Coming Together (Tèarmann Chronicles book 6): A Christian Urban Fantasy

by TR Moore Ede

  Wave nodded and did as she was told.

  “Go, move now!” Flare yelled.

  I moved forward, searching for a better place to settle. Where they cornered us, I was just a sitting duck.

  It took five seconds to get separated. I glanced around but couldn't spot Seer.

  Jessica!

  Just stay calm! Keep breathing!

  … Are you telling me or yourself?

  I swallowed. Both. When I tried to find Seer, a fist met my stomach. I groaned before rolling to avoid the person further. I pushed myself, remembering that the best case scenario was that I would be covered in bruises and scratches.

  The thug didn’t wait to talk, just moved toward me, his foot aimed for my ribs.

  Rolling away then onto my feet, I aimed my fist at him, ready to fire a stun.

  Before I could, someone came up and curled their arms around me from behind, pinning my arms to my side.

  “That wasn’t so hard,” the first man said, aiming his stun gun at me.

  No! Hugging the guy’s arms, I pushed myself forward and down, then flipped him over my head. I quickly steadied myself and fired a stun at each of them.

  “Guys, please find a window. Seer and I aren't super good when it comes to too many people,” I said into my earpiece. I bit my lip. Sapphire and Visible could fly, Bolt had speed, Flare and Flame had their strength, experience, and danger sense, and Wave had water, leaving Seer and I the most vulnerable.

  At least you have your stun powers! Jessie said. I have to rely on this stun gun and their thoughts!

  I swallowed. She was panicking; Seer was panicking. I never said it out loud, but I thought Jessie would be a better help in solving things, not fighting. “Guys, Seer can’t be alone,” I said, pressing my shoulder against my earpiece. “Mental powers won’t do much good in a fight like this.”

  “I’ll try and make a small perimeter around her,” Sapphire said.

  “I’ll grab her and put her with someone,” said Visible.

  A moment later flashes of blue shot from Sapphire, making her more visible in the sky as she kept shooting in a specific area. A moment later, she stopped.

  In that brief moment of time, I struggled to find a spot where I could hide and try and assess the bigger situation. Unfortunately, different UICers kept finding me.

  When someone landed behind me and a hand touched my shoulder, I nearly socked the person in the face.

  “It’s me, don’t punch,” Visible whispered. “You’re invisible for the moment, so take a breather.

  Seer’s arms wrapped around me. “I-I don’t know how much more of this I can take,” she said between deep breaths. “My heart’s pounding so fast it feels like it's in my head.”

  “I think that goes for all of us,” I said softly.

  “And I don’t think we have much of a choice,” Visible said, glancing around. “I doubt Ev- Sapphire and I will have the strength to carry all of you out. And then the distance we might have to go could make it dangerous for whomever is left. Is that worth the risk?”

  I swallowed. “I don’t know.”

  “I don’t feel like I can think,” Seer mumbled, putting a hand to her head.

  “Start praying,” I whispered, then looked at Visible. “Can you fly her out?”

  Visible sighed. “No. Another problem is they have heat sensing goggles. They came for us, and they came prepared. I don’t know how far I would make it before … They’ve spotted us! We need to move!”

  Seer whimpered.

  Visible kept a hand clamped on each of our shoulders as she steered us out of the way and behind something.

  Resting my head back, I sucked in what air I could.

  “We don’t have long,” Visible said, glancing over her shoulder.

  “I would be surprised if we did.”

  Seer screamed, but stun bullets hit nearby.

  “We have to separate!” I said, breaking from Visible’s hold. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Seer booking it.

  As soon as I started running, my feet and legs wobbled a little, telling me how sore I was. As much as it was expected when fighting people, it brought a small sense of panic. The more tired I grew, the sloppier I would get. And if one of us were caught, I assumed the rest would soon follow because the one would be used as a threat. Jessie! Tell your god that if he’s actually there to prove it by saving us!

  That’s not how-

  I don’t care! It will be worse if they … My eyes widened just as I caught sight of Sapphire sailing toward the store. I glanced in the direction she was hit from. There was some sort of arm on the top of a truck, I assumed for the flying people.

  “Sapphire!” Visible yelled when she crashed through the store’s window.

  I covered my mouth with one hand.

  “You should have listened!” the enforcer snapped.

  The building trembled, then collapsed.

  We all froze. My stomach clenched when we heard her scream. I swallowed, feeling as though I couldn’t breathe. “Sapphire,” I whispered, then someone grabbed me from behind. “Let me go! Sapphire!” I kicked and punched until I was in the position to stun the person who held me. By the time I reached the building, everyone else was there.

  “I think I hear something,” Bolt whispered as he stopped someone from stepping onto the pile.

  “Stay away!” Wave yelled, sending a wave of water at the oncoming UICers.

  A second later, blue light peeked out from all the cracks. “Eve?” Visible whispered over the earpiece.

  “Back away if you’re close,” Sapphire whispered.

  We all obeyed just before pieces of the building were blown off the pile.

  The first thing that emerged was a hand, bruised, cut, and glowing. Sapphire slowly half stepped, half flew out, wobbling. Her outfit was badly torn and stained. What caught us all momentarily off guard was that her entire body was glowing blue.

  “Leave us alone,” she whispered before her glow increased and a blast was fired in the direction of the UICers that had decided to move closer.

  Seeing the ball of light coming toward them, though, they quickly moved out of the way, and it hit the side of a truck instead. The large vehicle tilted to one side for a moment, but it didn't fall over.

  “Eve?” Visible whispered.

  Sapphire’s glow flickered for a moment before her eyes rolled back and she collapsed.

  Bolt ran forward and caught her.

  We all gathered around, hiding behind some of the larger rocks.

  I looked at her for a moment before studying the hole she came from. The metal shelves had joined together and seemed to have blocked the worst of it, which was probably how she survived.

  “She’s breathing,” Bolt whispered, then glanced at the oncoming UICers.

  Before they could get too close, Flame stood up and breathed fire at them, making them rear back. “And stay away,” he muttered, his hands in tight fists.

  I quickly knelt next to Seer when I caught a glimpse of fear in her eyes. I slid my arms around her. “You can do this.”

  The next moment, Wave created a bubble of water around us. “It’s not going to last long. I don’t know how much more I can keep it up,” she said, one arm outstretched, eyes closed as she did her best to concentrate.

  “I thought police officers would have shown up by now,” I whispered.

  “There’s no way that they’ve purposely left us here. As that man mentioned earlier, this is a trap,” Flare said. “I’m sure Officer Rasper’s doing everything he can to get here.”

  “We need to get her out of here,” Flame said as he wrapped up as many of Sapphire’s wounds as he could. He looked at Visible. “If they see that her blood is blue-”

  “Is she even conscious?” Bolt asked.

  “I’m not sure. Should I heal her?” Flame asked.

  “Do we risk you? You may be used to this but we all need our strength. Only if it’s life threatening,” Flare said.

 
“You have under a minute before the bubble ends. Too much longer, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop it from falling on you,” said Wave.

  “Get her on Visible’s back! If we’re able to tie her there as best we can, it’ll make sure that Visible can protect her and possibly fly her out,” Bolt said.

  Visible nodded and untied the rope from around her torso.

  Bolt tied Sapphire firmly but gently. “We’re good, Wave.”

  “Yay,” she whispered, her voice wavering before sending the water outward. She stumbled back a few steps, panting.

  Visible disappeared with Eve.

  “Round two,” Seer mumbled as she got to her feet.

  You can do this, I told her.

  She glanced at me. You don’t sound too confident.

  I gave a small shrug. What else do you expect me to say? That we’re doomed?

  I’m trying not to convince myself of that, thanks.

  I cringed a little before quickly focusing on stunning people. I didn’t want to fight, I knew I needed to save my strength. My legs ached as that tactic kept me running and sometimes jumping over objects in hopes of delaying them.

  A worry formed when a small ache erupted from my wrist. I tapped my fingers against it, only to realize that it felt a little swollen. When I fired another stun at a UICer, I realized what was going on. And it wasn’t good news. “Hey guys,” I said, pressing my shoulder to my ear as my hands were busy. “I might be able to run out of the stun thingys in my wrists.”

  “What? How?” Seer asked.

  “I think my body has to make them! They’re not just magically appearing!” I snapped. “It’s amazing that my body’s already made as many as it ha-”

  “This isn’t the time for arguing!” Flare snapped. “The point is, Bolt, you need to get Aim a stun gun when able.”

  “Got it, boss,” said Bolt, sounding a mixture of tired and worried but still somewhat calm.

  “How on earth are you so relaxed?” Visible muttered.

  “I am?” Bolt asked. “Dunno, just a- yikes!”

  “How is that-”

  “Guys! Not the time!” Flare snapped. “Especially over such a pointless topic.”

  “Look out!” I yelled, knocking Seer out of the way of bullets or stuns, sending us both to the ground in the process. “This was easier when my everything didn’t hurt,” I muttered as we got to our feet.

  “Stun gun,” Bolt said, momentarily appearing, plopping a stun gun into my hands and disappearing. His calmness is really starting to bug me!

  Really? I find it kind of reassuring. Why should Bolt being calm bug you?

  I dropped and rolled when a round of stuns were shot at me before getting to my feet and shooting back. He’s the one who’s been through the least! At times, he almost sounds calmer than Jason and Irene! How?!

  Just ask him later or something; now is not-

  My heart stopped. Jessie! I looked around for her.

  Chapter 18

  My heart pounded in my chest as I looked around for Seer. When I saw she was struggling with a small group of UICers, I ran over. “Let her go!” I yelled, purposefully drawing their attention. I drove the handle of the stun gun on one of their heads, then shot stun blasts at the rest of them.

  “Sorry, a couple people jumped me at once,” she whispered.

  “I noticed,” I muttered, helping her up. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw something move. The arm on the truck moved slightly before swinging and looking as if it had just hit the air.

  Then Visible appeared, falling.

  “No!” Wave screamed.

  Thankfully, Visible wasn’t too high off the ground. As best as she could, she aimed her fall so as not to have Sapphire scrape against the pavement, hitting her hip against the ground in the process. Before she could get up, a gun was pointed in her face. Breathing hard, she clutched her side.

  “You’re all quite stubborn,” the enforcer said. “Truthfully, I didn’t think it would take this long. But it’s ending now. Tell your little friends to stand down or you’re going bye bye.”

  Visible stared at him, saying nothing.

  By the way Sapphire hung on her back, I assumed she was unconscious.

  The enforcer sighed. “Then you’re useless.”

  “NO!!” a voice screamed from our left just as a giant blast hit the enforcer.

  He cried out as it knocked him to the ground.

  Visible quickly turned invisible and flew away before he fell on her.

  I stared at him for a second, then turned in the direction that the blast had come from. “Guys? Does anyone know what that was?”

  “A miracle?” Seer said, a bit of hope in her voice.

  “Za- Bolt! That’s Julie! Someone has Julie!” Wave yelled.

  “Oh no, they didn’t,” Bolt muttered as he charged straight for where the blast had come from.

  “Aim!” Seer yelled, lunging at me, knocking us both to the ground.

  “Sorry. I was distracted by that blast,” I whispered as both of us got to our feet.

  “Vis, can I get her outta here?” Bolt asked.

  “No, they’ve created a large perimeter. They clearly want her, and I want to know why,” Visible said.

  “I think they just want all of us,” I said, stunning a thug and ducking behind a rock for a quick breather.

  From a short distance, I saw Bolt set Julie down in the back of the collapsed building. A moment later, he left. “Julie’s behind a big rock in the rubble. Please keep an eye out; part of me thinks the blast came from her, and these goons know it,” he said over earpiece.

  “You think Julie has powers now? Is the entire group getting powers? Why haven’t I noticed this?” Visible exclaimed.

  “You didn’t notice mine. Besides, I have a feeling-”

  I flinched as he was suddenly cut short.

  The silence, no matter how short it actually was, felt like it dragged on forever.

  “Sorry about that,” Bolt said.

  I hit my head against the rock and let out a long sigh of relief. I took a few more breaths before pushing myself to my feet and getting back out there.

  “I have a feeling her possible powers have something to do with her kidnapping. They wanted her for a reason. You’d think a damaged arm would deter them but it didn’t … Obviously, there’s something she hasn’t told us; kinda like how we never told anyone about our powers,” Bolt said.

  What about Julie’s arm? Do you remember Julie? I asked Seer.

  Yeah … Julie was the one who hurt her arm in a car crash. It doesn’t move properly.

  Kay, thanks. I glanced over where Julie was hiding, then turned back to have a fist to my stomach. I was set onto my rear. I groaned.

  “It’s getting hard to see you all in your dark clothing,” the thug said, aiming his gun at me. He fired.

  I barely managed to dodge the bullet, breathing hard. When he moved forward, I swung my leg around, trying to knock him off his feet. It didn’t work, and all he did was look down at my foot. “Come on,” I muttered. I quickly moved it and tried to get up.

  The goon moved forward, kneeling me in the jaw.

  “Ow,” I whispered, holding my jaw in two hands.

  He chuckled and grabbed a fistful of my hair. “You’re all running out of steam. Boss was right, send enough people, and we’ll just tire you out.”

  I held his wrist. I had dropped the stun gun but I aimed my fist at him, hoping that my stuns would work. My entire arm tensed. The ache in my wrist spiked, turning into pain as one shot out. He fell unconscious, dragging us both to the ground. I clutched my wrist. Good to know, forcing my stuns to load up wasn’t very pleasant and likely not always possible. For a moment I just lay there, my jaw hurting, my head hurting a little too when it hit the ground. Feeling my head, I realized that it was bleeding, although thankfully, the cut was small. I contemplated just lying there, pretending to be one of the enemies.

  “Come on, up,” Flame said, grabbing
my arm and pulling me to my feet. “Are you all right?”

  “Wearing thin,” I whispered before taking a few deep breaths. Thank goodness for the glorious cold night air. “My movements are getting so sloppy.”

  “That’s normal,” he said, sounding a little out of breath. He did a double take when he caught sight of the blood on my head. He reached forward and touched it before I could stop him.

  “Flame.”

  “It’s your head.” He scooped up the nearest stun gun and fired it a few times when the UICers started to get close. “If you can’t think that well now, a head injury isn’t going to help.”

  I nodded. “Fine, thanks.” I took a step back and leaned against a lamppost that had gone out.

  He glanced at the enemy.

  I followed his gaze when he looked confused. “What is it?”

  “I’m not sure.” He put his hand to his ear. “Guys, fall back to where Julie is. They look as if they’re regrouping, so we should do the same.” He looked at me. “Go, now. I’ll meet you there.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “Checking on your sister. I can find her faster, go!”

  I huffed, then obeyed. I had to fight my way through only one person before I arrived where Julie was.

  Others were close behind.

  Bolt was already with Julie and judging by the unconscious goon behind her, she was attacked but thankfully, looked all right. Bolt looked confused when he saw us coming. “Guys? What’s going on?”

  I leaned against the nearest rock. “They’re regrouping. We have to get some of you out of here, but the others will need to be left behind.” I took a few deep breaths. “Seer and I can’t do much more of this.”

  “Seer can’t fight anymore,” Flame said, walking up, Seer in his arms.

  “Seer!” I pushed myself off the rock and dashed over.

  Flame set her down.

  “I’m done. I can’t really walk, let alone fight,” Seer whispered, between pants.

  I bit my lip, hugging her tightly.

  She started to shiver. “The cold air is fine when we’re fighting, not so much now.”

  “Bolt!” Wave exclaimed, rushing over to hug him.

  Bolt returned the hug, then pulled back and took her shoulders. “Where’s Visible?”