Off Balance

by Aileen Erin

  A guard handed Lorne two backpacks and he handed me one. “Put it on.”

  I did what I was told because this was a fucked-up plan, which meant it was typical for me.

  The ship took a hard turn. “If you’re going to do something, do it now.”

  Lorne ran to the wall and a ladder came down. “Fly straight.”

  “Yes, Your Majesty.”

  I didn’t hesitate. I climbed. The ship slowed a little as I pulled myself onto the top, but the wind was a factor, nearly knocking me on my ass.

  A frequency shifted and I turned in time to see a blast come at the ship. “No!” I didn’t have faksano batons in my hands, but that was the only way I knew how to harness my power. So, I crossed my arms, as if they were in my hands, and slashed my hands down, letting my power go with a scream.

  The rocket exploded fifty feet from the ship.

  I stumbled back and Lorne caught me. “Oh shit.” This was fucking crazy.

  “There.” He pointed to the right. “Get it.” He positioned me in front of him, gripping my shoulders tight.

  The ship—a small one, like the one we took to Nori’s house—came into view. I crossed my arms and screamed, releasing my power at the blast.

  The ship exploded into pieces and Lorne’s hand shot out beside me, turning the pieces to dust.

  The explosion knocked me back a step, but Lorne was behind me, steadying me, and I’d been prepared for it.

  A wave of dizziness hit me and I had a moment to think that maybe I might really have done it this time, but then Lorne’s hands tightened on my shoulders.

  He twisted me. “There! Now!”

  I breathed in, feeling my power build up inside me until I had to scream and then I let it out all at once.

  Bam!

  Lorne’s hand shot out beside me.

  Dust.

  He twisted me back the other way. “Up there!” He pointed above us. “Now!”

  This one was farther away. The dizziness was starting to get worse and I wasn’t sure if it was the spinning or the height or the power I was using, but I didn’t have a choice. I gathered up everything inside me and I let it out.

  Bam!

  Dust.

  Lorne was spinning me again, but then the ship was too close. It was way too close.

  “Do it! Now! Now!”

  But my head was spinning more and I was confused and I knew that if I hit it from that close, we’d fall. I lifted my arms to cross them and saw that they were doing that strobe thing again.

  “I can’t. I can’t do it. If I use any more, I’ll burn out.”

  “Trust me. I’ve got you. You’re wearing a parachute, and I won’t let anything happen to you. Please. Do it now!”

  I did. I trusted him more than I’d ever trusted anyone. I trusted him with my life.

  I gathered what was left and I let it out.

  A blast of heat slammed into me, the ship jerked under us, knocking me off my feet. My shoulder slammed into the ship’s roof and I was rolling, sliding, getting closer to the edge.

  Lorne screamed my name. I tried to find something to grasp onto, but there was nothing to hold.

  And then it was too late. I was already tumbling over the side of the ship.

  Air whooshed around my body and for a second, I thought I was back in Jesmesha’s magical dome. That maybe this was all a dream. But the falling didn’t stop.

  The strobing on my arms sped up and I knew I was about to pass out.

  I tried to reach for the release on the parachute, but I couldn’t get my arms to work. They were too heavy for me to move. I was burning out.

  The world was growing darker and my limbs felt leaden and I was falling…

  Falling…

  Falling…

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  LORNE

  I’d never been so scared as when I watched Amihanna tumble off the edge of the ship, unconscious. But her parachute auto-deployed, so I turned back to the falling wreckage and burned it to dust before it hit one of Ta’shena’s tallest office buildings.

  And then I jumped off the ship after her.

  There was so much smoke and dust in the air, but I could still see the bright red of her parachute falling safely to the ground. The automatic guidance was helping to adjust her chute to a safe landing area, which from here was Ta’shena’s biggest park. I’d land just a minute—maybe a little more—behind her.

  I took a moment to breathe. It was strange feeling her emotions shut off when she passed out, but I knew this time it was only because she’d worn herself out. She was fine. We were fine. As soon as I hit the ground, we’d be together again.

  I just hoped the rest of the day would go a little more according to plan. We had some meetings and plans to make, but after that, I really hoped we could get a few quiet hours together. I needed it this morning, and after what had just happened, I needed it even more. My fao’ana were flashing, and I knew I was on the brink of losing control. But I would be fine once I found her and got her into a healing pod.

  The park’s amber and red-colored trees came into view and then the grassy area next to the pond. People were standing away from Amihanna’s red parachute blanketed across her and the ground. They watched me fall, but I was used to people watching me. Aunare protocol wouldn’t let them approach unless I acknowledged them first. The parachute slowed my descent. I landed just five feet from Amihanna.

  I unhooked my backpack, and walked over to her.

  I knelt on the ground and pulled up the parachute, thinking she was hidden under this never-ending pile of silky material. I pushed it aside, but she wasn’t there.

  My fao’ana flashed brighter—a warning to everyone that my power was on edge—and I heard whispers around me.

  No. She had to be there.

  I gathered up the material, and the backpack came with it. The straps had been cut.

  And then I felt all the blood drain from me.

  “Your Majesty.”

  I spun to see a woman kneeling, holding a toddler to her side.

  “Men took her. They carried her that way, and they were wearing your father’s emblem. I didn’t—”

  “Thank you.”

  I started running the direction the woman pointed, while I tapped on my wrist unit and pulled up her location.

  She was moving fast through the park. Just ahead of me.

  Someone was kidnapping her.

  The Goddess would burn their flesh in the After when I was done with them.

  I dialed Rysden on my wrist unit and took off running.

  “Where are you?” Rysden’s voice demanded. “Is she okay?”

  “No. She’s not okay. Someone got to her. They have my father’s emblem on their shirts. They’re moving southwest through Paeshas Park. A woman said they were on foot but they’re moving too fast to be on foot.”

  “On our way.”

  “I’m running that way.”

  “We’ll get her back.”

  Goddess. We had to. I had to. I couldn’t lose her again.

  I shoved down the panic. It wasn’t going to help me. My heart was beating hard but I could keep this up all day if I had to. “Tap me into the park’s surveillance.”

  “Working on patching you through,” Rysden said. “I see them. They’re on airbikes. There’s a transmission coming from one of them and directed out of our system.”

  “Skip the patch into the park’s systems. Give me their audio.”

  “Bashu is working on it. He says it’s encoded, but he’s cracking it. To you in one second.”

  My skin brightened even more, and my fao’ana told anyone who saw me that I was ready to fight. I put everything I had into speed.

  There was a hill ahead of me. Once I reached the top, I’d be able to see them. I could start getting them from afar. As long as it didn’t endanger Amihanna, they’d be dead as soon as I reached the peak.

  “Transmission coming through.”

  “Do you have her?”
r />   I heard myself growl. “Jason.”

  “Yes. One of the former king’s men helped us locate her. She was alone. We took the opportunity.”

  “Be very careful. We need her alive,” Jason said.

  “Yes, sir.”

  I reached the top and I saw seven men. One of them carried my Amihanna limp over his shoulder. They were racing across the ground on black airbikes—almost to the edge of the park. It was early enough in the day that there weren’t many people on the park grounds. A family was having a picnic along the south border of the park. A group of teenagers were kicking a ball around on the other side. They were far away enough that they wouldn’t get caught up in the fight, but the streets were different. There were people swarming on the way to work.

  I had to stop them before they reached the street.

  These men were dead. They just didn’t know it yet.

  I slid down the hill and let my power free on the two men on each side of the one carrying Amihanna, aiming for their airbikes.

  The airbikes exploded under them, and the men fell screaming to the ground. They’d been moving too fast not to have major injuries.

  Two down.

  “Good. They haven’t seen you yet,” Rysden said. “But—”

  “Sir,” one of Amihanna’s kidnappers said through my com. “Lorne is in pursuit. He is alone. We can continue forward with her or engage him.”

  “As long as you protect the weapon,” Jason said.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Kill him. Then bring her to me.” The way he said ‘her’ held the promise of what he wanted to do to her. I knew then and there that before this was done, Jason Murtagh needed to die.

  “Did you hear that?” Rysden’s voice cut through the silence.

  “Yes.”

  All five airbikes skidded to a stop and turned around. They were coming for me.

  “They don’t know about our fao’ana. They don’t know what we can do.” Rysden’s tone was taunting me to show them why they should fear us.

  “Then I think it’s time they find out. Send ni Eneko to get my father. I want answers.”

  “Done. Focus on the fight. Get my daughter back.”

  One threw something at me, but I turned it to dust before it could hit me.

  “What the fuck,” one of the Earthers said.

  Another one pulled out a gun and fired.

  A plume of black smoke exploded into the air, quickly expanding into a cloud hovering ten feet above the ground.

  “What in the Goddess’s name is that?” I had a very, very bad feeling about it. I glanced around at the family having their picnic. The father was standing up, watching the cloud. The teenagers had stopped their game. And I could feel more eyes on me. All of them watching me. Needing me to save them.

  “Rysden?”

  “I can’t be sure. It’s black. My best guess is that it’s the lucole poison they used on Audrey. Must be a smaller version of what was on the ships that attacked you. They’ve had weeks to refine it, and—”

  “Goddess take it all. Again. They’re getting the best of us again.”

  “Get rid of it.” Rysden’s tone was sharp and demanding. “Clear it from the air!”

  I gritted my teeth. Smaller things like debris from a ship were harder to hit. Particles in the air? That was going to take time I didn’t have. But I wasn’t sure what this poison would do and there were people in the park, people on the streets, people in their ships in the sky.

  The airbikes were getting closer, but I shut that out. I’d deal with that after.

  The cloud was just above me.

  I raised my hands to the sky and sent out a wave of frequencies to clear whatever was in the air. Once wasn’t enough with something this small. I hit it again and again and again. Each time the black cloud flared with little embers of light, but it wasn’t working fast enough.

  The cloud grew—reaching from the ground to above the trees and widening with every passing second. It touched my skin—making it itch and burn—but I ignored the pain. It wasn’t bad. More of a distraction than anything else, but I didn’t know what it would do if it stayed in the air longterm or worse—if it was stronger on our children.

  I glanced over at the family. The parents were gathering up their kids, but they weren’t moving quick enough.

  The cloud was spreading too fast, and I wasn’t going to be able to clear all the lucole from the air. This wasn’t what my ability was made for.

  The men were almost on me, and I needed another plan. Fast.

  “Is Syrah on the ship with you?” I asked Rysden.

  “Yes. Excellent idea.”

  Syrah was a pilot, but she had the ability to affect the weather. Her ships always got there fast and with not a single bump on the way. But she could keep the weather fair for flying. Which meant she could affect the weather the opposite way. And that’s what I needed.

  Thunder struck by the park’s pond and a breath later it started to rain. The heavy water soaked the cloud, and a second later, poison fell in clumps out of the sky. My shirt grew wet, cooling my burned skin.

  I pushed power through the rain, and the last of the poison fell to the ground.

  I focused on Amihanna’s body slung across one of the kidnapper’s shoulders. The men were close. Too close.

  My arms were starting to strobe and I knew I had to act quickly. I couldn’t use my ability much more, but I had enough to increase my odds.

  I hit two more airbikes, and they turned to ash. One of the men fell screaming to the ground. The other was unconscious. That was all I dared to do.

  There were three left. Two men on airbikes coming at me. The last one carrying Amihanna stopped a little ways back.

  “Rysden. Keep an eye on him.”

  “He won’t get away. We’re getting close, and more support is coming.”

  “Good.”

  One of the men rode straight for me. He pulled a knife from his belt.

  Idiot.

  He held out his arm and that was enough for me to take him down. I put a little energy into speed and caught his arm as he slashed at me, throwing him to the ground.

  His bones crunched as I stomped on his arm and ripped the blade from his hand. I wanted to stab the blade in his face, but I twisted my wrist at the last second, slamming the hilt against his head.

  The other man jumped from his airbike onto my back. His arms came around my neck, cutting off my air.

  Big mistake.

  I threw the knife into the ground and gripped his arms, twisting, throwing him to the ground. He grunted as he hit the dirt hard.

  I gripped his shirt in my hand and raised him up from the ground. “You stupid piece of SpaceTech shit.” I screamed in his face, and then I slammed my fist in his face again and again, until he was unconscious. I thought about grabbing the blade from where it was stuck in the ground, and killing both these men—they didn’t deserve to live. Not when they tried to take Amihanna from me. But I needed them alive. For now.

  I dropped him back to the ground and looked up at the last man on the airbike. The one with Amihanna.

  Wind rushed against me and I knew that Rysden was landing behind me, but I wasn’t waiting. My limbs were growing heavy, I was starting to feel dizzy, my skin was burning, but I was getting Amihanna back right now.

  No one was taking her from me again.

  No one. Especially not one of Jason’s men.

  I approached the man slowly. “Give her to me. Carefully. If she’s hurt at all—”

  His eyes were wide as he watched me. “What are you?”

  “It’s not just our tech that makes the Aunare powerful.”

  The man’s face paled, and he looked around the park.

  He had her, which meant he had leverage, but his hands were full.

  A shot rang out.

  I screamed and for an excruciating second, I thought Amihanna had been shot, but then blood blossomed on the man’s chest.

  I ran to catch
Amihanna before he dropped her.

  My knees hit the ground hard, and she fell into my arms. I cradled her against me. Her face was peaceful, but her skin was burned. Again. They’d burned my Amihanna again.

  I pressed my forehead to hers, hoping to find some control. And thanked the Goddess that she’d slept through the whole thing.

  My men moved to secure the two SpaceTech officers who I’d beaten unconscious on the ground. Others secured the four whose airbikes I destroyed—all still alive, but needing medical help. But the one who’d held my Amihanna was dead, and that was just.

  Rysden came to stand next to me. His put his gun away. “Your Majesty.” He swallowed. “My daughter? Please.”

  It wasn’t that I’d forgotten who she was to him, but my claim felt more important. Essential. Absolute.

  I turned to him, lowering my left arm so that her head fell back a little.

  “Sleeping?” he asked. “Or—”

  “Sleeping.”

  “Thank the Goddess.” He knelt next to me.

  “She burned herself out again.”

  “So soon?”

  “Mae’ani did what she could overnight, but she needs to gain weight, rest, and practice. She’s so much more fragile than she should be. I’m going to take her back to Mae’ani. We’ve both been burned by that lucole poison.”

  Rysden put his hand on my shoulder. “You’re at the bottom of your well, too. Let me take her.”

  I met his gaze. “I don’t think I can let her go.”

  “Your skin is burned and your arms are strobing.”

  “I know.” But I couldn’t let her go. I needed to be with her. “I’ll stay awake. I just need help getting up.”

  “All right. Rest a moment, and I’ll help you.”

  Rysden strode to his men.

  I should let him take care of things, but I couldn’t stop myself. “Do what you have to do with them, but make sure they don’t get away. Strip them bare here. Scan them. I don’t want any bombs sneaking through. No weapons. No lucole dust. Quarantined and under the heaviest surveillance.”

  “Rest. I’ll be back for you,” Rysden said.