A Matter of Fate (25 page)

“The building will be at risk if there’s no shield,” I argue. “And we don’t know enough about these Elders to know whether or not they can sense us through walls. So, let me go outside and solidify the shield. That way, everyone outside can come inside, and no one has to risk anything.”

Again, every single person standing by me says, “No.”

“Chloe,” Iolani tries, “you must realize that our number-one priority is to protect
you.
”

I look up at Karl, whose arms are now crossed. He will not budge; of this I am sure.
Don’t do it,
the little voice warns, sounding far too panicky when I feel so bloody calm for once.

But I do. I turn on my heels and sprint out the one remaining door as fast as I can. I build a number of barriers between me and the door so anyone following won’t be able to get through easily. Then I grab Raul who is standing outside, talking on his phone. “Get me on top of the roof right now.”

“Did Karl agree—”

“NOW,” I order, trying out my very best Council voice.

“No need to be nasty,” he sniffs. Dark clouds suddenly mass above as thunder booms so strongly the ground shakes. And then the winds around us whip furiously into a small, thin tornado.

Karl is screaming from behind the wooden planks I’d thrown up, but thankfully the thunder is so loud, Raul can’t hear him.

“Ready for a ride?” Raul asks, grabbing me tightly around the waist. He flicks out a hand and the tornado veers directly toward us.

He’s kidding, right?

There are those rides at amusement parks, the ones that move so fast that you can no longer move your limbs easily. And your face sorts of starts moving on its own, all stretched back or to the side because the pressure against you is too much. This is what it’s like when the tornado barrels down on us. And rather than being terrified, like I ought to, I feel completely calm. Rationally, I figure I’m about to die, but my mind is razor sharp, clear and focused.

Seal and solidify the shield. Protect those I love.

It doesn’t matter that I’ll probably be found dead in an hour or so, not killed by the Elders, but because a house or a barn or a car has smashed down on me two counties over. I’m going to be that Witch whose shoes Dorothy stole. Only no one will want to steal my ratty Uggs.

Raul grips me tighter and throws us right into the tornado. It’s five million times worse than any of those rides that smash your face up and incapacitate you. Raul is saying something to me, something against my ear in this bizarre, intimate way that ought to unnerve me. I have no idea what it is, nor do I care. Because all I know is that I’m not going to fail this time.

When we crash down on the roof, my hands bleed against the gravel. I don’t bother checking them out as I tell Raul, “Text the team outside and tell them to get inside right now. I’ll seal the building once it’s complete.”

He nods and pulls out his phone.

Kopano is still seated, ear buds in, hands out in a meditative pose. “I cannot focus if you are going to be doing that around me,” he says.

“They’re coming,” Raul says, fingers flying across the keyboard. Kopano’s hands drop; the shimmering around the building begins to fade.

“Wait!” I stumble over to where he’s sitting. “Build it up again. I’m gonna make it permanent.”

Down below, Karl is screaming my name. Jonah is, too, and it tears at my heart. Raul lowers his phone briefly and asks, “What’s this?”

“Ignore them,” I say firmly. “Kopano, put the shield back up
now
.”

He looks toward the ledge nervously. “I cannot guarantee it will be perfect now that I’ve lost my build-up.”

“Whatever you do will be enough. Now, please, before it’s too late.”

Kopano and Raul exchange an uneasy glance, but Kopano spreads out his hands and chants something, low and soft. When the shield shimmers and reappears, I surge into his mind to collect the image of the scene replaying over and over. Then I scramble to the side of the building and grip it tight.

SolidifySolidifySolidify

Horrible screams begin to fill the air around the building. Raul sprints across the roof and skids to a halt at the very edge. “Lord Almighty! They are even closer than we thought!”

“Is everyone inside?” I ask quickly.

Raul peers over the side. “Er . . . no.”

“Get them in right now. Tell them I’ll be done in less than a minute and we’ll meet them inside.”

He pulls out his phone and calls Karl.

Kopano unfolds himself and leaps to his feet. “Time to go, Chloe.”

“Are they inside?” I ask, feeling the last bits of the shield solidifying.

“Yes.” Raul stares into the distance. “Gods! Half a mile at the most! Let’s go, Chloe! You’re in deep shit, by the way.”

“You sure everyone is inside? Everyone but the three of us?”

“Yes, yes,” he says impatiently.

The calm clarity expands. Everyone I
really
love is safe inside this building. Jonah. Kellan. The Cousins. Karl. Caleb. Even my parents. But it doesn’t guarantee anything. The Elders could still figure this out. They could still be at risk.

Because they want me. I’m the big catch, right?

So I do what I have to do. I erase the remaining door to the gym.

“We need to get out of here,” I tell Raul and Kopano as a ladder spreads out below us.

“We need to get back into that building, girl,” Kopano argues.

I throw my legs over the side of the building and climb down. It’s surprisingly faster than tornado travel. “It’s me they want, and there are just too many people in there to risk. So let’s get going already!”

“You’re INSANE!” Raul yells as he scuttles down after me. “Chloe, Karl wants—”

“Yeah, yeah,” I mutter as I drop to the ground. “What about what I want?”

“To die?” Kopano asks as he drops to the ground next to Raul. “Because that is what you are asking for if you do not get into the building.”

I am not going to stand by and watch anyone else get hurt. I just can’t. Jonah and Kellan had not been afraid of the Elders. They’d stood their ground, whereas I’d passed out. Not again.

“What I want is everyone to be safe. So why don’t we give those things out there something to chase after? They want me, right? If they follow us, they’ll pass this building up with no thought.”

“But Karl—” Raul tries again.

“Aren’t you two Guard?” I demand. “Can’t you defend me just as well as he?”

“Yes, but—”

My fists ball up tightly. “I am leaving with or without you. So, choose.”

They stare at me for what feels like forever. The screaming around us intensifies to where it’s impossible to hear anything else. But then Raul grabs my arm and we sprint to his rented Corvette. I have to share a cramped seat with Kopano, who holds onto me like he’s afraid I’ll fly away. I haven’t even buckled our seat belt when Raul peels out of the parking lot toward the main drag in town. “Where to?”

I unroll the window and scan the horizon. Sure enough, the Elders are right behind, split into two long tails on either side of the road. “Somewhere crowded, where it’ll be nearly impossible to pick out a small group of Magicals.”

“I’ve been wanting to see San Francisco,” he yells, swerving around a minivan. “Here’s my chance!”

The Corvette’s top lowers. I unbuckle my seatbelt and stand up, surprisingly steady due to the death grip Kopano’s got on me. He swears as one of the black shapes darts away from the pack and streaks toward us. I gather as much energy as I can from the power lines above and roll it into a miniature sun between my hands. Then I launch it at the shape as hard as I can.

Two summers of softball hell with Cora finally pay off. Just as the shape comes within a foot of the Corvette, the energy ball smashes into it and explodes. The Elder shrieks, shooting high into the air and then to the right.

Damn. They’re still alive. Maybe I’m not strong enough to kill them after all? Maybe . . . because I haven’t Ascended yet?

Two more black shapes break rank and dart into the road. A number of cars behind us squeal to hasty stops before being knocked over by the shifters. “Hold on,” Raul tells us, throwing the car into fifth gear. He reaches an arm out to steady me, despite Kopano’s grip.

I quickly yank as much energy down as I can. I’ll have to be content with maiming rather than destroying. My little fire bombs strike true, forcing the shape-shifters off the road. But more and more break from the pack, hurtling past and tipping over car after car in their pursuit of us.

They’re fighting in the open,
the little voice marvels in horror.
Where anyone can see them. This is not good.

I hesitate as more cars skid to halts behind us. People are fleeing their vehicles and running toward anything nearby that offers safety.

“Hit them!” Raul yells. “Don’t worry about the public! Someone will take care of them.”

“People are getting hurt!”

His eyes stay steady on the road. “Focus, Chloe! Get those things off of us. This car can only go so fast!”

A cell phone rings in the cup holder below. Sure enough, Karl’s name flashes on the screen. But I am not going to lead them here. No way.

I snatch the phone and lob it in an arc. It disappears in a ditch. Kopano’s goes off not a second later, prompting me to snatch that one as well. “What the hell?” Raul demands. “We need those!”

I build up another ball. “For what? So they can follow us?”

He grunts, swerving around two cars. Kopano’s grip on me is now close to cutting off my circulation. “Stronger, Chloe,” the Hider says. “Do not worry about damage. The Guard will come and clean up any mess.” Then, despite still holding onto me, he closes his eyes and chants. The car begins to shimmer.

“What’s going on?” I ask Raul.

“He’s hiding us. Because this is going to get picked up—and no matter what,
you
cannot be seen.”

“So the Elders can’t see us?”

“I think it’s more that people will not notice who is in this car,” Raul says, passing yet another vehicle.

After throwing out a few more mini suns, I decide to try something different. I’d done pretty well in P.E. during archery, so I figure if I need to hit these Elders on a regular basis, it’s going to be done with a bow and supercharged arrows, which I get to creating immediately. Each arrow tip is infused with a concentrated bomb meant to explode upon contact.

Raul glances up at me as I cock the string. “Why not a gun? Why not grenades?”

“I’m no good with guns.” I aim at the black mass toward our right and then let go. The arrow races directly into the heart of the Elders and explodes. The mass splinters into four different strands, each surging high into the air, all the while screaming so loud that the car vibrates.

“Look at that!” Raul hoots as the four sections falter and hang high in the air. “They’re scared!”

Kopano signals me, still chanting:
Again
.

I angle to the left this time, firing two consecutive arrows. A number of Elders fall back or head into the woods as the air around them explodes. And then I continue firing, arrow after arrow, into the dark masses surrounding us.

Most of the Elders retreat, confused by my arrow bombs. A few doggedly follow even though I hit them repeatedly. It isn’t until nearly thirty minutes after I began do we seem to be in the clear. But Raul doesn’t slow down. He can’t afford to.

I eventually slide back down into Kopano’s lap. He’s still chanting. “Think we’re safe?” I ask.

“No.” Raul’s lips form a thin, hard line. “They’re regrouping.”

I pan around us. “How can you tell?”

“Because,” he says grimly, “no one has been able to kill one of those things yet.”

I crack my knuckles, feeling rather than hearing the pops. “There’s a first time for everything, isn’t there?”

He turns briefly to study me. “Death isn’t pretty, Chloe.”

“No,” I agree quietly. “It most certainly is not.”

It isn’t until we are halfway across the Bay Bridge leading into San Francisco that the Elders reappear.

Traffic on the bridge is almost always a sure thing, and today is no different. We are slowly crawling across the bridge, buffered on all sides by either steel beams or other cars. Frustrated, Kopano smacks the side of the Corvette. “They’re coming. I can sense them crossing the bridge’s threshold.”

I whip around in my seat and stare. Sure enough, two black shapes are zipping in and out of the cars as they make their way toward us.

“What do we do?” I squeal, fumbling for the bow wedged between my legs.

The Corvette comes to a dead halt alongside all the other vehicles. Raul smashes his fist against the steering wheel. He glances up in the rearview mirror and says, “We run.”

I hold still. “Excuse me?”

“Running will be excessively better than sitting like ducks in this car.” A tan hand runs wistfully across the dashboard. “It’s a shame, really. This car’s a beaut.”

“You can get another,” Kopano says, practically tossing me over the side. Then, as he leaps over himself, “Run, girl!”

It’s a tough thing to run on a crowded bridge. Some of the spaces between the cars are tight, making it difficult to squeeze through. This doesn’t stop the Guards with me, nor does it seem to slow them down. They jump and skid over hoods when necessary, dragging me behind like a ragdoll when I’m not fast enough.

The Elders are hot on our trail. They aren’t screaming, which is somewhat comforting to my nerves, but they’re still fast. Fast enough to keep up with Raul’s fast Corvette. Fast enough, I’m sure, to overtake us on the bridge.

At one point, I slide into automatic. My mind just sort of goes into overdrive and allows my body to move on its own. Feet slapping on metal, hands sliding across cars, all my body wants to do is to get the hell off that bridge. My lungs are burning but I still push harder. Faster.

They’re coming!
the little voice calls.
Do something!

But I don’t have to do something. Raul does it for us. “Don’t be scared,” he yells, grabbing my hand tight. “And don’t let go!”

I want ask what he means, but I can’t. Because in the next second, Kopano grabs my other hand, orders, “Rip us a hole, Chloe!” and the three of us run directly into the side of the bridge. Metal crumbles beneath my fingers, allowing us to plummet two hundred and twenty feet down into San Francisco Bay.