Flare of Promise (Asylums for Magical Threats #3) (13 page)

Kiarra stood up slowly. “While you two do that, I’m going to check with Jaxton and the status of our helicopter.”

Barely nodding, Will moved to Leyna’s leg. The break was bad and setting the bone sticking out of her skin would be difficult. On top of that, Will had only helped set a broken bone as a student.

Taking a deep breath, he pushed aside his worry. The longer the jagged bone was outside the body, the greater chance of infection or any number of other problems.

However, before he could do more than study Leyna’s broken bone, Millie sat across from him and pointed toward Leyna’s head. “You hold her down. I’m trained as a field medic. And doctor you may be, but your expression tells me you don’t know what the bloody hell you’re doing.”

He met Millie’s eyes. “Have you set a broken bone like this before?”

Millie didn’t miss a beat. “More than a few times. Now, hold her down. We don’t have much time.”

Not having a choice but to trust the woman he’d met the day before, Will moved to hold down Leyna’s shoulders.

Millie took hold of Leyna’s leg above and below the break. She murmured, “Three, two, one,” and jerked the bone into place. Even unconscious, Leyna’s body twitched. Without any drugs, he couldn’t imagine the pain. It was a blessing she was out cold.

Ripping off his shirt, he pointed to Millie. “We need two straight sticks.”

Millie raised an eyebrow, but went without another word. Her silence worried him. He would probably pay for it later.

However, he pushed aside his concerns to take advantage of his moment of privacy.

Will caressed Leyna’s cheek. “After all of this trouble, you’d better wake up, Leyna Grunwald. And not just because I want you to live. No, we’re also going to start over and I’m going to woo you all over again. I love you, Leyna.”

Leyna remained silent, of course.
 

Millie raced back and picked up Will’s shirt. “I’ll do it.”

As Millie used his shirt and the sticks to secure Leyna’s leg, the faint whir of helicopter blades neared.
 

Millie tied her final knot and waved in the direction of the sound. “Our pilots will be here soon. I need to help Jax with the prisoners, so you’re in charge of Petra. Be careful when you move her.”

Nodding, Will looked back to Leyna’s body. Her face was pale and her brows furrowed.

He would do anything to have her glare at him again.

Lightly brushing her jaw, he willed for her to be okay.

The sound of the helicopter grew louder and for once in his life, he was impatient to board one of the blasted things. Even if he had to dangle below the bloody machine to give Leyna enough room to be transported to a hospital, he’d do it. He’d spent too much time being angry at both himself and Leyna. All he wanted to do was have another chance.

Taking Leyna’s hand, Will kept guard over his woman and hoped he had the opportunity to do so.

~~~

Millie Ward watched as the helicopter landed in a nearby clearing. She shouted to her brother at her side, “Did the pilots see any trouble coming our way?”

Jaxton shook his head. “Not yet. But with that guard missing, it’s probable. We need to get out of here as soon as possible.”

She looked down at the tan face of the elemental magic user who was probably the Earth Talent. “What are we going to do about her? As much as I hate to drug the poor dear, if she wakes up while we’re in flight, she’ll panic and possibly kill us all.”

Kiarra leaned forward from Jaxton’s other side. “We’ll keep her sedated until we reach the UK. Once there, we’ll talk with Marco and Darius and come up with a plan.”

Darius Williams and Marco Alvarez were Elemental Masters. While they still had to keep their hands toward the east and west, respectively, to use their magic, they had far more training and knowledge about using elemental magic than most. They also had contacts and might be able to reach out to an Earth Master to help the woman learn to control her abilities.

Millie shifted her gaze to Kiarra. “Marco and Darius are great and all, but I think you’ll be the biggest help, Kiarra.”

Kiarra had once been a prisoner inside the AMT. She’d been experimented on and used as a guinea pig. At least, until Jaxton had rescued her.

Kiarra nodded. “I’m going to try my best. However, convincing Neena to keep me home for a while is going to be a chore.”

Jaxton jumped in. “I don’t know about that. If this woman is indeed the Earth Talent, Neena will do quite a bit to get her on DEFEND’s side.”

“I hope so,” Kiarra answered. “This woman has probably gone through hell. I can’t even imagine what the AMT researchers would’ve done to me if they’d known I was a Talent.”

Jaxton wrapped an arm around Kiarra’s shoulders and squeezed. “You can thank me for rescuing you later, love.”

Kiarra rolled her eyes just as the helicopter touched down. Jaxton waved toward the prisoners tied up on the ground. “I need one of the pilots to help me. Kiarra, go fetch one of them. Millie, tell Evans to bring your friend.”

Without a word, Millie raced back to Will Evans.
 

The man was holding Petra gently and stroking her cheek. Millie hesitated a second. Only because the pair would never have a chance to hash things out if they didn’t get Petra to a hospital ASAP did Millie jog the rest of the way up to them. “Come. The helicopter is waiting.”

Will delicately maneuvered Petra into his arms and stood up. Trusting him to follow, Millie headed back toward the helicopter.

Jaxton already had most of the prisoners inside the chopper. Millie climbed in and turned to help Will guide Petra inside. Once Will was sitting down on the ground, he leaned Petra against his chest with her legs straight in front of her. No doubt, the ride would jar her legs, but at least they would be somewhat stable, especially with Will’s long legs on either side of hers.

Kiarra sat in the corner seat with the elemental earth user leaning against her. Four prisoners were tied up and stashed toward the back. Jaxton loaded the last one and climbed in. Shutting the door, the chopper took off.

As they started moving, Millie’s gut told her it’d been too easy.

Peering out the window, she didn’t see anything. Nor did she until the helicopter lurched and Millie nearly lost her seat. “What the bloody hell was that?”

Jaxton put his finger to his ear and listened to the pilots before relaying the information. “There are two helicopters pursuing us. That was a warning shot.”

Millie frowned. “They wouldn’t shoot us down, though, because the woman is too valuable. Still, what’s the plan, brother?”

He looked to Kiarra. “I know you’re close to burnout, but do you have a few shots of fire left in you?”

Kiarra answered, “It’s not like I have a choice. Still, I need to know where before I attempt it. Once I pass out, I won’t be a help to anyone.”

Jaxton turned and made his way to the cockpit to ask for their pursuers’ positions. Millie looked to Kiarra. “Are you sure you can handle this, Kiarra? You being unconscious isn’t ideal.”

“I know, but I’m the only one with any sort of combat magic. I think in the future, I’m going to require Neena to have two or three magic users on each high-profile mission.”

Before Millie could reply, Jaxton was back. “There’s a helicopter on each side. They keep switching who is closer and who is behind. Probably to avoid both being hit.”

Kiarra smiled. “Well, the tactic isn’t going to make much difference for my fire. They clearly don’t understand how elemental magic is fueled by particles in the air.”

Jaxton replied, “Exactly. I’m guessing they don’t have much experience with elemental magic in combat operations.”

Kiarra slid out of her seat and rearranged the magic user at her side. “But I need your touch, Jaxton, or I’m not going to be able to do much more than one blast of fire.”

Jaxton moved to Kiarra’s side and looked over his shoulder. Just as he opened his mouth, the helicopter jerked to the side. Both of them smacked against one of the helicopter’s doors before regaining their balance.

Millie looked around and spotted a rope. Tossing it at the pair, she said, “I never thought I’d be telling my brother this, but tie yourselves up. Just keep the kinky stuff for later.”

Jaxton sighed and secured both himself and Kiarra before tying the other end of the rope to a bar on the side. “I hope everyone is strapped in.”

Millie finished securing the cargo net in the back portion, to ensure the prisoners wouldn’t fall to their deaths. A quick glance showed that Will was in a chair with Petra turned to the side. Her legs were balancing on the arm of the adjacent chair. While not ideal, it would do.

Strapping herself in, Millie nodded. “Go get them, you two.”

Kiarra opened the side door and wind whipped through the small space. It was bloody freezing.

Squinting her eyes, Millie watched as Kiarra summoned a flame to her palm and shot it out the side. No sooner had she attempted to repeat the process when a mixture of rain and snow pelted sideways, into the helicopter. It wasn’t winter; something was off.

The helicopter rolled to the side for a split second before righting itself. Kiarra banged her head against the doorframe and Jaxton had to hold tight to keep from falling.

“Kiarra? Are you okay?” Millie asked.

Just as Kiarra was about to reply, the helicopter lurched again. This time, Jaxton’s ironclad grip kept them in place.

He poked his head outside for a second and quickly treated. “They’re switching positions again, love. It’s now or never. Are you ready?”

“As much as I’ll ever be.” Kiarra rubbed her temple a second before standing tall. “I wish there was another way to stop them. Regardless of who they are, I hate killing anyone.”

Millie understood the feeling. “But think of it this way—if you don’t, they’ll kill us. And then the whole world could die. I’d say it’s necessary in this case.”

Closing her eyes, Kiarra summoned a flame on each hand. As they dance, the light reflected off the metal bits of the helicopter.

A small part of Millie was jealous that she didn’t have any sort of magical powers. But then she pushed the feeling away. Having magic was both a burden and a curse, as she’d seen with both Kiarra and Millie’s eldest brother, Garrett.

The reflections vanished as Kiarra directed one stream of flame from her hands to outside the helicopter. A second later, another stream swam through the air, out of Millie’s sight.

Too bad she was strapped to the seat and couldn’t watch it make its mark.

Something finally exploded behind them and Millie’s helicopter veered off to the left, hard. Petra slid to the side, but Will tightened his grip and kept the woman in place.

As the commotion calmed down, Millie noted that the snow, rain, and high winds died.

Millie’s intuition said there was a connection.

Jaxton shut the side door and maneuvered Kiarra to an empty seat. While Kiarra was still conscious, the dark rings under her eyes and her pale face spoke volumes.

Looking to her brother, Millie asked, “Did you get both of them?”

“No,” Jaxton answered. “But as soon as Kiarra hit one, the other retreated.” He paused and put a finger to his ear. “The pilot confirms the retreat and is getting the hell out of here.”

As Jaxton put an arm around Kiarra’s shoulder and drew her against his side, Kiarra closed her eyes. Everyone fell silent; the whir of the blades above was almost relaxing in the aftermath.

Millie used the time to run through every
Feiru
legend and myth she’d heard from childhood to the present. There was something familiar about the sudden shift in the weather, but she couldn’t quite pinpoint it.

Whatever it was, Millie sensed it would cause DEFEND a major headache in the future.

Chapter Eleven

Two days later, Will sat inside a room in DEFEND’s infirmary in northern England and stroked Leyna’s hand. She remained unconscious, but he wanted her to know he was at her side.

The doctors had assured him there wasn’t any swelling in Leyna’s brain and that the break in her leg would mostly heal clean. They’d also issued a warning against any more magical healing since it was unknown whether too much of it could harm a patient. Apparently, all records had been lost in the great purge of
Feiru
-related information in the 1950s.

If Will had anything to say about it, he would help rediscover the limits of his own power.

But that didn’t help him in the present. Neither doctor had guaranteed anything about Leyna waking up without any brain damage. He hated being powerless to change that.

He murmured, “Come on, woman. We wasted two years. Let’s not waste any more time.”

Leyna remained motionless except for the rise and fall of her chest.

With a sigh, Will adjusted his position in the chair. He debated telling Leyna another memory from their past before their lives had separated when the door clicked open. Turning, he spotted Neena Chatterjee. He growled out, “What do you want?”

Neena entered, shut the door, and tilted her head. “You should be happy to see me, William. After all, I am a very busy woman.”

Remember she’s in charge here. Remember.
Taking a deep inhalation, Will forced his voice to be less hostile. “Then would you care to tell me why you’re honoring us with your presence?”

Neena skipped to the other side of Leyna’s bed. “A bit better, although if you add ‘your highness’ to the end, it might win you some favors.”

Will gritted his teeth. Neena had visited once before, when they’d first landed. She’d merely said, “She’s still the living dead,” before disappearing.

Millie had stressed the importance of remaining on Neena’s good side. However, his patience was quickly evaporating.

Shrugging, Neena placed a hand on Leyna’s forehead. “I think you’d enjoy Leyna-slash-Petra’s dreams. She really should pick a name and stick with it.”

Ignoring the latter statement, Will dared to ask, “How would you know about her dreams?”

“Because I’m a Dream-Speaker, of course.” Neena lowered her voice. “Recently, I’ve needed a few cold showers after talking with Little Miss Slash here.”