Pulled to the Dark (The Siriena Series) (42 page)

We consulted. Andrea said, "If you can split them, then double team one of them and you win." Petra agreed. "If you can't split them, then it comes down to whether they're as good as Petra and me."

"Vincent doesn't want to kill me. He wants to beat me. He wants to kill
Renea
. Jeremy, on the other hand, wants to kill me. They'll split up. Jeremy is a hothead, and he won't like it when I start taunting him." I turned to Petra. "My smart little mouth is going to win this for us."

I thought about it. "Again. The two of you act like you think Vincent and Jeremy will."

We went back to our sides and I told
Renea
, "Split up right away, I'll take Petra's side and I'm going to immediately start taunting her.
If they follow you, just lead them around. The idea is to get Petra-Jeremy pissed enough to come after me while we're not in range they can charge either of us."

She nodded.

Kelly dropped the scarf.
I went right
,
Renea
went left towards Kelly
. Andrea and Petra looked at each
other,
then started working towards
Renea
.

"Hey small dick!" I yelled. "Yeah, Mr. Pyramid. Get beat by a little girl lately?"

Andrea and Petra both stopped and looked at me. "Seriously?" Petra said.

I grinned. "I'm right here,
dickless
.
Just a little girl who beat you once.
I can beat you again."

Andrea and Petra turned towards
Renea
again. I kept up my insults for Jeremy. Petra went into character and started arguing with Andrea. Eventually she turned and started stalking me.
Renea
let Andrea close the distance and I yelled "Now" and popped.
Renea
kept me waiting for about two
seconds,
then pulled me back. I didn't see Andrea, so I began a spinning slice and pulled it just before I sliced across her middle.

"Well?" I asked after a moment.

They all grinned.

"One more," I said. "Don't let me get to you this time, Petra." She nodded.

I stepped back to
Renea
. "If they don't split, put me right in between them.
Right between them.
  I'll either slice or push, whichever seems like the best chance."

The scarf dropped. Petra ignored my taunts. The two of them stalked
Renea
. "Now," I yelled and popped away.
Renea
put me right between the two, and I was facing Andrea. I got a good raking slice down her entire side and popped away.
Renea
pulled me back next to her. We consulted.

"I don't know what to do after that," I admitted.

"With real steel," Andrea said, "you would have opened me up. Vincent down. Two on one, you win readily."

I turned to
Renea
. "Vincent is the target. We take him down and we take him out.
Jeremy won't defend him, so whatever it takes
,
Vincent dies
. We don't let him leave. Engage Jeremy if you need to and I'll finish Vincent. Or if you have a clean shot, take it."

We decided we'd done enough for the night.

We practiced every night through Friday.
Andrea and Petra stopped telling us what strategy they were going to use.
Renea
and I won
most of the time
. The ones Andrea and Petra
won,
they stated, "It took everything we had. They won't win if they aren't as good as both of us."

"What if they're better?"

"We've seen all your strategies," Andrea said, "And you're still winning."

"You're not throwing them?"

"No," said Petra. She paused. "This isn't about making you feel good, Felicia. This is about making sure you win. We are trying to beat you."

"What if Vincent can throw Jeremy?"

Andrea and I switched sides. Petra threw me at
Renea
and
Renea
threw Andrea at Petra. It became a one-on-one swordfight, as Petra was able to keep Andrea busy and
Renea
beat me easily, then with
Renea
helping Andrea, Petra was easy to beat.

Andrea said, "If
Renea
is better than Jeremy, and you can keep Vincent occupied, we win."

"How long would I live if I'm purely defensive and retreat?"

"Less than a minute," said Petra. "If Vincent is as good as Andrea or I. Much less if he gets lucky."

By Friday we decided we had covered all the scenarios we could think of.

* * *

I demanded a date for Saturday. "Please take me somewhere special," I told Petra. "Make me know you love me."

She took me to a restaurant where they had dancing, but it was all slow music. We ate and danced for hours,
then
she took me home. We exchanged orgasms, then she smiled, ported to her tower, pulled me after her, then used her magic to make me scream her name, over and over, until I could do nothing but quiver.

Erika picked the Sunday movie. "Rocky."

"You bitch," I told her.

"I love you, Felicia," she told me. I cried.

* * *

Monday was the big day. With any luck,
Bindi
had purchased a cottage somewhere. We waited until the evening.
The entire gang collected in Andrea's tower.
Kelly tried a fast port to and from Earth. She looked squeamish when she returned. "Oh god," she said. "If we waited any longer, I wouldn't make it."

Andrea hugged and kissed her.

Kelly turned to me. "Go get your comforter."

"You're supposed to take
Renea's
," I said.

"You can port back and forth and be communications," she said. "I'm not going to be able to."

I hugged her, then popped home and got the comforter. She took it from me and turned to Andrea. "All of you have to go to your house.
Your bedroom.
I'll pop in and immediately pop out, if I can. Then everyone come back here." She turned to me. "If I'm not here, it means I'm there. Give me a solid five minutes, then try to join me."

Andrea invited Petra and I to her house on Earth. We all popped over there and walked up to the bedroom. After a minute, Kelly appeared.

"Here we go," she said. And she stood there. And stood there. And stood there.

In front of my eyes I watched her growing weaker.

Then she disappeared.

We all looked at each other. Andrea was quietly crying. Petra hugged her and we all popped back to Andrea's tower.
Renea
was waiting for her. Kelly wasn't there. Andrea walked over to
Renea
.

"If Kelly dies from this," she said, "then on Friday you are throwing everyone in your control to Vincent. He dies. You understand me. If Kelly dies, he dies."

Renea
nodded. We waited five minutes and I ported home then concentrated on my comforter. I thought long and hard about it,
then
pulled.

And I found myself in a tiny cottage. The light was bad. I looked around.
Bindi
was holding the only lamp. Standing next to him,
crying,
was Kelly.

"We did it," she said, still crying.

I walked over and hugged her. "Why are you crying?"

"I could feel myself dying," she said. "I can't go back. I don't think I can even do a hop back, but if I did, I don't think I'd make it back here again. I can't see my parents. I had hoped to see them once more."

I held her.

"
Renea
gave me permission to tell them about
Siriena
. Andrea and Petra came and helped them to explain. They didn't believe at first, but I popped in and out a few times. They still didn't believe. So I told Andrea to go to her tower and be ready to heal me. Before anyone could say anything, I slammed a knife through my hand, made sure they saw it was real, then popped to Andrea to heal it. I was back five minutes later without a mark. Then they believed. We said our goodbyes after that. Now I send letters with Andrea. She mails them for me or calls them." She was still crying. "I wanted to see them once more, even for one last hug, but I can't."

I pulled away and looked at her. "But we did it."

I turned to
Bindi
and hugged him. "Thank you," I said.

He hugged me back. "
Bindi
help."

I pulled away and said, "Yes,
Bindi
help. Thank you."

I turned to Kelly. "The house is yours?"

"Yes. You and all my friends are welcome here."

I nodded. "I'll be right back."
I got a good feel for the cottage,
then
popped back and forth a few times. To make sure it wasn't the comforter, I gathered it up and asked
Bindi
to take it outside for a few minutes. I popped back and forth and was fine.

Kelly told me, "Please bring Andrea here first."

I nodded and collected the comforter. I popped home, leaving it there. I returned to Andrea's tower.

"She's fine," were the first words out of my mouth. "But she isn't coming back. Not that way. It's a tiny little cottage." I looked at Andrea. "She's asking for you first. She's fine, but she really needs a hug."

She nodded
and gathered the comforter from the bed in the tower. "One minute head start should be enough," I said. I double-ported. Kelly hugged the comforter for a moment before we spread it out.

We waited a few minutes and Andrea appeared, kneeling on the comforter. Kelly ran to her and threw her arms around her. They swayed back and forth for a few minutes, then Kelly told her, "This is now a new home for us, My Love."

Andrea nodded, gathered the comforter, and popped back and forth.

"I'll get
Renea
next," I said.

When I got Andrea's tower, she had a bunch of her things waiting for me. "Please bring them all," she said. "I want a lot to latch onto. I haven't ported anywhere in five years."

I nodded. It took me three trips to bring everything. I shoved them all into Andrea's hands and returned for more. Then I popped back to
Renea
. "Where are you porting from?"

"That's a good question," she said. "I hadn't thought about it." She looked away then smiled. She walked up to me. "Felicia, my very
very
good friend, you are welcome in all my properties on earth." Then she pushed me to Earth.

I could hear the ocean. I was in a small but beautiful home staring out at a beach and blue-green waters. The sun was just rising. I got a good feel and popped back.

"Oh my god!" I said. "Where is that?"

Renea
smiled. "I own a little island in the South Pacific. Did you like it?"

"I loved it!"

Renea
turned to Petra. "Do you know how much easier that would have been if we'd known we could push people like that?"

"That island is not easy to get to,"
Petra
said. "I'm jealous."

"
Renea
, is everyone welcome there?"

"Yes," she said. "All of you." She looked around and named her entire troop, inviting all of them to her homes. "I am transferring ownership of them, anyway, but for now, I can invite you." Then, one by one she pushed everyone to the beach house. It was just down to us.

"
Renea
," I said. "This is going to be hard.
You have to really think about where you're going."

She nodded and hugged me.

She popped to the beach house and I followed her. I saw an old, old lady with Petra and Karen supporting her. Then she disappeared.

I followed. She was in the cottage, and it was getting crowded. "Yes!" I yelled. "Yes! Yes! Yes!"

She turned to me. "That was not easy, but now I will be fine." She turned to Kelly.

Kelly told her, "
Renea
, you are forever welcome in this new home."

Renea
popped out and back just once. She walked over to Kelly and hugged her. Then, one by one, the rest of
Renea's
brood arrived at the house. Kelly welcomed each of them.

* * *

My
home town
was Des Moines, Iowa. I'd been there at Christmas and introduced Petra to my parents. They'd been cold, but polite. Petra told me not to worry about it, but I was pissed they weren't happy for me. Relations with them had been strained in the two months since.