The sounds of frenzied screaming seep through the cracks in the doorway. I quickly whip up a little monitor to see what is going on in the house. There is ... nobody here. That doesn’t mean anything, though. They’d hidden from me before, in Karnach.
Outside, though—there are three Elders wearing their Magical bodies and a handful of the incorporeal shape shifters. Huh. My body count today is going to be higher than six, that’s for sure. There are also some other familiar faces on the outskirts of the yard, where the land is flat for miles and covered in mist: Raul Mesaverde, with his hands outstretched as he twists a pair of impossibly thin tornadoes toward the house; Vance, a Blaze I worked with on some Elders missions, his hands filled with fire balls angling toward the monsters charging him; and Lola, another Elemental I’ve worked with. She’s yanking lightning down from the skies, like Zeus from Olympus.
My heart stutters as I stare at the screen. Swells until it nearly bursts. Jonah! Jonah’s here! The urge to tear down the walls around us and rush outside and throw my arms around him and never let go has me jerking up, my hand on the doorknob.
But then he yells something at the team, and I realize it’s not Jonah. It’s Kellan.
Jonah’s not here. Kellan is.
Cicely takes the screen dangling in my hand and brings it close to her face. “Are those your friends?”
It’s Kellan.
It’s—
“Yes, sweetie.” The holes in my chest do not close, even though parts of me are sparking to life, knowing one of my Connections is out there right now.
Stop.
One of my Connections is out there right now.
I take a deep breath. Count to ten. I tell Cicely, “There has been a change of plans. I am going to go outside and help my friends. You need to stay here.”
Her eyes go wide in fear.
I erase all the clothes crowding us, padding the walls with a pretty fabric. All of the shoes and boxes also disappear; in their place is a small beanbag on the ground and some books, dolls, and crayons. I wish I could give her snacks and water, but for all the things I can create, those are not in my arsenal.
I press my hands against the walls of the closet, strengthening them until nothing—not even Enlilkian—can break into this tiny room unless I will it so. I’d like to just see that fucker try to break through what I’ve made now. “You’re going to be safe in here. I promise none of the bad guys can get to you. I’m going to go out there and help my friends; when we’re done getting the bad guys, I will come back and get you and take you home. Okay?”
She clutches my sleeves. “Don’t leave me!”
I force my tears to stay where they are. “I don’t want to, Cicely. But I also don’t want to risk you getting hurt. I promise you, I will come back. I need to go out and help my friends, but I don’t want the bad guys to get you. You’ll be safe in here, okay? They won’t know you’re here. They won’t be able to hurt you.”
Her tears fall, though. Quiet, sad ones that viciously tug on the heartstrings I still have. “Promise?”
I hold out my pinkie; she hooks her small one around mine. “I promise.” I tap on the monitor. “You can watch me here, okay? So you can see when I’m coming to get you.”
We hug again; I hold her close, smoothing her tangled hair. I let her know I’m going to erase the door so nobody can open it behind me, to not be afraid that there will be no way out, that it’s just for her safety.
And then I leave to go find Kellan.
I don’t go through the front door. I make myself another door in the bedroom I took out Nivedita’s murderer in.
For some reason, I thought we were in a residential neighborhood, but I was wrong. This house is out in the middle of freaking nowhere. While there is a smart lawn surrounding the house, it also sits at the top of a hill, buffered on two sides by thick groves of trees that eventually open to rugged, barren land as far as the eye can see.
Fan-flipping-tastic.
Enlilkian’s voice rises above the roaring winds barreling down on the house. He’s ... amused, I think. And, I guess it makes sense considering no Magical team has bested him yet. They can subdue the Elders for short periods of time before losing control. So I can’t help the grin that curves my lips upward. Won’t it be a fun surprise for him when he realizes the playing field has been leveled?
I make myself a coat—green, to match the trees around us—and take off toward the woods. Kellan’s on the other side of the house; last I saw, he had several of the incorporeal Elders on the ground screaming, but it’s pointless. It’s like him trying to hold back the tide—sooner or later, it’ll come all the same. I just need to get myself out there before it does so I can destroy them before they get to him.