Caution to the Wind: Book One of the Elementals Series (20 page)

They’d broken free. A smile spread across her lips.

“They will ruin everything. Stop them.” Mal’s fist closed around the last stone.

This was wrong. They weren’t supposed to be here. They were supposed to stay safely locked away while she went through the portal with Mal and Ruth. She was supposed to destroy the tablet from the other side. She was supposed to save the world.

Ruth and Levi stepped forward. With a wave of Ruth’s hand, darkness pooled along the ground. The living shadow lifted up and spread wide into the sky. The sun blotted from view.

“No!” Loren shouted. “You have to get out of here!”

Avery dug his heels into the ground, skidding to a halt as the shadow crashed down on him.

The shadow was an animated force as it curled around Avery. It stuck to him like tar, unrelenting as it clung to his body. He pivoted and twisted, holding his arms out as he tried to break free.

She ran for him without thinking.

A pair of arms grabbed her from behind and flung her aside. Loren went backward, tripping over her skirt to hit the ground hard.

“Stay there!” For good measure, Levi pinned her hand down with his boot. Her bones crunched beneath his sure footing and she cried out when he dug his heel down.

As she struggled to pull her hand free, she looked up through her veil of hair as Eva tackled Ruth. The two woman fell to the ground where Eva pinned her.

Callum reached Avery. The shadows were thick around him, but his brother grasped his arm and pulled. With Ruth on the ground, unable to direct the shadows, they began to dissipate. Avery broke free.

Loren winced again when she tried to jerk her hand from beneath Levi’s boot. He increased the pressure and she whimpered.

Fighting through the pain, Loren grasped Levi’s ankle. She wasn’t physically strong, but she had a good hold. She yanked hard.

Levi lost his footing and fell. Her hand released, Loren scrambled to get away from him.

Callum and Avery raced toward her as she got to her feet.

It hit like a shockwave. Loren gasped. The force of the power almost knocked her back down. She wavered and held out her arms to steady herself. Her eyes widened.

Avery and Callum stopped, frozen in their tracks. Even Eva and Ruth ceased their fighting and stared.

The last stone was in place. The portal was about to open.

Ruth broke free of the trance first and decked Eva across the jaw. She kicked at her in an attempt to break free. Eva righted herself and fought back. She held Ruth down, slamming her head onto the ground.

Avery and Callum shook off the spell and continued toward Loren.

The swell of power was all around her. She risked a look back. Mal’s lips moved, but she couldn’t hear the words. A bright, white light formed in the center of the stones.

The portal.

Avery reached her first and grabbed her around the waist. She struggled to break free. She couldn’t let him go with her. “You have to go,” she pleaded. “You can’t come with me. Please, Avery.”

Avery tightened his hold on her. “I can’t believe you’re doing something so
insane
. You can’t go through that portal.
Not
alone.
Not
without me.”

She wanted to ask him how he knew, how he’d figured it out, but there wasn’t time. The power grew. The glow from behind her shone brighter. She shook her head. “I have to. It’s the only way to stop this. I have to go!”

“
Not
without me! We’re in this together! Do you understand?”

“Avery, let me go!”

“I
can’t
. I
won’t
!”

“Avery, listen to me.” She tried to make her voice as even as she could, to keep her emotion from seeping through. “I will go through that portal and I will destroy the tablet. They won’t ever be able to return.”

“But you’ll die!”

“I know. I know.” Her hand touched his face. She trembled. “I’ve made peace with it. It’s what I have to do. You said I was important, right? You said I had inner strength. I believe it now. I have to do this. Please, let me go.”

The encompassing brightness of the portal spread out. Everything bathed in its glow and power, but she kept her eyes on Avery’s face.

He shook his head. “
No
!”

“
Please
.”

He crushed her against him and found her lips. Tears streaked down the sides of her face as she kissed him back. She wanted to hold him for always, to live in this moment forever, but it was ending. The portal was open and she had to go.

She pulled back from the kiss. She drew out of his embrace and he reluctantly relinquished his hold. Loren trembled. It was now or never.

Callum stared at her in disbelief. Eva fought against Ruth, holding her back from reaching the portal.

Loren took one more step back. The light began to fold around her. She lifted her head. She focused her eyes on Avery. It would be the last time she ever saw him.

“I love you,” she whispered.

The portal’s light consumed her as Loren fell backward into it and was gone.

Chapter Twenty-Six

The world was white. Blinding. Loren closed her eyes. Even when she did so, she saw white. It filled her senses.

She imagined something mystical and pervasive would happen when she went through the portal. That was exactly what she got—along with a painful twisting in her stomach.

It all could’ve lasted seconds or hours. There was no span of time. All Loren knew was power, pain, and weightlessness.

The light began to fade and colors came back into focus. She saw the ground rushing to meet her and Loren braced herself. She rolled at the last moment and made impact with the hard ground. It jarred her.

She shifted onto her side and lost every bit of bile churning in her stomach. She hadn’t eaten in a long time. There was nothing in her stomach to come up.

The dry heaves eventually stopped and Loren rolled away from the mess to lay on her back. She panted and stared up at the clear, blue sky. There were no clouds.

This was Kahsh. Loren closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths.

What had she done?

This wasn’t over yet. She had to get to Mal and grab the tablet. She had to find a way to destroy it or hide it.

She’d move as soon as the pain stopped.

A shadow passed over her. Loren opened her eyes to find the sky clear. She blinked a few times and listened. Flapping wings? Maybe it was a bird of some kind.

The shadow moved her again. This time, she caught a glimpse of it in the sky. Something serpentine, with a large massive head and a long tail that flicked. It swooped and let out a loud, wild roar.

Not a bird.

Loren sat up quickly. The creature circled her. “Oh. Oh no.” She scrambled to her feet and searched her surroundings. Some distance ahead of her, she saw a grove of menacing trees. She spun. To her right was a large grouping of rocks. Everything else was open desert.

The flying creature screamed again and dove.

Loren ran for the rocks.

The ground was rough, covered with hard pieces of rock. They tore at her feet, but Loren ignored the pain and moved. She heard the sweeping of the wings, but she didn’t look back. She reached the outcropping and dropped down to the ground.

Strong jaws snapped above her. She let out a cry and looked back to see the creature’s golden underbelly. Its tail swooped before it soared back into the sky, beating its huge leathery wings. The sunlight glistened off its scales.

A dragon. It was a
dragon
.

Loren held her breath. She crawled and fit herself into a small alcove within the rock. She drew her legs close to her and sat there, waiting.

She knew nothing about this world—not the terrain, the inhabitants, or the creatures. It made being here even more perilous.

She peered out at the sky. Now and again, she could see the dragon circle high above. When it became nothing more than a dot, Loren wondered if it was safe to come out. If she was fast, she might make it to the trees before the dragon could swoop down. Maybe she could use air power to move faster.

Had the effects of the inhibitor worn off yet? Loren focused on the ground and stretched out her hand. She intended to make a small whirlwind from the dirt, but nothing happened.

Loren sighed and dropped her hand. She searched the sky again for any sign of the dragon.

A sudden flash of light made her flinch back and shield her eyes. She blinked a few times. When the light vanished and her eyes readjusted, there were three figures on the ground. She edged out of the alcove for a better look.

One figure groaned and rolled. He retched onto the sand before he fell onto his back with his hand on his stomach.

“Avery?” she whispered.

But how?

The others began to stir. She recognized Levi’s blue hair. Callum was next to him. They both vomited and tried to recover.

They came through the portal. This wasn’t supposed to happen. They weren’t supposed to be here.

That didn’t matter now. They had to find cover.

“Avery!” she shouted. She waved her hand to try to get his attention. “Run!”

The dragon circled again. It dropped lower and spread its wings wide. Avery stirred and lifted his head. He searched for Loren. When he spotted her, he followed her pointing to look to the sky.

He lost a few precious moments as he stared. When the dragon dove, Avery finally started. “Cal! Run!”

Callum looked at the sky. When he saw the creature, he wasted no time. He grabbed Levi and pulled him to his feet. Levi stumbled a few times but was soon running after them toward the rocks.

Avery was first to reach the outcropping. Loren moved back to make room for him. He crawled into the alcove and pressed his back against the wall.

The dragon let out its piercing scream and swooped again. Callum ran faster. Levi tried to keep up. “Wait!”

The dragon moved fast.

“Run!” Loren screamed.

The shadow loomed over them. Callum didn’t reach the alcove. Instead, he dropped to the ground on his stomach and lay prone. Levi stumbled. The dragon lunged.

Loren covered her eyes. She couldn’t watch. Levi screamed and there was a loud crunch.

“My God,” Avery breathed.

Wings flapped and Loren felt the wind gusts as the creature flew back up.

There was silence saved for Avery’s rough, panting breaths.

Loren held her hand over her mouth. Levi had been a jerk, but no one deserved that fate.

Callum crawled the rest of the way to the outcropping. Avery grabbed his arm to pull him to saving.

“That was a dragon.” Callum looked out.

“We’re definitely not in Kansas anymore.”

Loren didn’t find the joke funny. “You shouldn’t have come here. You weren’t supposed to come here.”

“I told you I wouldn’t let you do this alone.” Avery looked at her.

“The portal sucked us in,” Callum explained. “We had no intention of following you.”

“Maybe
you
didn’t.”

“We were too close to the energy. It drew us in. Where’s Mal?”

“I don’t know. I was alone when I got here.”

“He might’ve gone into the woods.” Callum peered out again. “Or else the dragon got him. He was old. I don’t think he could’ve made it far.”

Both were equally likely. Loren bit on her lip. “Or he regained his full strength and used his powers to get away.”

“That too.”

“What about Eva? Ruth? Did the portal grab them?”

“I don’t know. I’m watching to see. We’ll sit it out.” Callum lifted his eyes toward the sky. “The dragon might not be hungry now but it’s still there. A
fucking
dragon.” He paused. “Levi shouldn’t have come with us, but he latched onto me. And then it was too late.”

“Now he’s dead. Good riddance.” Avery shifted.

“No one should’ve died,” Loren said quietly.

“Do you feel sorry for him? He
betrayed
us.”

Loren went quiet. She betrayed them too.

Avery realized what he’d said and he rested his head back against the rock. “Shit. I didn’t mean—” He cut himself off with a sigh and ran his hand over his face. “Fuck.”

No one said a word as they waited. Callum finally drew back. “I don’t think the portal got them. They were far enough back. Maybe it didn’t reach.”

“And the dragon?”

“I don’t see it. We should move to the woods.”

One by one, they crawled out of the alcove. Loren saw no sign of the dragon. It made her more anxious than relieved. She walked quickly with the brothers, wincing as she stepped over the stones.

“Let me carry you,” Avery offered.

“No,” she said shortly and walked past him.

She wrapped her arms around herself. Maybe the circumstances were out of their control, but she didn’t like it. This was supposed to be her sacrifice. Not theirs.

Callum slowed to walk beside her. “Mal will be looking for you. If he survived the dragon, he’ll be searching for you.”

“I know.” Loren sidestepped some particularly sharp-looking rocks and kept the quick pace. The forest looked dark and foreboding the closer they got to it.

Avery stepped past Callum, his shoulder forcefully bumping into his. He frowned as Avery took the lead. They stopped when they reached the edge of the forest.

Avery studied the brush and undergrowth blocking them from walking through. He held out a hand and fire ignited. The brush began to burn. With his hand extended, he moved forward. Soon, there was plenty of path. Without a word, he extinguished the fire and started through the forest.

Loren watched Avery vanish through the trees.

She blinked in surprise when Callum’s hand touched hers. She glanced down. His thumb rubbed along hers. His touch was soothing, comforting. It was such a small thing. It wasn’t much, but it meant more to her than she could say.

She drew her hand away from his and brushed hair from her face. She looked at the darkness of the forest and tried to shake off the tumult of emotions raging within her. That was hard. She couldn’t sort through it all.

Focus was important now. This was a new world, with new creatures, unknown territory, and there was a power-hungry man after her. She had to be careful. She had to guard herself. She had to move forward.

Move forward she did. Loren picked up her skirt and began to walk. Callum followed.

The trees of the forest were unlike any she had seen before. They stretched toward the sky, going on for what seemed like a mile. The thick branches and heavy leaves created a massive canopy that blocked out all light and surrounded them with oppressive darkness.

She could barely see ahead of her. Avery was a small figure in the distance. His boots crunched as he stepped over branches and twigs. Now and again, there was a flash of flame as he burned through more brush blocking their path. Loren’s brow furrowed.

“He’s mad at me.”

“It’s not hard to notice.” Callum dipped his head beneath a branch to avoid it. “I’m not entirely happy myself. The difference between Avery and myself? I let things go. I don’t hold grudges.”

“Is that how you handle your jealousy?” Loren tried to curb her tongue, but it was too late.

Callum said nothing.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t mean it.”

“It’s… fine, Loren. I deserved it.”

Uncertain what to say, Loren let the topic drop and stepped over a broken branch. There was another flash of flame when Avery paused ahead of them. She quickened her pace, leaving Callum behind as she caught up.

“We don’t know where we’re going and I don’t want to go any deeper in here than we need to,” she said once she reached him. “Can we stop?”

Avery closed his hand around a ball of flame and extinguished it. “Loren, you were coming here to sacrifice yourself. Did you ever stop to think I could’ve helped you? You could’ve told me and we could’ve figured something out.”

“I don’t think so, Avery.”

He threw his hands into the air. “I don’t get you, Loren. I can’t figure you out. Just when I do, you turn completely around and I’m back at the start.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, I know you are. I’m sorry too.”

Her anger dissipated. She touched his arm. She expected him to draw back, but he only tensed. Slowly, she rubbed his arm. “Avery, I realized something back there, back before the shit hit the fan. I was meant to be important. I never knew that, but I always wanted it. My life was nothing. I was nothing. And then I found out none of that was true. And throughout it all, people kept telling me I was important. I didn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe it.”

She turned his face to her. “And I wanted to believe it so much. When I realized what had to be done to stop this craziness, that’s when I started to believe. I knew I was important and I could do something with it. And if uh if I succeeded and if I died because of it then I did something. And that importance… it would’ve meant something.”

Avery exhaled. “Oh, Loren…”

“It’s stupid, I know. And I couldn’t tell you. I couldn’t tell any of you. I was scared.”

“Loren, you don’t have to die to be important. You
are
important. And you always have been.”

“I’m really sorry.”

“I know.”

She stayed quiet and he pulled her into his embrace.

The crunch of underbrush reminded her Callum had caught up with them. She stayed in the hug for a few more moments before she stepped back.

“We need to figure out what to do next. Where to go,” she said quietly.

“We don’t have any idea where we are or what this world has in store,” Callum said.

“Dragons.” Avery ran a hand through his hair and swept it back.

“There’s that,” Callum agreed.

Loren thought for a long moment before speaking. “Mal doesn’t know you guys came through the portal. He’ll expect me to be alone. We have the advantage. I should go back, close to where the portal opened.”