Maxon (20 page)

I frown. Something about this doesn't add up.

“Why risk Zephyr's anger?” I ask. “He won't be happy when the Kristalli isn't here.”

“Don't worry about how I'll position the lost Kristalli to Zephyr. Someone will die for the error. It won't be me, I can assure you.”

We all stare at each other for what feels like forever. Above our heads, the crow poppets shift their weight on their wire hangers. At last, I turn to Maxon. “What do you say?”

“Your call. I'll do the deal on your say-so.”

I run through my options, but every mental path takes me to the same place. There's no doubt about it. I need the location of that Kristalli.

“We accept the deal,” I say. “If you give me the coordinates right now.”

Silas closes his eyes and starts mumbling in Latin. I don't catch all of it. That said, I hear enough to know that he's placing a binding spell. Once Silas opens his eyes again, all our hands flare with red flame. There's a spike of pain that ends within seconds.

“Pleasure doing business with you,” says Silas with a crooked smile. He gestures to one of the nearby barrels of bloody sludge. “The Kristalli is attached to the bottom of that barrel.”

Rage corkscrews up my spine. “Sneak! You made it sound like you hid it somewhere else.”

“I know I did. Rather clever of me, wouldn't you say? Otherwise, you might have killed me long ago. Now, we've a binding agreement.” He rises to stand. “If you'll excuse me.”

Above us, the birds spread their wings, showing off their long silver feathers. Or, they should be feathers. Instead, they're layers of long razors bolted together. Their clawed feet are made from rusted nails.

Maxon frowns. “I thought we weren't raising a hand against each other.”

“We did agree to that,” says Silas slowly. “However, that deal only includes me. My poppets can do as they like. Unfortunately for you, they like to kill.”

A crow dive bombs me. I try to dodge the attack, but I'm not fast enough. The bird holds a scalpel in its claws and I know what that means: Poison. As the crow swoops lower, the blade scratches my cheekbone. Silas's poison enters my system. This is his fast-acting stuff, too. Within seconds it starts sapping my strength.

Now, I'll be limited to small strikes. Not good.

Turning on his heel, Silas runs for the back door. Maxon and I rush to follow him, but the birds are faster than we are. Dozens of them swoop down from their wires, attacking us in coordinated strikes. We're forced into defensive mode while Silas heads toward the exit.

There's no time to follow him, though. More crows dive for us, their eerie caws echoing around the factory. I kill the birds with ice darts, while Maxon summons lightning. His bolts blast through the ceiling, smashing through old desks and dusty equipment. Unfortunately, whatever black magic fuels the birds also makes them immune to these strikes. Maxon tries different lightning forms—cages, swords and shields—but the only thing that stops the birds are traditional bolts. Even then, I think it's the sound and brightness that shocks them more than anything else.

In no time, Maxon is forced to give up on lightning. Instead, he skewers the birds with his tail or tears open their chests with his dragon-scale hand. It's slow going. Still, it works pretty well.

I switch things up and summon long water whips, one in each hand. Flicking my wrists, I use the super-heated liquid weapons to slice through the birds as they close in. Before I know it, Maxon and I are fighting back to back, each of us downing whatever poppets come our way. Maxon mumbles something unintelligible. My whips slice through more birds. “What did you say?”

“I've never had a battle twin before.” I can hear the smile in his voice, and suddenly, my boiling-hot rage at Silas cools a little.

“Me, neither.” I test out a crisscross move with my whips and take out a half-dozen birds in one strike. “It's kind of fun. We're pretty good at this.”

A low growl sounds from behind me and I freeze. A razor-winged hawk swoops close to my ear. I smash in its head with the handle of my whip. Fresh howls fill the air.

A prickly sense of fear crawls up my neck. “What was that noise?”

“Hounds.” The joking tone Maxon had a moment ago is gone. With only that single word, I know we're in deep trouble.

From across the factory floor, more birds awaken from their wires. We haven't even made a serious dent in their numbers, and now we have mummified demonic hounds to deal with.

Correction. We're in
really
deep trouble.

The hounds start circling our position. Maxon calls down fresh lightning, but the dogs easily sidestep the bolts. Even worse, the strikes distract Maxon from killing poppets with his hand and tail.

A memory appears. Namare telling me to summon my elementals in case of danger. How can I summon the Valta? The last time I asked for their aid, it was face to face, and they kicked me out of my own palace. A remote summons is sure to fail.

One of the hounds gets closer. The animal is huge and could easily tower over me if it put its paws on my shoulders. Its eyes are metallic stones and its mouth has broken glass for teeth. The creature's rib cage has been cracked open and sewn back together with thick black leather straps. I shudder, thinking what Silas must have placed inside that creature to make it so evil.

The hound's eyes flare bright red as it leaps onto my shoulder, digging its teeth into my already-injured skin. Fresh pain radiates from the wound. I drop my ice whips, snap the beast's neck, and toss the carcass aside. More of my life energy goes into fighting my injuries. Less power is available to battle Silas's poppets and poison. Of the two, the poison's really starting to do me in. Black puss oozes from around my wounds. My legs feel like they're made of jelly. Sure, I know how to heal myself, but that'll take all my concentration.

That's time I don't have.

The hounds circle us as more birds swoop in for the kill. “Got any big ideas?” asks Maxon.

“I'm calling in reinforcements. Cover me.”

Maxon turns and pulls me against his chest. With a great battle cry, he summons bolt after bolt of lightning to strike the ground around us. The sudden onslaught buys us some time. Leaning into Maxon's chest, I reach out with my consciousness to my people.

I am your monarkki. I need your help.

A pulse of acknowledgement moves through my mind. I could whoop with joy, I'm so excited. One of my water elementals definitely heard me.

I pull back from Maxon. “Done!”

Maxon releases me and spins around so we can fight back-to-back once more. His back shifts against mine as he takes out another hound.

“Did I get you enough time?” asks Maxon.

“I hope so.”

Before me, a bright blue mist appears. Excitement tingles through my stomach.

“It's Fisk,” I say quietly.

“Not sure how much help he'll be.” Maxon takes out another demon bird with his tail. “You know what he thinks. We're lovers.”

Quick as a flash, Fisk materializes before me. I keep working the whips to hold off the hounds, but I can't keep it up much longer. Despite the battle, some part of me registers the look of total devastation in Fisk's sea-green eyes.

He heard the last two words Maxon said.

We're lovers.

“Fisk, we're outnumbered and…” Before I have a chance to finish, Fisk disappears.

My limbs feel sluggish with disappointment. Suddenly the onslaught of demonic animals seems far too much for anyone to handle. And now? I've just managed to isolate the one person who could've helped us.

“I've enough energy for one last round of lightning,” says Maxon over my shoulder. “Once I summon it, you need to run.”

Well, that's not happening.

“No way. I'm staying with you.”

“Well, I'm not…”

At that moment, bright blue light floods the factory. Water elementals of every shape and size cover the stone floor. Large snake-like creatures with blue scales rear up on their coils and start snapping demon birds into their jaws. Beasts that resemble a cross between bears and salamanders tear into the hounds. Fisk takes out his blue sword and dives into the center of the fighting.

These aren't professional soldiers, but they aren't nothing, either. What does it say that Fisk wouldn't or couldn't summon his own Valta?

There's no time to answer that question. More birds and hounds lunge at Maxon and me, but the numbers are back to being reasonable. Meanwhile, my rank-and-file elemental army goes to work.

Relief saps every ounce of energy from me. We may actually win this one. Suddenly, the poison in my system boils through me at a faster pace. Pain overwhelms my mind. I close my eyes and curl into a fetal position. Voices echo around me.

“Take her away!” cries Fisk. “She needs somewhere quiet to heal.”

Heavy arms loop around my shoulders. I'd know that touch anywhere. It's Maxon.

“I've got you, Lianna.” He kisses my temple. “It's safe now. Heal yourself, beautiful.”

I close my eyes and summon my elemental power from within. Every molecule of poison inside my system becomes surrounded with sapphire light. I call more energy until every part of me is whole and healed. The poison is gone, but now I'm so tired, I could fall asleep on Silas's floor.

Bit by bit, I force my eyes to open. The first thing I see is Fisk.

Oops.

Last time Fisk saw me, Maxon was only holding my hand and Fisk had an all-out meltdown. This time, I'm cradled in Maxon's arms, only Fisk doesn't look angry so much as sad. I clench my jaw in worry. In some ways, this side of Fisk is harder to deal with, especially since I need to ask him for more help.

Now that the Kristalli of Fire and Earth are safe, it's time for me to be crowned Monarkki of Water. I need to heal my people and get connected to their energy. That way, I'll have a better chance against Zephyr. But for that to happen, the Water Valta must agree to my coronation. I must ask Fisk to get his troops in line.

Will he agree to help me?

My eyelids feel heavy as boulders. I want to sleep, but who knows when I'll see Fisk again? We must have this conversation now. Somehow, I manage to wobble up to my feet.

“You good?” asks Maxon.

“I feel fine. I just need a minute.”

“You got it.” He leans in to whisper in my ear. “Go get your crown, beautiful.” His sweet words give me a jolt of hope.

Maxon heads off toward the barrel where Silas stashed the Kristalli of Fire. It's not very badass of me, but I'm psyched that I'm not on Kristalli duty. I spent enough time around Silas and his bloody goop.

With Maxon gone, Fisk and I start staring at each other without really staring. It's really awkward. Since I keep feeling sleepy and woozy, it's also making me nauseated.

Be strong, Lianna. Remember Esau. You need to get crowned and go to work.

I nod once to myself. Decision made. Fisk has to get his Valta on board, end of story. At this point, the only question is how I can convince him to help. A practice speech runs through my mind.

Thanks for saving my life, Fisk. And I really appreciate you not freaking out that Maxon was holding me just now. So… Can you convince all your buddies to crown me monarkki? That'd be great.

Not sure that's it, and I'm too tired to come up with something better. Best to lead off with something neutral. “Thank you, Fisk.”

“Lianna, I…” Fisk stops speaking and looks away.

This is your chance, Lianna. Go for the close.

I open my mouth, but my brain gets even fuzzier with the need for sleep. Wow, do I ever want a nap. Before I can figure out something to say, Fisk disappears in a haze of blue mist.

How very Fisk of him.
I'd punch him in the face if he were still here. And if I weren't so tired.

Maxon returns to my side. His mismatched eyes scan me from head to toe. “You don't look good.”

“The Kristalli…” I try to say more. Sadly, my mouth doesn't want to form any words other than ‘pillow' and ‘sleep.'

“I got the Kristalli of Fire,” says Maxon. “Dumped over the barrel and the thing was strapped to the bottom.” He scoops me up in his arms. Suddenly, the world feels all cozy, warm, and snooze-worthy.

Four words register in my mind before I let myself slip into sleep.

“We're going home, Lianna.”

Maxon

What a long-ass day.
For once, I can't wait to get some sleep. Lianna's conked out in another bedroom. Now, it's my turn.

I look around and frown. My room's all modern and sleek, with a huge bed and clean white sheets.
I don't belong here
. Most days, I crash in moldy motel rooms with cockroaches and blinking neon lights by the window. I stay where the monsters are.

Some days, I feel like I'm one of them, too.

I peel off my body armor, pull a pair of pajama bottoms out of a drawer, and slip the things on. That's something else that I never do on the road. Sleep in clothing. But with Lianna around…

Hey, now.

The back of my neck tingles with awareness. Someone's staring at me. Turning around, I see Lianna standing in the doorway. She's wearing a pair of tight boyshort bottoms and a flimsy tank top that leaves little to the imagination. She looks smoking hot. I need to thank that Mistress of Cloth, whoever she is.

“What's up, beautiful? Feeling better?”

“Yeah, a quick nap was all it took. I'm working on my speed-healing skills.”

I smile. A real warrior is always working on some skill, and Lianna is a real warrior. “How'd things go with Fisk? You fell asleep before I could ask you.”

“He misted away before we could talk.”

“And what do you think that means?”

“He knew I was going to ask for his help with the Valta, and he was too much of a weasel to say ‘no.'”