It was a cardinal sin among the Seven to question each other’s magic, so we both kept our mouths shut.
The 2-dimensional drawing began to expand until it was the size of a model airplane. The crinkle of paper took on a tinny reverberation as the model airplane became metal.
Yutika kicked the tiny model away from us as it began to grow. We all backed farther away, knowing what was about to happen.
Metal creaked and groaned as the plane began to stretch. Tiny wings expanded. The plane grew upward and out. I craned my neck back so I could watch Yutika’s creation turn into a full-sized jet. The plane’s nose towered above us.
“I don’t think I ever realized how big these are,” Kaira said in an awed voice.
Smoke wafted up from the grass, where a new front wheel was rotating in place. A faint smell of gasoline filled the air.
The gardeners were going to have a fit.
Windows appeared on the plane’s side, along with red lettering that said Yutika Air.
“Almost ready,” Yutika announced. “Just finishing up its innards.”
The rest of us jumped back as the turbine engines roared to life. The whole plane swelled, making it look like a breathing, metallic beast. I shook my head in utter amazement.
“Sweet,” Yutika said. “Shall we?”
“Yutika,” Graysen said in an awed voice. “You’ve seriously outdone yourself this time.”
“I better illusion this plane until you’re in the sky,” Ma said. “You don’t want any nosy reporters wondering what you’re up to.”
As soon as she’d finished speaking, the plane disappeared from sight. It was still there, but Ma had just made the plane blend into the rest of the yard perfectly.
“Follow me so you don’t run into anything and knock yourselves out,” Ma told us, leading the way to the invisible plane.
The smell of fuel and loud hum of an engine were the only proof that the plane really existed outside of my own imagination.
“Be careful,” Ma ordered, taking my chin in her hand and kissing my cheek.
“Thanks, Ma,” I told her as my foot fumbled for the bottom step.
“Call us as soon as you get to California,” Kaira said.
The others behind me were still talking, but I had just gotten my first glimpse of the plane’s interior, and my jaw was on the ground.
“What do you think?” Yutika asked, giving me a gap-toothed grin as she skipped up the steps behind me.
“I think your magic is way cooler than mine.”
“Oh, stop.” Yutika giggled. “But keep going.”
“This is unbelievable,” I murmured, taking it all in.
The plane was big enough for at least twenty people. The first part of the plane was taken up by couches that were long and wide enough for several people to stretch out for a nap. Gold and silver pillows were stacked on either end of each of the couches.
Large-screen TVs had been set up at the front and back of the plane. On one wall, portraits of each of the Seven—7.5, including Sir Zachary—hung above the windows.
In the center of the plush, egg shell carpeting, there was a circular table. Five recliner chairs were pushed against the table, which was set for dinner. There was a silver dome at each of the place settings, which were labeled with our names. There were two sealed cans of grape soda next to Smith’s place card. The rest of us had crystal glasses filled with bubbling champagne. Out of curiosity, I took off the silver dome in front of my seat.
My mouth watered as steam rose from the plate of poached salmon, buttered sweet potato, and asparagus. It was my favorite meal, but I hadn’t eaten it since I met A.J. and went vegan. I had no idea how Yutika had even known it was my favorite.
With great reluctance, I put the tray back in place.
“Holy moly,” A.J. said, coming onto the plane and taking his first look around. His hollow expression brightened at the sight of so much awesomeness.
Michael was next. He had to stoop to keep from scraping his head against the plane’s ceiling.
“This is really amazing, Yutika,” Michael said in his serious voice.
“I was going to put in a hot tub,” Yutika said, giving the space a critical look. “But I figured that might be impractical with turbulence.”
I plopped down onto one of the couches and sighed.
“I’m never going back to commercial flying,” I told my friend, swinging my legs and marveling at all of the leg room.
A.J. sat next to me and slid his feet into a pair of fuzzy slippers he’d pulled out of his bag. “I’ll have a ginger ale, no ice.”
“I’m not a flight attendant.” Yutika scowled at A.J.
In spite of her words, A.J.’s drink appeared a few seconds later.
Michael and Yutika sat on the couch across from us. Michael said something in a quiet voice that made Yutika’s cheeks stretch into an enormous smile. After a shy glance in our direction, Michael lifted Yutika’s hand and pressed a soft kiss to her knuckles.
“Dear heavens,” A.J. said, giving Michael a horrified look. “The scandal.”
Michael’s face turned red beneath his scruffy beard as he muttered something inaudible.
“Meanwhile,” Yutika said, nuzzling against Michael’s broad arm before turning to the rest of us. “I hope you people are aware that I don’t know how to actually get this thing off the ground.”
“But you’re so good behind the wheel of a car,” A.J. teased.
Yutika gave him the finger.
I was relieved to see A.J. bantering. As long as he was still doing that, he couldn’t be in too bad of a place.
“If you can get us in the air,” Smith told A.J. “I’ll take care of the rest.”
“You got it, sweet cakes,” A.J. replied. “Seatbelts, everyone.”
I whooped in surprise and exhilaration when, without warning, the plane started to rise. Instead of rolling out onto the street and racing down the pavement like a runway, the plane just went straight up.
I watched Ma, Kaira, and Graysen go from human- to ant-sized as we left the ground far behind. Clouds surrounded us. The rising sun spilled red-orange light across the sky.
I turned to A.J., only to see that his eyes were squeezed shut. He held both his hands out in front of him, gently waving them like they were fish riding a current.
Smith, who was sitting in the pilot’s seat, also had his eyes closed. His lips were moving, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying over the thrum of the engine.
Our group had been together long enough that I mostly took our magic for granted. At times like this, though, my friends’ abilities blew me away.
“We’ll be there in six hours,” Smith announced once the plane had leveled out. “May as well get some sleep while you can.”
CHAPTER 12
Rise and shine.”
I opened my eyes. A.J.’s face was about half an inch from mine.
“We’re here?” I asked, coming instantly awake.
“Welcome to sunny and barbaric California,” A.J. said. His words were chipper, but his eyes held none of their usual brightness.
I wasn’t sure if that was because of where we were, or because he’d just used his mind to land an airplane. It was probably both.
Smith was a little unsteady on his feet as he stood.
“Are you guys going to be okay?” I asked anxiously.
Here I was, all rested up, and my friends were on their last legs.
“I’m not sure I’m up for kicking any Californian asses at the present moment,” Yutika said, seeming slightly devastated about that fact.
“That’s my department,” I assured her. “Now, let’s go do this thing!”
“I can’t handle your peppy cheerleader thing right now,” Smith grumbled.
“Psh.” Yutika waved a hand. “If you want to see peppy, give Bri a couple glasses of eggnog and a table to dance on.”
“The eggnog is superfluous,” I replied, grinning. “I just happen to be extremely l
ight on my feet.”
“Focus, everyone,” Michael said.
The plane’s hatch opened, and I shielded my eyes from the sunlight.
Compared to the crisp autumn air I was used to back home, it felt like I’d just entered a sauna. It kind of looked like it, too. We were in the middle of a desert.
“Are you sure these are the right coordinates?” Yutika asked, wrinkling her nose at the arid landscape.
“Have I ever been wrong?” Smith countered.
“Only about your choice in soda flavors,” I told him.
We got out of the cool, comfortable plane and stepped onto dirty brown sand. Aside from mountains in the distance and a few scrubby bushes, there was nothing to see.
“There’s no one around here,” Michael said, his gaze searching the horizon.
“And thank the elves and wood sprites for that,” A.J. muttered.
California wasn’t the worst place to go, but it was definitely up there on the do not visit if you value your life list. It had gotten so bad that even the Enforcers had given up trying to instill law and order in the state.
After the Slaughters, all of the states broke up into territories led by whichever Mag or Nat could prove their dominance. The leader of this part of California was a Level 9 Telepath, and according to both A.J. and every news article Smith had pulled up before our trip, she was a few delusions shy of psychotic.
“What’s going on over there?” Kaira’s voice asked from Smith’s laptop.
In answer, Smith shifted his screen so Kaira and Graysen could see the whole lotta nothing we were staring at.
“Take this,” Smith told Yutika, handing her the computer.
“I’m honored,” she quipped, giving the computer a slight bow before gently cradling it.
Smith didn’t trust anyone with his technology.
Smith ignored her as he pulled his poison scanner out of his hoodie pocket. He flipped the switch and held it over his head like a sword.
Nothing happened.
It didn’t make a terrible screeching sound like whenever Smith touched it to an open crate of Agent S vials. It didn’t do anything at all. The only sounds were the wind and rustle of sand across the parched earth.
Yutika was drawing on her sketchpad as Smith walked around, waving his poison wand. A few seconds later, Yutika had a handheld GPS navigator. The numbers on the digital face shifted as she took several steps forward, to the side, and then back again.
She moved slowly, her gaze fixated on the screen.
“Right here,” Yutika said, tapping her foot. “This is the exact location that Pruwist wrote down.”
I held my breath as Smith came closer, his poison wand outstretched.
Smith squatted down to the ground. My heart lurched when the poison scanner gave off an anemic little bleep.
We all looked at each other.
“Are you sure that thing’s working?” A.J. asked.
Smith pressed the tip of the wand into the sand.
Bleep. Bleep.
A flash of yellow light came from the scanner. Then, it went quiet again.
“Yutika, can I get a shovel?” I asked.
Maybe the Agent S was buried here, just like it was in the graves.
Yutika produced two shovels in a matter of seconds. I blew on my fists and got to work. Using all the strength in my titanium arms, I hauled sand faster than a construction machine. The other shovel dug just as furiously beside me, controlled by A.J.’s telekinesis.
Sand kept slipping back into the hole, so it took longer than usual to reach the same depth where the Agent S crates were buried in the Boston graves. We kept digging, even though our shovels came up against only sand and rocks.
Twelve feet later, I had nothing to show for my work except for tangled hair and pit stains.
I might not feel heat when I was titanium, but my body still functioned normally. I was sweating like a pig. Probably smelled like one, too.
“Bri,” Smith called from the top of the hole. “Catch.”
I lifted up my hand, closing my fingers around his poison scanner. I waved it around the way Smith had done. It continued its sad, sporadic bleeping. The yellow light flashed once.
“Come back up, lover,” A.J. told me, his voice sounding as defeated as I felt. “There’s nothing here.”
“Maybe there was Agent S here at one time,” Michael said as I climbed out of the hole. “There could be some trace remnants, which would explain why the scanner is detecting something.”
“That would make sense,” Smith said.
“Maybe we’re missing something.” Yutika tapped her chin in thought.
“Like the other half of Pruwist’s paper?” I couldn’t manage to hide the bitterness in my voice.
“Come home,” Kaira said from the computer’s speakers. “Once Charlotte and Sir Zachary track down our guy, we’ll get the rest of the paper and work this out.”
Graysen’s face appeared beside Kaira’s on the screen. “We’re not going to stop until we’ve figured this out,” he assured me.
I wanted to scream. I wanted to run ten miles and then do a thousand jumping jacks. My titanium skin felt too tight. I felt like a bomb waiting to explode.
“Back on the plane, everyone.” A.J. clapped his hands. “Before we stay long enough to get a California welcome.”
“What’s that?” I asked, trying not to let my bad mood rub off on the others.
In answer, A.J. stuck out his thumb and index finger like it was a gun and put it to my head.
I wrapped an arm around A.J.’s waist. “Then, it’s a good thing I’m bullet proof.”
“People, we’ve got a problem,” Smith announced.
I followed the direction of his gaze. An off-road jeep was bouncing along the uneven terrain and heading straight for us.
A.J.’s face went a shade paler. I cracked my knuckles.
“Should we just get out of here now?” Yutika asked, glancing at our plane.
“No,” Michael and A.J. said at the same time.
“See that white stripe across the jeep?” A.J. asked.
We all nodded.
“That means these people work for this territory’s ruler. If we just skedaddle on a plane that doesn’t belong to any sanctioned airlines, they’ll shoot us down before we make it over the border.”
“I’ve got this,” Michael said, his voice as calm as ever. “You all get back on the plane and be ready to take off.”
I went with him, just in case he needed muscle to back up his Whispering. It never hurt to be prepared.
The jeep didn’t slow down. I angled myself in front of Michael, ready to stop the jeep with my bare hands if necessary. During my angsty teenage years, I’d once beaten up Brent’s new car after he tattled on me for sneaking out after curfew.
It wasn’t something I was proud of, but it had taught me that in a girl versus car battle, I’d come out victorious.
The jeep skidded to a stop right in front of us. Sand flew in every direction, coating us in brown dust. Neither Michael nor I reacted. We just waited for the people inside the jeep to come out.
There were four of them. I sensed magic from each of them, but not much. They were all probably Level 1s or 2s. They seemed confident enough behind their assault rifles, though.
Their hair was matted, their faces sunburned, and their teeth rotten. In spite of the heat, they all wore actual fur capes. Even though we were too far away from the plane for sound to carry, I could have sworn I heard A.J. shrieking about animal rights.
“You are now on land that belongs to the Southern California Territory’s ruler,” the man who got out of the driver’s seat said. His voice had a peculiar twang that made all of his words sound clipped. “You will—”
“Be quiet,” Michael said. “And put down your weapons.”
The four men complied without hesitation.
“Thank you.” Michael said. “Now, you may go. You don’t remember seeing us, our plane, or anything o
ut of the ordinary.”
“Okay,” the driver said, giving Michael a goofy smile.
“You also decided you’re animal lovers and will never, ever wear one of them again!” A.J. shouted at the top of his lungs, which meant his voice just managed to reach us.
Michael’s lip twitched. He looked down at the guns on the ground and then back up to the men who were standing slumped in relaxed poses. Michael lifted a shoulder.
“You decided that you love animals and won’t wear their hides anymore,” Michael repeated.
The men were unfastening their fur capes before Michael had even finished his command.
“Go,” Michael told them.
They got back in their jeep. With another spray of sand, the men were gone.
“You make everything so boring,” I teased Michael. “I was really looking forward to beating some Californians up.”
“Sorry to disappoint,” Michael replied, returning my grin.
Maybe, by the time we got back to Boston, Charlotte would have discovered where Cinnamon Guy was hiding. When we did find him, there was no way I was letting Michael get a first shot at him. That pompous ass would be getting reintroduced to my titanium fists.
With that thought cheering me, I headed to the plane.
CHAPTER 13
It was dark when we got back to the mansion. A.J. and Smith landed the plane on our front lawn without fanfare. Ma was waiting outside for us, and by the time I climbed out of the plane, it was completely illusioned. The only way someone would figure out there was a plane parked in the middle of our property was if they walked right into it.
“I’ll keep this illusioned until the next time you need it,” Ma said as she gave each of us a hug. “Hungry, loves?”
“Definitely,” Yutika said. Michael nodded.
Smith and A.J. slumped, exhausted from how much magic they’d used on our pointless venture.
“I’ve got lentil stew already warming for you,” Ma told A.J. as she wrapped one arm around his shoulder. She put the other around Smith. “And I’ve got your ramen all ready to go. All you need to do is add the hot water and poison test it.”
“Thanks, Ma,” both boys said as Ma led them into the house.
Steel for 5 (Mags & Nats Book 3) Page 9