“Precisely. This ward won’t protect you from negative intent unless the one to attack you believes what they are doing is wrong.”
Well, that’s just fucking peachy. That pretty much left out every dark elemental.
“So this ward will protect us from anyone casting a spell on us or enhancing us or anything like that, but only if they believe what they’re doing is wrong?”
“Yes, exactly. And there’s more.”
Of course, there was.
“The very ward protecting you will also prohibit you from tapping into the dark element inside you. You believe that darkness is negative.”
“Because it is, so that’s a good thing,” Bryan was quick to say before glancing between us. Neither of us was as eager to jump to that conclusion. The darkness inside me was like a power boost and had saved me on multiple occasions. “Isn’t it?”
“It’s a part of her now. Denying any part of who you are is unwise. Heed my warning, Katy. Your dark element will find a way, one out of your control.”
I stared at my hand, at the faint shimmering M. “You think we should have her remove the ward?”
“The ward is unnecessary. You don’t need something like that to tie you together. Rely on your connection as a unit, not on a bond forced by a spell.”
She was right. Absolutely right. The guys and I didn’t need a ward to link us. We were already connected. It was our love that bonded us. Bryan and I looked at each other and gave affirming nods. It was settled.
“We need to bring the guys back to the grove with us.”
“Let me text Rob’s burner.” Bryan pulled out his burner and thumbed the message. Rob texted back almost immediately. “They’re in. He gave me an address where to meet them. Let’s go.” He tucked the phone into his back pocket as he regarded Cressida. “It was, uh, nice meeting you.”
She took his hands in hers. “Guard your life force. As with you sharing pleasure and pain, if one of you falls…”
“We all fall down,” I sang bitterly, having already made that conclusion. Hearing it come from the original prophecy didn’t make me feel any better. “Can we teleport to the address?”
Bryan shook his head and took his hands back. “I’ve never been there. If I can’t picture it, concentrate on the location, I can’t stick the landing. Clay’s the only one who can do that.”
“Where is it?”
“Seattle.”
“The city?” Shit. That was two hours away by car, which neither of us had. If we took the ferry, we’d shave off half an hour and could find an Uber faster on that side of the water. I checked the time on my burner. “If we use the crystal to get to the dock, we’ll make the next ferry. Thank you, Cressida. We’ll try to visit you again soon.”
“Seek out the legends, Katy. Convince them to bear elemental arms alongside you. You’re not only taking a stand against a common enemy but also uniting a world. Restore the balance, my daughter. Bring peace to our land.”
“That’s the plan.”
14
Seattle was huge. And loud. And tall. The buildings stretched high toward the sky, a cluster of metal, cement, and endless windows. The Space Needle sat off to the side, dwarfed by the concrete jungle. I’d only been to the city a couple of times and remembered why I didn’t make it a habit. It was too much, an overload of my senses.
Bryan and I walked close to groups of people to hide in plain sight and avoid Council members on patrol. When we’d break from the crowd, we moved in the shadows as we made our way to the address Rob gave us.
Please don’t let it be some big, scary, dark, and deserted building. Those creeped me out for obvious reasons, having nearly lost my life in one. Twice.
“We’re here.” Bryan checked the address on his phone and glanced up.
Ah crap.
I stared at the big, scary, dark, and deserted building. A giant warehouse on Seattle’s waterfront, it cast a gloomy shadow over the entrance. My neck hairs stood on end, warning me something wasn’t right. “Maybe we should put on the crystal.”
Bryan moved closer, wrapping his arm around my midsection. He felt it too. “Maybe you’re right.”
I expanded the leather strap as big as it’d go and placed it over both our heads. Carefully, we walked in sync to the front of the warehouse and looked around to make sure no one else glanced our way. Nelems went about their business, completely oblivious to the war threatening to destroy the world. If I succeeded in getting the legends to join Sentry, if we stopped the Council before it was too late, the Nelems would never know how close they came to annihilation.
We stepped inside and paused, taking it in. Sure enough, it was big, scary, dark, and deserted. It smelled like oil and decay and forced me to breathe through my mouth. Gross.
“What is this place?” My voice echoed through the air and bounced off the walls. Jeez, that came out way louder than expected.
“An abandoned warehouse, from the looks of it. Come on. Let’s move further inside.”
That was the exact opposite of what I wanted to do. I’d rather wait for them outside. We had the crystal. We’d stay perfectly hidden. This place gave me the serious creeps.
I moved closer to Bryan and whispered, “There’s no one here. Maybe it’s the wrong address.”
“Maybe we got here before them.”
“Or maybe you two should learn to whisper quieter.”
We jumped apart, nearly snapping the leather as we turned and faced Clay standing there, a grin on his bearded face. I removed the crystal necklace, revealing Bryan and me. Clay’s grin widened, lighting up his green eyes, even in the dark warehouse. “What’s the word, Katy bird?”
“Clever. How’d you find us? We were
