Fighting for Infinity (27 page)

DON’T CHUTE

Nathaniel

Shiloh sat in the copilot seat beside Anthony.

“Anything yet, Shiloh?” I asked.

His fingers pressed against his temples. “I’m searching, but so far all I see is one snowy mountain after another.”

“Keep searching.”

“Wait!” Shiloh leaned forward, squinting, as if he could see something just beyond the plane’s windshield. “I see them! Bank right, Anthony. We’ll pass three peaks and then a sharp left. Maryah is on foot with Rina.”

My heart raced. “Hurry, Anthony.”

The plane’s engines roared as we made a hard right.

“How high up is she?” I asked Shiloh.

He was intently fixed on watching them in his mind’s eye. “Close to the summit.”

“That’s over 20,000 feet. They won’t last long at all.” I felt my own lungs constrict due to my panic. “They’ll be struggling to breathe and losing feeling in their limbs.”

“We’re almost there,” Anthony assured me.

“About five degrees east.” Shiloh directed Anthony as the plane followed the path of Shiloh’s pointing finger. “We’ll pass over them. They’ll be on our right side.”

I ran to a window. Gregory and Carson moved to the right side of the plane as well. We practically buzzed the mountain where Maryah and Rina were walking. They looked so small and far away. Two slow-moving specks in a sea of white. They were much too close to the summit.

“Dear god,” I whispered. “They’ll freeze to death.”

“Dedrick isn’t far behind,” Shiloh shouted.

“What?”

“He’s following them.”

“I didn’t see him.” But then again I wasn’t looking. I was too fixated on Maryah and Rina.

“Nathaniel,” Gregory’s voice sounded urgent. His hand was pressed against the window as he turned to look at me. “She said pack a chute.”

“Maryah? You heard her thoughts?”

“Yes, and she said to hurry.”

“I’ll circle back around,” Anthony said. “But I didn’t see any possible landing spots close enough to them.”

Gregory and I were still staring at each other. He repeated himself. “Pack a chute. That’s what she told me to tell you.”

I stiffened. I wasn’t there to help load the plane. I hadn’t packed a parachute, and no one else had probably thought to either.

Carson blurred to a stop in front of me. He held a packed parachute bag by its straps. “Put it on.”

I grabbed his head and kissed the top of it. “Always prepared.”

Grinning, Carson shoved me away. “I can’t take credit. This was all Dakota.”

“Dakota?”

He strutted up behind Carson. He took a break from breathing into an air-sickness bag long enough to say, “My ability needs a lot of work, but I did get this detail right.”

“He drew it,” Carson explained. “In the comic version of this scene, you parachuted off of a mountain to save Maryah.”

I eyed both of them, so young and so talented. “Thank you, Dakota. You just saved two lives, maybe more considering the ripple effect.”

Dakota’s cheeks blushed bright pink before he raised the bag to his mouth again.

I slipped my arms into the straps and pulled the pack snug.

“You’re sure it’s packed correctly?” I asked Carson.

“Like I’d send my brother jumping off a jet into the freezing Himalayan Mountains with a faulty chute?”

“Thanks, Car.”

“We’re almost there,” Anthony announced. “Go below now or you won’t get a chance to jump until I circle around again.”

I lifted the hatch to go under the plane to the loading ramp.

“Nathan?” Carson grabbed my shoulder, and I paused. “Pull the main with enough time to still pull the safety. You know, just in case.” He shrugged. “No one’s perfect.”

After one quick nod, I climbed into the belly of the plane. Carson stared down at me from the hatch door above. “Go save our girls!”

The cargo door lowered, offering a spanning view of the sky and mountains. The plane had slowed significantly, but it felt as if I was witnessing the scene below me in ultra-slow motion. Dedrick and two of his cronies were much too close to Maryah and Rina, and they neared closer with every step. Maryah and Rina had reached the furthest edge of the mountain.

Maryah turned, her head slightly lifted skyward. Too much sky separated us, but our eyes locked on each other as if we were only a breath apart.

I didn’t need Gregory’s ability to read her mind. I knew what she was planning and what she needed me to do.

Dakota had almost drawn it correctly. I gave one nod.

She threw something toward Dedrick. It sparkled for a brief second as it flew through the air, but it wasn’t nearly close enough to hit him.

Dedrick ran toward the object.

Maryah wrapped her arms around Rina.

I took one last breath and put on my sunglasses. It was now or never.

JUMPING TO A CONCLUSION

Maryah

“Nowhere to run, my pets!” Dedrick shouted. His voice was muffled by the howling wind, but he was close enough to hear—too close.

I made the mistake of licking my lips a few minutes earlier when I tried reassuring Rina that everything would be okay. Now I knew better than to open my mouth. My lips were two icicles plastered upon my frosted face.

I glanced up at the plane flying toward us again.

Had Gregory heard me, or were they too far away? What if Gregory didn’t hear my directions? Rina’s life and mine were on the line.

The plane flew over us. The ramp was lowering out of the back.

Nathan stood on it, staring down at me like the superhero I so desperately needed him to be.

My hands and feet were numb. I could barely feel my legs and arms. Could I really do this? Was my brain frozen to the point of insanity? There was no other choice. No other way to escape.

Shivering and shaking, my gaze locked with Nathan’s. He knew my plan. I could see it written all over his face. Nathan nodded as Dedrick shouted my name.

But there was one part Nathan didn’t know about.

Rina shivered and shook uncontrollably. I wrapped one arm around her and pulled her tightly against me. Her head pressed against my chest.

The snow crunched under Dedrick’s boots. A few more steps and he’d be close enough to grab us. “Did you forget your precious Nathaniel can’t use his traversing power?”

I hadn’t forgotten. It’s what made what I was about to do infinitely more scary.

“This is your last chance, Maryah,” Dedrick shouted, “Where is the starstone?”

I squeezed my ring tight in my palm one last time. “Here it is!”

I threw it to the far left of him. He ran after it, and I used the distraction for the precious seconds I needed. The last bit of oxygen in my lungs was used to direct Rina. “Hold on tight.”

She flung her arms around my neck. I hugged her until it felt like we were one person.

With all the strength I had left, I leapt off the mountain.

CATCHING FALLING STARS

Nathaniel

I ran as fast as I could down the steel ramp.

One, two, three, four, five strides then I launched myself into the cold thin air. I streamlined my body, locking my arms against my sides to fly like a bullet toward Maryah and Rina.

They tumbled through the sky, falling too fast and too far away.

I would reach them. If it was the last thing I ever did in this lifetime, I would force my body to fly fast enough to reach them.

The wind screamed in my ears. My face felt like ice. But I had done this enough times to stay focused.

I visualized the air around me conspiring to move me faster than humanly possible.

Something Mary said in our first life blew through my mind.
Imagine you could travel as fast as a shooting star, where would you go?

My answer was the same then as it was today.
To you. I’ll always be destined to collide with you.

As if the universe heard me, I flew faster than ever before.

I slammed into them so hard it knocked the breath out of me.

I kept it together, wrapping my arms around both of them, but struggling for a tight grip. Maryah was yelling hysterically, but it was hard to make out her words over the freight train winds ripping all around us. We were tumbling over and over like a snowball racing down a slope, but sinking like a stone in an invisible arctic ocean.

“Pull the chute!” I yelled to Rina. She was closest to the ripcord, and she wasn’t screaming like Maryah. “On the side of my pack. Pull the silver pin!”

Rina wriggled her arm free. We somersaulted end over end so fast that I couldn’t tell which way was up or down. “Pull it!”

Rina’s hand reached around me and then we were yanked upward. I looked up and found a full canopy opened perfectly. Silently, I thanked Carson and Dakota.

I looked down at Rina and Maryah, face to face, cold and paler than death, but alive, and safe in my arms. I forced myself to take a deep breath. The wind was calmer, but it was still so cold. Rina looked a little better than Maryah. Maryah still clung to Rina for dear life, and I had a death grip around both of them. “Maryah, you have to hold onto me.”

Her voice cracked, still hysterical. “I can’t let go of her.”

“Slowly, you can. Move your right arm up around my neck and then your left.”

“She’ll fall!”

“She won’t fall. I have her. I have both of you. But I need you to hang onto me so I can use one arm to steer us.”

“I’m okay,” Rina weakly told her as her teeth chattered.

“I can’t let go of you,” Maryah groaned. “I can’t.”

We didn’t have much coasting distance left before we’d slam into the side of a mountain. “You can, Maryah. It’s the only way we’re going to survive this. You have to.”

She trembled as she loosened one hand from Rina and wrapped it around me.

“Don’t worry, I have her,” I promised. “She weighs next to nothing. Now move your other hand.”

“I can’t.”

“I know your arms are so cold you can barely feel them, but you’re going to need both to hang onto me.”

“Here,” Rina said, wriggling her left arm free and wrapping it around my neck. She looked up at me, and there wasn’t a trace of fear or worry
on her face. “I’m holding onto you. You’re holding onto her. She’s holding onto me. We make a circle. Circles can’t be broken.”

Pride and love made my throat tighten. “You’re so brave.

Rina tightened her hold on me then wrapped her legs around my waist. “Just like my parents.”

I spoke fast because we were running out of time. “Maryah, can you move your legs?”

“I think so.”

“Try to wrap them around me like Rina did.”

She struggled to position herself as Rina climbed higher, like a fearless monkey. Maryah’s legs were wrapped weakly around my upper legs, but both of them were attached to me, so I reached up and yanked on a toggle. We sharply sailed left, away from the unforgiving mountain.

Maryah pressed her icy face against my neck. “It’s so cold.”

“We’ll be on the ground soon. The plane will be warm, and Krista will help your blood flow properly again.”

Her voice was hoarse. “How will they find us?”

“The GPS tracker embedded in my vest.”

I steered us toward a stretch of open land between two mountains. I hoped it was enough room for the plane to land. If not, Carson would arrive on foot quickly with something to warm us. He was always several steps ahead of everyone.

“That was heroic what you did back there,” I told them, “both of you.”

I assessed the horizon line and toggled left again to gain us a bit more distance to my target. Rina was smiling at me. What a contrast to the life she’d been living for so long. From solitary confinement in Dedrick’s dreadful cell to leaping off a mountain and soaring like a bird to freedom.

“You’re free,” I told her.

“Because of you.” She hugged me. “Just like the book said.”

“The book?”

She nodded then turned and admired the view, her smile unwavering. Her explanation could wait. I had to concentrate on safely landing us in the snow-covered foothills. And it had been quite some time since I traditionally landed after a jump.

“Ladies, keep your arms and legs wrapped around me. High and tight to avoid injuries.”

Maryah hugged me so hard, she almost choked me. I yanked both toggles and prepared my feet to hit the ground running. We touched down, but I failed to balance my weight and theirs, so I slid us feet first into the snow.

The three of us just lay there for a moment, limbs still tangled together. I breathed a sigh of relief as I’m sure Maryah and Rina did.

Rina let go and peeled herself off
me, kneeling beside us. She giggled as if she’d just departed a carnival ride. “That was thrilling. I’d like to do it again sometime.”

Maryah lifted her head but then collapsed on top of me again. “She’s her father’s daughter.”

I beamed at the thought as I shimmied the parachute pack from my shoulders.

The sound of our plane’s engines was music to my ears. “Come on, up we go. The last thing we need is a jet landing on top of us.”

We scrambled to our feet and moved away from the area serving as a makeshift runway for Anthony to land.

“They’re all on board, right?” Rina shouted over the roar of the engines as it dove between the mountains. She watched the plane with childlike wonder. I didn’t know if its hovercraft landing abilities were causing her wide eyes, or if it was her first time seeing a plane. “All of our kindrily?”

“Everyone but Faith, Amber, and Mikey,” I shouted in reply.

Rina spun on me. “No! They have to be here. Go get them.”

“I can’t traverse.”

She laid her hands on my chest and closed her eyes. “You can.” She stepped back and peered up at me. “It’s weak, but focus with Air energy and you can do it.”

I stared, flabbergasted. “How do you know that?”

“Go! We don’t have much time.”

“Mikey is too young to be put in harm’s way,” I argued, “and Faith is pregnant.”

The plane touched down. Rina glanced back at it then yelled at me, stomping her feet. “They all need to be here. All of them. If they aren’t here, it won’t work!”

“What won’t work?”

Maryah grabbed the neck of my jacket. “Just go get them! And hurry.”

I opened myself up to connect with the light. One magnetic pulse traveled down my right arm, but nothing more.

“Air,” Rina reminded me, “Connect with Air energy.”

I closed my eyes and visualized my sign’s essence. Light flares flickered in the corners of my vision, but I visualized clouds and wind. My fingertips felt weightless. The sensation traveled up my arms, and I inhaled the feeling until it traveled through my core and down into my toes.

I concentrated on the details of Faith’s eyes. The connection felt completely different from usual, but it clicked. I traversed.

Faith stood on one foot, the other bent up against her thigh. Her hands were in prayer position at her chest.

“Faith, you have to be with us.”

She lifted her arms above her head. “I’m in the middle of tree pose.”

“My apologies, but yoga will have to wait.” 

“I’m pregnant.” She planted both feet on her mat. “Who in their right mind asks a pregnant woman to go to battle and jeopardize her and her baby’s life?”

“Maryah and Rina. They said you have to be there in order for it to work.”

She huffed then turned and grabbed her pink tennis shoes from the foot of the bed. “It’s bad enough you have Shiloh with you, now you want me to risk our lives too?”

“Apparently.”

“The things I do for this family.” She finished tying her laces with a hard yank. A fleece, gloves, and a pink beanie lay on her bed as if she already knew she’d be going.

“You should grab a heavier coat,” I said.

“Nope. I need freedom of motion for my ninja skills.” She stepped into my arms and protectively covered her belly with her hands. “I’m sorry Sheila, but buckle up.”

I traversed Faith back to the inside of the plane. From outside, Dylan saw me through a window and called my name. He ran toward the plane’s steps, but I vanished before he could order me to leave Amber and Mikey at home.

Amber was sitting at the roundtable bouncing Mikey in her arms as she looked up from one of Dakota’s comic books. “About time.”

She and Mikey were already dressed warmly. She pulled a hat onto his head. Eightball and Molokai were in the kitchen eating from overfilled bowls of dog food.  She had poured them enough to last two, maybe three days.

“You knew I was coming,” I said. “That’s why Faith was ready too.”

Amber stood. “Before you all left, Dakota told me to read it.” She motioned to the comic. “It shows a battle with Dedrick. All of us are there.” She glanced down at Mikey. “Even him.”

“And you believe he drew what’s really going to happen?”

“So far the story is accurate. Details are a bit skewed, but overall the big events are spot on. We should have believed him. We should have read his comics as soon as he told us to.”

I stepped closer and opened my arms. “We have to hurry back. They need us.”

“One question first. Did you just jump off a mountain and save Maryah and Rina from falling to their death?”

“No.” I wrapped my arms around her and Mikey. “I jumped from the plane.”