“Kellan!” I hiss under my breath. “Why would you do that?”
“Complement your work? I wouldn’t think that would piss you off so much.”
I glance over and spot Will and Karl talking about thirty feet away. I snatch the bow back and snap quietly, “I’m talking about you surging with him!”
“I think the better question is, why wouldn’t I?” Our booted toes touch, we’re standing so close to one another. “The love of my life disappears for half a year. She shows back up with some guy who radiates overprotectiveness and love. Damn right, I’m going to surge with him and figure out who he is to you.”
I’m buzzing at the proximity. Kellan is one of the most dangerous drugs I think that’s ever been created. His name falling from my mouth is a cross between a plea and a curse. Please, I think to him, please do not do this. Not now.
I watch him take a deep breath, like he’s steadying himself.
I swallow and try another tactic. Forcing scorn and irritation in my voice, I say, “He’s my friend.”
“I know that now.” His head bends down, so that my whole vision is his gorgeous face. And, oh, for the love of all that’s good in these worlds, let me hold strong in this moment, because it’s taking all my willpower not to just grab him and kiss him. How is this going to work? Am I ever going to get a grip, even when I’m sure? “It’s why I haven’t killed him, Chloe. Because . . . I think if I’d found out you two were something more, I just might have tried.”
I try not to breathe deeply, because good lords, does he smell good. So I hold still until he rights himself. But he knows. Of course he knows what he just did to me—and it wasn’t because of his mojo. It was all him.
As I have far too many times in the past, I resent myself once more for being weak.
The screaming comes in bursts, like bullets out of a gun, exploding into the dense silence long enough to rattle snow off branches and dead leaves off trees before disappearing once more. And I nearly jump out of my skin, like I always do, because even now, even after everything that’s happened lately, those sounds are some of the most terrifying I’ve ever heard.
I asked Kellan a little while earlier if he’d make it so I didn’t feel any fear, but he refused, claiming fear was important in situations like this. Fear would help keep me alive. And yet, I wish I didn’t have this fear in me right now, that I could just charge head first into the fight I’m picking today. But it’s here, and I am scared, more so than I think before because now I know one of my Connections is with me and the stakes are all that much higher.
When the bursts of screams grow louder, Karl motions for the team to fan out. He, Will, and I will maintain the middle formation like before, with one exception—Kellan refused to stay on the edges to work like everyone else.
Karl didn’t bother arguing with him. I tried to, but Kellan wasn’t having any of it. So here he is, right in the line of fire, and my nervousness kicks up to a whole new level. “Still four?” Will asks Karl quietly.
Karl’s quiet for a moment, a finger pressed against his earpiece before nodding.
A scream shoots at us from the near north. I pull an arrow out of my quiver. “Four’s nothing, right?” I whisper to Will. “With this many on our team?”
He smiles easily. “Child’s play.”
“You should go back to the plane. Stay where it’s safe.”
“This shite again?” He clucks quietly. “I’m here, Chloe. Okay? I’m staying right where I am.”
Kellan’s hand on my arm sends such a strong shock through me, my knees nearly buckle. “Chloe,” he murmurs, but my fingers go to his lips, stopping the words I want to say, too. Words I won’t say, not even now.
The Elders attack simultaneously, surprising us with two extras that somehow eluded Lee. If I’d thought their forms were creepy before, they’re beyond terrifying now. More humanoid than ever, with more developed weapons jutting from their limbs, these monsters are the epitome of boogeymen. Both Blazes instantly go on the offense, sending streaks of fire at the shape shifters, and Lola yanks lightning down from the sky while Flip twists thin tornadoes from the clouds to herd our prey, but the deft movements of these killers leave them unscathed.
I’m shooting arrows as fast as my fingers allow me. Kellan has one of the Elders cowering before him moments after it hurls itself at me. As Karl sets off another round of sonic booms and Will’s sword flashes before shrieking nearly strips the trees bare, I launch myself at the Elder Kellan’s got subdued. It swings its dagger like arm right at me, driving deep into my recently repaired shoulder, but I manage to will it out of existence fairly quickly.