"The biggest challenge we have is that half the town is standing outside armed with guns." I realize that Brad and his crew know nothing about my power. "But I'm going to cause some strong winds and earth tremors in order to disorient them so no harm comes to them."
"That works." Dax glances at the men standing around us. "Let's go. The longer we take, the more time they have to get prepared."
"All right men, let's head out." Brad's tone is full of authority.
We all take off with Dax in front. He knows where we're going, and right now, I don't trust myself to be there. I fall in line at the back and stay close to Melody.
She takes my hand and squeezes it. "He'll be fine. Ria isn't a monster, she's just scared."
I sure hope so. Otherwise, there will be hell to pay.
We reach the end of the row of houses, and we all stop to see if anything has changed.
Tide is still with the citizens and breaking them up into teams. "You go search the market, and see if she's hiding there." He turns to the next group. "You go to Ria's, and the last group, you all head over to the beach area and see if anything turns up. Chris likes to go there pretty regularly."
The three groups break off and move toward the various directions, but there are about five armed citizens that hadn't been sent away.
"What about us, sir?" A woman close to my age trembles.
"You will all guard us here." Tide scans the area around him but fortunately doesn't see us. "She and her little bodyguard may try to attack."
"Now, let's go." Brad pulls out his gun and glances at his men. "They are scared and not prepared."
"Chris, do your thing." Dax jerks his head my direction and pulls out a knife.
I close my eyes to focus. I don't want to see the citizens’ terror. I dig deep into my core and tug on the vibrant blue and brown strands.
The wind picks up, blowing hard, and the ground begins to shake.
"No." The same girl calls out with panic lacing her words. "Not this again. We're going to die."
The fifteen people from Brad’s crew run out from the building and head straight to the door Melody told them about.
"You won't be able to get in there." Tide growls as he charges them.
Shit, I need more wind. I yank harder on my magic and divert a large rush of wind in Tide's direction. The wind begins to swirl, forming a tornado, and picks the citizens up into the air.
"Don't let them inside the building," Tide shouts as he appears in front of me right before he twists around again.
A gunshot is fired by one of the water people, and it lodges into the building near the balcony.
"Are they seriously shooting while in a tornado?" Why would anyone do that? It doesn't seem smart to me. At least no one got hurt, the freaking idiots.
The group of men get to the scanner and whack it with the butt of the gun. It cracks down the center and another guy shoots at the door handle. Within a minute, the door is yanked open, and they file into the building.
I push the wind harder, making sure not to injure them, but they aren't able to fight back.
"Oh, Christina." A voice that is way too familiar coos my name.
My heart pounds in my ears, and a cold chill rocks my body. I turn to find Ria standing on her balcony with Charlie in front of her. She has a gun to his head, and her eyes are right on me.
"I see you, so there is no reason to hide." She pushes Charlie, causing him to stumble.
"Stay here. Don’t do anything. I need you to stay safe." I glare at Melody and then take a step out, holding my hands up even though my tornado is still going strong. "Okay, here I am. Just don't hurt him."
Her face has a slight pink hue, and her hand quivers as she holds the gun to his head.
Charlie's eyes are wide, and he mouths the words I love you.
Dammit, I can't do this right now. He shouldn't be up there in this situation. It should be me.
"Tell those men to stand down, or I'll kill him." Her tone is stern, but there is panic in her lavender eyes.
No, she won't do it. She may be a pain, but she's not evil. No one can kill someone like that in cold blood. "I don't have a way to contact them. Just release Charlie, and we'll be on our way."
"You need to save yourself, Chris." Charlie jerks, trying to get away, but Ria hits him hard in the face with her gun. His face jerks to the left, and then he sags.
"So, you're saying you can't call them off?" Her voice is high pitched, and she holds Charlie up as he now slumps against her.
This has to be a bluff. There is no way she would do it, and the truth is there isn't a way for me to contact them. "No, I'm sorry."
"Then, so be it." Her eyes glare into mine as she pulls the trigger. The bullet enters Charlie's head, and then he falls to the ground.
19
This has to be a dream. There is no way Charlie is dead. I reach out and pinch myself hard to wake myself up from this nightmare.
It doesn't matter how hard I squeeze I can't seem to feel pain. His body is slumped over, and blood is splattered everywhere. How could this happen? He didn't deserve this.
My vision becomes blurry, but I can't stop staring. Something wet runs down my fingers, but I can't tear my eyes from
