Extraordinary (30 page)

With his back turned and his attention focused on Arwen, I grabbed the guard’s keys from his belt loop. Rushing to the door that stood between Blaze and me, I nearly smacked into the bars. The key turned in the lock producing a most welcome sound of freedom. Suddenly, my feet were no longer on the floor. The persistent guard lifted me above his head and tossed me like a rag doll to the other side of the room.

The left side of my body bounced off the wall and slammed onto the cement floor. The fall stunned me. Blaze broke free from his containment cell like an enraged animal. Without a hint of hesitation, my brother dealt the guard a number of powerful, incapacitating blows. Within seconds the man lay unconscious and battered beside me. Blaze rushed to my side, afraid to touch me. I could hear Sadie banging frantically on the steel bars of her cell, pleading to be released.

My breathing was shallow due to, what felt like, several broken ribs. My dislocated shoulder prevented me from sitting upright. Blaze tried to move me but my screams stopped him. Blood streamed from my nose into my mouth and ears. Panicked, I tried to push the blood from my mouth but it gagged me. Tilting my head to the right, I diverted its flow down one side of my face, but, by now, the pain had doubled.

“Get Sadie,” I said, spitting out blood. “I can’t move yet.”

My injuries were more severe than any I had sustained so far. I could not stand much less walk or fight.

“Alex,” Sadie said, kneeling by my side. “Oh my gosh, Alex.”

“You should see the other guy,” I said, attempting to lighten the mood.

“Don’t make jokes,” Sadie mumbled with tears in her eyes.

“I thought I’d find you crumpled in a corner somewhere,” I said.

“If we died we wouldn’t be very useful,” Sadie said. “Some little guy brought us some potion. He was so tiny—him! It was him!”

Arwen emerged from the shadows.

“That was me. I am Arwen.”

Sadie and Blaze stared in awe at our new ally.

“Arwen helped us,” I said. “It’s a long story but he is on our side.”

“Whatever,” Blaze said. “Can you move or should I carry you?”

“I’m fine. Let’s go.”

That was a lie. My nose had stopped bleeding but my broken bones were still fusing together as my shoulder popped back into place. My body was whirling with a numbing sensation yet not even my own personal brand of magical anesthetic could cover up this much excruciating repair. I kept my agony to myself. The last thing I wanted was to hold us up or endanger everyone. I fell in line behind Blaze and masked my torment.

“We took longer than I hoped,” Arwen said as we roamed the castle in full-on stealth mode. “We have to hurry or Tristan will face her alone. Unfortunately, she is smarter and stronger than I’d like to admit.”

Sadie stayed plastered to my side; I’m not sure if it was because I was injured or because she missed me. Knowing Sadie it was both. I would be lying if I said it bothered me. The truth of it was I would not mind if Blaze were attached to my other hip. I had seen life without them and found it utterly intolerable.

Being with my siblings brought out a different, more loving, and more vulnerable side of me that I never knew existed but that had me absolutely intrigued. Cynical broodiness reared its ugly head in my daily routine a bit more than I’d like to admit but in their presence it nearly diminished. My soul felt complete and I could breathe easy...or at least I would once my ribs healed.

“Wait,” Blaze whispered, throwing his hand up.

You can take the boy out of the Marines but you can’t take the Marines out of the boy.

Our diverse group froze where we stood, our eyes and ears alert, though Blaze was the only one who could actually see where we were going. The rest of us didn’t have the luxury of an energy ball flashlight, so we relied on Blaze and faith.

A raucous commotion began to brew around us. The sounds bounced off one wall and ricocheted off the next making it impossible to pinpoint the origin.

“I’m guessing they know you’ve been sprung,” I said.

“They are coming,” Sadie said. “Let’s just haul butt on down this hallway and see what happens.”

None of us could resist a brief chuckle. Only a southerner would say “haul butt” and only Sadie could make it sound fun.

While trying to ignore my rather severe injuries, I followed after Blaze and Sadie. Without a sound, we dashed in the supposed opposite direction of the approaching chaos. Halfway down the corridor our pursuers stampede seemed to drift further away from us, which meant we were traveling in the right direction.

In the middle of a full-on sprint down the darkened, stone hallways of Katerina’s basement my bones and bleedings had found a way to mend themselves. The average person would have never been able to walk, much less run. The average person would have been in severe pain, which I was briefly, and in a hospital bed. I jogged with ease, heart rate normal, joints in proper working condition, and not a broken bone in sight.

Average smaverage.

Arwen huffed and puffed behind me. His breathing was ragged and his footsteps were strained and sluggish. Turning, I noticed that he had fallen far behind. I watched as he fought with every ounce of energy and determination he had to keep up. Despite my recent round of tragedy, I could barely process such misery. Arwen was dealt an unfortunate hand early in life. He could have given up or let it change him but he rose above it. Arwen may have been agonizingly trapped within his own personal prison but he still gave life, himself, and now us his best effort.

If I ever complain again, someone slap me.

“Blaze!” I yelled. “Help us!”

Without a single question or comment, Blaze lifted Arwen onto his shoulders like a dad holding his son at a parade. Endearing was my first thought, but it was hastily replaced by my previous silent screams of terror. I could no longer hide behind my concern for Arwen. Fear squeezed me between its strong arms, breathed down my neck, and laughed mockingly at our faith in one another.

Shut up!

The once haunting shadows gave way to the light radiating from Blaze’s palm just enough so that I could see the dreary gray walls that stretched on for what seemed like miles in muted increments. We made several turns around haunting, mysterious corners. I expected a terrifying surprise to be waiting for us every time but each turn revealed more gray brick walls.

Occasionally, the temperature would drop several degrees, sending goose bumps down my arms. I had watched enough horror movies to know that a temperature drop was a bad sign.

I wondered if we had lost our way. The corridors blended and I had no sense of direction. Though, truthfully, I had no idea where we were going anyway. Eventually, our journey would end. She was waiting for us. I could feel it.

We finally reached the end of the basement maze and hurried up a flight of stairs. Our jog continued until we paused in astonishment at two large doors blocking our path. Each ornate door stretched fifteen feet above the floor, which I noticed was no longer dull, gray cement but a shiny shade of dark red. There was absurd attention to detail in every aspect of these two doors. Oversized gunmetal gray knobs rested in the center of each like polished metallic crystal balls ready to electrocute or tell you your future.  Intricate patterns of similarly metallic embellishments formed several large rectangular shapes alternating one inside the other with the smallest ones framing each doorknob.

“I don’t think we’re in the basement anymore,” I joked.

“I don’t think we’re in the same castle,” Sadie added.

Odd that the basement was positively dreary, the outside walls were abysmal, yet these two doors were immaculately designed and the crimson stained floor below us glistened like a sea of rubies.

“Wonder what’s through them?” I asked. “I’m pretty sure I know.”

Blaze placed a hand on one of the metallic orbs. I cringed expecting electrocution. All remained normal. I wondered if it was because it was Blaze, who had electricity coursing through his veins, or because I gave gratuitous power to a doorknob.

Probably the latter.

Our brigade charged through the doors. I entered first, practically sprinting, and then paused. Blaze slammed into me—once, twice, three times. First of his own doing, or perhaps mine, then Sadie unknowingly charged at his lower back, then the small bump of Arwen into the rear of Sadie’s knees. The four of us bounced off one another with hushed bickering and general annoyance.

“Jesus, Alex, what are you doing?” Blaze asked.

“Blaze,” I said.

“What?”

“Just look.”

In the center of the massive room, Katerina waited; her face expressionless, her body still. Strategically placed black and crimson floor tiles guided my sight directly to her. Something told me she had planned it that way. Heavy, black velvet curtains covered the far wall. The only light sources in the entire room were four floor candelabras containing a cluster of candles in varying lengths and widths. The rest of the room appeared to stretch far beyond the candles’ glow.

“What do we do?” Sadie whispered.

“Where is Tristan?” I asked.

Sounds of muffled laughter began to echo around us. Katerina knew just as well as we did that this would be a messy encounter, only she found it humorous instead of daunting. At least she had dressed for the occasion. She wore a curve-hugging black dress that mushroomed on the floor around her feet. Long sleeves still covered her arms and exposed her hazardous hands but her neckline plunged into a V and left little to the imagination, stopping just before the word ‘cleavage’ became an irrelevant description.

“Arwen, my dear,” Katerina said. “Very good.”

“What?” I pivoted on my heels and faced him. “You set us up?”

****

Chapter Twenty-Four

“Protect her,” Arwen whispered to Blaze and Sadie.

Arwen hobbled toward Katerina, and then hesitated once he was halfway across the room. His feeble body quivered making it difficult to tell if he had stopped for any reason other than frailty. He looked back at me and tilted his head to the right so fast I barely understood the gesture.

Skimming the area Arwen indicated, I nearly squealed when I discovered Tristan squatting in the shadows behind a bulky column. Fearing I may expose Tristan lying in wait or Arwen’s true loyalty, I turned my attention back to Katerina and resumed my disgust at Arwen, though this time it was purely for theatrical purposes.

“What does he mean?” Blaze whispered. “Why are we protecting you…well, aside from the obvious?”

“Long story,” I answered.

“Well, make it a short one,” Blaze said.

“Basically, I hold the key to all of our powers. If I die or my power is taken, we all die here.”

“Great,” Blaze and Sadie murmured.

“Arwen is irrelevant,” I yelled to Katerina. “We still have business to attend to. So how about we get on with it?”

“What are you doing?” Blaze whispered. “Getting her riled up won’t help.”

Sadie and Blaze were outwardly confused by my outburst, yet they played along anyway. I was afraid to send a mental explanation because I was uncertain of Katerina’s range of abilities. I reached my hand behind my back and motioned in Tristan’s direction.

“Oh, I get it!” Sadie blurted.

“I mean, oh, I get it,” she whispered.

It required every fiber of my being to refrain from laughing out loud. Katerina already had an arrogant approach to the situation, no reason to encourage it further by appearing immature.

“Let’s get it done,” I said brashly.

“If you wish,” Katerina chuckled.

“This chick really knows how to piss me off,” I said, out loud apparently.

Blaze grinned and planted a proud high-five against my unusually steady hand. I had no idea that high-fives could be empowering but that was exactly the effect. The three of us sauntered towards Katerina with such enthusiasm that I nearly forgot we were supposed to be creating a diversion.

“After all this time you’re still jealous,” I said.

“Jealous?” Katerina asked.

“You were jealous of our mother then and you’re jealous of her now. The woman dies and you still can’t escape her shadow!”

“Jealousy has no part in this child. Your mother couldn’t mind her own business. It’s just too bad she couldn’t be here, I would have loved to have destroyed you all myself.”

Anger surged in me like a volcano preparing to erupt. Sadie lunged at Katerina but Blaze pulled her back in line. The three of us held our positions in spite of the fury urging us to demolish her. A fistfight would get us nowhere and Katerina would never fight fair.

“Like I said...jealous.”

Katerina mumbled a few words I could not understand in a language I had yet to identify. Her darkly rimmed eyes changed from brown to a fiery green. A sudden gust of wind whipped her taut ponytail in a frantic circle and her nude, glossy lips formed a wicked grin. Katerina swooped her right palm into Blaze and Sadie’s direction, lifting the two of them off their feet and sending them airborne. Sadie and Blaze landed on the stone floor with a devastating smack.