Crest (Ondine Quartet Book 3) (47 page)

***

The plane's incessant drone drilled into my skull. Moonlight faintly illuminated the lake and outline of a familiar wooden office.

Row of soft lights along the pier's edge shone the way. A tall, lithe figure waited alone.

Lucas sat beside me in the pilot's seat, shoulders rigid and jaw locked tight. Michael told me he'd run him through an assessment and he had rough potential.

"Is it your first time back?"

Difficult question but I had to know if he was okay. This was a tough strike and I needed his head in the game.

"No. I came back after..." he stopped.

After the gardinels cleaned up the blood and bodies. Realization left a sour taste in my mouth.

"I came back two days ago. I'll be okay, Kendra."

It was already there in his fourteen-year-old voice and face. It was what I recognized in me and in the eyes and voices of every elemental who fought.

Lucas wasn't going to let it go. He was in this war until he died or it ended.

The plane shook during the awkward approach. He managed a relatively stable landing and we quickly exited.

Tristan and a group of seventy-five gardinels had arrived ahead of time in seal form. The selkies were already in position.

His gaze briefly flickered over me before turning to Lucas. "You know what to do?"

"Stay in the safe room until I receive word to come out." He lightly touched the receiver clipped to his belt.

"If you don't hear from us?"

"Use the satellite phone to contact Augustin."

Tristan noticed the resistance in his face.

"Lucas," he said softly.

He swallowed. "I promise I'll stay put."

Lucas strode past us into the office where he'd witnessed his family torn to pieces. A far different person than the boy who'd left.

Night cast Tristan's face in fierce and harsh lines, but the eyes that glanced at me held a silent question.

I nodded, keeping my face blank.

Muscles pleasantly ached in places unused to aching, every twinge a reminder of how and where he'd touched me.

But my chest hurt in a way I knew had nothing to do with physical activities.

We could do this. We had to do this.

He led the way into the woods. Eyes adjusted to the shades of darkness clinging to trees and shrubs. Dagger glowed softly by my side.

Virtue didn't detect anything yet. According to Julian's information and what I'd sensed the last time I was here, Aquidae were located in the deep interior, near the foot of the surrounding mountains.

We didn't bother staying quiet. The plan was simple. Draw them out and take them down.

I pulled harder on my Virtue, the energy fueling my aura's brightness.

Come out, come out, wherever you are.

Tristan moved swiftly, selkie eyes easily picking a path over uneven undergrowth. Moonlight trickled through the prickly web of spruce needles, stars and bottomless sky providing a dramatic backdrop.

Air pressed in. Gardinels tracked us, mere shadows flickering between dark tree trunks.

The hard coldness of battle had settled on Tristan's face. His beautiful profile was like a sculpture carved from ice.

He didn't look at me differently. But everything was different.

I knew what his skin felt like beneath my hands, what it felt like to be wrapped in his warmth.

It still didn't change the fact that I was an ondine and he was a selkie.

I wouldn't want it to change. Being an ondine allowed me to have the kind of cool magic to fight Aquidae, understand others, and connect with water.

And being selkie was an inseparable part of who Tristan was. It wasn't only his seal form or the ancient, shifting magic running through his blood.

This starkly beautiful culture, this land he ruled, was embedded deep in his soul. It was part of what made him so special.

My mistake was in thinking it could be temporary, a one-time release between two people who'd long felt attracted to each other.

It was Tristan.

Walking away was like a knife slowly gutting my insides.

It wasn't something I could do again and again.

He caught my gaze and I quickly looked away. "I'm surprised you showed up."

"Did you think I wouldn't?"

I shrugged, conscious of the selkie ears listening in.

"You don't need to be here."

I steeled myself for his response. I wouldn't have blamed him if he decided to let me and his men handle this operation on our own. This was my show and I was the bait.

He could've realized this whole thing between us was way too screwed up and that it wasn't worth the trouble.

That I wasn't worth the trouble.

When he didn't answer, I looked at him.

His eyes burned with a fire I'd seen earlier today in the cocoon of a cave against a stormy sky.

"I will never abandon you."

The tiniest spark of something fragile and unidentifiable flickered inside.

I stayed silent. Not because the words wouldn't come, but because I had no idea what to say.

Minutes dripped like molasses.

Woods soon gave way to dense brush and we neared the base of the mountains.

Tristan stilled. No sound, no visible movement. Empath detected no voids.

I glanced at him. He shook his head. No unusual scents.

"Nix blood?" he asked.

"Maybe." They could be using it to hide from me.

I closed my eyes and concentrated. Virtue and elemental awareness twined and rose in a steady stream, connecting to the world around me.

Air whispered, leaves, branches, and tree trunks swelled and responded. The rich earth shifted, harmonizing with life and death.

Magic swept in concentric circles, radius growing wider each time. No aberration tainted the surroundings.

"Maybe the info was wrong."

He shook his head. "The team with Julian confirmed it."

And I knew what I'd sensed the day of the attack.

"They knew we were coming," Tristan murmured.

It didn't make sense. Even if the traitor somehow managed to find out about our plan, why would he want us to come all the way out here and not engage...

Realization slammed into us at the same time.

We looked at each other.

The palace.

I sprinted and directed every ounce of energy into keeping up with Tristan. Feet flew over tangled underbrush, voraciously consuming the distance to the pier.

Tristan ran beside me, lean and muscular body moving with lethal grace. He spoke on the phone and rapidly issued instructions in his language.

Wind rushed through trees. The other gardinels dashed like silent phantoms beside us.

I yanked the receiver out. "Lucas! Get the plane ready!"

We'd been gone for forty-five minutes. It'd take another twenty to fly back. Even at maximum speeds, it'd take an hour for the selkies to swim back.

Tristan had a solution. "Eight are coming with us."

Besides the pilot, the plane could seat a maximum of ten. It was better than nothing.

Trees cleared and we burst onto the lakeshore. High-pitched whine of the plane cut through the air.

A rapid succession of pale magic flashed as one selkie after another shifted, seal forms silently diving into the water.

Lucas waited in the cockpit, expression tight with fear and determination.

Air seared into heaving lungs and muscles screamed.

Tristan reached the plane's open doors first. Turning back, he grabbed my waist and hauled me in.

"Go!" he ordered Lucas.

Control stick shifted, engine roared.

Eight gardinels raced out of the woods and dove into the plane after us.

We were up in the air within a minute. Lucas's brow lowered in concentration as he pushed the tiny plane as fast as it could go.

"Nothing has happened yet," Tristan said roughly. "I instructed everyone to be on alert."

Fear squirmed through my stomach. It was taking us too long to get back there.

A lot of damage could be done in twenty minutes.

We'd just flown through the wards when a dull boom sounded like thunder from a distance.

A wall of orange flames ripped into the night sky. The air shuddered, cringing at the surge of heat.

Jagged line of fire quickly turned into thick columns of charcoal grey devouring the stars.

It wasn't coming from the palace.

One of the selkies swore. "The school."

Heart pounded against my chest. The children were sleeping in the dorms.

I struggled to keep my voice calm. "What's the fire protocol?"

Tristan's mouth was set in a grim line. "We don't have one. In the history of our kingdom, we've never had anything more than a kitchen pan fire."

Selkies had supernatural reflexes and superb senses. A fire would never break out. Their reflexes were too quick to accidentally start one. And if one started, they'd smell and eliminate it before it got out of control.

I stared at the billowing plumes of smoke. This happened too fast.

It was an explosion.

The plane was still several dozen feet above ground, but Tristan and the selkies opened the doors and leaped out onto the pier. I waited a minute longer for Lucas to draw the plane closer.

It felt like an eternity.

I bolted out and dashed toward the north woods.

The rain over the past day left the surrounding area damp. For the first time, I felt grateful that Jourdain had gone ballistic.

Chaos reigned by the time I reached the school. Screams and cries filled the air. Gardinels and teachers helped students in their pajamas out of the dorms. Ash smeared across their skin, eyes wide with fear and shock.

Fire raged several buildings away from the dorms and rapidly neared. We were in the middle of the woods with no close water source. The ocean was two miles to the west.

Long rows of selkies attempted to douse the flames with buckets of water. Chloe, Aubrey, and a few ondines I didn't recognize stood at the start of the line, using magic to add water to the buckets.

Most delegates were powerful Redavis first-borns which meant they were endowed with Virtue, not elemental magic. They were unable to help in this situation.

Chloe furiously waved her hands, drawing as much moisture out of the air as possible and shaping it into balls of water. She threw her hands forward and the water splashed into another bucket.

It was too slow. The entire school was going to burn down.

Movement in a window at the top of the northwest building. A frightened, chubby face gazed out at the commotion.

No, no, no.

I raced toward the building. Tristan leaped up the wall and with one solid punch, shattered the glass. Balancing on a narrow concrete ledge, he reached through the window and whispered something into the boy's ear.

The boy nodded and crawled out, climbing down Tristan's body like a ladder. Another pair of eyes appeared in the window frame and then another.

Oh, God. How many were still up there?

"I got you!" I called out and the first boy leaped into my arms.

Fire drew closer. Heat licked against my skin, air thickened with soot. Tristan continued pulling out child after child, expression calm.

Ashes floated around us like grey snow and eyes stung from the smoke. Lungs struggled to draw in air and the temperature grew almost unbearable.

I coughed. "Tristan!"

"One more."

He helped the last girl through and carried her down on his shoulder.

An easterly wind blew and the flames intensified, springing to nearby trees and brush.
 

Garreth appeared, his face streaked with ash.

"It's coming!" he roared. "Clear out!"

Selkies abandoned the rows of water buckets and raced south.

Children stumbled, their eyes dazed and exhausted.

"Run!"

A little girl tripped and I circled back, picked her up, and slung her across my back. I grabbed the hand of a crying girl frozen behind a tree.

Tristan was right behind me. He carried four children: one under each arm, one on his back, and the last clutching his neck in front of his chest.

Other selkies caught the remaining, straggling children. Garreth lifted Chloe and Ewan picked up Aubrey as if she weighted nothing.

A deep, low rumble sounded behind us as if the earth had opened up and expressed its displeasure.

Understanding sent fear booming through me.

It was the only way to stop the fire.

Faster. Faster.

Tristan and I dashed through the woods, increasing the distance with the school. The pressure of smoke, harsh breaths, and the children's sobs built, squeezing against my chest.

One hundred eighty yards. Two hundred.

"Hold tight!" he ordered.

I grabbed the nearest thick tree. "Go!"

The two girls began climbing and I followed.

"Hurry! Higher!"

They were too short to reach the upper branches. I wrapped my arms around their legs and tree trunk. My back and grip would provide double-protection.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I held on as hard as possible.

The low rumble grew into a monstrous roar. Woods trembled and the air shrieked.

An enormous wave raged over the flat ground. Swell crested over the school, its force smashing through the building and devouring the fire.

Heavy mass of churning water rolled under my legs, white foam splashing onto my thighs. Tree trunk shivered.

Please, please.

Stench of sea, mud, fire, and straining earth assaulted my nose. The girls' frightened cries and the bellow of cracking wood and overturning earth punched my eardrums.

And then the sounds faded. Waters receded.

It was over in less than a minute.

I opened my eyes, muscles shaky and numb. Adrenaline drained in a rush leaving behind dazed emptiness.

The children's cries had diminished to a whimper. I climbed down and helped them onto the muddy ground, wishing I had words of comfort.

They ran from me, the strange ondine, and sought solace in the welcoming arms of selkies they knew and trusted.

Soot colored my skin and the taste of ashes lingered in the air.