Rivals (16 page)

Cori looked to Cleos, who was struggling to warm his hands. He nodded to her. “Really, she’s okay. Trustworthy, just very deserving of her sentence.” Cori didn’t like the sound of that, but she was already in too deep to get fussy about the crimes her partners had committed. She pulled out her all-purpose janitorial keys and unlocked the door to Onna’s cell.

28

“I want three squares a day. None of this feed in bulk once a day crap. I’m a cecaelia, not a damn fish!” The half-human, half-octopus female, going by the name Aaryn, sat on the edge of her wading pool, listing the many things she desired in order to participate in the rescue. Her body was almost entirely humanoid except for the movement of her appendages. Her body didn’t so much sit or stand as sway, an undulation akin to residents of the ocean floor.

Fingers and toes were all intact, but with a little more stretch in them. Despite the reference to an octopus, she had only four limbs, each of which had obscure suction cups. She looked relatively normal until you got close. “I want my pool cleaned twice a week, and I want a fountain put in for movement. My gills
are
functional; I should have oxygen in my water.” She gestured to the thin flaps on her neck, which Cori wouldn’t have noticed if she hadn’t pointed them out.

Despite the long list of “needs,” they were all easy enough to attain, and didn’t seem to violate anyone’s safety. “Agreed,” Cori said with confidence. She nodded at Cleos to do his thing. He touched her hand. He must have received some resistance from her suckers, because he tugged rather firmly to break contact. He gave her a nod of approval. She noted a look of annoyance in his eyes, but she didn’t have time to ask what it was about. “Are you capable of being out of the water for long?” she asked Aaryn.

“Only about an hour; more if this water elemental refreshes me, less if fire boy dehydrates me.”

“Get one more swim in then. The next pick-up is a little warm.”

29

“Why should I help you?” Rodan, the lava rock monster, grumbled in his cell, still stiff from his last spray of water.

“Because I can get you a cage outside during the winter,” Cori said.

“Outside…” His rock brow crunched as it lifted. “…in the cold air?”

“You could broil in bliss, but stay just cold enough to be slowly mobile. We wouldn’t have to use the water that hardens you.”

“No more water? No more stiff joints?” he asked. Cori nodded with a smile. “I want a bigger cage,” he added as if he couldn’t wait to see what else he might be able to get out of this deal.

“We would have plenty of room to build a bigger cage,” she conceded.

The lava monster glowed as his joy super-heated him.

Cleos leaned in behind her to whisper in her ear. “Do I have to read him? He looks pretty scalding.”

“No, he’s easy to control if he gets out of hand,” Cori whispered back.

30

Cori, Cleos, Onna, and Aaryn waited around the dock for Rodan to arrive in the freight elevator. They had all come down in one group, but Rodan was too large for the regular elevators, and too hot to be accompanied. They had a little while to wait since the lift was intolerably slow, even slower than the main ones. Plus, she wasn’t sure Rodan was able to work the controls. There were only a few buttons, but with big fingers and a head of rock, who knows how long it might take him?

With nothing to focus on, she felt the pain in her head come back. She leaned against the wall and took in a few deep breaths. She closed her eyes and let herself rest just for a second.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Cleos staring at her from the pillar he was leaning against. He looked concerned. She locked eyes with him, wondering if he could tell what she was thinking at that moment.
Ouch
, should have been easy enough to predict.

He moved over to her, not taking his eyes from her. He stopped in front of her and raised his hands to her face. She grabbed them and shook her head. “You don’t have to do that.”

He drew back slightly as if he were going to abide by her request, but came forward again. He placed his hands on her face, with hers still overlapping his. She felt a slight release of her pain. “It may not last long,” he said as he drew back. His eyes were still filled with unease for her harrowing condition, indefinite as it was.

“If I don’t make it through this…” she said. His chin rose defiantly, but he didn’t offer her any objection. “Would you make sure Ethan knows how I feel about him? I mean,
really
feel.”

“He’ll know when you finally get the courage to tell him yourself,” he scolded her.

She smiled. “Yes, Master Cleos.”

He smiled at the designation, but the amusement was short lived and he was back to admonishing her. “Don’t let them get in a hit on you.” He paused. “Not one.”She nodded, understanding the implications.

A garbled ding announced Rodan’s arrival and the doors to the oversized freight elevator at the far end of the docks opened. The rock beast stepped out followed by a precipitous wave of heat that forced everyone to take a few steps back. Aaryn moved all the way back to the entrance to maintain her waning moisture.

Cori checked the clock on the wall. “We only have twenty-eight minutes to get this prison under control before we go down with the ship. I am depending on all of you.” She looked over each of them to drive that point home, in case betrayal was running through anyone’s mind. “I’ll go in to bring their attention away from the hostages. I don’t want any human shields. You can follow once they are grouped to fight me. Just… don’t wait too long.”

Cori pulled her hair back in a sloppy bun and prepared for an all-out cardio workout. “My advice is to go after your equal. Draw their attention to you. As soon as they are aware of your comparable skills, they will start attacking whoever is vulnerable to them. Whenever possible, help each other out, because they will be helping each other. Cleos will come in after the fight has begun to hand out the additional weapons to the guards.” Cori eyed Cleos, searching for an acknowledgement.

“I’ll be in,” he said, giving her the reassurance she needed.

“What about the lightning man?” Onna asked. “No one here controls lightning.”

“I’ll concentrate on him,” Cori said. “But I have no defense against any of these prisoners, including all of you, so try not to kill me in the crossfire.”

“We shall serve you well.” Onna nodded to her.

“Thank you.” Cori nodded back. “As soon as the elementals are subdued you need to surrender to the guards.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Aaryn hollered over to her. “Let’s get this going; lava man is drying me out.”

Cori stepped over to Cleos and handed him all the weapons except one. She caught his eye several times, but she didn’t know if she could convey anything to him beyond her indescribable fear, so she just kept looking away.

“Corinthia.” His voice wasn’t gentle. She looked up at him and saw the severity in his eyes again. “You know that egotistical, noncompliant, belligerent side that Mr. Nose is so concerned about?”

“Yes.”

“That’s who we need right now. We don’t need a war hero or a brave knight or a werewolf rock. We need you.”

She gulped, feeling more emotion than he had probably intended to incite. She was glad at that moment that he knew her better than anyone, because she’d needed to hear that. She rolled her shoulders, trying to take back a little slack from her sorrow demon. “All right, people, let’s go find out why these elementals are such a big freakin’ deal.”

31

Cori stepped through the gym door with her gun hanging at her side. For a moment, no one looked at her. Her entrance must have been quieter than she thought. The grouping of guards by the dragon’s bay doors looked beaten down. Most of them had probably resigned themselves to death.

Amongst them was Danato, who could never look beaten down, but part of him, she could tell, had lost hope. Belus was beside him. His leg looked like a mere scratch to the gash on his face. A tinge of guilt filtered through her bravado, but she pushed it aside for later.

In the far corner, away from everyone, was a collection of four people: the infamous elementals. Cleos had given her a quick rundown of the group so she knew who to shoot what at. Garr, the tall, skinny blond in black, was the fire elemental. He leaned against the wall popping sparks with the snap of his fingers.

Efrat, the one who had caused all her injuries, was pacing slowly. His lean, muscular build wasn’t clad in a prescribed prison jumpsuit either, but it was nothing as showy as Garr’s. He wore a pair of stone-wash blue jeans and a t-shirt covered by a plaid button-up shirt. His only embellishment was a large silver belt buckle. If he hadn’t been standing with the others, she may never have recognized him as a prisoner, let alone her enemy.

His face wasn’t the porcelain beauty of Garr’s. It was rugged and indisputably handsome. His fair-haired five o’clock shadow wasn’t as noticeable as some men’s. His stick-straight, sand-colored hair was a little long, resting just over the curve in his ears. It flared out a little, making it look feathered.

His pacing matched the worry in his face. Something about this entire situation was causing him great unrest. Cori wondered if that something was the knowledge of their imminent death.

Remi, the water elemental, was the only one sitting. Comfortably cross-legged on the floor, she looked to be meditating with her hands upturned on her knees. Her long black hair was pulled into a tight pony. Her creamy skin and narrow eyes made her look Asian, but the breadth of her face said otherwise.

Hirem, the ice elemental, was leaning on the wall not far from Garr. His powers were not dissimilar to Onna’s, but physically he was her polar opposite. He had bronzed dark skin and hair. He looked Indian, but Cori couldn’t be sure. He was shorter than everyone including Remi, but his muscles was thick. He had ripped the sleeves off his gray jumpsuit, most likely out of necessity rather than rebellion. Even in his casual state, she could see the tight bulge in his bicep that she knew would be twice that size if he were flexing.    

It had only taken a few seconds to gather her necessary Intel. After that, she saw no reason to hide her presence.

“Sorry I’m late.” The room awakened. Guards, Danato, Belus, and the elementals lifted their heads, opened their eyes, and turned to her. An unintentional smile spread across her face. “Looks like I’m more than fashionably late. I always did love a memorable entrance though.”

She could see Danato and Belus fervently shaking their heads. The anger in their expressions was belied by the fear in their eyes. It should have been a warning to her, but instead it was the boost of confidence that she needed. Cleos had said she needed to be noncompliant. As long as they were shaking their heads, she knew she was on the right track.

The elementals exchanged looks as she came in a little farther, meeting them only half way. Efrat, the electrical elemental, eyed her inquisitively. She noted his bright blue eyes. She had expected them to be brown. “Didn’t I kill you earlier?” he said without sarcasm as he approached her.

She didn’t detect any distinct accent. She wondered if he was American. She hadn’t really thought about the origins of the elementals before now. “Yes, as a matter of fact, you did, Efrat.” She made sure to use his name so he would be aware she knew more about them than they knew about her. “I’m running on a nine-lives insurance plan, though. I’ve got three left.”

His head tipped in examination of her. He wasn’t amused, but he appeared to be fascinated by her. Unfortunately, it was the same fascination that a cat held for a mouse. “Good. Each of my friends can kill you once.”

“Dibs on last,” Remi said, joining Efrat. Remi, on closer inspection, wasn’t as attractive as she had been at a distance, but that might have only been because she was sneering.

“So nice of you to offer, Remi,” Cori said, noting the name again, “but I don’t think I’ll survive the first one. You may want to reconsider your turn.”

Remi reared, prepared to fire—or rather,
water
. Cori toggled the button on her weapon to orange.

“Wait.” Efrat put his hand up to stop her. She reluctantly lowered her hands. “I would like to finish her. I hate to leave unfinished business.”

“Me too,” Cori said. “Which is why I’m here to kick your ass.”

Efrat laughed. It wasn’t a maniacal laugh like a comic book villain. It was honest amusement. Once again, she wondered where these elementals had come from and how they had come to be imprisoned here.

“You are a sheep, little woman, and I am the big bad wolf. I’ll give you five seconds to join your shepherd and his flock, or I stop your heart.” His face was sincere. He would indeed let her surrender now unharmed. That meant he didn’t know about the jets that were only twenty-two minutes from turning the building into cinder and ash.