Frost Fire (Tortured Elements) (20 page)

Allai shifted uncomfortably as she watched the manager stand from behind the counter and shuffle toward her. She couldn’t help but to feel a little bad for the lady; she was definitely too old to be working this job. But the manager didn’t seem to agree, and walked right up to Allai, her lips in a tight frown and her eyes still glaring.

“Alright, young lady,” the manager said. “You have one minute to either pay for your goods, or get out of my store.”

Allai took one step back. “My friend will come pay in just a second.” She nodded toward the window. “He’s outside making a phone call.”

The manager squinted out the window, and then made a clucking noise with her tongue. “You’re awfully young to be running around with a handsome young man like that, aren’t you?”

Allai felt heat rush to her cheeks. She opened and closed her mouth a couple times, unsure how to respond. But the lady didn’t give her a chance to form a sentence.

“All you’ve got is that backpack there,” the manager said.

She nodded to Allai’s bright pink backpack she had slung over her shoulder. Even though it only contained some water and a first-aid kit, Allai had brought it into the store. She hadn’t wanted to leave it.

The manager narrowed her eyebrows. “Are you sure you can pay?”

“Like I said,” Allai replied, “my friend will pay. Just give him a—”

Her words cut off as she saw the gun. Behind the manager, the ragged-looking man was deliberately walking toward the cash register, a small, black revolver in one hand. His fingers shook around the gun, and he was still muttering to himself.

The manager frowned and looked over her shoulder, following Allai’s gaze. Her fists clenched when she saw the gun. Allai should have run then; she knew it was the smart thing to do. But her mind was blank, and her feet frozen to the floor, and all she could do was stand there and watch the store get robbed.

“Hey!” the manager yelled to the man as he approached the register. “You get away from there! You get away right
now
. I’ll call the cops, I swear I will!”

The man’s only reaction was to begin muttering faster. He took a moment to wipe his palms on his grimy jeans, and then continued toward the register. Allai tried to remember what to do in a situation like this. Calling the police was probably the right thing to do, like the manager had suggested. But the only phone she saw was resting on the register, right by the man, and right by the gun.

In the back of her head, she remembered weeks ago, when she’d gone into the Lux town to just sit in the park and enjoy the normality of the Lux world. Or had that been days ago? No, hours. It’d been just this morning. Whenever it’d been, she realized now that she’d overlooked this part of the Lux world: the crime the manager would have to deal with, and the fear she felt as she looked on, and the mental illness the man was obviously struggling with.

Allai waited to feel pity for the Luxs. But seconds ticked by, and all she felt was a little content. Because maybe their lives weren’t as perfect as they seemed, and maybe they wouldn’t always be there as an unreachable temptation.

“I’m warning you!” the manager said. “I’ve been robbed too many times, and I’m not taking it anymore!”

It was an empty threat, and the wavering of the manager’s voice gave it away. Allai remembered what Shieldak had told her the first time he’d pressed a knife into her hand: ‘
Never challenge an enemy you’re not prepared to kill. They will overpower you, and you will die.
’

The manager’s yelling finally broke the man’s daze. His lip curled into a snarl, and he whirled around, pointing his gun toward them. It seemed like hours passed without anything really happening. The man strode forward with his weapon, the manager raised her hands over her head in defense. And Allai still couldn’t move. She tried to say ‘No’, but all that came out was a scream.

Then a red glow appeared around the man’s hand. Allai screamed again, this time not bothering to try to form words. Whatever surrounded his hand wasn’t natural. It flickered and shimmered, like some sort of fire. But there were none of the normal sounds of a fire. No crackling or pops; only eerie silence as the flames crawled around the man’s hand.

The man didn’t seem to notice the fire at first. He just steadied his grip on the gun, preparing to squeeze the trigger. Then the red fire turned to a dark blue, and the flames rushed up the man’s arm. He still didn’t seem to notice as the blue fire engulfed him. The man just frowned a little, and his hand loosened on the gun.

Then she saw the manager. The blue fire surrounded her, too. She had fallen to her knees, her expression completely blank.

Allai stepped toward the manager and reached to smack out the flames. She regretted it the instant her hand got close to the fire. The blue flames burst upward, like someone had thrown gasoline on them. Allai shrieked and recoiled, but not fast enough. The flames licked over Allai’s skin, billowing out from around the manager.

Allai waited to feel pain, but none came. There was only a tingling sensation as the fire came within millimeters of her skin, but never burned it. Allai watched the flames for what felt like a long time, just staring at them while they danced around her skin. Then the manager collapsed, and the fire fell to the floor with her.

Exhaustion struck Allai. She blinked a couple times, trying to clear her mind. It didn’t work. She wanted to collapse, but moving sounded too tiring. So instead she just stood there and tried to remember how to breathe.

Allai’s legs gave out, and she fell to her knees, barely managing to catch herself with her hands. Something sharp dug into her palm, but she hardly noticed. Pain didn’t matter. Sleep mattered. That was what she wanted to do: just rest her head on the cool tile and sleep for weeks.

Numbness crept into her limbs. She tried to groan, but all that came out was a small sigh. She couldn’t inhale after that. Allai knew she should feel panic. But there was only numb fatigue, and an instinctual feeling that told her to keep her eyes open.

She watched as the man released his grip on his weapon and crashed to the floor. He moaned as his limp body struck the tile. The blue cloud of flames grew, expanding until it nearly obscured him.

Allai closed her eyes, unable to keep them open anymore. Exhaustion paralyzed her, and she fell the rest of the way to the ground, striking her forehead on the tile. This time the pain was worse. Much, much worse.

She just lay there. There was nothing else to do but to stay still and wait for the attacking flames to go away. To just
hope
they went away. But she gave up hoping after a few seconds, because that took energy. And she didn’t have any energy.

Shouting came from above her. She thought about looking to see who was causing the noise, but quickly discarded the idea. Because she just wanted sleep. She
needed
it.

The shouting became more persistent, and something shook her shoulder. She squeezed her eyes tighter, trying to escape the shaking. But then she heard how desperate the shouting sounded, and recognized that familiar husky tone in the voice. Drake. What was he doing here? She struggled to concentrate on his words, hoping they might explain what was going on.

“Damn it, stop!” Drake snarled as he shook her. “You’re killing them!”

Her eyes snapped open. She looked around for Drake, desperate to ask him what he meant. How could she kill someone? She wasn’t harming anyone. It was the flames that were hurting them.

But before she found Drake, her gaze landed on the manager. The flames surrounding her had shrunk, and were now darker. But, as Allai watched, the fire engulfed her again.

The moment the flames grew, Allai felt more fatigue cloud her mind. In the middle of the fog, she pieced together what had just happened: She’d looked at the manager, the flames had grown, and that had made her more tired.

Drake was right. She was killing these people. She somehow had control over the flames.

Drake shook her harder. “You have to stop.” He sounded more desperate now. “Damn it, Allai, get it under control!”

He’d used her name. Not ‘little Nox’ or ‘the girl’ or anything else. But he’d actually called her ‘Allai’. She almost laughed, because it was such a ridiculous time for him to decide to finally use it. She couldn’t grin, or hug him, or do any else to celebrate. All she could do was lay there and watch these people die.

No. She wasn’t going to do that. She took a deep breath and ordered herself to stop thinking that way. Drake said she could get herself under control, and he wouldn’t lie. Unless he didn’t know what he was talking about, or if his words were just wishful thinking. But she had to at least try.

Allai stared at the flames surrounding the manager. “Stop,” she whispered to them. Her eyes clouded with tears, but she could still see the fire surging higher. “Damn it,
stop
!”

It was like she’d thrown gas on the flames. Or maybe napalm. The blue fire leaped up toward the ceiling, completely engulfing the manager. Allai heard Drake curse and stumble back a few steps.

“Calm down,” he pleaded. “Allai, just calm down.”

It was the dumbest advice she’d ever heard. Her heart pounded a million beats per minute, and her breaths came in ragged and fast. She probably should have just been grateful to have her lungs working again, but she was too panicked.

Then she felt strong arms lift her up from the ground. Drake. He pressed Allai to his chest, so closely that he almost crushed her. The world faded in and out of focus, but Allai saw Drake’s eyes for a fleeting second. He stared down at her, his expression anguished. She’d never seen such a steady emotion in his eyes; it didn’t waver, and he didn’t try to cover it with other feelings.

“I’m okay, Drake,” she mumbled. Somehow she felt like she had to reassure him. “I’m fine.”

He smiled at her just a little. It was that same expression she’d seen before: So foreign, but so sincere. “Yeah, Allai. You’re going to be fine. Okay?”

Something snapped. She wasn’t sure what it was; it sounded like breaking bone, but she felt no pain. All she felt was the air rippling and tension flooding out from her. When had that tension built? She hadn’t even realized it was there. But now she could feel it releasing and flowing out of her.

She sucked in a full breath for the first time in minutes. Darkness obscured her vision. A scream formed in her throat, and she waited for the flames to finish her off. But the darkness quickly turned to little spots, and she realized it was just from her lack of oxygen.

The flames were gone. Allai could see that as she blinked away the spots in her vision. She glanced to the manager, and then to the man. The flames no longer surrounded them, and both were stirring and groaning.

She looked back up at Drake. His smile was gone, and his head slowly shook back and forth. She could read the shock in his eyes.

He gently set her down on the floor. “Stay awake, little Nox. Okay?”

She thought about nodding in response, but didn’t bother. It would require moving her head, and moving sounded like a horrible option.

Drake started to step away, but hesitated. “Are you okay?” he asked her. His voice was hushed, like he was worried he could injure her just by speaking.

She didn’t respond. Obviously, she was alive. Didn’t that count as ‘okay’?

The man on the floor let out a loud moan. Drake whirled toward him, a low growl rumbling from his chest. He clenched his fist, as if he was readying an attack.

Then Drake froze. Allai watched through half-lidded eyes as he examined the man. Drake chewed at his lip for a moment, and then muttered something. Probably a curse.

“Close your eyes, little Nox,” Drake said quietly.

She didn’t obey. Some sick sense of curiosity refused to let her eyes shut.

Drake stepped toward the man. He yelled and flailed his arms at Drake, but his movements were weak and useless. Drake knelt beside the man and pinned both his arms to his sides. The man froze as Drake touched him, and his body went stiff, like Drake was sending an electrical current through him. Then the man let out a long sigh.

Drake released his arms, but the man still didn’t move. Allai watched his chest, watching for signs of life. He was breathing. She felt a tear drip onto her nose. It took her a moment to realize it was relief that brought on the tears. Drake hadn’t hurt the man; he was going to be okay.

Drake moved to the manager next, and went through the same process. Pinning her arms, making her stiffen, and then releasing her as soon as she sighed. Allai watched more closely this time, trying to understand what he was doing. Healing them? Numbing their pain? Drake didn’t give her any clues as he completed the process with the manager. But, as he finished, Allai swore she could smell honeysuckle flowers. The scent was completely out of place, but soothing.

Drake strode back to Allai, his lips pulled into a concerned frown. He knelt beside her and pressed two fingers against her neck, feeling for her pulse.

“Excuse me?” It was the man’s voice. “Who… I mean, uh, where am I?”

Drake ignored the man. He brushed the back of his hand down her cheek, and used his thumb to wipe a tear from under her eye. “See?” he whispered. “You’re okay.”

She believed it. With Drake right there, kneeling beside her, she didn’t see how it couldn’t be okay. She smiled at him a little. He tried to return the smile, but it just turned out lopsided, and he quickly gave up.

“Sir?” It was the man again, apparently talking to Drake. “Sir, who are you? What’s going on?”

Drake didn’t answer, and instead slipped his arms under Allai and picked her up. He pressed her close to his chest again, but this time a little more gently. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she realized her stomach was all fluttery again. But she was too tired to bother feeling anxiety or anticipation. So she just pressed her face into Drake’s shirt and closed her eyes.

“Who’s that girl?” the man demanded. “Is she okay?”

“Yeah,” Drake said softly. “She’s going to be just fine.”

Drake held the girl for almost an hour before she stopped shivering.