Boreal and John Grey Season 2 (41 page)

Their own forces still hadn’t arrived. Policemen, crouched behind their cars, shot at the towers and dragons.

It was a lost cause. This was a job for the army, not individuals with handguns.

Where the hell was the air force? When would the army arrive on the scene? It felt like hours since she’d found Finn, but in fact it couldn’t be more than twenty minutes.

Ella had her arm around Finn once more. She couldn’t stop touching him, verifying every moment he was alive, he was there with her.

Finn didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he leaned heavily on her, his arm weighing on her shoulders.

Someone had draped a blanket over him and he clutched it closed over his bare chest. His shirt was soaked. Up his bicep, blood showed through the fabric.

All Ella wanted was to take him far from there, find him a bed and have a good look at the damage on his back and especially his leg that couldn’t carry any of his weight.

“This way,” Dave shouted over the thunder of exploding missiles and explosions. “Keep low.”

Easy to say.
“Need a hand here,” she yelled back. “They really fucked up his leg.” Not to mention his back — or possibly his mind.

Dave doubled back and grabbed Finn around the waist, making him groan. “Come on.”

An armored van was parked in a narrow side street. Dave steered them that way. He knocked on the back door with his free hand and it opened. A woman hopped out and helped them lift Finn inside its dark interior.

They laid him down on a bench where he curled on his side and Dave unwrapped the bandage just below his knee.

Ella finally got a good look at the butcher job they’d done to remove the tracker: a deep gash, barely kept together with hasty stitches, black against the red flesh.

She swallowed hard. “Jesus.”

The woman prodded the edges of the cut, making Finn hiss. His lips turned white. “He needs to keep off this leg until a doctor checks it. The cut looks like it goes to the bone. There could be shards that need to be removed.”

Finn seemed to drift into sleep as she rewrapped his leg with fresh bandages. Ella rubbed her arms because what she wanted was to wrap herself around him, listen to his strong heartbeat and stroke his face, kiss his mouth. Softly, slowly. Gently. Take away some of the horror.

Nobody else made her feel this protective. Nobody else’s pain resonated so loudly inside her.

For the first time she feared she couldn’t live without him and it scared the hell out of her.

“What are the dragons doing?” Dave was on the phone, braced with one hand on the inside of the van. “Circling? Shoot them down, dammit, what are you waiting for? The storm is easing; you should be able to take better aim by now.” He hummed. “We need missiles. What’s taking them so long?

Ella found herself staring at Finn’s face, studying the bow of his mouth, the line of his jaw, the way his hand twitched from time to time where it rested on his hip. The scarred knuckles, etched now with blood.

Her throat clogged. You could never outrun who you were, could you? There would always be someone who knew and would try to use you hard and fast, not caring for the damage.

The low whisper brought her out of her trance. “Ella?” His voice was hoarse as if he’d been screaming.

And he had.

She swallowed back the unshed tears and pasted on a smile. “I’m here.” She crouched in front of him, placed her hands on the bench by his head. “Right here.”

A moment passed. Finn frowned. “Where?”

“Police van. You’re safe now.”

He gave a soft snort and closed his eyes. She shook her head. Yeah, who was she kidding? Where could he ever be safe?

Another long moment passed, and she thought he might have gone to sleep or passed out again.

Then he spoke. “Norma is dead.”

“I know.” Ella’s jaw tightened.

“I asked to see her. Her death’s on me.”

“No, Finn. You couldn’t foresee this happening.”

“But I should have.” Finn’s eyes opened, silver-grey and bright. His throat worked. “I opened a Gate.”

“It’s closed now.”

His hands clenched into fists where they lay. “Dragons crossed. And storm engines. They’re killing people. My fault. I need—”

“Not your fault. They made you do it. You had no choice.”

She jerked back as he pushed up to a sitting position. “What are you doing?”

He swung his legs off the bench and swayed where he sat. “Have to stop it.”

Christ, he looked like hell, face ashen, bloody tears on his cheeks. His hair was dipped in his own blood and crimson streaked his neck and chest.

“No,” she whispered before she could check herself. Then she rushed on, “The army will be here any minute. Let them handle this.”

“I’ll handle this.” The stubborn glint she knew was back in his gaze. “They don’t know what I know.” He winced as he straightened his bandaged leg.

“And what is it you know?” Dave ground out, his eyebrows drawing together. “Tell us what to do.”

Finn blinked at him, as if surprised to see him. Maybe he was. “The snowstorm will soon be over, and they’ll lose cover. Have to stop them now.”

“Sounds like it’s better to wait, then, until they lose advantage.”

“They won’t lose advantage,” Finn bit out the words. “They have hurricane machines. Have to stop them before they use them.”

Ella’s blood chilled in her veins. “How can you stop them?” She entertained for a moment the notion of asking Finn to open another huge Gate and shove everyone back out — but why would they comply? Wouldn’t there be more towers and weapons waiting at the other end, ready to cross over?

And above all, how could Finn open another Gate without killing himself with the strain?

Then she felt that other presence in her mind — a sparkle and a distortion, double vision — one second looking at Finn’s haggard face, the next a bird’s eye view of the city with its lit up buildings and the brilliant snakes of its streets and avenues below.

Finn’s dragon. She was on her way.

It was only now Ella recalled that had been Finn’s back-up plan all along.

Chapter Nine

Mirror

“Stop,” Dave barked as Finn struggled to his feet. “You have to stay off that leg. Where the hell do you think you’re going?”

Ella shook her head, trying to get rid of the images superimposing themselves on top of her surroundings. “Let me help you, Finn.”

He waited for her to insert her shoulder under his arm and take on some of his weight. He was in no condition to walk without help this time and he obviously knew it.

“Ella, what’s going on?” Dave moved to block their way. “You should stay in the van.”

“He’s calling the dragon.”

Dave sighed. “She’s chained and in a bunker. I think Finn’s still confused.”

“Back off,
duergr
.” Finn sneered. “I told you before, you don’t know much about dragons.”

“And how do you think you’ll fix this with just one dragon? Can you even ride her with your leg busted like this? Do you even know what you’re doing?”

Crap.
Ella took in Finn’s grim expression and wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answer. “Dave...”

“Dragon fire is lethal to the living metal,” Finn finally said.

“It’s still just one dragon.”

“Get out of my way.”

But Dave didn’t budge, blocking their path out of the van, and Finn matched him glare for glare. The upholstery would catch fire any second now.

Then the double images returned, hitting Ella so hard she gasped. Finn jerked, turning toward the street, and that pretty much broke the glare fight.

The dragon was swooping down at them from the sky. Wordlessly, Dave moved in Finn’s other side and together they got him off the van.

The dragon landed on the street, smashing a car with her claws and breaking windows with her wings. Her mouth was wide open, belching smoke. Her talons screeched on the asphalt as she took a few running steps, coming to a halt right in front of them.

Ella’s knees shook like every time she found herself dwarfed by the dragon, feeling like a snack waiting to happen.

It was then it finally really sank in.

Finn was going to ride the dragon and fight. Fear tightened her chest, cut her breath. “Finn...”

And then there was no time to even find the words, because Dave was giving him a leg up and Finn gave a strangled cry as he grabbed the dragon’s horns and hung on for an endless moment.

Oh god, this was a huge mistake, it would cost Finn his life, it was a crazy idea anyway and—

Finn swung his leg over and straddled the dragon’s neck. He hunched forward, breathing hard.

What the hell was he going to do? How?

“Let me come with you,” Ella called out, suddenly so scared for him she couldn’t bear it. “Finn, please.”

He shook his head and straightened. He tucked his hair behind a pointed ear and looked down at her. “Wait for me.”

The softly spoken words nailed her to the spot, and she didn’t move when the dragon turned around, knocking into the buildings, and started to run down the street. She watched as those snow-white, feathery wings spread and the dragon leaped into the air, Finn astride, burning like white fire.

It was later, as she watched the dragon soar across the clouds, that Ella realized he hadn’t even taken a gun.

***

“Relax. He’s doing fine.” Dave was checking his gun as another explosion rocked them. Fragments of concrete rained on the street.

Ella retreated into the van where she proceeded to pace in the cramped space. “He’s trying to get himself killed, more like. Don’t you care, after all you’ve done to keep him alive?”

“You’re one to talk. It’s not like you tried to stop him, is it?” Dave huffed. “He says he has to stop them before they use the hurricane machines. The army won’t be here for a while yet, so if he can do it...”

He let it hang in the air.

“I don’t get you.” Ella moved to stand in front of him. “You need John Grey to travel to the Nine Heavens. Do you deny this is your wish?”

Dave gazed at her long and hard. “I don’t deny it,” he said finally. “This is the wish of all Guardians.”

“Then why aren’t you keeping Finn here, safe and protected, and let the world go to hell? What do you care? And don’t give me that shit about your mission to protect the world. It’s getting old.”

“But it is my mission,” Dave said. “My primary mission. What was programmed in me. I can’t override it.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

“Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do.” He gestured at the open door of the van. “I let him go do his thing, didn’t I?”

“You may have other, hidden motives. What am I saying? I’m sure you do.”

Dave clenched his jaw. “Okay, fine. Yes, my primary goal has always been to open a gateway to the Nine Heavens. A place where the Dark Elves can’t control us and hopefully can’t follow. Oh, they’d love to travel there. They’ve been studying the sky since forever, but the permanent cloud cover won’t let them see much. They’ve tried for centuries to see beyond — and it doesn’t matter, because even if they could, finding the way to the Heavens hinges on one person.”

“Let me guess.” Ella swallowed. “John Grey.”

“Yes. John Grey, but one who is strong, who has given himself to his power. One who’s able to open Gates and keep them open. One who has the map.”

“What map?”

He sighed and drew back. “To the Nine Heavens. What did you think his mark is supposed to be?”

She blinked. “The starburst? Are you serious?”

A map to the Heavens.

“It’s supposed to change when he comes into power. Tell us which way to turn, which way to look. But this John Grey is a failure. He’s flawed and lost.” Dave scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I had hoped he’d be the one, but I’m not sure anymore.”

“You’ve given up on him.” Ella frowned. “After all he’s been through to protect this world and make everything right.”

“Exactly because of that. All that pain should have triggered his full power. But he’s still moping around, unable to control his magic. A puppet to anyone knowing where to find him. And last I checked, his mark hasn’t changed into the map I need.”

Seething and fearing she’d give the truth away — Finn had found his power, his mark had changed, and fuck Dave anyway — Ella walked to the end of the van.

Meanwhile, Finn was up there, fighting. He had to be frozen solid, dressed only in his thin shirt, and in pain.
Dammit
.

She grabbed a leather jacket she found draped over the bench and jumped out, eyes searching for Finn’s dragon. As if she could just wave him over and put the jacket on him.

It was killing her to be down on earth, grounded and useless as he hunted terrors up above.

The snowfall had eased as Finn had predicted. The blizzard had come from the open Gate, and now it was dying out.

Fire streaked across the sky. A dragon flew toward the towers that hovered, jewel-like, over the buildings. Fire burst from the dragon’s great mouth, engulfing part of the hovering tower. Ella couldn’t be sure — it was damn far — but it looked like a side of the tower was melting like hot wax.

The tower wobbled in the air, more of it becoming visible — the top was opening like a blossom.

Finn’s dragon flew higher and dived down toward it.

Crap.

Ella danced with frustration on the street, watching as the dragon let out another belch of fire — right into the tower’s top.

And the tower exploded. Its upper part cracked and chunks of metal wheeled through the air. They tumbled down, crashing into the streets and on buildings. She didn’t want to think how many were dying out there. How many more would die if Finn didn’t succeed.

The other three dragons swooped like hawks and Ella’s breath caught as the creatures fought in mid-air with claws and wings.

Finn’s dragon dipped and flailed, then swung upward once more.

Then again.

Was it on purpose? Or was something wrong?

She pressed her hands to her chest, trying to figure out what to do — take a policeman hostage and demand a helicopter? Find a rocket launcher and hit the dragons?

The white dragon dropped in the air, huge wings flaring, then righted herself again. Was Finn even on her anymore? Had he fallen off?

Relax, Ella. Finn knows what he’s doing.

Her hands clenched and unclenched at her sides. She couldn’t tear her gaze from the terrible spectacle in the sky, the dragons giving chase to Finn, flames crisscrossing the sky.

A whisper caressed her mind, an image of a vast, dark sky, and fear rippled through her.

The dragon.

Something was definitely wrong; she could feel it in the connection they shared. Ella needed to go to Finn, right now.

Jacket clutched in her hand, she glanced around wildly. She’d steal a car, throw the driver out. Emergency measures.

When she next looked up, Finn’s dragon was going down — flying, not falling, but flying in a downward spiral, way too fast.

She set off running.

***

Ella ran faster than she’d ever run in her life, dodging parked and smashed cars, the stench of gasoline, charred flesh and feces making her stomach turn. She swerved around craters in the asphalt, ducked when a missile whistled overhead, and kept going.

Military airplanes thundered overhead.
Finally.
Missiles streaked through the night, hitting the elven towers. Would they bring the huge structures down?

Focus.
She had to reach Finn.

An avenue opened in front of her and she ground to a stop. Small tanks were rolling down the street, passing her by, crashing over metal, rubble and probably bodies as well. Men jogged by, dressed in camouflage, carrying M-16s and portable missile launchers.

Ella ducked into a side street. Where was Finn’s dragon? Looking up, she ran on, almost crashing into an overturned car. There, she could now see the white dragon spiraling down. She pounded round the corner into a square lined with trees.

Then the dragon came down, crashing right in their path, hind legs first, wings spread wide.

Ella skidded and came to a halt, bending over to catch her breath, clutching the jacket she hadn’t managed to drop during her sprint to her chest.

The dragon took some running steps, knocking over a statue of some famous guy or other. Then she settled down on her haunches like a dog and lowered her head to the ground, her yellow eyes watching Ella’s every move.

Finn.

He slumped on the dragon’s neck, facedown, hands still wrapped on the horns. He’d slid down a little, and was now still. His back was bleeding. Crimson had seeped through the thin fabric of the white shirt he wore.

Her breath froze. She straightened and approached. The dragon observed her without a movement, a touch in Ella’s mind like a whispered word and an image of fire and a caress...

Ella closed in. She licked her dry lips and reached up, snagging her fingertips in bony protrusions, and climbed up, settling behind Finn.

Fire hit the asphalt beside them, and the dragon jolted. The three dragons circled overhead, spiraling down.

She brushed pale hair off Finn’s nape. “You’re frozen solid. Here.”

Finn groaned. His hands tightened on the horns and he struggled to sit straight. Carefully she placed the jacket over his shoulders, helped him put his arms into the sleeves. He shivered.

“Ready to fly?” she whispered, slipping her arms around his middle, steadying him.

“Ella, no, you can’t.”

“I’m coming with you.” She placed a hand over his racing heart and rested her chin on his leather-clad shoulder. “If you can take it, so can I. And I have an idea.”

“What idea?”

“The fire isn’t enough. We must use the threads.”

He hissed. “I can’t. Too much—”

“With my help.” She thought of how her threads had tripped up the men in the apartment where Finn had been held. How they’d held them down. How their powers meshed and tightened the weave. “We should hurry. Let’s get her airborne.”

“Tell her,” Finn whispered.

Ella blinked. “Right.” The tug was still there, on her mind, and she thought of flying up into the clouds.

The dragon rose, powerful muscles shifting under Ella’s legs, wings unfurling with a crackle. Another bolt of fire hit the ground, making the dragon step sideways — then she was running down the avenue, flapping those huge wings.