by Jo Schneider
“Move!” Kamau said, pushing everyone apart. They scattered, and the small harpoon-ish looking projectile that came from the gun rocketed through them, sticking in the ground a few yards behind.
“What is that?” Lys asked, crouching behind a car with Kamau.
“I don’t think we want to know,” Kamau said.
Jed held up his hand and his two cohorts stopped.
“We’re not here to hurt you,” he said, the same look of disdain on his face as he’d had in Doyle’s office. “If you come quietly, we promise that no harm will come to you.”
“You’re full if it, Jed,” Mark said, stumbling to his feet.
Jed’s eyes turned to Mark and a dark smile creased his lips. “It’ll be a pleasure taking you in.”
“Right, like that’s going to happen.” Mark shook his head. Lys could hear the bravado wavering as Mark took a step forward. “Why don’t you and your boys back off and let us be on our way. We already took care of your little friends.”
Jed snorted. “I don’t think so.” He glanced around. “You’re outnumbered, and I’m pretty sure these kids don’t have any idea what they’re really dealing with.”
“All they need to know is that you’re trying to kill them.”
“Would I do that?” Jed asked, placing a hand on his chest.
Lys watched the exchange. The two men looked like gunslingers from an old western movie, faced off with nothing in between them. Only Mark didn’t have a gun. Still, Jed hesitated. Why?
A flicker of movement caught Lys’s attention, and she saw the two armored men turn their guns on Mark.
“Yeah, mate, you would.” Mark’s hand came up just as Jed’s gun did. Jed fired and Mark shot blue light from his palms, creating a visible shield in front of himself. The net hit the shield, spread out, twitched, and fell to the ground.
The other two fired as well, but Mark threw himself backward, landing hard again.
Lys got to her hands and knees and crawled with Kamau to where Inez waited behind a car. She didn’t want to make herself a target, and she didn’t have anything to offer a real fight. Her ribs protested, and she could feel herself getting lightheaded. She risked a look back.
Brady appeared, crouching in front of Mark, his hands kneading the dirt like dough. He grabbed the ground like a rug and raised his hands. The earth came up and Brady flicked it like a towel. A wave rolled toward Jed. He tried to get out of the way, but Lys watched as he rose to the top of the wave and then down the back side.
The two men in armor converged on Brady. He squat down, grabbed clods of dirt as big as his head and threw them across his body, each hitting a man in armor in the chest. They both flew back, landing thirty feet away on the ground.
“Brady!” Mark yelled. “That’s enough!”
Lys turned her attention back to Brady. He knelt down, his hands still kneading the ground. Only now they were in elbow deep.
“It feels so good,” Brady said. “This is awesome!”
“Hey!” Mark said, moving toward Brady. “Cut it off now. We need to go.”
“Okay, okay,” Brady said. He tried to pull his hands free, but wasn’t able to.
“Uh,” he tugged again with the same result. “I don’t know what . . .” Brady lunged forward, like something had grabbed him from beneath the ground.
The dirt around Lys started to shake and jump. She got to her feet and stepped back. The ground gave way, sucking her down like a whirlpool. One leg went in to her upper thigh. She screamed.
Inez backed away.
Lys’s other leg began to sink as well. Clawing at the dirt, she tried to stop herself from being inhaled by the ground. Rocks scraped at her through the thin pants, and she felt a scream of pure terror rising from her lungs. The smell of the dark engulfed her, and Lys clawed faster, trying to stop from sinking. Her breath became shallow, and she felt the world closing in around her. Not the dark. Please, not again.
Just as her hips passed into the dirt, a strong hand reached out and grabbed hers.
“Hold on,” Kamau said. His other hand clung onto a car bumper.
Lys couldn’t speak. She just kept struggling.
“Brady!” Mark bellowed. “Cut it off!”
“I can’t,” Brady said, fear rising in his voice. “It won’t let me.”
Mark growled and ran toward Brady. He started to sink, and was up to his knees before he leaned down and touched the ground around him. Brady’s vortex hit a chunk of solid stone where Mark stood. The earth beneath Lys solidified, holding her fast.
Lys watched as a wave of earth came from under Brady’s hands. It crackled and groaned as the ground pitched and rose, coming straight for them. Cars slid aside, metal hitting metal.
Lys couldn’t move. Kamau struggled in vain to pull her out.
“Go!” Lys said, shoving Kamau away.
Before he could argue, Mark stepped in front of them. He thrust his hands into the oncoming wave, and it crashed against him, the middle of it falling. The edges kept going. One of them just missed Kamau and took out a line of cars. The other hit Inez straight on. She rolled to the top of it and got bucked off, flying through the air. She screamed.
“Inez!” Lys said. She looked at Brady. “Brady, you have to stop!” She glanced at Kamau. “Can you help him?”
“I got it,” Mark said, literally pulling the ground up in front of another wave and stopping it. Mark ran to Brady and touched him on the side of the neck. Lys saw a familiar flash of light and Brady collapsed.
“Are you hurt?” Kamau asked.
“I’m fine.” Lys shook her head. “Where is Inez?” Kamau looked in the direction Inez had gone. “Go look for her!”
Kamau jumped to comply. Lys tried to wiggle free, but to no avail. She’d let her friends bury her under the sand at the beach a few times; it had taken her quite a while to get out of it. That paled in comparison to this.
“Inez is hurt!” Kamau said.
Mark swore. “Is anyone else hurt?”
“No, just stuck,” Lys answered, her voice trembling. She heard Brady groan.
“What happened?” Brady asked.
“You lost control,” Mark snapped. “I told you not to mess with it. Now stay there while I go check on Inez. Don’t even think about using.”
“Inez?” Brady’s voice was small, desperate.
“You hurt her,” Mark said. “Let me go take a look.”
“But I . . . I didn’t mean to.” Brady stammered, stumbling to his feet.
Lys cranked her whole body around in order to see Inez. Her middle wailed in protest. Kamau and Mark knelt next to Inez. Brady fell to his hands and knees. Lys thought she could hear him crying.
“Is she okay?” Brady asked, pleading.
“She’s breathing,” Kamau said. “I don’t see any blood, but I’d bet her arm is broken.”
“Her arm?”
“Nothing we can do about that here,” Mark shook his head. “I’m no healer.”
“We need to splint it,” Kamau advised.
Brady continued to babble; Lys couldn’t make out his words.
A black van came around the far corner of the lot.
“We have company,” she yelled.
Everyone looked up. Mark swore again.
“Get her behind that trailer,” Mark ordered Kamau and Brady. “Lys, what’s wrong with you?”
“My legs are stuck,” she said, trying again to pull herself free. And it felt like someone had punched her in the ribs.
“I can fix that.” Mark ran over and placed a hand on each side of her leg. “Grab my shoulder and pull yourself out just as soon as the dirt is loose enough.”
Lys felt the ground rumble and then loosen, but it didn’t turn to sand like it had for Brady. Rocks and dirt funneled around her legs, scratching and biting. “Ouch,” she said through clenched teeth.
“Sorry,” Mark grunted. “My precision isn’t great. It would be easier for me to make the whole field loose than just this
bit.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “Just get me out. The van will be here any second.”
The ground became loose, but not fluid. Lys pulled on Mark’s shoulder. She felt a deep gouge forming as she wiggled one leg free. Ignoring the pain (knowing they were about to be caught), Lys clawed her way forward, finally getting the other leg out. She rolled over on her back, gasping, flinching as she breathed.
“Looks like the touch users aren’t being very nice to you ladies,” Mark said, glancing at her leg.
“Let’s go,” Lys said. She didn’t even want to look. Lys could feel blood flowing freely from her leg to the ground. The warm, sticky fluid changed directions as Mark helped her to her feet.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s get out of here.
The adrenaline pumping through her veins began to wane. She heard Inez stifle a scream and she heard Brady saying he was sorry over and over. Mark half carried her through the maze of tangled cars to the others. He still didn’t seem very steady on his feet, and Lys tried to support her own weight as much as she could.
They weren’t there yet when the dark van came around the nearest row of cars. It came straight for them.
“Oh, great,” Mark said. “Kamau!”
Lys tried to move faster. Kamau started back toward them.
“Better get out of the way,” Mark said to Lys, gently pushing her to the side.
She didn’t argue, especially when she glanced down and saw the deep cut that ran from the front of her ankle up and around to the back of her knee. Lys didn’t usually have a problem with blood, but that was deep, and she felt herself getting lightheaded.
Oh, no, Lys thought, I’m not passing out. She grit her teeth and limped away from Mark.
Kamau ran to help her, and he reached her just as the van flipped around so the passenger door stopped right in front of Mark.
“More New?” Kamau asked.
“I don’t know. But you’d better go help Mark. Use your Jedi mind tricks, or whatever.”
Kamau hesitated.
“Just go,” Lys said, pushing him away. She heard the click of a door opening. She tensed, looking back over her shoulder, ready to dodge a flying net or whatever else might be shot at her.
Chapter 20
Lys almost cried with relief as Ayden and a woman Lys didn’t recognize appeared when the window rolled down.
“You guys need some help?”
“It’s about time you got here,” Mark said.
“What happened?” the woman asked, glaring at Mark. “What did you do?”
Mark looked like he wanted to say something smart, but he held up a hand. “We have to get out of here. There are three of the New over there, and Brady just lost it.”
“Jump in,” Ayden said.
“Wait!” the woman said, eying Lys. “Let me grab the first-aid kit. She’s going to bleed to death.”
Those were not the words Lys wanted to hear.
“She’s not going to bleed to death,” Mark said. Then he took a good look at Lys’s leg. “But it probably wouldn’t hurt to wrap it.” He accepted the kit from the woman. “Let’s go.”
Kamau got Lys’s arm around his shoulders and helped her limp to the van. They put her in the back seat with Inez and Brady.
“You know how to wrap that up?” Mark asked Brady.
Brady looked a little sick. “Uh . . .”
Inez, sweat pouring down her face, rolled her eyes. “Just do it,” she said, looking at Lys’s leg, actual concern in her eyes. Well, concern mixed with pain. With the way she held her left arm, Lys wondered how she wasn’t screaming. “Who are these guys?”
Mark turned as they pulled out after Ayden. “A couple of Mason’s people. Friends of mine,” he added, seeing the dark look on Inez’s face. “They’re here to help.”
“Sure they are,” Inez muttered, closing her eyes.
“Hold on, try not to pass out,” Mark said to Lys.
The words began to blur together as Brady pulled a long roll of gauze out of the first-aid kit. He started at her ankle and wrapped up Lys’s entire leg. The dizziness increased as she had to move her leg, and soon all she could see were little patches of reality through the black blotches that spotted her vision.
“Lys?” Mark said. “Do not close your eyes.”
It didn’t much matter if her eyes were closed. Black engulfed her. Sound continued to distort, and Lys soon slipped into oblivion.
It didn’t take long for the magic to call to her. Lys could feel it trying to get through the barrier. It whispered softly, caressing her emotions and enticing her to use it. Just for a minute. It would feel so good.
Someone tried to talk to her, but Lys ignored them. Instead she pictured her board. The white surface appeared—bowing out like a giant ball rolled behind it. She wanted to put a hole as big as her head in the board. The magic would fill her. The brilliant light would sing to her.
The idea both seduced and repulsed her. Could she get back out of it if she allowed the magic to overflow? Would it block out the Need if she did? Which was more dangerous?
Darkness took her, and Lys let it. Her mind filled with overlaying images, and she watched as they played on a dark screen. They started slow, increasing in speed like a rock rolling down a hill. Lys tried to concentrate—the pure quantity overwhelmed her. She willed the magic through her in an attempt to balance it. The images slowed and dwindled until she saw only one—someone looking at her picture. Fingers stroked the frayed edge of the photo, and the perspective got blurry. The view went dark for a moment—blink. Lys understood. Someone was looking at her picture, and crying.
A knife cut through the scene and yanked Lys awake. She sat up, dizzy and gasping for breath.
“There we go,” Ayden said.
Lys blinked a few times in order to clear the picture of her from her vision. Faces formed around her, and finally Lys recognized Ayden sitting on wooden bench next to her. The woman from the van sat on the other side.
“Where are we?” Lys asked, glancing around and finding herself in a picnic area of some sort.
“Outside Vegas,” Ayden said. “Jodi here is about to heal your leg. You should be awake for it.”
Jodi smiled. “Healing broken bones in a moving vehicle isn’t easy.” She shot a worried look over at another picnic table where Lys could see Inez lying down and Mark sitting with his head in his arms. “So we stopped.”
Lys felt disconnected, like she’d just taken an afternoon nap that she couldn’t wake up from. Raising a hand, she could see her fingers shaking.
“Shock,” Jodi said, her blue eyes swirling. Her short, blond hair lay plastered to her head with sweat. “Don’t worry; I’ll have you fixed up in a second.” She smiled and then looked at Ayden. “You might want to hold her.”
“Why?” Lys asked, her voice shaky.
“It doesn’t really hurt,” Jodi said. “But it’s a little uncomfortable. It’s always wise to keep you from thrashing around, especially since you’ve never been healed before.”
“I’ll hold her,” Kamau said, stepping into view.
Ayden and Jodi exchanged a glance and Jodi shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. She’ll probably be fine.”
“Can I watch?” Brady asked, walking over to the table.
Kamau replaced Ayden, sitting down next to Lys and taking her trembling hand. He smiled.
A small part of Lys finally grounded. She tried to return the smile, but didn’t manage it.
Jodi had Lys put her foot up on the bench and pulled the gauze away from her leg. Lys couldn’t help a gasp of pain. The big gash still oozed blood, and she could see dozens of other scrapes that didn’t look like they were going to get better anytime soon. “Ooh, nasty. Did he do this?” Jodi asked, glancing at Mark.
Lys shrugged. “I was stuck. He got me out.”
Jodi rolled her eyes. “Never trust a chaos user to do what someone more mature should take care of.”
Lys didn’t know what that meant.
“What are you going to do?”
“Heal you,” Jodi said, placing her finger at the top of the biggest gash.
A cool, clear feeling started in the cut right where Jodi touched it. The blood in and around the wound got warm, uncomfortably so, until Jodi’s finger moved on. Once her finger was gone, a cool sensation, not unlike peppermint gum, replaced it.
It didn’t hurt, but it was uncomfortable, like having one side of you next to the fire while the other side stood in the snow. Lys could feel herself squeezing Kamau’s hand hard, but she couldn’t let go. As Jodi’s finger moved, the wound closed up, just like a zipper.
“Is that hard?” Lys asked through gritted teeth.
“Not really,” Jodi said. “I’m a natural healer. It just takes some energy. Now hold still. Give it a minute to settle down,” Jodi said, her finger still tracing the gash.
Amazement kept Lys’s eyes riveted to Jodi’s finger and the clean, pink skin that it left behind. Kamau leaned forward so he could get a better look.
“Amazing,” he said. “We couldn’t see it when she healed Inez or Mark.”
“Inez?” Lys’s thoughts were drawn away for a moment: bloody hands, the fight after the sewers, Peter. “Is she okay?”
“She’s okay,” Brady said, his eyes not moving from Jodi’s work.
“Hold still,” Jodi warned. “Just a few more seconds.”
“Sorry,” Lys said, turning her eyes back to her leg.
“There you go,” Jodi said a moment later. The hot-cold feeling traveled down the rest of the wound until there was nothing left of it. Not even a pucker of welted skin.
Lys noticed Jodi’s hand shaking. “Are you okay?” Lys asked.
Jodi smiled. “Just a little tired. I haven’t done this much healing at once in a long time.”
“Thank you,” Lys said.
“I told you,” Mark said, “some of the touch users are very skilled at healing. I’m just not one of them.”
Lys glanced over to see Mark propped up on one elbow. Inez, too.
“I told you to rest,” Jodi said, frowning at Mark.
“Sorry, I just wanted to watch.” Mark’s innocent face didn’t seem like it was doing much for Jodi. He still looked bad, but the color had returned to his cheeks.