He then turned to the dark one. “Rob? Help. She’s using a forbidden call! I—I can’t…” he hollered out as the fire ignited his skin.
The dark one rushed to him and grabbed his shoulders, stealing my fire. Well, fine. I focused on him, sending water to freeze the cells in his body. He grew rigid and fell back, stiff as a board. The water elemental was in no shape to help him, not with his core so warm.
“Pathetic.” I tilted my head at the other two. “Which one of you is next?”
“Montana, what’s—” was all the air elemental got out before I sent a large square stone at him. Alas, he teleported out before it crushed him.
The coldness inside me grew, consuming me completely. It felt foreign, wrong, but I couldn’t stop it. “It’s between you and me, earth elemental.”
“What are you?”
It wasn’t what are you doing. It was “What are you?” The question cut into my determination to bring as much pain to him as I possibly could. I dropped a few feet as the coldness holding me hostage faltered.
“Fight it,” he ordered as he walked toward me. I wanted to fight him, not the darkness. Yet, something deep inside implored me. Fight it, Katy. Fight the cold.
“I don’t know how,” I whimpered, clenching my teeth, battling the cold with everything I had.
“Take my hand.” Bryan reached out. I did the same. When our hands met, the connection sent a thundering shockwave throughout the ruins, knocking loose some of the stones and raining them down to the ground. I flew back and slammed into a wall. The entire structure vibrated as more rocks fell.
Bryan wound up on the other side of the stone structure. He buried his hands in the dirt, pulling in strength from his primary element. After a few seconds, he stood and faced me. “Are you back?”
“I must destroy you,” I growled as that coldness took over yet again. Yellow sparks flew around me as I charged my powers to unleash on him, the others in this decrepit building, and then the building itself.
A blast from behind hit me hard, throwing me to the ground. I tried to push up, but another blast held me down.
“Stay down, Montana. Syd?”
I saw a flash of bright light.
And then I saw nothing.
14
“I’ve covered the cottage with a few more spells to ensure the Council won’t be able to track us here.” A familiar lisp woke me from my not so peaceful slumber. I pried my heavy lids open to see Stace pacing the length of a cabin of some kind. The walls were wood, as were the floors. Syd Franklin stood over me, watching. His brown hair looked a little grayer at the temples than the last time I saw him, and his large coffee eyes were shadowed by round rimless glasses. I recalled how much he reminded me of a spectacled Dr. Strange, now more than ever with the gray temples.
My head pounded, and it hurt to, well, everything. I don’t think I’d ever hurt so bad, and considering I’d passed out after battling Alec, that said something. I pressed the heel of my hand to my temple and tried to sit up but stopped. No, not stopped voluntarily. Something stopped me. I tried again, but an invisible airfield locked me into a flat position on the couch.
“Let me up.”
“We can’t do that.” Syd moved in and stared deep into my eyes, checking for what, I didn’t know. He thinned his lips when whatever he’d been searching for was either there…or wasn’t. “Not until we know we’re out of the woods.”
“What woods? Where are we?” I tried to push out off the couch and failed.
“A cabin that’s been in my family for years.” Stace approached the couch. Gone were her professor robes, replaced by jean cutoffs and a loose tank top the same dark brown color as the concerned gaze she had locked on me. She looked so normal with her hair down instead of the tight bun she usually wore. I hadn’t seen her outside of the academy since school started. I turned my head and looked out the window, spotting huge trees through the darkness. Apparently, we really were in the woods. “Katy, can you tell us what happened?”
“Where are the guys?” I struggled against the invisible restraints. I had to get to them, had to make sure I didn’t hurt them.
“Back at the academy. It’s after curfew.”
Screw curfew. I shook as I fought the hold air had on me. I tried calling it, not surprised when it didn’t answer. “Let me go!”
Syd’s hands shot up, but Stace lowered them and shook her head. “That won’t be necessary.”
“Are you sure?”
“Quite.” She wouldn’t stop staring at me. “I will keep the airfield on you until I’m sure you won’t try to kill us.”
“Let me up or I will,” I growled through bared teeth, ready to kill her if she did. As fast as the hatred hit me, it disappeared. Thank you, baby Jesus. I didn’t want to kill her and had no idea where that even came from. Then again, I didn’t want to hurt my guys and could have killed them if Syd hadn’t called light and knocked me out.
She regarded Syd. The healer shook his head as he dropped his attention to me. When our gazes snagged, I knew. I saw the truth in his eyes even if he didn’t want to admit it. He removed his glasses to clean them with his shirt.
“I’ve gone dark, haven’t I? That’s why I’m here. I can’t be on school grounds anymore. I won’t get past the protective wards.” Fear and panic wrestled inside me to take over. I panted through the battle. And here I thought being cornered by a dark elemental was the worst thing that could happen to me. I never thought I’d be the
