No, they’re elementals, she reminded herself firmly as she hitched her backpack further onto her shoulders and ran forward. They’re fine.
She dodged a sign board skidding across the road, and then a car door. As she darted between and around the shrubs that had pushed their way up through the road, she looked ahead. Dad’s path must have been clearer than theirs because he was almost there. Further down the road, on the next block, he was now running up the stairs into the Huntley. If Ridley had had enough breath, she might have laughed. Instead, she looked back over her shoulder to share her relieved grin with Archer—but he was gone.
18
Ridley slowed and turned completely, but Archer was definitely no longer behind her. “No, no, no,” she gasped, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. She wiped rain from her face again as she looked around. How long had he been gone?
Her eyes darted down as something scratched her leg: Ember. Was that good news or bad? If Ember was alive, did that mean Archer was alive somewhere too? Or did it mean Ember had squirmed away from him before something terrible had happened?
She picked up the cat, then turned fully on the spot, her heart thudding wildly. What was she supposed to do now? Stick to the plan. That’s what Archer would tell her to do. Stick to the plan, and I’ll meet you there. But what if he was hurt and couldn’t get to the hotel? He was the only one of them who had no magic of his own. The wild magic out here might take one taste of him and spit him out from a great height. The thought stole her breath away and made her throat ache. “Please be alive,” she said, staring desperately into the darkening ruins. She could barely hear her own voice over the wind, thunder and pelting rain.
She hugged the cat tightly and moved toward the hotel, turning in slow circles as she went, hoping for a glimpse of Archer making his way through the ruins somewhere. She reached the hotel steps and ascended them slowly, backwards, her eyes still searching. Stopping in front of the entrance—an area protected by a solid arch that had somehow survived years of violent weather—she continued to stare into the storm. She could hardly bear to leave Archer out here, but that was the plan, and she knew he wanted her to follow it.
Since when do I do what Archer Davenport wants me to do?
Ugh, just follow the damn plan, Ridley!
She turned and tugged on the heavy wooden door with one hand, finally pulling it open. Inside the hotel’s lobby, which was lit only by the blue glow of magic, she found Dad—and Callie and Malachi, she noted with relief. But they were all on the floor, and Callie was lying down, and Dad was pulling magic from the air. “What’s wrong?” Ridley asked, rushing over and lowering Ember to the floor.
“Oh, thank goodness you’re here,” Dad said, glancing up at her. “I was starting to get worried.”
“Callie?” Ridley asked, pulling her arms free of the backpack and dumping it on the floor.
“I’m fine, it’s just this cut on my arm,” Callie said, screwing her face up. Ridley shifted until she could see past Dad to the blood seeping from a long gash down Callie’s upper arm. “From when we landed,” Callie added. “But otherwise, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected. The wind was violent, but we both became air, so we were fine when the magic dropped us. I was just dizzy and I tripped and got this stupid cut from a sharp branch.”
“Where’s Archer?” Malachi asked, but Ridley couldn’t answer. Ice had begun to settle in the pit of her stomach as Callie spoke. Callie and Malachi survived because they could become air, but Archer couldn’t do that. He might still be hurtling through the air right now. Or he might already be—
“I’m going back for him,” she said, not allowing her brain to finish that last thought. She ran back across the lobby, shouting, “There’s a book of conjurations in my bag if you need it.”
“What?” Dad called. “Ridley, wait!”
“I’ll be fine, I promise!”
“Ridley!” But she didn’t look back. She pulled the door open with both hands—barely feeling the ache down her right side and the cuts across her right palm—and rushed back down the stairs into the storm. She ran back the way she’d come, though there was no knowing, of course, where exactly Archer might be. “Where are you, where are you?” she muttered repeatedly in a voice that was swept away before it could reach her ears. The rain had lessened, becoming a fine spray, but the merciless wind still buffeted her from every side, blowing bits of grass, sand, leaves and other debris at her.
And then a tree! Tumbling through the air, heading straight for her. For a split second, Ridley was paralyzed by panic. Then the instinctive thought—air—flashed into her mind, and a moment later, the tree blew right through her.
Through. Her.
She looked down, but there was nothing to see since she was made of air. She waited for the nausea, the whirling dizziness, but neither came. It seemed she’d recovered from the arxium she’d inhaled. Wind gusted past and whipped her away past endless crumbling buildings. She almost fought back, but the current was so strong, she doubted she had any hope of regaining control. Terror slammed into her as she realized she was utterly powerless. But at the back of her mind, a quiet voice pushed through her fear: Maybe this is the way it’s supposed to be.
She couldn’t control this, even if she wanted to, so why not let go completely? Why not let the magic around her take over? Perhaps it would even lead her to Archer.
There was a moment where the wind quieted, and Ridley sensed she was close to the ground. She could have materialized, could have dropped to her feet and continued on the ground. But she didn’t. With a shiver that was more excitement than fear, she forced herself to let go of any control she thought she still had. She felt the tension leave her mind. Take me wherever you want, she told the magic crackling through the storm around her.
As she reeled above the wastelands, she sensed herself coming apart, as if every particle of her air-being drifted away and mingled with the storm and its magic. She felt the undulations of the clouds and the changing currents of the wind and the topography of the landscape beneath her. I know you, the magic said. Not in words, but Ridley felt that it recognized her. A thrill of pure delight rushed through every particle of her being before she became aware once more of why she had let go in the first place.
Where is he? she asked. Where did you take him? The answer came immediately. He’s behind me, she realized. Though she made no conscious choice to move that way, the storm carried her back around, dipping and soaring and swirling. Near that building with the giant letter K. The knowledge slipped into her mind effortlessly, like air flowing through the smallest crack.
As she swooped low, he suddenly came into view, limping past the building she’d been thinking of. She was so relieved to see him alive and so scared she might end up whipping right past him that she abruptly lost hold of the perfect balance she’d found. Put me down, put me down! she shrieked inside her mind. Fighting back against the current, she struggled to control the direction she was moving in. She spun dizzily before finally dropping from the air and landing too hard on her feet. She staggered forward and tripped onto her knees, then blinked and breathed and allowed a few moments to pass until the world stopped tilting endlessly.
Then she was up and running toward him through the pattering rain. “Archer!” she shouted. He swung to face her, and their eyes met just as a blue zigzag flashed straight at Ridley. She knew now that it wouldn’t hurt her, but she still found herself throwing her hand out instinctively to protect her face. The magic snapped around her arm, like a crackling blue bracelet, zipping around and around before taking off behind her. As it left, she felt a whisper of something, a caress against her mind. A greeting of sorts.
She stood frozen for a moment, breathing heavily, wondering if she’d imagined the strange encounter. Just like she was probably imagining it when she noticed the sky wasn’t as dark, and the howling wind had died down, and the thunder had become a quiet rumble instead of a boom.
“Ridley!�
�� Archer shouted, bringing her attention back to him as he limped hurriedly toward her.
“You’re okay,” she said, rushing forward as a smile stretched across her face. She almost threw her arms around him, but something about his expression made her stop.
“What the hell are you doing back out here?” he demanded, pushing his wet hair back off his forehead. “You were almost at the hotel.”
“I …” The sudden anger in his eyes—and something else she couldn’t identify—made her hesitate. “I came looking for you. What—”
“Why would you do that? You were supposed to get to the hotel and stay there.”
“I did, but you didn’t come back. I couldn’t just wait there.”
“That’s what you were supposed to do!”
The ferocity of his tone startled her. She wrapped her arms around her soaking wet self. “Why are you mad at me? I thought you might be hurt, or—or worse.”
“I’m mad because you almost got yourself killed for not following instructions.”
“I did not almost get myself killed!” she yelled at him. It was quiet enough now that neither of them needed to shout, but Ridley couldn’t help it. She’d been so scared he was dead and now he was angry with her for caring? “I’m an elemental, so why would magic kill me? That’s what you said. You said Callie, Malachi and I should be fine. But you’re not like us, so of course I wasn’t going to follow instructions when you disappeared. How was I supposed to know you’d be okay? You could have been dead! You could have exploded into a thousand little magical pieces and I would never have seen you again!”
“Well how do you think I felt when you just vanished from the bunker?” Archer yelled. “I’ve been trying to keep you safe since I returned to the city and you keep getting yourself into danger!”
“THAT ONE WASN’T MY FAULT!” She blinked away angry tears. “Now can we please stop shouting? I’m trying to be happy that you’re alive and you’re making it impossible.”
Archer moved closer, his chest rising and falling with heavy breaths. He didn’t say a word as his eyes traveled her face, and Ridley finally recognized what she’d seen in his gaze—fear. Suddenly, her anger was gone. She couldn’t figure out what, exactly, took its place, but it expanded inside her chest until it felt like it might burst.
She couldn’t tell which of them moved first, but suddenly Archer’s hands were in her hair, her arms were snaking around his waist, and their lips were pressed together. She dug her fingers into his back and kissed him as if this were the only chance she’d ever get. Their lips were slippery from the rain, and when his tongue moved across hers, it tasted like rain too. She pressed closer, desperate for more. Her heart thrummed and her skin grew hot, and when a shiver raced across her skin, it had nothing to do with being cold.
“I’m sorry I yelled,” Archer said breathlessly against her mouth. “I was just scared.”
In answer, Ridley kissed him harder. Another shiver coursed through her as his arms slid down her back and tightened, pulling her even closer. Some part of her registered that she needed air, and eventually she paused for long enough to suck in a shaky breath. “I was scared too,” she said, kissing him again before adding, “I had to come looking for you. You know you would have done the same for me.”
She felt, more than heard, his quiet rumble of a laugh. He brushed his lips along her jaw and pressed a kiss beneath her ear. “I didn’t realize you knew me so well.” He tipped his brow forward to lean against hers. She drew her arms back from around his neck and flattened each palm against his chest. Closing her eyes, she let out a long, shaky breath.
“This doesn’t make any sense,” she said. “I don’t even like you.”
He laughed again, a little louder this time. “Your current actions suggest otherwise.”
She bit her lip, but she couldn’t keep her smile back. She tilted her head to the side and kissed him again. Because he was right, of course. She liked him very much. The problem was that part of her still felt like she shouldn’t. Part of her still remembered the old Archer Davenport. The one the net tabloids liked to write about. The one dozens of girls had thrown themselves at, as Lilah had so sweetly reminded her. And that part of Ridley was screaming at her to run far away and protect her heart before he crushed it. Fortunately, that part of her was tiny, and she easily stomped it down. Because the last thing she wanted to do was run. She wanted to be closer, she wanted his arms around her, and his fingers threading through her hair, and his body against hers.
But the storm wasn’t over, and at that moment, lightning struck so close that Ridley could almost feel the static crackle in the air. Her eyelids sprang apart, and she pulled her head back to look around. Archer’s grip around her waist eased. His hand moved to take hold of hers. “The wind isn’t as violent as it was before. Can you get us back to the hotel as air?”
“Yes. Actually—” She looked at him as a smile formed on her lips “I didn’t tell you before when we were yelling at each other, but …” Her smile stretched wider. “I did it. I let go properly. I had no idea how to find you and so I just … let go. Surrendered myself. I felt like I was everywhere at once, as if I inhabited the entire storm.” She almost added that the magic in the elements had told her it recognized her, but that sounded a little too weird.
Archer’s hand squeezed tighter around hers. “Well done. See? Your grandfather and I weren’t making things up.”
“I kind of panicked at the end, but until that point, it was great.” She beamed at him. “So we can get back to the hotel that way. It doesn’t matter if it’s too windy. I’ll just let go and the elemental magic can take us.”
Archer shook his head. “I can’t do that. You can wrap air around me, but the other thing—the part where you said you felt like you were everywhere at once—that won’t work on me.”
“Oh.” Disappointment settled over her. “I’m sorry. Okay, then let’s just be air like normal.” She smiled and rolled her eyes. “Not that that’s normal, but you know what I mean.” She looped her arms around him, and together they vanished.
It was a bit of a struggle working against the wind, and Ridley expected she’d probably end up with a headache later, but it didn’t take too long to get back to the Huntley Hotel. They ascended the stairs hand in hand, but she let go just before reaching the door. Her brain had barely caught up with what had just happened; she didn’t think she was ready to share it with anyone else just yet.
She heaved the wooden door open and walked in ahead of Archer. He limped inside behind her, and she asked, “What happened?”
“Just twisted it when the magic dropped me. I landed at a weird angle, I think.”
“Okay. I’m sure we can fix it with a conjuration or two.”
She expected to find the others in the lobby still, but it seemed they’d moved. As Archer pushed the front door shut behind them, darkness descended. The only illumination was a subtle glow emanating from a doorway on the far side of the lobby. Quiet voices reached Ridley’s ears, and she figured that’s where Dad, Malachi and Callie were.
Since she could barely see a thing, and she obviously had no torch or commscreen with her, she allowed her hands to begin glowing. Magic rose away from her skin in wisps. In the eerie blue light, Archer reached for her right hand and interlaced his fingers with hers. She felt his eyes on her, but she couldn’t bring herself to meet his gaze. The more she thought about it, the weirder this felt. She’d kissed Archer Davenport, of all people! How could this not be weird?
“What, now you don’t want to look at me?” he teased.
She dared a glance at his beautiful dark eyes before looking down again. “It’s just …” She laughed and shook her head. “This is just very strange, that’s all.”
“How about I keep kissing you until it stops feeling strange?”
She pressed her lips together, but her smile refused to be contained. “I guess that wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world,” she told him.
His thumb brushed against her palm, and she was vaguely aware of the stinging pain from her grazed skin. Interesting how she’d paid zero attention to that pain as she’d pressed her hands hard into Archer’s back. The memory caused heat to crawl up her neck.
“Ridley?”
She tugged her hand out of Archer’s and stepped back as Dad shouted her name. Hurried footsteps sounded from the direction of the staircase beside the elevator door. “Down here,” she called, moving toward the stairs.
“Ohthankgoodness,” Dad said, his words rushing out of him in a single breath as he reached the bottom of the stairs. He crossed the lobby and scooped Ridley into a tight hug. “What were you thinking going back out there?”
“Magic took him, Dad,” she murmured as she returned his embrace. “I couldn’t just leave him out there.”
“Are Callie and Malachi here?” Archer asked.
“Yes.” Dad removed his arms from around Ridley. “They’re in a lounge back there,” he added, nodding to the soft light Ridley had noticed radiating from a doorway. “I healed that cut on Callie’s arm, but she wasn’t feeling great after seeing her own blood dripping everywhere, so Malachi took her to lie down on a couch. I went upstairs to see if I could spot you through any of the windows.”
“Did you see us out there?” Ridley asked, trying to hide the anxious edge her voice had taken on. She had no idea how high Dad had been, or how far he could see through the storm, or whether there was even a direct line of sight between this building and the one she’d found Archer in front of. Not that it would be so terrible if he’d seen the two of them kissing. She just didn’t feel ready for him to know.
“Yes,” Dad said. “I was looking down when you materialized from the air by the front steps.”
“Okay.” Ridley exhaled in relief. “Um, I suppose we should all change out of our wet clothes. But maybe we should talk first. About what we’re going to do in the morning. You know, who’s going to go back for food and all that.”
Elemental Power Page 21