The Blood of the Hydra (2 page)

“I did.” He laughed. “I told you not to flinch.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I shook it off, corrected my stance, and pulled back on the bowstring, sending the arrow straight towards the bulls-eye.

“Again,” Blake instructed, and I drew another arrow. This time, when he threw the flame, I knew to expect it. Once the arrow was ablaze, I released it to the target, and grabbed another, and then another. It was like my body was working on super speed, and the rush was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. I didn’t want to stop. So we kept going—Blake lighting up the arrow and me shooting—until all of the arrows were gone from the quiver and embedded in the target.

“Wow,” I said, catching my breath as I admired the arrows still on fire. The blaze grew taller, and then it exploded, engulfing the target completely.

Before I knew what was happening, a stream of water flew towards the target, extinguishing the fire.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Danielle’s voice echoed through the practice chamber, her stilettos clacking as she came inside. “Trying to burn down our training center?”

“We were practicing a new technique.” I lowered my bow and shrugged. “We must have gotten carried away.”

“You could say that.” Danielle coughed, fanning the smoke out of her face. A breeze blew through the air—courtesy of Chris—who sent the smoke out of the window near the ceiling of the basement.

“Think of it this way,” Blake said, pointing his thumb at the now-destroyed target. “If that were a monster’s head, it would be dead right now.”

Kate burst in from the shooting room, gun in hand. Strength-wise, she was the weakest of the five of us, so a gun had quickly become her weapon of choice. It had taken her a while to warm up to using such an intense weapon, but now she held onto it so naturally that it could have been an extra appendage.

“I smelled smoke,” she said, her mouth dropping open when she saw the destroyed target. She looked at each of us, as if trying to figure out who was guilty. “What happened in here?”

We caught her up on what we’d done, Blake and I alternating on telling different parts of the story. Despite the destruction, I still felt the rush from the shooting, and the excitement echoed in my voice. Because Blake was right—we’d created an awesome way to blow something up from afar.

I also got an extra thrill out of fighting with Blake.

“I guess I can see how it could be useful someday,” Kate finally said. “But there’s no water in here,” she added, turning to Danielle. “If there’s no water, how did you put out the fire?”

“There’s water in the air.” Danielle held her hands out, as if it should be obvious. “I condensed it into liquid and used it to put out the fire.” She looked over at Blake and smiled, although it seemed strained. “You aren’t the only ones who have been practicing with your powers.”

“Except this is supposed to be no power hour,” Kate reminded us, holding up her gun. “Remember what happened with the harpy? We used all our energy killing her. We were lucky that there was that portal from the cave to the playground, but what if that hadn’t been there? We would have been stuck in that cave, with no food, for who knows how long. We need to get better at using weapons, so we only use our powers when we absolutely need them.”

“They were doing it first.” Danielle huffed and glared at us. “When I saw the target explode, I figured I would do something useful by putting out the fire.”

“I actually wasn’t using my power,” I said, holding up the bow. “I was practicing archery.”

“You weren’t using your power because your power can’t help you defend yourself.” Danielle sneered.

“Whoa there.” Blake held his arms out and stepped between the two of us. “No need to get nasty.”

“I was just saying it like it is.” Danielle shrugged, her eyes flashing with hurt. “And you have no right to tell me what to do. You lost that privilege when you dumped me.”

I looked back and forth between the two of them, reminded again about why Blake and I couldn’t be together. Danielle clearly wasn’t over him.

There was also so much more I wanted to say, but I kept my mouth shut. Because Danielle had no idea about what I could
really
do. She and the others only knew about my power to heal. (Which is quite useful in battle, seeing as it’s the power that can save us all.) But none of them knew about the other side of my power—the ability to kill with a touch. It was how I’d killed the harpy. I’d called on black energy, touched the harpy, and sent the energy into its body, killing it instantly.

They all thought that the harpy had died because I’d staked it with a stalagmite. And they could never know the truth. Because using black energy… it was illegal. If anyone found out about what I could do, I could have my powers stripped. Or worse.

I shivered at the thought, and wrapped my arms around myself. My ability to kill terrified me. I didn’t want to know what the Head Elders might do to me if they found out about the true extent of my abilities. Which was why I had to keep it secret from everyone—even from the other Elementals. I hated the thought of them being scared of me too. Or worse—turning me in.

“We should clean up,” I said, changing the subject. “And I guess we’ll be needing a new target. That one is pretty…”

“Cooked?” Blake smirked, finishing my sentence. “Fried?”

“Yeah.” I laughed. “Exactly.”

Our eyes met, making my heart jump, and I couldn’t help but smile at him. But I quickly looked away. After all, I didn’t want to give him—or Danielle—the wrong idea.

“I’ll help you clean up, but I won’t be the one explaining this to Darius,” Kate said. “That’s up to one of you—since you’re the ones who made this mess.”

We didn’t have time to debate who would be telling him that we’d destroyed yet
another
piece of training equipment, because he came running into the practice room, swinging the door open with so much force that it banged against the wall. His eyes were wide, his hair mussed up, and his glasses crooked on the tip of his nose. I tightened my grip around my bow, bracing myself for whatever news was coming.

“Gather your weapons and meet at the van.” He looked at each of us, either not noticing, or completely unfazed by the charred target. “A monster’s been spotted at the Hemlock Center.”

“Who spotted it?” I asked once we’d gathered in the van. “Not a human, right?”

“A witch,” Darius replied, putting the van into drive and starting towards the Hemlock center. “Ever since breaking the news to the local witches that the portal to Kerberos is in Kinsley, and that it’s weakened, we’ve had a watch rotating in the areas nearby. They’ve been told to tell me if they spot anything unusual so I can gather the team that’s trained for this and they can handle the situation.”

“Little do they know that ‘the team’ is still in high school,” Chris muttered.

“Only the Head Elders can know about the five of you for now,” Darius said. “Your abilities have never been seen before. We don’t know how the general witch population will react. It’s best to keep this all under wraps until we’ve figured out the best angle for how to break the news.”

“At least they know about the portal weakening,” Kate said. “So they could put the protection spells around their houses and work spaces.”

“But protection spells
only
work in permanent locations,” Danielle said. “When they go anywhere else—like in their cars, for instance—they’ll be sitting ducks. And I don’t know about your parents, but mine have no idea how to fight. They wouldn’t have stood a chance against the harpy.”

“Centuries of safety have definitely left most of us unprepared for battle,” Darius agreed. “Which is why the gods have gifted the five of you with your powers and your strength. Now, before I forget, I packed some water that’s been infused with yellow energy. Drink it to help you focus in the upcoming fight.”

Chris was sitting in the way back, and he used his power to float the water bottles up from the trunk and pass them out to everybody. I took mine from him and downed it. The yellow energy rushed through my veins, and my mind instantly felt crisper, my senses heightened, as if I was ready for anything.

Darius turned the van into the drive that led to the Hemlock Center. Even though it was only late afternoon, the sun had set early since it was February, so it was already dark. I’d never been inside the Hemlock Center before, but looking at it today, the three-story asylum-turned-school-turned-abandoned building was creepier than ever. With its rotting gabled roof and surrounding gnarled trees, I wouldn’t have been surprised if it were haunted.

“The creature was seen entering the Hemlock Center about thirty minutes ago,” Darius filled us in as he parked in front of the entrance. “According to the witches on watch, it hasn’t left, so we’re assuming it’s still inside. It was described as resembling a hound, but with two heads and a scorpion tail.”

“Orthrus?” I gasped. “But that’s—”

Blake looked at me, his eyes panicked, and I stopped myself from finishing the sentence. Because Darius’s description sounded just like Orthrus—the hound that Blake and I had killed after it had attacked us on the playground last month. But no one knew about that, because it had happened while Blake and Danielle were still together, and we didn’t need Danielle to question what Blake and I had been doing together on the playground so late at night. Nothing had
actually
happened between Blake and me—we’d only been talking—but it was doubtful that she would believe us. So we’d kept quiet. There was no need to stir up drama now.

“Didn’t the harpy mention something about sending Orthrus to kidnap you, and how he wasn’t successful?” Kate asked.

“Yeah.” I nodded, as if that was what I’d been about to say. “I guess that’s where I’ve heard the name before.”

“Then it’s safe to assume that Orthrus has been hiding around here for a while,” Darius said, twisting around to face us. “The five of you need to take care of Orthrus and get out of there. All you need to do is to impale his heart. With all of your training this past month, this should be easy for you.”

I chuckled at how confident he sounded. Because last month, when Blake and I had fought Orthrus at the playground, we’d barely made it out of there alive. If it hadn’t been for some quick improvising where we’d turned a monkey bar into a javelin, the hound would have easily turned us into a late night snack.

“Five against one?” Blake smirked and looked out at the building, leaning forward as if he couldn’t wait to go inside and fight. “Why do you all seem so nervous? Of course we’ve got this.”

With that, we got out of the van, gathered our weapons, and headed inside.

The door to the Hemlock Center creaked as it opened, and I held my breath when I peeked inside. It opened to a huge room, two stories tall, with second floor balconies overlooking everything. The inside was dark and musty, the tiles cracked, the remaining pieces of furniture dilapidated and faded. Wind drafted in through the broken windows, and some tree branches had even crept their way inside, as if nature were trying to reclaim the deserted building.

“Do you see anything?” Kate whispered from behind me.

“No.” The hairs rose on the back of my neck, and I adjusted my bow, prepared to grab it at a moment’s notice. “Should we just… go inside?”

“I’ll lead the way.” Blake stepped up and opened the door further, strolling inside. “It seems clear,” he said. “But have your weapons ready, just in case.” He removed his gun from the holster, as did Kate with hers. Chris had both knives out and ready, and Danielle unsheathed her katana.

We walked inside in the circle formation Darius had taught us, our backs facing each other to make sure that we had all sides covered. My heart beat so fast that I could barely breathe, and my hands shook around my weapon. I would be no good in a fight if I were this nervous. So I imagined blue energy, feeling it surround me, and pulled it into my body. My heart slowed down to a steady pace as calmness overtook me, and my steps felt steadier—stronger. Combined with the yellow energy I’d drank in the car, I was more focused than ever.

We made it to the center of the room, and I glanced around, ready for Orthrus to rush in at any second. If he did, I would be ready. But everything was still.

“What now?” Danielle asked, her voice shaking slightly.

“Now we bring the ugly dog out to play.” Blake stood straighter and looked around. “Hey, Orthrus!” he yelled, his voice echoing through the empty mansion. “We know you’re in here.”

“Come out, come out, wherever you are!” Chris added.

We waited, on high alert, but nothing happened.

“He might not be as dumb as we think,” Kate said. “Maybe we have to look for him.”

“And break formation this early?” Chris asked. “Didn’t Darius say to stay in formation for as long as we could?”

“It doesn’t do us any good if we’re standing here doing nothing,” Blake said. “There are four doors leading out of this main room. Let’s each check out one of them. We’ll just look around from the doorways—we won’t enter alone. Nicole, you stay in the center and keep watch.”

“Sure,” I said, although I wondered—why did Blake want
me
to stay in the center and do nothing? Was he trying to protect me because he cared about me? Or did he think I was the weakest because I didn’t have power over a physical element?