Break The Ice (23 page)

I catch a flash of metal reflecting the sunlight before it leaves her hands. The blade cuts through the air, heading straight for Ti. Before I can think of a better solution, I jump in its path, letting the knife sink into my leg instead.

Mel’s high pitched shriek hurts more than the knife sticking out of my thigh. She leaps across the room but recoils when she gets too close to Ti. Before addressing that she stabbed me, she scowls and says, “What are you doing with them?”

Through gritted teeth, I say, “Like I said, they’re friends.”

“They’re blue-skinned demons,” she says.

“Come on,” Ti says. “That’s a horrible first impression.”

Mel’s legs stiffen, a slight shift in her stance. Right when she lunges, I plant my hands on her shoulders to stop her. The push sends me sliding back a few inches and a new wave of pain shoots up from my leg. It takes every ounce of willpower for me not to dig my fingers into Mel’s shoulders.

“They’re not like them,” I say.

She relaxes a little, settling back onto her heels. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. They’re all the same.”

“Guys? We have a problem,” Dan says.

“Bigger than the knife sticking out of my leg?” I say through gritted teeth. The pain gets worse with every passing second.

“A little bit worse than that.” He waves me over to the window.

I use every piece of furniture between us to guide my way across the room. I reach the windowsill and press all of my weight on it. Dan pulls back the thin curtains, and I look out into the area behind the building. Tables cover the patio outside, seven that I can see in a small area fit for dining. Nearly a dozen Dinmani sit among the closest three.

“I count ten,” Dan says.

“Eleven,” I say. “The one there, at the edge. He’s talking to someone out of sight. Probably beneath us.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Ti says. She steps towards us, making Mel flinch. The sudden movement causes Ti to stumble and almost fall over. She stares at Mel as she regains her balance before hurrying over without looking back again.

In a few seconds, everybody except Mel gathers around the window and looks out. “What do you propose we do?” Tinjen says. There’s a hint of excitement in his voice. Subtle, but it masks his usual bored tone.

“Find something to patch up Sam’s leg first,” Dan says. “He’s no use to us like this and we can’t do anything against them a man down.”

I shift my weight and lean back beside the window. “I saw a bathroom down the hall. There might be a first-aid kit–” A yelp of pain cuts off my words. Wait a second. Am I the one who screamed?

Tinjen stands in front of me, the blade in his hand instead of my leg, blood dripping off the tip.

“Stop, you’re hurting him!” Mel says, pushing forward again.

“Dan.” It’s all I can say through the pain.

He knows what to do and jumps between Mel and Tinjen, catching her left hook in his jaw. He spins her shoulder around and pushes her in the opposite direction.

“Stay still,” Tinjen says. He presses his palm down on my leg, grabbing the wound and digging his fingers in. He mutters under his breath. A light shines around the edges, creating a dark glow against my jeans.

“Take it easy,” I say, teeth clenched and nerves on fire.

“You are fine. Let us go,” he says.

“You want to run out there without a strategy?” I say.

“I have one. Kill them.”

“Works for me,” Dan says, leaving Mel sitting on the desk and joining Tinjen on his way out. The others fall in line.

“Wait,” Mel says. She doesn’t sound angry anymore. “You have to do something else first.”

“What’s that?” Dan says.

“Ted. They split us up when we came here. He’s somewhere in the building, probably trapped in some cage like me. We have to find him.”

An uncomfortable silence spreads through the room. I’m not sure how to respond at first. My face grows hot and a tight knot squeezes my stomach. The tension doesn’t stop Tinjen from walking out without acknowledging Mel’s plea, but everybody else stands around, looking at each other.

“Was that…?” Ti says.

Dan tugs at his shirt collar and nods. “We’ll be downstairs,” he says to me. “Come find us when you’re ready. I’ll keep Tinjen inside as long as I can.” He ushers the others out of the room.

“What are they talking about?” Mel says, still staring at the exit. She moves her head to the side and we lock eyes. “What are they talking about?”

Shit. I look from her to the exit to the window and then back to her. I can’t tell her what the Dinmani did. Not now. Not when I’m asking her to trust three of them she doesn’t know.

“I…uhh…”

“Spit it out,” she says. Her brow furrows. A tear builds up in the corner of her eye. All the while, her face blushes until it consumes every inch of skin. She knows what I’m trying to say.

I shake my head, at a loss for words. It’s not because I’m afraid to tell her. I haven’t had time to cope with Ted’s death myself. Putting the words together makes no sense and my brain won’t let me.

Something crashes outside and a chorus of voices yell at the same time. A few seconds later another, bigger explosion shakes the floor.

“Tinjen.” I say under my breath, cursing his name. I put a hand on Mel’s shoulder. “I’ll explain it all. Soon, trust me. Wait here.” Without giving her time for a response, I dash out of the room and around the corner. Down the stairs and towards the lobby. I crash into the door but it doesn’t budge. A dull ache pulses in my shoulder.

“Over here.”

Behind me, Ti stands by a door next to the stairs. She waves me over. A thin tear splits her shirt at the bottom, a dark stain next to it that looks like blood.

I glance at the door in front of me one more time before backpedaling and running over to Ti.

“What happened? What did Tinjen do?”

“Nothing,” Ti says. “I swear. They had a man watching inside. He must have known something happened to the guy upstairs. When he saw us coming…well, backup wasn’t far behind.”

“Where are the others?” I say.

Ti throws the door leading outside open. The back patio has turned into a war zone. Four tables are flipped on their sides. Dan behind one, Tinjen and Loch behind another. Ti stands with her side against the wall, out of view. “Tinjen already killed three of them.”

“And the others?” I say.

“Get down!” Tinjen says.

Outside the door, a massive spike flies at me, level with my throat. Ti’s shoulder collides with mine and pushes me off balance. The tip digs into my shoulder and pushes me back against a wall. The pressure builds and builds until it breaks to pieces, splitting down the center and fracturing into separate chunks.

I press on where it hit and wince. It didn’t go through the skin, but it dislocated my shoulder.

“Bite down,” Ti says.

“What?” I say.

She grabs my arm, plants a foot on the wall behind me, saying again, “Bite down.”

I clamp my teeth down right as she pulls back. A loud pop followed by searing pain, but I can move my arm again. When the spots floating around my vision die down, I can see past Ti’s head. Another ice spike, and it’s going to hit her. Shoving her to the side, I remember the quick lesson Shinmar gave on deflecting attacks. A surge of energy runs down my fingertips as I redirect the ice into the wall.

“Good eye,” Ti says. She brushes past me, running out the door and diving behind an empty table.

Outside, seven Dinmani continuously fire on the tables my men hide behind. A shiver runs down my spine.
My men
. If that’s true, I need to do a better job at leading them. I need to stop hiding inside and go end this battle.

Two spikes, side by side, hurtle for my chest the second I exit the building. Without questioning my instincts, I brush one to the side and catch the other. The sharpened tip presses on my wounded shoulder, but I don’t blink. Spinning it back around, I launch it at an inconspicuous table.

Whoever sharpened the tip did me a favor. The spike breaks through the wood and somebody screams. A Dinmani staggers back, standing and trying to pull a chunk of wood from his shoulder. A few inches stick out and that’s all I need.

Power crackles at my fingertips. I push through one of the overturned tables that nobody hides behind and advance on the Dinmani.

He looks up and our eyes lock.

“Let me help you with that,” I say. I wind up and send a burst of air, aimed for the oversized splinter. It connects with the stub and pushes it until it blasts out the other side. The Dinmani drops to the ground and slumps over a table.

That move worked even better than in training. I’m curious to see how powerful Shinmar’s attacks are on Dinmani in an actual fight. Dinmow crackles at my fingertips, ready for anything. “Which should we try first?” I say, not sure where the overconfident attitude comes from. Sweat drips from my nose, and I can’t tell if it’s from the summer heat or the adrenaline.

A second Dinmani steps out from next to the building. He’s holding a metal rod and swinging it around.

I let the Dinmow build up in my palm until he’s only three feet away. Ducking under the rod, I come back up with my hand pressed flat on his chest. My fingertips tingle, charged with power until I let go of the entire blast at once. The pulse sends him into the air and back fifteen feet.

Realizing one isn’t enough, two Dinmani step up to fight. They both wield ice spikes twice as thick as the ones before. After throwing them together, one rushes at me and the other waits back.

The ice moves faster than the attacking Dinmani, so I deal with that first. With the snap of my fingers, I open up a portal, not realizing where I put the exit until it happens. Two ice spikes go in one side, joining together where they would have struck me, and come out behind the Dinmani who chose to stay in the back.

Striking him in the head, the ice knocks the Dinmani over and makes him the third to go down. The sudden noise distracts Dinmani number four and, only five steps away, he checks over his shoulder.

Meanwhile, I’ve been letting the shool build up in my thoughts. Instead of freezing a book this time, I coat the ice around my fist. By the time the Dinmani turns back to the fight, I have six inches of thick ice ready to strike. It’s heavier than I expect, but I haul it up and knock the Dinmani out with a single punch.

The rapid attacks leave me out of breath. The Dinmow weakens inside me. I’ve never used this much at once, and I don’t know how long it takes to recharge. I face the others behind me and see them all still behind their tables, watching me. “Feel free to help,” I say.

A sharp pain shoots down the back of my head. Running my fingers over the spot, I check for blood. Nothing but a knot forming under my hairline. A chunk the size of a baseball rolls past my feet. Another blow hits my lower back and, before I can react, two more on each of my legs. I drop to my knees.

Dan leaps over the table and runs at me. An intense heat radiates off of him, more than I’ve experienced before. Water splashes against the back of my shirt. His heat melted another attack from over ten feet away.

Unable to stand, I spin around in time to see Dan leave a charred handprint on a Dinmani’s shirt. He throws a second punch that sets the Dinmani’s hair on fire.

Tinjen catches up and, together, him and Dan take on the last two, matching each other’s fighting style. They flow together, bending and swaying, working off the other.

Two people walk up behind me. Each one plants an arm under my shoulders and hoists me up. “That’s the last of them,” Ti says.

“Not quite.”

One last Dinmani stands in the doorway leading inside. It’s the one from upstairs, the one who kept Mel trapped in the cage. He’s waiting in the doorway with a hand raised, holding a gun. “Nothing they threw at you worked, but this will.” His thumb draws the hammer back and, with the twitch of one finger, he fires.

Without any time to react, I wait for the pain. Nothing after one second. Two. Three, and I open my eyes. Loch stands there, facing me, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly open. He’s breathing heavier than usual. His fingers grip my shoulder and squeeze before he lets go and falls.

“No!” Ti screams, dropping down next to Loch.

The Dinmani wasn’t expecting that either, so he aims at me again. Except I’m not there anymore. Opening and closing a portal faster than I have before, I stand behind the Dinmani. Charging up both hands, I place one over each of his ears and let the power build up.

He panics and shoots again but the bullet buries itself in a table. He swats at my hands and tries to pull them off, but it doesn’t work.

As soon as the charge reaches maximum capacity, I let it loose. The Dinmani’s hands drop to his side and the gun clatters on the patio. My grip is the only reason he still stands. I can’t get myself to let go, squeezing harder and harder until I’m afraid his skull will pop.

“What happened?” Dan says.

His voice wipes the fog from my mind. I let the body fall but stay where I’m at.

Ti kneels next to Loch’s body. She grabs Loch’s hand. Her lips constantly move but no words come out.

Tinjen stands over them both, arms crossed and his eyes locked on the ground. Not on Loch, but right next to him. He looks angry, but he always does. It’s more surprising to see the grief flashing in and out of his eyes.