by Kay, Sharon
Little by little, she drew more dirt from the cavern floor, commanding it to compress and move under them. And foot by foot, they made their way up through the darkness on a narrow pillar of dirt.
Caine still held a fireball in his hand, but the only place Alina wanted to look was up. She guessed they had to be thirty feet high and though she wasn’t afraid of heights, there was nothing around them. No railings and no safety net.
“If I stretch, I could touch the underside of the top.” He studied the jagged clumps of soil above them. Branches and roots jutted down at awkward angles, probably forced there when the Makara closed up the ground. “Ready to crack it open?”
“Yeah.” She nodded. “Here goes.” Shielding her face against the imminent mess, she picked a spot directly over their heads and willed the ground to split apart.
The whole cavern gave a slight tremble and she grabbed on to Caine. “Slower.” She spoke aloud to her power, not caring if he heard her.
A scattering of dust filtered down, followed by small chunks of dirt that bounced off her hands, and then a sliver of light appeared overhead. She concentrated on her ability as a steady stream of energy, moving at a snail’s pace. The sliver widened until a ray of bright sunlight shone down into the gloom. Just a little more…there! A ragged gouge was now carved in the ground, letting in fresh air along with all that beautiful light.
“Great job, baby!” Caine’s arm tightened around her waist. “You feel okay?”
“I feel great!” She took a deep breath. Almost done. “Now for the last part.” She refocused on the cavern floor, trying not to think about how far down it was. She repeated the steps of summoning the dirt and raising their pillar.
In minutes, Caine’s shoulders cleared the surface. “Ready for a boost?” His hands went to her hips.
“Yes.” Excitement sparkled in her veins, but she wouldn’t fully relax until they were both out of this mess.
In a fluid motion, Caine lifted her up and onto the edge of the gouge. He followed, tugging her to her feet and leading them away from the gap. Stopping several yards away, he cupped her face in his hands. “You’re amazing, you know that? No one alive can do what you just did.”
She searched his dark eyes, reading nothing but wonder and respect there. “I didn’t know I could do it, until I did. That felt really good.”
“Not afraid to try. Add that to the things I like about you.” He dipped his head and kissed her.
She linked her hands behind his neck, prepared to let him kiss her senseless, when running footsteps drew her attention. They both turned to see Brenin and Scorpio running toward them.
Belatedly, Alina realized they were in the same spot where they’d disappeared. The same line of fresh dirt ran the length of the valley where she had opened the ground earlier.
“What the hell happened to you?” Brenin said as he came to a stop. Next to him, Scorpio stood silently as his golden eyes swept them up and down.
“We’re fine,” Alina said. “The craziest thing hap—”
The air hummed with energy and Caine tucked her even closer. “Portal.” His tone was wary, eyes darting left to right.
“Should be the Hunter,” Brenin drawled, and sure enough, a shimmery circle appeared in the air, about three feet off the ground. Mathias and Gin tumbled out.
The portal closed, and immediately a second one appeared. This time, Brooke and Nicole rolled unceremoniously onto the ground with their mates.
“What’s everyone doing here?” Alina asked.
At the same time, Nicole leaped to her feet. “Wait, you’re okay? We thought you were in trouble.”
“I called them,” Brenin said to Alina. “You two just fell into the ground and it fucking closed over you. Then you weren’t answering your phones. And, actually, I only called Mathias. But I’m not surprised the rest of the gang showed up.” He aimed a knowing smile at her sisters.
“There was no way in hell we’d sit around after hearing our sister was stuck underground. Again.” Brooke dusted off her jeans and stood. “If Mathias was coming to help out, so were we.”
“You were planning to track us,” Caine said to Mathias.
The Hunter nodded. “Yep, and it was logical to start where you were most recently seen.”
“The funny thing is, we were never far away from here,” Alina said. “We were directly underground.”
“Brenin said you got dragged underground. I panicked. Tell us everything!” Gin snuggled under her mate’s arm and looked at Alina with anxious eyes
Caine nodded to Alina. “You can do the honors. It was your show.”
“Okay.” Alina started from the beginning when she and Caine had been pulled underground and related every detail up until she got them free.
Gin clapped a hand over her mouth when Alina described the Makara warriors. “Oh my god, those things are real!” She whirled to Mathias. “They were chasing us!”
“An army of undead creatures that’ll help us out?” Brooke’s gray eyes widened. “Whoa.”
“And double whoa on the way you got yourselves out.” Nicole grinned in admiration.
“How’d you get here, anyway?” Alina asked. “Won’t Arawn be pissed that we’re out of the building?” Her last sentence was delivered dripping in sarcasm.
Brooke chuckled. “That dude needs to chill. We’re in a remote place. And now, we have hundreds of ghostly helpers in case we get into a bind.”
“We got a brief tour of HQ, including a stop in the spell center. Gin was very curious about the different kinds of transportation amulets. Two of them may have managed to fall into her pocket.” Nicole smirked.
Gunnar shoved a hand through his hair. “Yeah, Arawn will be pissed.” He shrugged and looked from Kai to Mathias. “But he hasn’t been around our women very long. He’ll learn that running into the fray is par for the course.”
“Hey, only when we know we can help. And definitely if family is involved.” Gin crossed her arms over her chest. “So, now what? Caine and Alina are fine.”
Nicole’s green eyes danced with excitement. “We’re all together in a remote place.” A huge grin lit her face. “Let’s see what we can do!”
Her sister’s excitement was contagious. Alina looked at all of them. “Okay. I’m in.”
“Wait, I want to do this.” Gin gestured wide. “But won’t we wake up the undead again? I mean, I woke them before by using my power, and Alina did today.”
“Hmm.” Alina tapped a finger on her chin. “True, but now they know it’s us that’s the source. And they want to serve us.”
“I don’t want to get dragged underground, even if you can get us out.” Brooke made a face.
“I can talk to them, if they come back. But I have a feeling they won’t,” Alina said.
“Okay. Alina can be our point of contact for the Makara. Gunnar and I will hang back and watch the show.” Kai grinned. “And keep an eye out for any company we might get.”
“Yes!” Nicole fist pumped the air and turned to Gin. “There’s something I’ve been dying to try with you. Let’s make a fire tornado.”
“Okay.” Gin nodded, a smile tugged her lips upward. “Those are intense.” She turned to Mathias, and he produced a fireball in his palm.
Alina watched in wonder as the ball levitated, carried by Gin’s power. Gin moved it far away from them, then stretched the ball into a six-foot column. “You want to take over?” she asked Nicole.
“Yup.” Nicole stared at the fire, which began to rotate slowly. Wind rustled through the trees, ruffling Nicole’s hair, seeming to converge on the fiery shape. It spun faster, turning into a vortex of wind and flame that was as beautiful as it was deadly. “Gonna move it around now,” Nicole announced.
Alina tore her eyes away from the lethal tornado to look at her oldest sister. Eyes open, Nicole’s face radiated confidence and a don’t-mess-with-me attitude that Alina couldn’t help but admire.
“Nice,” Brooke said, and Alina turned b
ack to see the spiral of flames moving along the dirt. It kicked up sprays of charred dust in its wake.
Nicole stopped the tornado’s motion, and in a heartbeat it was back to a column of fire. “Okay, I’m done. I want to try another thing with fire, but we’ll need Alina too.”
“Me?” Alina’s eyes widened.
“Gin can bend a fireball into a hoop,” Nicole said. “I want to see if I can grab it and fling it…to land around an enemy fighter. But I’d like some targets that won’t catch fire, unlike the trees and bushes.”
“And we heard about how you created targets the other night.” Brooke shot her a smile.
“Oh, sure. I can make those again.” Alina summoned her power and built three dirt targets the same way she’d done in the Watchers’ practice ring. She leaned on Caine, who hadn’t left her side. “All done.”
Power built in the air as Gin grasped the column of fire with her mind and bent it into a ring. The feat itself was amazing, but so was the energy from her sister’s ability. It was stronger than any magic she’d felt, and carried with it the assurance of endless potential accompanied by a sense of belonging. Alina smiled, knowing she was exactly where she was supposed to be.
Once the fire was reshaped, Nicole used her power to fling it toward Alina’s targets. With utter precision it landed around one, and then Gin used her ability to shrink the ring until it was snug around the dirt.
“Nice!” Brooke tucked her ever-present water bottle under her arm gave a slow clap. “Two more to go and then I need Nic.”
Nicole and Gin repeated the process, dropping fire hoops onto Alina’s other targets. Then Alina watched as Nicole and Brooke created a water column similar to the fire tornado. Next, Brooke shook her water bottle so that a row of droplets shimmered in the air. Nicole chilled the air around them, and Brooke formed them into knives, which Nicole flung into the ground.
“You guys are awesome!” Alina said. “What else can we do?”
“I can make a dust storm with dirt you stir up,” Nicole suggested.
“Water and dirt make mud.” Brooke pulled her hair back into a ponytail. “What can we do with mud?”
“One of us can chill the water in the mud and make a sort of frozen ice-dirt,” Nicole said.
Alina made a face. “That sounds so dull compared to what you all just did. Who needs frozen dirt?”
“Hey, don’t sell yourself short.” Caine ran a hand down her arm. “You could create a structure, maybe a wall or a barrier that could be useful. Or if you needed projectiles you could throw it. It’d cause as much damage as a rock. Or…” His eyes twinkled.
“Or what?” Alina folded her arms.
“Remember what I said about you opening holes in the ground? Not big ones. Just enough to sink one or two creatures.”
“That’s right.” Alina’s focus slid back to her targets.
“Ooh, good idea,” Brooke said. “That would be handy in a fight! Just drop your opponent into the ground.”
“Okay, here goes.” Alina gathered her power once more and visualized a hole opening beneath one of her targets. With a rumble and a low groan, a circular crack raced around it, then the entire thing plummeted. Only a round hole remained.
“Wow,” Gin breathed. “Where’d it go?”
“Um, down, Einstein.” Sarcasm sprinkled Nicole’s voice, but her eyes danced in merriment.
“Duh. I mean, how far down?” Gin ignored her older sister.
“I sent it five hundred feet down. Think that’s far enough for an enemy?” Alina asked.
“Five hundred feet?” Caine’s tone was admiring and astonished. “Yeah, I’d say that’s far enough. If not, you can send them farther the next time.”
“You know, I don’t think you need to do anything extra,” Gin said. “You can open up the freaking ground! That’s a game changer right there. What can top that?”
Alina’s gaze settled on the scrubby grass at her feet. “You’re right. It’s just cool seeing what you three can do.”
“Brooke and I can’t do a single thing unless our element is present. We can’t conjure it out of thin air. But your element is always under your feet.” Gin’s eyes shone with respect.
“Unless she’s in space,” Nicole muttered.
Brooke snorted. “Does that count as a realm?”
“I don’t know but there’s no air in space either.” Gin smirked.
Alina couldn’t help but giggle with her sisters. Everything they said was smart or funny, but they never acted pompous. They radiated fun and take-charge attitude, and her heart swelled at her luck in finding them.
“Time for us to head back.” Mathias looked at the horizon. “Not only are all of you off-site against orders, but it’s getting toward night.”
“Orders, schmorders.” Nicole rolled her eyes.
“Seriously, he might be pissed. I think if we all sit him down and talk to him, he’ll understand,” Gin said.
Kai strode up to throw a brawny arm around Brooke. “Or run screaming for mercy.”
“Hey.” Brooke frowned but it dissolved into a smile at her mate. “I think we just need to convince him—”
“That we’re always right,” Nicole said with a grin.
“I look forward to you convincing Arawn of anything, love.” Gunnar walked over and slid his hand into Nicole’s. He held up one transportation amulet. “Who’s ‘porting with us?”
“We will,” Kai said. He and Brooke joined Nicole and Gunnar.
Alina and Caine stood with Mathias, Gin, Brenin, and Scorpio. Mathias uttered the words to open the portal, and as soon as the shimmering ring appeared, they all stepped in.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
ALINA CLUTCHED CAINE TIGHTLY AS they spun through the portal. In minutes they and the others had landed at the backyard training area of HQ. Several Watchers who were going through martial arts routines in the rings turned and waved, then resumed their activity.
Caine grabbed Alina’s hand as they walked toward the building. “You were amazing today.”
She grinned up at him. “Thanks, I feel a lot more in control. And a lot more prepared, if and when something happens. Not that I’m an expert yet, but I have a better grasp of what I can do.”
“I have to leave you for a bit.” He rubbed a thumb over her knuckles. “I have to train a new group of Watcher recruits in the finer points of Neshi demon kills.”
“Ugh, Neshi demons.” She shuddered. “But that’s fine. I want to catch up with my dad.” Sebastian stood near the door, deep in talks with one of the demons she recognized from the tech group.
Caine leaned down to place a quick kiss on her lips, then turned her toward her dad. “I’ll call you when I’m done.”
“Okay.” She watched him stride away, all rippling muscles and lethal confidence.
“Alina!”
Her attention swung to her dad, who had ended his conversation with the demon tech expert, and she hurried over to him. “Hi, Dad.”
“Hi, little one.” He folded her into a hug. “I heard you had an eventful day.”
“Yeah. They kept you in the loop, I guess?” She pulled back.
“Yes, Raniero gave me updates as he got them. At least, updates on whether you were okay.” He gestured for them to sit on a bench along the back wall of the building. “But he didn’t know exactly what you were doing with your power.”
“Dad, it was amazing.” She explained every detail of her day, from her own power to the Makara, and lastly her sisters’ skills.
Her dad listened patiently, one of the things she loved about him. Calm, with the habit of soaking it all in—those were two qualities that he possessed in spades. When she’d finished, he gave her a look of pure love. “You’re an amazing young woman, you know.”
“Thanks to you.” She leaned her shoulder into his.
“I may have given you the framework, but you filled in the nuances that make you special. I’m proud of you, Alina. You’re seizing this new skill and ru
nning with it. And you seem to fit right in with your new family.”
“I adore them. And I love you too. We should do something soon, you and me and my sisters. They’re so much fun.”
“I’d like that.” Sebastian paused. “I can tell you’re also…becoming fond of Caine.” His voice grew heavy with concern. “He seems honorable, but Alina, I—”
“I know, Dad. I won’t let it…I mean, it’s a casual relationship. I won’t risk anything.” Even as she said the words, she hated herself. Lies, all of it. Lies spoken to herself and now her dad, who only wanted to look out for her.
“I know what we learned the other day was staggering. But I don’t want to lose you. You’re my child. I love you.” His tone softened. “I wish I could change the way things are.”
“Me too, and I know you would if you had even a remote possibility of a chance.” She took his hand. “I know I need to stay just friends with every man I meet.”
He nodded and smiled sadly. “You’re a smart girl. If there’s a fix, you’ll find it. Or maybe one of your sisters will?” He slid a glance to Gin, who lounged against the wall, studying her phone.
“Thanks, Dad.” She followed his gaze to her sister, who looked up and gave a small wave as if she didn’t want to interrupt.
“Go. Talk to her.” He angled his head toward Gin. “I’m needed in the armory. Evidently there are some old locked chests that no one has been able to open. Spells and physical force haven’t worked.”
“Really? With all the resources here? That’s crazy.” She scrunched her nose. “Well then, go pick those locks and make me proud.”
With a chuckle, her dad waved and headed off down the hall.
Alina walked toward her sister. “Hey.”
“Hey, yourself.” Gin shoved her phone into her pocket. “Mathias had to go in and talk to Arawn.”
“Is it about today?” Alina asked.
“Probably. He didn’t seem overly concerned about it. Wanna walk a bit?”
The sky had grown dark quickly. The moons hung low in the sky, and a huge gray cloud covered half of the stars. “Sure. Guess it’s good we came home when we did.” Alina rubbed her arms, thinking of Caine somewhere inside, imparting his knowledge to the new recruits. Why did that warm her heart? Maybe because if he would take time to teach Watchers, he would easily take to teaching a child? She mentally smacked herself, trying to remember not to worry about it. Not yet.