He picked her up with a gentleness I had never seen in him before, then slipped through the gate.
I followed him and urged, “Get her to the portal as fast as possible. I’m going the jam the gate.”
Once Logan was twenty feet away, I could use magic again. The gate slammed shut under the force of my spell and werewolf strength. Then I used the still-flowing electricity to weld the two sides together. This gate would never open again.
I raced behind Logan, catching up to him at the vault door.
We entered and slammed the vault door behind us. My mind was already racing through our next steps: Get Alisha through the portal, into the ship’s infirmary, maybe I could heal her more serious injuries—
Then the quiet hit me, the lack of ship sounds and scents. A quick look around showed it was just Mike, Manny, Logan, Alisha, Warrant Officer Cameron, and me. All other embassy personnel had escaped through the portal.
The portal was down. We were trapped in here.
Warrant Officer Cameron looked at us with dread in his eyes. “We couldn’t maintain the portal. Several of the group collapsed and won’t recover quickly.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “The outer gate is still up, we have a bit of time. Maybe we can hold off until the magicians restore the portal.”
Two massive thumps shook the floor like an earthquake.
Mike and Manny exchanged a look.
“High explosive tank rounds. The outer gate is down,” said Mike.
“Can this day get any worse?” I asked.
Then a high-pitched alarm sounded.
“What the hell is that?”
Warrant Officer Cameron said, “Breaching the outer gates set off the auto-destruct timer. We have between nine and seventeen minutes until the C-4 blows.”
I bit my tongue to avoid repeating my earlier question. Sometimes the gods of irony seem to take a special interest in a part-time princess.
“Options?” I asked the group.
Manny shook his head, and said, “We might be able to dis-arm the C-4 charges in here.”
He didn’t sound confident.
Mike said, “We can make another portal.” He touched the portal coin hidden by his shirt.
Warrant Officer Cameron just shook his head. “I have no spells for this situation. Without the rest of my team, I can’t create a portal.”
Logan was sobbing over Alisha. Her heartbeat was getting weaker. She might not last until the self-destruct.
“Warrant Officer Cameron,” I said, “will you promise to not reveal anything you see here today?” I flashed the sign of a magician’s promise.
There was a moment’s hesitation, as urgency fought duty. Then he nodded, made the sign, and said, “I swear that I will never reveal to anyone what I witness here today.”
“Okay. Mike, pull out your portal coin. We’re going to make a jump.”
Mike was puzzled, but pulled out the coin. “Won’t this just be short range? Even if we get out of this locked vault, you’re probably the only one who’s fast enough to get outside the blast radius.”
“With Cameron’s help, and a lot of energy, it will be long distance.”
Mike opened his mouth to question, then closed it abruptly. “I wouldn’t understand your explanation. Just tell me what to do.”
“Logan. Logan. Logan!” I shouted. That got his attention. “We’re going to use one of Mason’s gadgets to portal directly to our hospital in Nevada. As soon as the gap opens, race through and take Alisha into the emergency room. Tell them she’s been doused in caustic chemicals and will need neutralizing agents.”
Manny wore the dazed look most humans get in the presence of magic.
“Manny, we’re going to open a door to a tunnel. Logan goes first, then you follow him as fast as possible.”
Manny nodded and stood behind Logan, who was cradling Alisha in his arms.
“Mike, stand here in front of me. Cameron, stand to Mike’s left and start your portal spell.”
“Without a target? Or a link to the destination? Where are you aiming for?”
“Las Vegas.”
“In America? That’s impossible. That’s halfway around the earth. Where will you get the energy to open a portal that long?”
“I’m going to power it with the energy of fifty pounds of C-4 going off.”
“But, but—”
“Shush. If it works, great. If it doesn’t work, it’s been fun.”
Warrant Officer Cameron gulped, then started his chant.
I kicked in my pure oxygen spell, put my left hand on Cameron’s right shoulder, reached around Mike to put my right hand on the portal coin he wore around his neck, and started my part of the spell.
Mike was saying a prayer in slow motion, something about Saint Christopher and travelers. I’d take any help I could get at this point.
Cameron’s chant seemed to slow as my perceptions sped up to superhuman velocity, I fixed the location of the emergency room entrance in my mind, focusing so hard I could see it in front of us.
The image blurred, shimmied, and shook, then solidified.
Now to kick the C-4 in the ass and hope we could make it through the portal before the wave of destruction hit us.
Logan was moving, racing toward the portal, Manny was right behind. Mike, Cameron, and I moved forward in lockstep.
I turned and looked over my shoulder as I counted down.
Three, two, one!
28
I woke in the ICU, my head swathed in bandages and my eyes completely covered. My entire body ached in a way I hadn’t felt since my first shift.
I wiggled fingers and toes, and felt joy when they moved. Okay, no spinal damage. That would have taken a full shift to heal from.
I tried to raise my arms to remove the eye coverings, but they were tied down.
Anger surged, but the scents of Mom, Dad, and Christopher calmed me down.
Dad touched my wrist and Mom stroked my bare cheek under the bandages.
I tried to speak, but my throat was raw and my tongue felt like sandpaper.
Dad recognized the movement and held a straw to my lips. The water was nasty, contaminated with chlorine and traces of the plastic bottle in which it had
