"Shit." He moves closer to me; the shadows move frantically around him but still cling close to him. "That's even more of a reason for you to get yourself together. Let's get you some air." He takes my arm and transports me to the ocean side of the island.
The water crashes, and the wind blows through my hair. The waves are high, and the ground shakes under my feet, causing the waves to be more unpredictable than normal. The salt stings my nose, and somehow my breathing accelerates.
"If you want to save him, you’d better get your act together." He grabs my shoulder and shakes me. "If you implode, you're going to wind up killing all of us, including him. All of the realms are quivering since you control the elements everywhere."
My heart sinks. He’s right. If I implode, I'm going to hurt people everywhere, not just here on this realm. I can't let them have this much control on me. I close my eyes and take deep calming breaths.
"Once you get a handle on yourself, we'll come up with a plan." Damien bites his lip and lets me go.
My powers are still thrumming, but as soon as I begin to calm myself, the pressure inside begins to lighten. I lay back and let my body melt into the white sand that covers the beach. It's so soft I relax into it and run my fingers through what feels like feathers. It's the oddest thing, but moving helps redirect some of the energy inside and soothes me.
I don't know what Damien is up to, but at this moment, he's making sense for the first time since I've met him. The quake is now a tremble, and the wind begins to calm.
"There you go." Damien's forehead loses some of the creases, and he takes a few steps back.
"We have to get him back." The suns are high in the sky. I’m reminded of all of the times Beth and I use to lay out by the river. "I can't believe they just took him like that."
"Well, if they want to play dirty, you have to do the same." Damien grins and waggles his eyebrows.
That's the thing, I've always played by the rules, and it causes me to get into situations like this. Maybe I should take a lesson from the demon after all. "Like what?" My magic has calmed down even more now that I'm outside and forming a plan.
"You've got the power of air, fire, and earth." He motions to me and glances around. "Hell, you almost took out an entire island. You don't think you can take out a fortress?
Whoa... "What do you mean fortress? You were just in her house."
He looks down his nose at me and shakes his head. "You've been here for a short while, and you haven't even done some digging around on the people in charge?" Oh, how I missed his condescending attitude. "That's not her permanent place. Haven't you realized she isn't there much?"
"Well, yeah but I thought it was because of us." His explanation makes a lot more sense though.
"Nope, it's because her primary residence is there." He points toward the other side of the island, opposite of the market.
I glance over that way and see a larger building standing off in the distance, separated from everything else. "It's not too huge."
"No, but it's heavily guarded." Damien's eyes flash with red lightning. "I'm sure that's where they keep the artifact, too."
"If it's heavily guarded, we need backup." Now that I feel more like myself, I sit and watch the gorgeous waves crash. "Ria and Tide cannot be trusted. And I may have the power of three elements, but I can't get too wild with it. I'll wind up hurting innocent people and could even lose control."
"That's why your first goal should be getting the Water Artifact." His eyes dart behind me, and his face changes to neutral. "That way you're completely balanced and in control. And it seems like we may have a few more volunteers."
What the hell is he talking about? No one would be willing to help here.
"You better never leave me like that again." Dax's loud voice echoes in my ears.
Shit, I didn't even think about him. "I'm sorry, but you were busy." I turn around, and my heart stops. What the hell is Brad doing here? "Why did you bring him here?" That sorry-ass traitor stole the stone from me and manipulated our friendship for his personal gain.
"Hey, I'm here to help." Brad throws his hands up in surrender.
Huh, I bet he is. "So you can steal something else from me?" He made it clear last month that it's only about his agenda. No one else matters.
"He showed up at the market saying he had some information for us, and then an earthquake started, and winds blew so strong people had to pack up their stuff." Dax shrugs and pulls out one of his knives. "I figured we should check on you. It's better if Brad stays with me so I can watch him."
"I don't have time for his fake stories." I stand and place both hands on my hips. "Ria and Tide took Charlie. We've got to go rescue him."
"What?" Dax takes a few steps toward me. "That mess back there was from Charlie and not you?"
"Don't remind her." Damien hisses and clenches his hands into fists. "We need to focus on getting him and not letting her spiral out of control again."
"Listen here, demon." Dax spits out the last word.
"Wait, that's why I came." Brad steps in between the two guys and locks his chocolate eyes on me. "I came to offer help from the Archetypus."
"What is that?" Is he just making up words to distract me?
"They were the first overseers of the Reapers until the
