, but he’d trained harder. He had more finesse. Knew more tricks and attacks.

  If Sasha lay unconscious, what he had would have to be enough.

  “Dulcha!” Charles roared, his body covered in blood and burns. His tattoos lit up in a pale gold, active and working.

  It just got real.

  *****

  “Maybe the mark relays location,” Andris estimated as he crouched by my head, looking me over.

  I blinked blood out of my eye. I’d banged my skull pretty hard on that last lovely little ditty, opening a gash. “What does it matter?” I croaked. “He’s here. He knows.”

  “It matters because he still might not find us.” The White Mage flung his cape in a temper as he paced. “If it is that mark, which makes the most sense of anything—you took her cell phone?”

  “Of course. And we don’t have coverage down here, anyway.” Andris flexed his gloved hands.

  “Right. Well, I can think of nothing else. Which means this will end by killing her. We can then leave some men behind to take him down while we make an escape. We will be safe, this portion of the area will remain undetected, and his forces will be trimmed.”

  “She has to have more value than a plaything. Stefan wouldn’t risk his clan for a pretty human,” Andris reasoned.

  The White Mage reflected, turning to me. “He’s right. What is so exciting about you, girl?”

  I laughed sardonically as he stood there, patiently waiting for an answer as though we were chatting over tea. My laugh turned into a wet cough. “I have candy flavored nipples.”

  Trek scoffed. “Bring in a Dulcha. We’ll let it feed off her for a few minutes. They tend to have more influence on people like this. Hurry—we need to wrap this up. They’re nearly inside.”

  Intuition said to be ready. Something was about to happen. Some chance would be available for a brief moment, and I’d have to take it then or not at all.

  I struggled to sit, puffing through burnt lungs to do it. “That was a helluva punch with magic.” I wheezed at a pacing, billowing-caped moron. “You have to show me how you did it one of these days.”

  He faced me, those pale eyes looking like a blue shirt after it had been bleached. “It takes much more power than a feeble, human red.” His smile turned predatory. “But I will give you another demonstration after the Dulcha has had its feed.”

  “Oh good; how exciting.”

  *****

  Stefan stood, bewildered, in the middle of a battle, in the middle of one room of three. He should be standing next to Sasha. He felt like he stood next to Sasha. Yet, each of the three rooms was largely bare, holding nothing more than seats and tables.

  If he couldn’t feel Sasha, he would’ve thought he’d landed in a trap.

  “What next, boss, no one is here!” Charles yelled, twirling between a one-armed man and a Dulcha with curved magical horns spraying something similar to acid. The beast took down as many of its own men as his. Maybe more so.

  “She should be here,” Stefan shouted, stepping toward an oncoming man with a glowing purple sword. Stefan met the man’s sword with his own, snapping it in two, then stabbing the body attached to it. “C’mon love, give me a sign.”

  *****

  The shape blurred as it approached, my brain attempting to blackout in an attempt to escape any more pain. I felt Stefan on top of me, which must mean I was below level. Hence, the cape crusader’s assurance he wouldn’t find us. So, basically, I had to blow shit up to make some noise.

  Luckily, that was one of my specialties. Unluckily, I couldn’t reach my damn magic.

  A spiked demon came into view. Cross a porcupine with a bull, and you might have it. Worse, glowing red eyes and steam or smoke from its nostrils. The stupid thing was packing power.

  My chest warmed as it neared—that special magic elixir these things had, calling to me as usual, but unable to fully affect me with the magic block. It hesitated near my head, turning back to, apparently, its master, the White Mage.

  “You make those things, then, huh?” I asked casually, not wanting to hear the answer, but needing to if I ever wanted to beat this clown.

  He preened. “Very few in the world can. I’ve mastered the art.”

  “Well, whoop-de-doo.”

  Getting the nod, the spiky creature approached me, glowing eyes staring down. “Join me,” it rasped.

  “Don’t want to,” I muttered back, preparing for something awful, though I wasn’t sure what.

  “What did you say?” the White Mage asked, cocking his head and clutching the corner of his cape.

  I didn’t get a chance to answer. The block ripped away, the creatures mind trying to attach to mine at the same minute.

  This was my chance. I sucked in with all my ability, the sweet rush of pure magic filling me to the brim. The warning spikes prickled my skin just as the demon tried to grasp ahold of my lifeblood.

  Usually, I’d settle for red power level, like this cursed monster, just to keep things in check. I couldn’t do that now and live. I had to rise above the White Mage in power, because he could beat the hell out of me in actual knowledge.

  My palm struck out, the spell to encase the monster in a protective box in my mind. I’d always blown things up when I did this; I figured I’d continue on that road now. A dose of pure black shot out of my palm, eating the dim light as it coalesced around the demon, encasing the monster like it was supposed to.

  Except I’d been trying to blow it up.

  “Dam
n it!” I yelled. “Now it works? What the hell?”

  “Not possible,” Trek breathed.

  “It is true, then—I hadn’t been sure,” Andris murmured.

  My lower cheeks tingled.

  I dove to the side, narrowly missing Andris’s grab, willing strength into my shaking body.

  Let’s try that again.

  Using red this time, I did the same spell; only this time, got the desired result. Not only that, but it fed off the magic already there like kerosene.

  BOOM!

  Small cracks worked through the ceiling. A huge hole developed in the ground.

  “It’s not possible!” Trek screamed.

  “Myth my ass, you egotistical jerk!” I yelled back, rolling against the wall and feeling for earth and fire. Letting loose some previously failed attempts at charms and spells, I blasted red in every direction, feeling out the earth in the land around the basement we occupied. Sure enough, five plants burst through the walls, huge and angry, cement and wood crumbling inward. Vines and giant green leaves, clutching like hands with no fingers, reached.

  “What the—“ Andris cut off, wide eyed at the monstrous plants.

  Every eye in that room, that wasn’t occupied with a green thing, turned to me. Yup, the freak had arrived, and even though she didn’t have a clue as to what she was doing, she still managed to blow shit up!

  “I’ve got more!” I yelled, summoning back the black. Mayhem was the name of the game until Stefan could get in here and figure a way out.

  I threw my palm out, aiming at two men running at me with swords, and tried to fling them backwards. Instead, they gagged, waving their arms in front of their faces like it smelled bad, but kept coming.

  “Damn it!” I said again. Why were the spells working now when before they always went haywire?

  My butt tingled again. No time to figure it out. I took off running, my eyes searching for a way out.

  “Grab her! I need her!” the White Mage screamed.

  I dodged a green vine groping into the room and threw another blast of red toward three vicious looking guys running at me with determination. I hit an ugly couch.