Part 20 (1/2)

Lasandra pulled herself together first, reaching out a hand to place on her daughter's shoulder. This seemed to calm Caty, who I remembered Brace had said had been very protected and spoiled. She was more delicate than her mother. I could see that straight away. I supposed any mate of a princeps especially Que would be an expert at handling crazy situations.

Lasandra and Caty moved to stand on either side of me. They reached out and clasped each of my hands.

”Okay, start drawing the energy into yourself again. Open your mind to us, and we will siphon it off and ground it down into the earth we stand on.”

Sounded simple enough.

”Alright, here I go.”

I threw out the tether again and the warm, intoxicating power flooded through me. Sometimes I felt like a G.o.d when this happened. A reality check was often required. Thankfully I generally had Lucy and her blunt mouth around. This time as I started to feel the overload it dissipated. I realized that there was a slight sucking sensation flowing from my hands. Like last time, the stones started to flicker out one by one. And they continued on more and more. We moved past the halfway point and there was no stopping us now.

I wondered if maybe the half-Walkers and I should be practicing something like this. Not grounding the energy so much, but more me absorbing large bodies of power and seeing if the girls could take the excess into themselves. Spreading it around so I had extra to use against our enemies. And were there any stones, like these purple ones, where we could store additional energy for the final battle?

All important things to know before we faced the Seventine.

Finally, we were almost done. There were three stones left. As they flickered out, I felt the exhaustion in my limbs. I wasn't sure how long we'd been standing there, but I would guess a very long time. And then finally the last stone gave a final flicker and its light died. Lasandra and Caty took that remaining sliver of energy and dispelled it down into whatever it was that we stood on. The world of Nephilius, I think.

And then with a rumble, everything around us began to shake. The three of us cried out and tightened our grip on each other's hands. Was the cage part of the foundation of this world and now Utopia was falling apart? We huddled together, helping to balance each other.

”Something is happening,” Caty cried.

In that moment a shock of adrenalin, followed by a flash of realization, flooded through me.

And I woke up.

Chapter 14.

I was no longer in Utopia. My surroundings were dark, except for some beams of what looked like moonstale.

I was flat on my back, laid out on a smooth but freezing cold surface. It felt like metal. My eyelids blinked rapidly as I tried to clear the black dots that were plaguing my vision. As I attempted to sit up, I realized I couldn't move my body. What the h.e.l.l was going on? I could wiggle my fingers and toes. This action released a flood of tingles from the iciness that must have seeped into my numb limbs. Twisting my hands side to side, I felt the chafing burn of restraints on my wrist. What the eff? I was tied down. I bit back my panic, claustrophobia clawing at my insides as I controlled my breathing.

In. Out. In. Out.

I concentrated on that simple action. And eventually I calmed.

I cleared my throat, preparing to scream out, but at the last minute I hesitated. Maybe I shouldn't tip my hand yet. I wasn't exactly in a position to fight back, and more than likely the only ones to come running would be the bad guys. Instead I closed my eyes and mentally reached for my energy. But I was pretty much depleted, as if I'd been drained to the point of running on wisps.

This was so not good. Had that happened in the Utopia world? Or had I been in this room the entire time?

Pus.h.i.+ng past my empty energy, I searched for my golden cord. If I connected with the girls, they might be able to help me. Thankfully it was still there, a little frail looking, but workable. I sent it out to the half-Walkers and almost immediately their essences filtered into my empty well.

Why did you cut the tethering earlier? Fury screeched at me. The image you sent me didn't work. I tried to trace to you, and Brace tried a doorway, and neither sent us anywhere.

I groaned as her shrill tone echoed around my mind. It was because the Utopian world was either protected by energy or ... not real at all. I cut her off. I needed to explain what had happened before I was interrupted again. Or it was an illusion or something. I'm tied down in a dark room. I can only see a bit of filtered light above my head, and there's a cold table under my body. I was b.l.o.o.d.y freezing my b.u.t.t off, literally.

How are we going to find you, Abbs? Talina sent warmth toward me. Could she feel this icy cold deep inside me?

I had no idea how they were going to find me. There were no real images to send them. Everything was too dark and hazy for me to know where I was.

Bring us to you. Ria's calm washed through me. You're connected to us; we can all trace. I've been thinking about how we should grow our powers. I believe there has to be a way that you can trace us to where you are.

Ria had a very logical mind. She seemed to process all information and continue to work it over until she'd exhausted every scenario. And what she said made sense. But right then I was struggling to find energy. My only hope was to borrow the other girls' energy.

I'm going to try and bring you here, but I'll need some of your energy. I'm fully drained.

Take what you need. Ria spoke for them all.

I started out slowly, sucking as much as I could without severing the ties. My center started to fill and there was so much more power than the last time I'd done this. It was amazing how much one more half-Walker added to our power; it increased tenfold.

Okay, hold on. I'm going to try and yank all of the cords to me.

In my head the cords looked like a single rope that split off four ways further down the line. Each of these four ropes connected me to my friends. With a deep breath I grasped a hold of the main rope and yanked with all of my mental strength. But as always the cords just stretched. They were malleable, and they did not s.h.i.+ft the girls at all.

I don't know how to do it. I groaned as weariness pressed on me, forcing my eyes shut as sleep started to claim me. I wrenched my wrists against my restraints, the pain helping to keep me awake. Why was I already feeling depleted? It was as if I couldn't keep any energy inside, even when I was siphoning it off the girls.

Don't pull the cord, just move us, Ria said.

I wasn't sure exactly what she meant, but again there was hazy darkness closing in on the sides of my brain. I was about to pa.s.s out again. This was my last chance. I sucked down their energy again, and then instead of grabbing the cord I used my borrowed power to attach to the girls. Closing my eyes, I sucked in a deep breath before expending every bit of strength inside me to bring them to my location.

This exertion allowed the darkness to claim me and I lost a few moments of time before I could open my eyes again. As consciousness returned I realized I was alone in my head; the girls were gone. With a m.u.f.fled cry, I wanted to smash my head back to the table I was on. It hadn't worked.

”Hang tight, Supes, we'll get you out of here.”

In unison, understanding and excitement flooded me. I flicked my head to the side and almost cried as familiar ma.s.ses of white hair came into view.

”Fury.” My voice rasped over the word and a few tears did p.r.i.c.k my eyes. I wasn't alone.

”Yep, you did it,” she said, flas.h.i.+ng her white teeth. ”You brought me, Talli, Ria ...” She flicked her head before leaning closer to my ear. ”And let's not forget tall, dark and stick-up-her-a.s.s.”

My lips turned up in the corners.

”Didn't I say something similar about you when we first met?” My low husky laugh was pretty rough. I needed to clear my throat.

Fury didn't miss a beat. ”My att.i.tude was cute, unlike Delane's, which is annoying.”

I didn't remember her att.i.tude being cute at all. Fury turned her head away from me then. I heard murmurs as she started speaking to someone.

”Trace back and bring everyone here,” she finally said, before turning back to me.

I struggled with my bound hands again. My old claustrophobia fears were still beating at me. I needed to get free soon or I'd freak out again.

Fury fumbled with my hands. And I felt someone else at my other side. Flipping my head over, I locked eyes with Talina.

”Talli.” I smiled at my friend. She laid a gentle hand on my forehead, some of her calm diverting the panicked thoughts I was having.