Chapter Eleven
Three pairs of eyes stared down at Dev—green, brown and crystalline blue. Familiar faces watched him, their expressions an odd mix of concern, relief and … amusement?
I’m alive. Charred memories teased him. Vague images flitted through his thoughts, but he pushed them back. Some small measure of his strength had returned, thanks to the heat source near his head. The flames cavorting over his body took the edge off, but the pain remained firmly in the intense category.
He tried to speak, but after working his lips and tongue, nothing emerged. He would have sat up, but a granite hand on his chest convinced him to remain still.
“You’re busted up pretty good there, Sparky. Lie still.”
I hate it when he calls me that.
Wren stood close, still dressed in that sparkling dress, so he couldn’t have been out for too long. He turned his head. The effort caused him a few major hammer strokes on the inside of his skull.
Mental note, don’t turn head.
After the hammering ceased, he gazed into those blue eyes that had so captivated him before. He was expecting it this time, so the serenity didn’t take him by surprise. Even so, he wanted to dive into that stare and absorb all it had to offer, but he could not afford to do that yet.
Stillman was right. Shadow had returned, and it was strong, stronger than the Knight of Flame alone, that’s for sure. Dev’s ego cringed, but the state of his body proved otherwise. He’d gotten his ass kicked and it ate away at his soul.
Words. He needed to form words again. Swooshing his tongue around his mouth, he wrangled enough saliva to moisten his throat.
“Where?” Dev croaked.
“The lovely home of Ms. Cassidy Sinclair,” Magnus said.
Right. That was her name. Cassidy.
“How long?” A little clearer this time.
“About twenty-four hours,” Wren replied.
Only twenty-four hours.
“Cinder?”
“Safe,” Wren said.
Dev nodded. On cue, the hammers beat him up.
Right. Keep still.
“I feel her … there.” Dev lifted his arm in the direction of the house. With his brain operating on more than one cylinder, he recognized the elemental force that had pulled him toward shore. He’d heard stories of other Knights losing their weapons only to have them turn up the next day. In his case, his elemental weapon had lost him and pulled him back within reach. He would have chuckled at the reversal, but didn’t want to set the hammers in motion again.
“We’ll get Cinder later,” Wren promised. “How are you feeling?”
“Like cream in a butter churn. I told you dancing was a bad idea.”
Wren teared up and smiled in relief.
“You up for a trip to the Cradle?” Magnus asked, and flipped open his guitar case. “I’ve got a few of Cyndralla’s toys in here.” Instead of a guitar, the case held a giant battle axe nestled in black felt. He tilted up the blade and grabbed a bundle of oversized playing cards from underneath. In the hands of the Knight of Earth, the cards glowed a faint blue and the swirling pattern on their backs came alive, spinning down into the center of a vortex. The rubber band holding them together snapped as he thumbed through the deck. “Studio. Studio. Maui. Ooh, Amsterdam. Want to go there?”
“Magnus, please,” Wren said.
Magnus pulled a different card from the stack. Its face showed the opening to a cave carved into a forested mountainside. A shimmering path of emeralds began at its mouth and led back into the darkness toward a symbol carved into the rock floor—four silver triangles contained within a golden ring, their tips connected at the center. He handed it to Wren.
In her hands, the magic died. The card lost its luster and resembled nothing more than a giant-sized ace of clubs. A wistful expression crossed her face at the abrupt change.
“Let’s get this over with.” Dev doused his flame. Movement would hurt, big time, but he needed to get back to the Cradle. It was the only place he knew he was safe. And leaving now would remove the danger from Cassidy. On the downside, it would also remove him from her.
When Dev first looked into those eyes, he found a peace he hadn’t known since before his time as a Knight. And there was something more, something he couldn’t identify at their core that captured his will.
“Help me up.” Dev reached up an arm for help in fits and starts. The muscles weren’t responding like they should.
This sucks.
Magnus leaned down and lifted his friend like a baby.
“You’re loving this, aren’t you?” Dev asked.
“No.” Magnus nodded his big toothy grin in Dev’s face. “Where do you want to set up?”
“Let’s use the doorway into the garage.” Wren shifted the barstools to make a clear path for Magnus, who followed with Dev, and opened the door. The light from the hallway glinted off the mashed front fender and tire rim of Cassidy’s car.
Cassidy picked up the guitar case Magnus left by the door in both hands, lugged it over to Wren, and backed out of the way.
Magnus eased his friend to the ground. “Can you stand on your own?”
“Of course.” Dev assumed his feet touched when his downward momentum stopped, but he couldn’t feel anything below the waist.
“You sure?” Magnus asked. “I’m going to let you go.”
“Go for it.” Dev gritted his teeth and hoped for the best.
Magnus let go. Dev crashed to the floor. Wren and Magnus rushed to his aid, but Cassidy remained distant. He couldn’t blame her. She’ll be glad to get rid of us. The thought stung.
“Okay.” Dev grimaced. “Maybe I don’t have this.”
“You have the right of that, my brother.” Magnus picked him up off the floor and held him facing the open garage doorway.
An elemental force tugged on Dev, the same magic that had pulled him in to shore.
Cinder.
“Wait. Cinder is in the garage.”
“I’ll get it,” Wren said, pushing past Magnus. “Move it, Sasquatch.” She stepped through the door and flipped the light switch. Fluorescent tubes flickered before they shed their steady glow on the remnants of Cassidy’s car.
Magnus whistled. “I assume Wren was driving.”
“Oh, shut up.”
The front end of the car looked like a melted block of Swiss cheese. Hood gone. Holes burned into the engine. Jagged rents eaten into the chrome. Tires melted.
“I didn’t think we’d make it here,” Wren whispered.
From amidst the metallic carnage, Cinder stood tall and unblemished. Firmly embedded in the engine block, the dagger survived the fight and the ride home. Wren grasped the hilt and tugged, but the blade wouldn’t budge. She yanked with both hands, but still nothing happened. After vaulting up and bracing her feet on the engine block, she pulled with everything she had, but Cinder held fast.
Wren hopped down and stormed through the doorway. “You can get your own damn knife.” She stomped out onto the patio and stared out at the water.
Dev cringed at her passing. She wanted so much to be selected as a Knight, to be graced with an elemental power, to truly be one of them. Perhaps someday she’d get her chance.
Magnus carried him to the car. Dev wrapped his fingers around Cinder and she came away from the metal with a whisper and flash from the orange gem.
“Anything else?” Magnus asked as he carried Dev into the house.
“Yes.” Dev smiled at Cassidy. She stood in the background with her arms crossed and an anxious expression on her face. He wanted to tell her that he would be back. That he wanted to get to know her. That she was pretty. But the churning in his stomach eroded his confidence. Here he was, the Knight of Flame who’d faced and defeated countless enemies—timid in the presence of this intriguing woman.
He wanted to say so much, but all that came out was a breathless, “Thank you.”
“That’s it?” Magnus stifled a laugh. “Let’s get you home.”
Wren rejoined them, her expression cold and aloof. She handed the card to Dev.
Once again, the magic sprang to life, only this time the card’s face showed the same cave set into the side of a volcano with bright lava flows to either side of the entrance. The path to the Order’s symbol was paved in fiery rubies. Heat rose from the flat surface.
Delving into his elemental bond, Dev formed the trigger in the primal language of fire that would activate the gateway. The word hissed and crackled on his tongue. He flicked the card into the doorway. As it crossed the plane from one room to the next, he spoke the word.
“Journey.”
Dazzling golden light exploded from the card’s edges, expanding to fill the doorway with its brilliance. As it faded, the cave mouth depicted in the card’s artwork filled the doorframe. A ruby path wound into the darkness and beckoned Dev home.
Wren embraced Cassidy before setting her hand on Dev for safe conduct through his elemental portal.
“Hold tight.” Magnus said.
Dev craned his head around the bulge of Magnus’s shoulder to get a last look at Cassidy before his brother stepped through and the cave swallowed them up.