Ezra and I stared at him, and I was the one who eventually muttered, “Thanks.” I mean, really, his commentary on our leadership skills wasn’t absolutely needed right now. I pointed to the envelope, trying to redirect him. “What is that?”
“Hmm?” he hummed absently, still staring at us, but he kind of jolted at seeing the letter, as if he had just noticed it in his raised hand. “Oh, yes. This is from Elder Harcourt.”
“And?” I prompted.
“You, King Zeller, Elder Merrick, Elder Farrar, Elder Zeller, and myself will be striking the last Beast farm tonight,” he explained. He grinned. “After we rest up, our same group will be heading to Chicago — recently dubbed King Mile — the city most recently taken here in the United States. We’ll be meeting there with Elder Townsend, Elder White, Elder Bridges, Elder Samson, King Collins, and Queen Cooper. They’re all getting their directives today to change locations. We’ll be discussing how to finally put an end this war.”
Holy shit.
Parking ten miles away from our destination — the last Beast farm — our group exited from the vehicles. I took my coat off and pulled my hair into a ponytail, then I methodically began strapping on my weapons. My gun spelled with a never-ending supply of silver bullets went into a thigh holster, while knives and a few other guns were placed sporadically in holsters or sheaths along my body. My Cizanos, two short, deadly curved swords made of steel and silver and spelled specifically for a Shifter’s strength, I strapped to my back, their handles right above my shoulders for easy access. I noticed absently that Elder Merrick also had a pair. Bonnie and Clyde, my Vizoac and my husband’s, both having behaved decently in the back of the SUV we rode in, jumped from the interior and automatically went to either my side or Ezra’s. But they weren’t going with us on this mission; their duty was to stay near the SUV and make sure it was here when we got back.
After everyone was suited up, we stood in a circle around Antonio. His eyes flared bright as a golden, transparent sphere encompassed our group. From the outside it was invisible, hiding us, but inside we could see the golden shimmer of the sphere. Elder Jacobs’s eyes flared, and suddenly the wind picked up and aimed directly at us, shoving our sphere forward. I braced my legs but still fell back against Ezra at the sudden speed. His palms landed on my hips, steadying me as his heat encompassed me, his hands only releasing me when I found my footing. I watched as the scenery blurred by, all of it country, as our speed increased to over a hundred miles per hour, meaning we arrived at our destination fairly quickly. I was rocked again as if I were on a roller coaster as the wind blew our sphere straight up into the night sky over the twenty-foot tall metal fencing with rounded, wicked barbwire at the top.
“Oomph,” I exhaled sharply as all of us, not just me, almost fell to our knees.
Ezra’s arm was instantly wrapped around my waist from behind, even as he placed a quick bracing hand on the bottom of the sphere, keeping us from falling completely. He barked over his shoulder, “What the fuck? Are you trying to injure us all?”
“It was needed,” Elder Jacobs said softly, staring at the distancing ground as the wind pushed us from underneath, his arms aimed low. “You’d better brace yourself for the landing.”
“You’re a damn Elder!” Ezra shouted over the howling wind. “Where the hell is your control—” He abruptly cut off as we started to descend…or fall from the sky, more like.
And yeah, I screamed as our bodies literally lifted from the bottom of the sphere, floating a bit as I stared down at the swiftly approaching unforgiving ground, the dead grass most definitely not enough to cushion our fall.
“Shit!” Ezra shouted, his arm tightening around my stomach painfully, his chest pressed against my back as he stared over my shoulder down at the ground. He was able to thrust his legs down and touch the sphere, and he jerked hard, twisting us roughly so now his back was to the approaching ground while we stared up into the overcast night through the shimmering gold. It didn’t help my fear, not at all, and I screamed again at the freefalling weightlessness, but I still heard Ezra mutter near my ear, “Fuck, this is gonna hurt.”
A sudden brush of wind caught the sphere, slowing it, but we still landed way too fucking hard. Ezra grunted loud as his entire backside slammed against the ground, my body on top of his and crushing his front as gravity smashed me into him. His breath released against the left side of my face, even as all the air rushed from my own lungs, my arms flying past his body on either side to smack onto the ground. All the Elders next to us were lying on the bottom of the sphere, the same as us, sprawled every which way. No one moved, or like me, was probably able to breathe, all the air just gone from my lungs as I stared blurrily up at the sky in a daze.
Dizzily, I lifted a bruised and shaky hand and pounded on my chest a few times until I wheezed, coughing hard as air filled my jarred lungs. I felt a gentle squeeze on my hip, the barest pressure, and I shook my head hard, remembering I was lying on top of my husband. I rolled, sadly not quickly because the world kind of spun, and heard some of the Elders begin to stir as they also coughed air into their lungs. Moving like a drunk over Ezra, I stared down at his face. He was blinking repeatedly, like he couldn’t see, and his wide lips were beginning to turn blue. “Aw, shit.” His chest wasn’t moving, and if anything, it looked like some of his ribs might have broken from his body cushioning mine. “Antonio, a little help here!”
Instantly, I tilted his head back and pressed his chin down, opening his mouth wide. I sucked in a large breath and lowered my mouth to his, blowing out hard, pushing air into his lungs. And yeah, he had some broken ribs, the way his chest lifted with the air. “Antonio, goddammit! Get over here and fix him!” His heart was still beating, but he wasn’t breathing yet, his eyes starting to close, so I blew more air into his lungs. “Fucking breathe!” I pushed more air in, and I shouted, “Ezra!”
Antonio’s glowing hands were suddenly on Ezra’s chest, and I heard popping sounds erupt inside him. Ezra’s eyes did fly open then, and after I blew air into his lungs once more, he inhaled sharply and started coughing hard, groaning a harsh curse when I heard a particularly vicious pop. I grabbed his hands and held them down, having to use quite a bit of my Shifter strength to keep him from knocking Antonio away from his work, but I kept my face directly over his and pressed my Shifter soothing power into him.
He calmed some, staring up at me and muttering breathlessly, “Elder fucking air Elemental.”
I nodded, and my lips pinched as he grimaced. Apparently not just his ribs were broken, because Antonio moved down his body. “Yes, you can kick his ass once you can walk again.”
Ezra blinked slowly. “I suppose you’re correct.” Another slow blink. “Walking would probably be the minimum requirement for kicking someone’s ass.” He jerked at something Antonio did, but he didn’t try to fight my hold. Then, amazingly, he chuckled a little, sounding drunk. “Did you give me mouth-to-mouth?” He licked his now red lips. “Yes, I believe you did.” His resulting grin was sloppy, his words slurred. “Can you do it again while I’m coherent?”
None of the Elders was really moving to stand. In fact, Elder Zeller still appeared to be out. He appeared badly injured, but if he wasn’t dead, his unconsciousness was a blessing.
I met my husband’s gaze. “Shh. Don’t talk.” I glanced back to Antonio. He had dried blood down the side of his cheek, but other than that, he didn’t appear to be harmed. “I think Ezra may have something wrong with his head. Possibly a concussion.”
“He’ll be fine in a few minutes, if it’s only that,” Antonio muttered, eyes on his work. “And besides, he’s talking and awake, unlike his father, who I need to check on.”
“What’s the matter with my dad?” Ezra griped loudly, sounding a bit better.
I sighed when Antonio moved to Cahal. I started feeling over Ezra’s head, making sure his skull wasn’t depressed anywhere. Just because I couldn’t smell any blood on him, it didn’t mean he wasn’t injured there. “Antonio’s fixing him up. Don’t worry.”
I paused in my exploration of his head when I heard his Vampire make a definite purring sound. “That feels good.” He tilted his head more into my hold. “And the view’s even better.”
I glanced down, then I slapped my hand over his mouth. He was staring at my breasts. “Good grief.” Damn concussion.
“You’re going to have to give me mouth-to-mouth again if you suffocate me,” his voice was muffled behind my hand, then I felt his lips curl against my palm, “Never mind. Suffocate me.”
Unbidden, a chuckle escaped. “You’re un-freaking-believable.” I removed my hand from his mouth. He looked kind of adorable lying there with a silly grin on his face. “Try to be quiet.”
“I’ll be as quiet as you want me to be,” he purred.
