Maxon (18 page)

Lianna pulls back her hands. We spend a lot of time staring at each other. It feels like a few minutes go by, but knowing our track record, we may have killed an hour that way. My skin's all healed and Lianna's so mellow, her eyes are half closed.

“Was that…” My voice cracks with emotion. I clear my throat to try and get a handle on it. “Was that how it's supposed to happen?”

“No. After I healed you,” she clears her throat. “Well, I think my elemental powers went a little crazy there.” Lianna blushes something fierce. “I'm not really a pro at controlling them yet.”

“Hey, I'm not complaining.”

“No?”

“No.”

She leans in until our mouths are a breath apart. “That felt…” She opens her mouth, but no words come out. Her hand slides down my torso, leaving a trail of heat.

Now, that's a go sign if I ever saw one. And hell knows my body wants her. The old me would've nailed her right here. ‘Hit it and quit it,' that was my motto. This time, that'd end up with someone getting hurt: Lianna. I can't do that to her. She deserves the whole dream. Like what G was talking about. A fancy ball and a handsome prince… But a
real
one. Not me.

“Look, Lianna. I can't believe I'm saying this.” I cup her face in my hands. “We can't cross that line again. I have to stay away from you. I'm broken and you're,” I run my thumb along her jawline. Man, I'd like nothing better than to kiss her again. “You're so fucking beautiful, it hurts to look at you.”

Another breeze strikes up.

Damn, they found us again.

Lianna stares at me for another moment, shivers and turns away. I did it again. Made her feel like crap.

“Lianna, I—”

“We need to get out of here,” she says, shutting me down. Her features are all closed off and distant. Not that I blame her.

“Should we go for another swim?” I ask.

“I can't keep that up much longer.” Lianna rubs her temples with her fingertips. “Maybe I can try to use the Kristalli of Earth. Figure out where the Valta are in the ground and seal them in.”

“Worth a try.” I pull the small case from my pocket. Power crackles through the leather bindings and onto my palm, making my skin tingle with energy. The elemental power's trying to get at me again, so I quickly hand over the stone.

Lianna opens the wrappings. Inside, the crystal is amber brown and glows brightly. She sets her fingertip onto the stone's edge. There's a crackle and hiss as her skin gets fried. Lianna pulls back her hand. “Well, that isn't going to work.” She rewraps the stone without touching it. I pull the Kristalli from her hands and reset it in my pocket.

“You okay?” I ask.

Lianna closes her eyes and holds her fist against her chest. Her palms glow blue behind her clasped fingers. A few seconds pass until she opens her hands again. “I'm fine. I was able to heal myself.” She lets out a long sigh. “Wish I could rest, though.”

Another breeze strikes up inside the cave, and this one is super fast. Before I know what's happening, two Air Valta stand before us.

Lianna mouths two words at me. “Play along.”

I nod, wondering what she's going for.

It doesn't take long to find out. Lianna falls to her knees before the Valta. “Don't seal us in here!” she pleads.

The Valta stop and share a wicked smile. “We weren't going to. We are now.”

“No!” screams Lianna. “Don't you dare imprison us!”

It's a good act, I'll give her that. I've never seen Lianna this upset. The woman had the entire Water Valta army pointing their crossbows at her, and she didn't break a sweat. But this? She's missing a career on the stage or something.

Lianna looks at me out of the corner of her eye. “Help here,” she mouths.

Right. I got so caught up in her act that I forgot I had a part to play.

I kneel beside Lianna, wrapping my arm around her shoulder. “Oh, my sweet, delicate flower. I know how you fear being caged and alone.” I whisper in a low voice. “Too much?”

She shoots me a thumbs-up, so I crank the act up a bit.

“Guys, she's terrified of being locked up. You can't leave her trapped in here, waiting for Zephyr. Just kill us now. It'll be better that way.”

The Air Valta reform by the cave's ceiling. Their gray bodies hover in space as they chuckle to each other. The two of them remind me of nasty teenagers, the kind who like to pull the wings off butterflies.

“We have orders to guard you,” says the first.

“And rough you up as necessary,” adds the second.

The first Air Valta looks around the chamber. “Not sure I even know how to seal you in anyway.”

Lianna goes extra hysterical. “This chamber's an old mineral pocket. It's already water tight except for a few cracks.” She grips my shoulders and looks at me with crazy eyes. “All they have to do is go into those cracks, break things up and align them to seal us in. Zephyr does it all the time. It would be so easy! Tell them not to!”

I pat her shoulder and turn to the guys. “Whatever you do, don't be a couple of pricks here.”

They share a big grin. Oh, they're going to be pricks all right.

The second Air Valta whispers to the first, then gestures toward us. “Since being sealed in bothers her so much, we'll go with that.”

“No!” cries Lianna. I think she may have burst a blood vessel with that scream.

“Good-bye fools,” says the first Valta.

With a puff of smoke, the two of them slip up through a crack in the wall. A crackle sounds as they seal the opening behind them.

“Wow.” I sit back and kick my feet forward. “What a couple of dumbasses.”

“Zephyr kills off his Air Valta for almost any reason. Now he's got teenagers fighting for him.” She rises to her feet and winces in pain. “We won't see those two again.”

Something tightens in my chest.
Lianna's in pain.
I rush to stand beside her.

“You don't look so good,” I say.

“I don't feel so good.”

“How do we get you out of here?”

“See that crack the Valta left through?” she asks. “Zap it back open with some lightning and I'll mist my way out.”

“Got it.” I raise my hand and a bolt of lightning instantly strikes at the crack in the rock. Bits of stone cascade to the ground. “That good enough?”

Lianna nods. “Perfect.”

“And oxygen?”
If she leaves, I'll need some way to breathe.

“I'm not strong enough to summon the water needed to supplement oxygen as well as turn myself into mist.” Her pretty mouth thins to a worried line. “I'm sorry, Maxon.”

“You definitely got enough power to mist yourself free, though?”

“I think so.”

“Then do it. Go get help quickly. I'll be fine.”
Maybe blue and dead from lack of oxygen, but other than that, fine.

I rub my neck, my expression lost in thought. “Remember how to get to the Pulpitum that brought us here?”

“Sure.”

“Go there first thing. When you arrive, get Diana on the line. Tell her ‘opus auxilium ad thrax.'”

“What does it mean?”

“It's another pass phrase, like what I used in the desert with the guys.”

“Got it. What then?”

“Ask for Ty. He'll come right away.”

“Can he break through solid rock and get to you?”

“Ty's an unbelievable warlock. If anyone can do this fast, it's him.”

Lianna nods, turns into a light blue mist and slips away. Once she's gone, the cavern turns dark and empty. I can't even see my hand in front of my face. The silence is so complete it makes my ears ring.

I wait for what feels like an eternity before the rock wall bursts apart, showering me with small stones and debris. A dim light fills the cave. After so much darkness, it blinds me so that I can't see a thing. All I know's what I sense.

Something's coming closer. There's a short list of who could pull off that blast.

It's either Lianna or Zephyr.

Please let it be Lianna. I can't fight what I can't see. A voice sounds in my ear and thank fuck, it's a familiar one.

Nizam.

“You're a pain in the ass, you know that?” he asks. “I was about to get some action when we got your SOS.”

I shoot him a sly smile. “Your hand doesn't count, Zee.”

Nizam laughs as more light pours through the fractured wall. I suck in a deep breath, the best oxygen I've had in ages.

I'm free.

Lianna

Can't be much farther now.

I whip through the skies as quickly as my mist form allows. Ty gave me a rendezvous point to meet up with him, Nizam, and with any luck, a whole and healthy Maxon. Sure, I could have taken the wizard up on his offer to teleport me, but teleportation spells are an energy suck.

Ty needs to save his power for Maxon.

The Pulpitum seemed so close to the Chocolate Hills before. Now, it feels like ages are creeping by as I race to the rendezvous point. Did I get lost in the dark? And why did I decide to be so noble, anyway? I should have gone with Ty. Who cares if he'd be a little more tired? At least, I'd be with Maxon right now.

Besides, what do I know about Ty, really? The guy could be the worst wizard in the after-realms. My throat constricts with panic.

Keep it together, Lianna. You're almost there.

At last, the rendezvous point comes into view. The place is heavy with magic. There's a cloaking spell here.

Which means Tyberius.

I reach out with my elemental energy. It takes a few tries—and a ton of power—but I'm able to pierce through the veil of enchantment.

The first thing I notice is an ear-shattering boom. Impact waves follow, throwing me backwards. One side of a hill explodes, leaving a massive crater behind. The air turns thick with debris and dust. My senses get overwhelmed with worry and alarm.

I stumble toward the crater. Kneeling down, I grip the line of grass that marks the edge of the blast. I scan the ground beneath me. Nothing's visible through the cloud of dirt. Bands of anxiety tighten around my temples.

Where are they?

I cup my hand by my mouth. “Maxon? Nizam?”

No reply.

At least, I can still sense Ty's cloaking spell. That means Tyberius and his magic are alive. My skin glows blue with worry.

I hope he's not the only one.

“Maxon!”

Finally, a trio of figures appears at the center of the crater. It's Tyberius and Nizam. Their arms loop across the shoulders of the third figure, who stumbles along between them. My torso slumps with relief.

It's Maxon. He looks like hell with torn body armor and too-pale skin.

But he's alive.

I force my features into some semblance of calm. The trio reaches the crater's edge before sitting down beside me. Ty mutters a spell over Maxon. Bit by bit, Maxon's color improves and his mismatched irises turn bright.

He turns to Ty. “Thanks, man.”

“Opus auxilium ad thrax,” says Ty. “I thought we were supposed to save that for real emergencies. I could have blown a crater here in my sleep.”

“Don't be such a bitch,” says Nizam. He points to the crater. “That's the closest ‘you' and ‘blowing' have gotten in years.”

Nizam and Ty keep ragging on each other while Maxon's gaze finds mine. Our mouths slowly wind into identical smiles. An odd sensation comes over me. I feel like an invisible cord stretches between us, linking us together.

“You okay?” I whisper.

He nods. “You?”

I shrug. “You scared me half to death.”

“Not that much, beautiful. You still look pretty alive to me.”

Nizam and Ty stop talking trash long enough to stare at Maxon. And when I mean stare, it's one of the ‘he's grown two heads' variety. I haven't seen surprise like that since Maxon invited me to stay in Arx Hall.

“Hey.” Nizam points at Maxon's chin. “You're smiling.”

Maxon hops to his feet, his grin staying firmly in place. “Who, me?”

“Yeah, you,” replies Ty.

A swell of pride moves through my chest. Considering that comment, Maxon must not have been a happy guy lately. If he's grinning now, maybe it's because of me.

“Any news from Antrum?” asks Maxon.

“Emperor Tempest sent a message,” says Ty. “Arrived just before we left.”

“Let me guess,” says Maxon. “Zephyr's attacking.”

“How'd you know?” asks Nizam.

“We know that he's after the Kristalli of Fire,” I explain. “It's hidden in Furonium.”

“Did T say how they're holding up?” asks Maxon.

“Worst part of the battle's over,” replies Nizam. “Good news is that casualties were low. Bad news is that the Kristalli of Fire was stolen.”

“What?” I ask. “How?”

“Some little sewn-up rat thing,” says Ty. “Incarnate magic, if you asked me. It even had the little rat balls to drop off a message at one of our Pulpitum.”

Maxon and I share a knowing glance. No question who's sending sewn-up demon rats all over the after-realms. Silas.

My insides twist with worry. Silas's rat got the Kristalli of Fire. What a disaster.

I picture Esau. The Fire Elementals have children, too. There must be thousands in need of healing. If Zephyr gets his hands on the Kristalli of Fire, he'll drain it. No chance for a new Monarkki of Fire, ever. No hope for healing.

“Did Silas already give the Kristalli of Fire to Zephyr?” I ask.

Ty shakes his head. “Tempest's spies say no.”

“Good.” I exhale a relieved breath.
The Kristalli of Fire hasn't been drained.

Ty frowns. “Tempest also says he lost Chimera.”

“What?” Maxon sets his fists on his hips. “I practically gift-wrapped him to them. Does T know what happened?”