Exhale (35 page)

The fire extinguisher lay just out of reach, next to the oxygen. Clenching his teeth to stifle the pain, Iri scrambled off the bed, grabbed it, and unleashed its contents on the chair. Having disposed of his Fyre, Jack rushed forward, yanked Whetu up, and tossed her over his shoulder. Tubes and IVs popped out of her as he dashed to the door. His skin cracking open from the intense heat, Iri couldn’t have carried her anyway.

Gavin spun around just as the remaining Fyre caught Iri in his sights. “No!”

A blast of red-orange arced through the air in slow motion toward Iri. Filled with deep regret at the pain his actions would cause, he looked at Gavin and played his final card.
Whetu knows where the door to the Dreaming is. And Scarlet—

Fire engulfed him before Iri could finish his confession.

Desperate to flee the unbearable burn, he released all of the Elemental Air from his human form in a sudden gust amidst the red chaos. His arms and legs splayed out as Fire and Air engaged in mortal combat.

A miniature cyclone whipped around Iri’s flaming body. The Fyre cackled as the tornado sucked up the unsecured items in the room. Paper, medical supplies, and equipment spun wildly in the vortex. Windows blew out. Glass sprayed everywhere. Fire and debris clashed.

Iri fell to the melted tile floor. When the remains of his earthly body crumbled to ash, his yellow Elemental soul dissipated through the shattered window and blended into the Air outside, nothing more than a final breath of life exhaled.

Chapter Thirty-five

“What do you mean, the burn unit exploded?” Cradling the phone on her shoulder, Zoe fell into the chair and stared blankly at the monitor as the computer booted up. Jesus. A fire at the burn unit. As if those poor people didn’t have enough nightmares already.

“Scarlet and three other Fyres were with Whetu when we arrived. A fight broke out, and one of them cut loose near the oxygen tank. The bloody thing went up in flames, and we got the fuck out. A big chunk of the seventh floor was damaged, but Fire and Rescue responded quickly. They think they got everyone out.”

Dear God. “So, you have Iri’s daughter?”

She opened an application and began the download process for the digital tags she collected today.

Gavin sighed. “Yeah. But Iri didn’t…he didn’t make it.”

“He’s dead?” She lowered her voice and clutched the phone, then looked over her shoulder into the kitchen where Adriene, Dani, and Elizabeth cooked dinner. Adriene leaned on her crutches, telling a joke.

“Yeah.”

“Oh, God. I’m so sorry. He wasn’t my favorite person, but I certainly never wished him ill. What about Whetu? What will happen to her? And the door…did Iri tell you where the door is?”

“Fucking hell, Zed. The situation is a mess. Before he died, Iri said Whetu can take us to the door. Right now, she’s unconscious, covered in burns, and won’t wake up. Jack’s keeping an eye on her at his hotel, but it doesn’t look good. She’s just a little girl. I expected…shit, I don’t know what I expected.”

Chills crawled across Zoe’s skin. “Shouldn’t she be in a hospital?”

“Yes, but Jack knows someone who may be able to help.” He paused for a few moments. “Just come here tomorrow. I miss you.” She imagined him rubbing his black hair like he did sometimes when he got frustrated.

“I miss you too. And I’m sorry for hanging up on you earlier. I guess I’m tired and grumpy and anxious for this to be over.”

She left out the scared part. Scarlet had threatened her before, but she never imagined the woman was crazy enough to murder someone in cold blood. Apparently, her psycho-meter went
way
beyond ten.

God, she needed Gavin, if only for a little while. “Will I see you tonight in my dreams?”

A long pause. “I’m sorry, Zed. I know I haven’t been around much. I swear I don’t mean to blow you off. Sentinel shit keeps creeping up, and I can’t ignore it.”

“Okay.” She was careful to remove all traces of emotion from her voice, but inside her head, she screamed, dropped to the floor of her mushy brain matter, and kicked her feet until she got a headache.

“I have to meet with the Sentinels to plan a new strategy against the Fyres. Until we get some answers from Whetu, we’re back to square one.”

She wanted to yell at him. Tell him to just leave the Sentinel stuff behind and run away with her somewhere else. But that wasn’t who he was. And it wasn’t who she was either. They were both fighters. To a fault.

“You’re angry.” His voice softened.

“No,” she lied. “Your job is to protect people. So go and do that. When this is over, we’ll have some time together.” Maybe.

“You’re my number one priority.”

Her heart skipped a beat. “Thank you. But I’m fine. Safe and sound here at the research house. And I’ll be with you in Sydney tomorrow.”

“I’ll pick you up at the airport. And after you finish at the harbor, I’ll take you to my place for a night alone.”

She smiled. “God, alone with you? No housemates, Elementals, or surprise dad visits? I won’t know what to do with myself.”

“Leave that to me.” The grin in his voice damn-near curled her straight hair. “We have some lost time to restock, Dr. Morgan. I’m going to make every moment count.”

“Need me to pick up condoms?” She bit her lip.

“Nope.”

* * * *

Mum?

Yes, Araluen.

How much farther?

Patience, little one.
Under the ocean’s surface, cool nighttime waves swirled around Lily’s thin, hungry body. Migration with a calf was difficult in many ways. Even more so with Araluen.

Lily and Araluen’s entourage spread out a bit, perhaps to give them some quiet bonding time. Hard to do while surrounded by twenty other humpbacks—a few of them Elementals. Though she understood why they were here, she wished they would leave her alone.

I’m tired from all this swimming.
Araluen rolled over and pumped his flukes awkwardly up and down in the water column.

A couple of the other whales faced his way. Though it was dark, Lily perceived worry through subtle changes in their Water. Just fluid shifts here and there, but her Water was sensitive enough to pick up on it.

I know. I am tired of traveling too.
But more than anything, she was tired of being hounded by the Wæter Elementals to accept the Archelemental position. If she had no calf to care for, she might have considered it. She had more experience than any of the other candidates, and her Water manipulation skills were unmatched. But as it was, Araluen required more attention than she could give, even without the added Archelemental pressure.

Where are we going?
he asked.

I must show you the way south so that when you are strong enough to live on your own, you will know where to hunt for food and how to find a mate. Rest for a few moments. You need your strength.

Lily touched Araluen’s back with a long pectoral flipper and nudged him up to the surface to breathe. The little one sometimes forgot to do it on his own. The sound of his exhalation rippled through the water, and he floundered above her. She positioned herself beneath him and supported his weight.

He was too small. Too weak.

And he was blind.

Lily couldn’t lose another baby.

A cry from faraway reached her. She startled. It was the other calf she’d heard earlier, trilling for his mother. His calls had weakened throughout the day and were now barely a whisper. Worry built a fortress around her heart.

Dear Aqua, please watch over that baby
.

Lily could Waterwalk to the calf, feed it, and come back, but the thought of leaving Araluen’s side crushed her. And what would it accomplish anyway? It would be near impossible for Lily to manage feeding two calves. The toll on her health would be devastating, and without enough milk to provide adequate sustenance for two, malnutrition could kill
both
babies.

Yet, she couldn’t ignore the plea for help. Couldn’t sit by and let another calf die.

Mama?
The baby cried out again from hundreds of kilometers away.

Lily sent Watery feelers through the currents to search for the mother but received no replies from any whales missing calves.

Water flooded her heart with sadness. She closed her eyes. There had to be some way she could help. The chances of her arriving by natural means in Sydney before starvation killed the baby were slim, and none of the whales traveling with her were capable of nursing.

Zoe?
she sang into the blue.

Several of her escorts swam closer and formed a circle around her.

Can you hear me? I need you.

The whales stilled. Minutes passed with no answer.

“I’m here,” came Zoe’s human voice, imitating the squeals, grunts, and moans of the humpbacks. “I’ve been waiting for you. Where are you?”

On my way with a new baby for you to meet.

Lily sensed the warmth of Zoe’s proud smile across the kilometers.

“I can’t wait. I’m heading to Sydney tomorrow to assist a motherless calf. Do you know anything about that?”

Thank Aqua.
Yes, the baby needs a surrogate mother. I will Waterwalk momentarily and nurse him, but I must return to my own calf afterward. Hopefully, I can provide enough milk to sustain him until you get there tomorrow.

“I’ll do my best. I’m so glad you’re safe. I was worried…And we have some things to talk about.”

Araluen slipped downward. Lily rubbed his underside with her rostrum and lifted him to the surface for another breath. She caught a flash of black and white movement, and bubbles bloomed all around.

Hard, sudden snapshots of motion churned the water, too fast to follow. The other whales tightened their protective guard, pointing tails inward in circle formation and facing whatever villain stalked them.

A barrage of clicks provided the answer.

Orca whales. A large pod by the sound of it.

“Did you hear me?” Caution sharpened the edges of Zoe’s voice.

Lily sunk into the center of the humpbacks’ circle and urged Araluen to her side. She lifted her flipper, and he cowered beneath it.
It will be all right. Everything will be fine.

“Tell me where you are!”

The clicks coordinated, then silenced. Massive black dorsal fins rose from the backs of the big males. Teeth snapped. Tails swished.

The humpbacks outsized the orcas by meters, but the toothed whales’ pack mentality and powerful jaws made them lethal, efficient hunters. Their smaller size also lent them the gifts of speed and maneuverability.

Two female orcas swam head-on into the circle, bullying their way between a pair of surprised humpbacks. Teeth glowing eerie white through the dark water, they headed straight for Araluen.

He trembled and pushed his body flush against Lily. An orca bit into her tail, and she flicked it hard, throwing the thing off. In that brief moment of distraction, she lost track of Araluen. He thrashed wildly, adding to the rising thicket of bubbles. Three more black and white shapes shot past the humpbacks through an opening in the circle under them.

Araluen!
Lily threw her forty-ton body left and right, up and down, desperate to keep the killer whales away from her baby. A shock of red emptied fast into the ocean, and Lily’s heart took a tumble.

Mummy…
His pectoral fin reached out from a flurry of bloody movement.

Lily and two of the others pushed forward, bashing everything in sight, including each other by accident. A flood of emotion gripped her soul. She was about to lose her second calf, assuming he wasn’t already dead.

No. Not this time.

Inside her heart, the place where Water lived, a well sprung. It bubbled slowly for a few moments, but once momentum caught, it doubled, tripled, quadrupled. Lily’s love and fierce devotion for Araluen fueled the Water, which expanded at an exponential rate. Within seconds, the pressure built to a crescendo and threatened to rip her big, full heart in two.

So she let go.

The tsunami blast sent every orca in the pod flipping nose-over-tail in a black and white sunburst from her epicenter. The humpbacks surrounding Lily remained unharmed, though a few mouths dropped and flashed baleen-laden grins. The frenzied killer whales scattered and disappeared into the depths.

Araluen?
She shot to her baby’s side, and the others moved out of the way.

Even in the darkness, the stain of blood against the clear ocean was obvious as he flailed and jerked. Still alive.

Try to calm down. I know it hurts, but thrashing will only make it worse.
While searching for the damage, she pushed Water to her skin and caressed his back with her flipper. He settled.

He whimpered.
Mummy…

She couldn’t see much, but felt the heat of his blood. A deep gash in his side. Dear Aqua. What should she do? She pressed her body against his to stanch the wound.

Stay close to me. I will help you to the surface for air.

Listing to his left side, Araluen struggled to rise. Lily pushed him up. He blew several times.

That’s it, my son. Keep calm.
Sage advice, but much easier said than done. For both of them.

Those orcas didn’t come here by chance
, one of nearby the humpbacks said.
They wanted your blood. Araluen’s blood. Their aim is to threaten you into conceding to Lana.

Lana will make a fine Archelemental.

The others slunk closer.
You are the better choice,
another said.
Lana is too young and hasn’t the experience you do
.

Lily stroked Araluen’s back again. Wæters weren’t known for their decisiveness, but being a mother trumped her Elemental ties and strengthened her resolve.
That may be true, but Lana is the only remaining choice. I have a calf to care for. I cannot ascend to the Archelemental position. I
will
not
.

A collective wave of worry from her escorts beat against Lily’s skin.

Then we are doomed to live the remainder of our lives under the Fyres’ rule.

Lily tucked her bleeding baby under her great flipper.
So be it
.

Chapter Thirty-six