On Wicked Ground (Solsti Prophecy Book 4) (29 page)

“It
was
my doing. I won’t back down from that. And my power…” She paused, wanting to say
my power is stronger than yours,
but knowing that would piss him off. “You said my power can be lethal. And I’ll use it to prevent people from being harmed. Anyone, including you.”

“Dammit, Alina, I won’t let anything happen to you. I can’t.” His hand flexed on the sword he still held.

His vow was tinged with a subtle edge of pain that broke her heart. The depth of his loss bubbled close to the surface, probably more so than he realized. Or maybe he intended to let her in?

She swallowed. They could have this argument forever but that wouldn’t assuage the hurt of his past. “I’ll let you protect me,” she said sweetly, laying a finger on his lips. “But if you need a little Solsti power, I
will
protect you.”

Dark eyes bored into hers for a moment, then he sheathed his sword and threaded his hand into her hair. “Sounds like your mind’s made up.”

She raised her eyebrows. “It is.”

He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Anyone ever tell you you’re stubborn?”

“All the time.” She turned, meeting his lips in a tender kiss.

 His mouth was soft on hers. “Anyone tell you you’re talented? Beautiful?”

She shook her head.

“No?” He straightened and frowned, then the corners of his mouth slowly tugged upward. “Well, then I’ll be the first one.” He traced the line of her jaw. “You’re talented and beautiful.”

His words were reverent and Alina felt the gooey feelings rearing their head. But with them came a new jolt of pain, like a muscle cramp behind her sternum. It was harsher and more insistent than the rapid heartbeats she’d felt so far. Dread weighed on her as she wondered what was going on. But at the same time, she knew.

I can’t fall in love.

She drew a deep breath and forced brightness into her tone. “Thank you. How about I use my talent to get us out of here?”

He pulled his phone from his pocket and scowled. “Still nothing. Yep, go for it.”

“That’s so weird about your phone. Wait, hang on.” She pulled out her own phone, a new one Ashina had given her, but it had no power either. “Nope, nothing from mine. There
are
ley lines down here, right?”

“Yeah…unless the Makara have some way of blocking them.”

She glanced around. “Let’s start with some light.”

“Easy enough.” He produced an ember in his hand and in seconds it grew to the size of an apple, bobbing gently above his palm.

“Can you lift it higher?” She dropped her head back and stared up. “Wow. We’re a
long
way down.” She turned to him and tapped a finger against her chin. “I could move us up the same way I moved that tree up and out of the ravine.”

“Then open the surface when we get there?”

“Yeah.” She shook her head. “It may be messy, but it’ll work.”

“Like a dirt elevator.” He chuckled. “All right, let’s do this.”

She took a deep breath and gathered her power, focusing on how she would build up a giant column of dirt while they stood on top of the whole thing. Picturing the ground beneath their feet, she willed it to pack tightly together. Next she moved a fresh layer in under it, again telling it to pack tightly and then boost up the original section.

Caine wound his arm around her waist when they rose up a foot. “No more falls for you,” he said. “And nice work.”

“Thanks. First step, done.” She peered down. They stood on a raised circle of dirt, about three feet wide and a foot off the ground. It didn’t look like much yet, but the surface was far above them. Pretty soon this little three foot circle would be their lifeline.

Little by little, she drew more dirt from the cavern floor, commanding it to compress and move under them. And foot by foot, they made their way up through the darkness on a narrow pillar of dirt.

Caine still held a fireball in his hand, but the only place Alina wanted to look was up. She guessed they had to be thirty feet high and though she wasn’t afraid of heights, there was nothing around them. No railings and no safety net.

“If I stretch, I could touch the underside of the top.” He studied the jagged clumps of soil above them. Branches and roots jutted down at awkward angles, probably forced there when the Makara closed up the ground. “Ready to crack it open?”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “Here goes.” Shielding her face against the imminent mess, she picked a spot directly over their heads and willed the ground to split apart.

The whole cavern gave a slight tremble and she grabbed on to Caine. “Slower.” She spoke aloud to her power, not caring if he heard her.

A scattering of dust filtered down, followed by small chunks of dirt that bounced off her hands, and then a sliver of light appeared overhead. She concentrated on her ability as a steady stream of energy, moving at a snail’s pace. The sliver widened until a ray of bright sunlight shone down into the gloom. Just a little more…there! A ragged gouge was now carved in the ground, letting in fresh air along with all that beautiful light.

“Great job, baby!” Caine’s arm tightened around her waist. “You feel okay?”

“I feel great!” She took a deep breath. Almost done. “Now for the last part.” She refocused on the cavern floor, trying not to think about how far down it was. She repeated the steps of summoning the dirt and raising their pillar.

In minutes, Caine’s shoulders cleared the surface. “Ready for a boost?” His hands went to her hips.

“Yes.” Excitement sparkled in her veins, but she wouldn’t fully relax until they were both out of this mess.

In a fluid motion, Caine lifted her up and onto the edge of the gouge. He followed, tugging her to her feet and leading them away from the gap. Stopping several yards away, he cupped her face in his hands. “You’re amazing, you know that? No one alive can do what you just did.”

She searched his dark eyes, reading nothing but wonder and respect there. “I didn’t know I could do it, until I did. That felt really good.”

“Not afraid to try. Add that to the things I like about you.” He dipped his head and kissed her.

She linked her hands behind his neck, prepared to let him kiss her senseless, when running footsteps drew her attention. They both turned to see Brenin and Scorpio running toward them.

Belatedly, Alina realized they were in the same spot where they’d disappeared. The same line of fresh dirt ran the length of the valley where she had opened the ground earlier.

“What the hell happened to you?” Brenin said as he came to a stop. Next to him, Scorpio stood silently as his golden eyes swept them up and down.

“We’re fine,” Alina said. “The craziest thing hap—”

The air hummed with energy and Caine tucked her even closer. “Portal.” His tone was wary, eyes darting left to right.

“Should be the Hunter,” Brenin drawled, and sure enough, a shimmery circle appeared in the air, about three feet off the ground. Mathias and Gin tumbled out.

The portal closed, and immediately a second one appeared. This time, Brooke and Nicole rolled unceremoniously onto the ground with their mates.

“What’s everyone doing here?” Alina asked.

At the same time, Nicole leaped to her feet. “Wait, you’re okay? We thought you were in trouble.”

“I called them,” Brenin said to Alina. “You two just fell into the ground and it fucking closed over you. Then you weren’t answering your phones. And, actually, I only called Mathias. But I’m not surprised the rest of the gang showed up.” He aimed a knowing smile at her sisters.

“There was no way in hell we’d sit around after hearing our sister was stuck underground. Again.” Brooke dusted off her jeans and stood. “If Mathias was coming to help out, so were we.”

“You were planning to track us,” Caine said to Mathias.

The Hunter nodded. “Yep, and it was logical to start where you were most recently seen.”

“The funny thing is, we were never far away from here,” Alina said. “We were directly underground.”

“Brenin said you got dragged underground. I panicked. Tell us everything!” Gin snuggled under her mate’s arm and looked at Alina with anxious eyes

Caine nodded to Alina. “You can do the honors. It was your show.”

“Okay.” Alina started from the beginning when she and Caine had been pulled underground and related every detail up until she got them free.

Gin clapped a hand over her mouth when Alina described the Makara warriors. “Oh my god, those things
are
real!” She whirled to Mathias. “They
were
chasing us!”

“An army of undead creatures that’ll help us out?” Brooke’s gray eyes widened. “Whoa.”

“And double whoa on the way you got yourselves out.” Nicole grinned in admiration.

“How’d you get here, anyway?” Alina asked. “Won’t Arawn be pissed that we’re out of the building?” Her last sentence was delivered dripping in sarcasm.

Brooke chuckled. “That dude needs to chill. We’re in a remote place. And now, we have hundreds of ghostly helpers in case we get into a bind.”

“We got a brief tour of HQ, including a stop in the spell center. Gin was very curious about the different kinds of transportation amulets. Two of them may have managed to fall into her pocket.” Nicole smirked.

Gunnar shoved a hand through his hair. “Yeah, Arawn will be pissed.” He shrugged and looked from Kai to Mathias. “But he hasn’t been around our women very long. He’ll learn that running into the fray is par for the course.”

“Hey, only when we know we can help. And definitely if family is involved.” Gin crossed her arms over her chest. “So, now what? Caine and Alina are fine.”

Nicole’s green eyes danced with excitement. “We’re all together in a remote place.” A huge grin lit her face. “Let’s see what we can do!”

Her sister’s excitement was contagious. Alina looked at all of them. “Okay. I’m in.”

“Wait, I want to do this.” Gin gestured wide. “But won’t we wake up the undead again? I mean, I woke them before by using my power, and Alina did today.”

“Hmm.” Alina tapped a finger on her chin. “True, but now they know it’s us that’s the source. And they want to serve us.”

“I don’t want to get dragged underground, even if you can get us out.” Brooke made a face.

“I can talk to them, if they come back. But I have a feeling they won’t,” Alina said.

“Okay. Alina can be our point of contact for the Makara. Gunnar and I will hang back and watch the show.” Kai grinned. “And keep an eye out for any company we might get.”

“Yes!” Nicole fist pumped the air and turned to Gin. “There’s something I’ve been dying to try with you. Let’s make a fire tornado.”

“Okay.” Gin nodded, a smile tugged her lips upward. “Those are intense.” She turned to Mathias, and he produced a fireball in his palm.

Alina watched in wonder as the ball levitated, carried by Gin’s power. Gin moved it far away from them, then stretched the ball into a six-foot column. “You want to take over?” she asked Nicole.

“Yup.” Nicole stared at the fire, which began to rotate slowly. Wind rustled through the trees, ruffling Nicole’s hair, seeming to converge on the fiery shape. It spun faster, turning into a vortex of wind and flame that was as beautiful as it was deadly. “Gonna move it around now,” Nicole announced.

Alina tore her eyes away from the lethal tornado to look at her oldest sister. Eyes open, Nicole’s face radiated confidence and a don’t-mess-with-me attitude that Alina couldn’t help but admire.

“Nice,” Brooke said, and Alina turned back to see the spiral of flames moving along the dirt. It kicked up sprays of charred dust in its wake.

Nicole stopped the tornado’s motion, and in a heartbeat it was back to a column of fire. “Okay, I’m done. I want to try another thing with fire, but we’ll need Alina too.”

“Me?” Alina’s eyes widened.

“Gin can bend a fireball into a hoop,” Nicole said. “I want to see if I can grab it and fling it…to land around an enemy fighter. But I’d like some targets that won’t catch fire, unlike the trees and bushes.”

“And we heard about how you created targets the other night.” Brooke shot her a smile.

“Oh, sure. I can make those again.” Alina summoned her power and built three dirt targets the same way she’d done in the Watchers’ practice ring. She leaned on Caine, who hadn’t left her side. “All done.”

Power built in the air as Gin grasped the column of fire with her mind and bent it into a ring. The feat itself was amazing, but so was the energy from her sister’s ability. It was stronger than any magic she’d felt, and carried with it the assurance of endless potential accompanied by a sense of belonging. Alina smiled, knowing she was exactly where she was supposed to be.

Once the fire was reshaped, Nicole used her power to fling it toward Alina’s targets. With utter precision it landed around one, and then Gin used her ability to shrink the ring until it was snug around the dirt.

“Nice!” Brooke tucked her ever-present water bottle under her arm gave a slow clap. “Two more to go and then I need Nic.”

Nicole and Gin repeated the process, dropping fire hoops onto Alina’s other targets. Then Alina watched as Nicole and Brooke created a water column similar to the fire tornado. Next, Brooke shook her water bottle so that a row of droplets shimmered in the air. Nicole chilled the air around them, and Brooke formed them into knives, which Nicole flung into the ground.

“You guys are awesome!” Alina said. “What else can we do?”

“I can make a dust storm with dirt you stir up,” Nicole suggested.

“Water and dirt make mud.” Brooke pulled her hair back into a ponytail. “What can we do with mud?”

“One of us can chill the water in the mud and make a sort of frozen ice-dirt,” Nicole said.

Alina made a face. “That sounds so dull compared to what you all just did. Who needs frozen dirt?”

“Hey, don’t sell yourself short.” Caine ran a hand down her arm. “You could create a structure, maybe a wall or a barrier that could be useful. Or if you needed projectiles you could throw it. It’d cause as much damage as a rock. Or…” His eyes twinkled.

“Or what?” Alina folded her arms.

“Remember what I said about you opening holes in the ground? Not big ones. Just enough to sink one or two creatures.”