Page 30 of Rescuing Air

“Sorry, sir,” they both answered in unison.

That was the end of our conversation as they shoved me forward to follow Makoto back to the scary room where they forced me to kill demons. I tried not to think about how today would go and what twisted test they had for me to see what powers I had. I’d failed last time at keeping my second set of spirit weapons hidden, but I needed the armor to keep from getting beaten to a pulp. The door opened and one of the guards shoved me through so hard that I sprawled on the floor like a baby giraffe who couldn’t use their legs yet.

“Lailah!”

My head snapped up, hearing a familiar voice. “Parker!” Pushing myself up, I ran to him and let him envelop me into a hug. “Oh God, I’m so happy to see a friendly face. Do you know anything about the others or where they are?”

Parker buried his face into my hair, holding me tightly. “No, they’ve been keeping us separated and drugged so we can’t use our powers. They had to give me an antidote for whatever the hell is going to happen in here.”

“The last time I was here they released a demon, and I had to kill it, showing them what skills I have. Parker, they don’t plan on letting us live. They want to know all they can about me, then when his curiosity is sated, he’s going to kill me,” I whispered, unsure if they could hear what was going on in the room from wherever they were watching.

His arms tightened around me and his lips brushed my ear. “I will never let them hurt you, Trouble. You might not know how you feel about me but I know how I feel about you. I am not going to let anyone take you from me. Whatever it takes, we will make it through this and we will save the others too. I swear on my life, I will see you through this.”

The sound of a door opening had us pulling apart to be faced with a horde of people running into the room with weapons—no guns but knives, swords, and bow and arrows, nocked and at the ready. Makoto was no longer testing out a theory, he had a hunch and was forcing us to prove his theory or die. Parker took a step in front of me and his spirit weapon appeared, glowing with purple flames on the long five-inch blade. I’d never seen it do that before but I didn’t think I’d ever seen the look of fury on his face quite like that either.

I knew that my sai wouldn’t do a damn thing, so I went right for the sword and shield, knowing it was my best chance. Jay had worked with me to strengthen my body so when I had to use my sword and shield, I could, even if they weighed nothing in the spirit form. Just because they were weightless didn’t mean I didn’t need the body strength to use the moves required for this skill. As the first person attacked me, I slammed my shield into them, tossing the man back into the rush of people. I couldn’t tell if they were demon possessed or not, but I would soon, since our weapons and powers didn’t work on humans. An arrow came flying at me and I was able to duck in time to dodge it but the attack was followed up by a woman with a broad sword swinging double-handed at me. My shield took the brunt of the blow but the impact knocked me to my knees as I held the blade off with both hands supporting the shield.

“Lailah!” Parker yelled. “Hang on, I’ve got you!”

I couldn’t see what was going on around me as the broad sword bore down on me, leaving me to trust Parker was coming. The next second, the weight was gone, and I shoved to my feet and backed up, trying to get some space to gather my bearings. The room was full of angry demon-possessed people, with the one goal of killing me and Parker. I had no chance to catch my breath before the next person was making a move. This person was fighting with a dagger so it made it easier and my body fell into its training. I side-stepped the attack and stabbed them right in the ribs with my sword, taking them down. Not that it mattered with other people filling the spot.

Parker ended up at my back and we fought, falling into sync, moving as a team that we’d always been working toward. This was the revelation that we’d been missing the whole time. On our own, we couldn’t handle it, but together, we were stronger. Now was not the time to wax poetic in my brain though. We had a battle to survive and the others to save. It was clear that Makoto was in charge of the army that the Dark Lord was preparing and was pulling from them to conduct this crazy experiment. The army must be in the mountains near here or else they had them scattered instead of in one large group.

My arms got tired as we fought, sweat dripping into my eyes, but I couldn’t wipe it away. It burned, making them tear up. This wasn’t working. I had to change it up but that meant giving more away to Makoto and ultimately the Dark Lord. Did it really matter though? So what if he knew what he was up against? Just because I used a skill here and now, didn’t mean it would be the same ones that would take him down.

“Parker, we have to use our powers,” I called to him. “We won’t live through this if we don’t.”

“No, Lailah, trust me when I tell you that is the last thing we should be doing,” Parker said, his tone adamant. “I know what he’s trying to do, Trouble, and we can’t give it to him. It’s the only thing keeping us alive right now.”

I didn’t have time to digest all of that statement but what I could tell was he was scared. “Parker, I need you to trust me. There is more going on here than just what Makoto wants us to believe. There are still more people pouring in here. If we can fight to the door, then we might be able to get out of here and save the others.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I could tell he was hesitating but with a frustrated growl, he started moving in that direction. He charged forward as I watched his back but it was a losing battle with people being replaced as soon as we took one out. Trusting my gut, I pulled on my powers and channeled what I had done in the first battle with Tabitha, when I was only bonded to Brayden. It took a lot more concentration and willpower than it did now that I was connected to all of them but Parker, yet somehow I managed. I thrust my power into Parker as I grabbed onto his shirt, needing contact with him to get things to happen more smoothly. He gasped as my power flooded into him, making him freeze for just a second before his second form appeared. His armor was purple and his staff now had a blade on both ends instead of just the one, making it even more deadly as purple flames flickered around the sharp edges.

“Holy shit, Trouble, what are you doing to me?” Parker demanded as he cut down our enemy with more power and speed.

Now that I was fueling him with power, I left myself more vulnerable. I pulled my power around me like a shield and knew it would be strong enough to withstand the blades and arrows. “I’m getting us the fuck out of here is what I’m doing. Now, move it and use your own goddamn powers to make them panic or fall in love with us.”

“Right, okay, let’s see what I can do,” Parker muttered as he took a deep breath.

Some of the people closest to us yawned and rubbed their eyes, letting their weapons fall to their side. Others turned on the person standing next to them in a rage that was more aggressive than what they were giving us. The bad part was when we got too far away and they weren’t near the bubble of emotion Parker was giving out, they returned to normal. Let me tell you, when they figured out what he did, they were not happy. Knowing that I didn’t have a lot of energy to spare for myself, I expanded my shield enough that I didn’t have to worry about an arrow or something taking Parker out from behind, but I couldn’t do more than that as I added to his power bank.

“We’re almost there, just hold on a little longer,” Parker shared. “Let’s just hope they don’t cut off the stampede of people and lock us in here with them.”

“One thing at a time, Parker. Get us out then we’ll figure out the rest,” I directed, shoving him to keep him moving as I felt him hesitate. “Don’t you dare quit on me.”

“I told you that wouldn’t happen this time. I’ll get us out,” Parker snapped.

“Don’t you dare get pissy with me when you have only yourself to blame for me having doubts in the first place. Especially, in a situation like this,” I shot back.

With a roar, Parker shoved back three men who tried to charge him and split us up. “Right now might not be the best time to have this conversation, don’t you think? How about when we make it out of this alive, you can yell at me all you want about how badly I fucked up? Trust me, I will be happy to listen to whatever you want to say.”

He was right. This wasn’t the time or the place for our personal drama when all we had was each other to count on.

“Hold on tight. I’m going to see what this new weapon can do,” Parker warned before he lunged forward, spinning his staff as fast as he could.

The flames on the ends grew with the added wind until it was a giant wheel of fire that turned every person to ash as it touched them. It gave us the last upper hand we needed to spill out into the hallway. Parker twisted and grabbed my hand, running off into the hall, slamming people into the walls as we went. The smaller space made it easier for us to manage, instead of being surrounded. He seemed to know where he was going so I just hung on for the ride as I was dragged away with possessed people hot on my heels. Now that I wasn’t powering Parker the same way, I created a shield and thrust it behind me, creating a barrier that they slammed into, making me smile as we turned a corner at high speeds.

“Where are we going now?” I demanded as I almost slammed into a wall myself.