Page 46 of Retribution
“Can you make a box?”
“A box?” Her brows pulled together. “I -I think so. I don’t see why not. Lenin said there are no limits but my mind.”
I truly hoped Lenin was right because the magnitude of what I was about to suggest might be her undoing. Might undo us all. “You need to build a box around it to contain the force of the funnel.”
“Would that work?” Her fingers were beginning to slip from the branch, and that worried me. I couldn’t have her falling and hurt both her and the baby.
“It will if you fill it with water to maintain some control over the pull.” I ducked my head, barely missing a piece of bone that flew by me. “It should create a whirlpool, keeping the energy contained.”
She looked uncertain. “Do you think that would work?”
Her shout was barely audible over the noise, and I wish I had as much confidence in this plan as I was about to portray. I wish that I knew without a single doubt that this would work and that tomorrow we would be drinking coffee and eating cookies and fucking living the way we were meant to, by cherishing each damn second. But I didn’t have that reassurance. I wouldn’t until the manic witch who was already gleaming with the ecstasy of a person sure they succeeded was dead at my feet with her body smoldering in ashes around me.
Instead, I hid my doubt behind false confidence as I looked my girl straight in the eyes. “I’m positive.”
Chapter 26
LIBERTY
“I’m positive,”Sterling shouted over the thunder of noise hitting us from all directions, and I didn’t buy his confidence. Not for a damn millisecond. But I did know if we did nothing, we all would die. And I would rather die knowing I had tried my absolute best to get us out of this situation than die doing nothing at all.
So I held on a little tighter, calling all the energy I could muster, stealing it from any source I could, until my soul was nearly ready to explode with it, then I directed it forward. I pulled the sand from the soil and fire from the earth’s molten core and meshed them until the sand was no longer grains and a long sheet of glass appeared. I molded the single sheet of glass until it formed around the massive tornado before closing off the seam, making the glass structure one solid piece, lacking a weak spot for destruction.
I called to the water around me, pulling it from the streets, the sewer, the kiddie pool down the road, urging it to help me as it slunk slowly toward the glass structure, seeping inside of it from the ground up. As the water filled the box, it thrashed around violently, moving without reserve, creating waves of fury as it sloshed inside the glass cylinder.
My stomach cramped, the pain getting worst as it progressed, and though I tried to pretend like it wasn’t affecting me, it most certainly was. I felt weaker, drained, and though I knew I was almost there, almost had the vat filled with liquid, I questioned if I would be able to pull this off. So many lives depended on me, and if I failed . . .
No. I refused to think about failure when I was so close to completing step one. Instead, I concentrated on what I could control at this moment—the lives of my family. As I let the water trickle into the tank, I asked the vines from the earth around me for help, allowing them to dip into the tank and offer my family stuck inside something to grab onto while giving Sterling and me a rope to climb down with.
By the time my feet touched the ground, my vision was spotty. But the water was filled to the top, violently pushed out by the spinning whirlpool, and the last of my people were climbing down. I released my hold on the water, tension and strain I was using to keep that magic flowing instantly snapping back to my body, gifting me with a sliver more strength.
The tornado was trapped, creating a funnel of water inside the glass, and for the moment, that was one less thing we had to worry about. Though I knew the next thing would come quickly enough, and I just had to take comfort in knowing Oak was okay and gaining strength, and Justice was on his way to being free. I searched out Lenin, his eyes falling to me, and though he usually was composed, the look he held in his eyes was new. It spoke of just how rattled he was, how afraid he was that he might lose me. His skin was burned and bleeding from the struggle with the chains, but he showed no signs that his injuries pained him as he watched, assessing. I could almost feel his mind working, just like Justice was always present in the back of my mind.
I could-Behind you.
I spun around without a thought, listening to Justice’s voice as if he was right there next to me, which was impossible, of course, since he was out of reach wrapped in silver chains.
Greta stood in front of me, her hands glowing with power, and I panicked, unsure what to do. The anxiety and panic built fast; my hands instantly beginning to glow, mirroring hers. The power behind them was unknown, but the threat still stood. I would use what I had to protect them. She let out sparks, and I followed, demonstrating that anything she could do, I could also do. I hoped, though, in truth, I wasn’t so confident about that fact.
She is weakening.I heard Justice's voice, and I fought not to look behind me.Look for her weakness; we all have a weakness, Mate.
I was positive I was going crazy. I’d finally broke. The damage, the strain, the exhaustion that using so much magic had caused had finally broken me, and now I was going crazy just like the woman standing in front of me. My mind was gone. My soul was officially detaching, my-
Liberty. You are being dramatic. There is no time for this.Lenin? Fates. My mind cracked without notice, without giving any warning that this would happen. I heard a sigh before Lenin spoke,You are not crazy. Our mate has decided to accept us fully with each strand of his being. He let go of all that has held him back in favor of giving us the gift that comes with our bond.
Oh. I inhaled deeply and let it out. I wasn’t crazy then. I didn’t know if I should be happy or angry for not knowing this was possible. I mean, he mentioned it once, but I just thought that had to be a wolf thing. Then he waits until now to spring it on me? My body tensed, and I gritted my teeth, hearing both men gasp through the bond. It served the fuckers right to get some of my pain. That’s what they get for springing this shit on me.
Find her weakness.Justice gritted out, and though my body was wracked with pain, it was a solid reminder that she was coming for me, waiting to strike. I concentrated on Greta, on everything I knew and learned from reading centuries of her destruction.
“You really are the best,” I commented, trying to buy myself time, praying to the fates that she couldn’t see how heavy I was breathing or the fact that a thin layer of sweat coated my forehead.
The ear-splitting cackle left her mouth. “You think I needed a little girl like you to tell me that?”
She flicked her wrist, and the ball of energy in her hand rose above us; then, with a snap, the balls broke, releasing thousands of bugs over our heads before they fell to the ground.
Do not scream, mate. It shows weakness.
But what if I was weak? Just a human stuck in this world I had no place in being a part of? A world where I now had spiders crawling in my hair and ladybugs crawling up my dress. But he was right, and I knew it. Lenin was not one to give false hope or sugarcoat something challenging.