“They’re building an army. There are two different kinds of elementals. Dark and light. And a war is on the horizon. Both sides are building armies.”

  “And Jax and Elias are on team dark?” She heard the doubt in her voice. She couldn’t see Jax and Elias as evil people. “And you’re, what? Team light?”

  “I’m an acolyte for the water elementals, and it’s my job to keep ones like Jax from taking new Marks. It’s my job to keep you safe.” He reached out and took her hand. She stopped pacing and turned to face him. “You don’t belong with them, Tara. You belong with us.”

  “I don’t even know who us is,” she said. “I feel like I don’t even know who you are, not really anyway.”

  “I’m still Tucker. Just an upgraded version.” He smiled, his dimples making an appearance, giving him that all-American-boy look.

  She slipped her hand from his and crossed her arms in front of her. “I’m having a hard time reconciling what you are saying about Elias with the man I know,” she admitted. “I just can’t see him killing anyone.”

  Tucker laughed but there was no humor in the sound. “Oh, believe me, he has killed and will keep on killing.”

  Her stomach turned at the idea of Elias murdering someone. She didn’t want it to be true. She needed to talk to him. To ask him herself.

  “I hate to end this night early, but I really need to process this. It’s a lot.”

  “I get that. But I can’t let you go home,” he said.

  Tara’s brow drew down. “I’m sorry, what?”

  “It’s not safe, Tara. You need to be protected. If you come with me, I can do that. I can make sure Jax and Elias don’t take you.”

  Tara was shaking her head before he even finished speaking. There was no way she was just going to up and disappear. She couldn’t do that to Carol or Shelly.

  “You’re good, boy.” A sultry voice filled the air. Tara whipped around, searching for the speaker, but she saw nothing except darkness. “Hell, if I was a vulnerable teenage orphan, I might even believe you myself.”

  “Dammit.” Tara heard Tucker spit a curse next to her. “It’s true,” said Tucker.

  The voice laughed, a low, sultry sound. Suddenly, a woman came into view, as if she had simply materialized out of thin air. She was dressed in all black. Even her shoulder-length hair was pitch black. She did not look like the sort of woman who should be chaperoning a high school dance. Strapped to both of her thighs were knives, and in her hand was an honest-to-goodness short sword. She swung it in an arc two times in quick succession. She obviously knew how to handle the thing.

  “Things just got real,” Tara muttered under her breath.

  “Don’t move, Tara,” the woman said.

  How the hell does she know my name?

  “Elias will be very put out if anything happens to you.”

  “Who are you?” Tara asked as she took a step back. The woman looked like she could take on an army by herself and win.

  “I’m a friend of Elias and Jax. My name is Zuri, and I’m about to save you from running off with this lying, oxygen-wasting, lowlife, pitiful excuse of an acolyte.”

  Tara looked at Tucker, who had gotten to his feet. Now, he, too, held a sword in his hand and somehow, even in a tux, it didn’t look out of place. Where the hell did that come from? He stood with his legs slightly apart and his knees bent, and he bounced a little on the balls of his feet. He was ready for a fight. And by the look on his face, he was eager for it. In fact, the guy standing there staring at Zuri didn’t look like the Tucker she knew at all.

  “She’s trying to confuse you, Tara,” Tucker said.

  Well, it’s working.

  “I’m not going to let you have her,” Tucker practically growled to Zuri. “She’s mine.”

  “The hell she is,” Zuri said calmly and happened to take the words out of Tara’s mouth. Whether Tucker was the good guy or not, she wasn’t his.

  “We’ll see about that,” said Tucker.

  “Do you really want to fight me, boy?” Zuri asked him as she adjusted her stance.

  “I’m no boy,” Tucker purred. “And you damn well know it.”

  “I’m well aware of your age. But you’re still a babe compared to me.”

  Tara’s eyes narrowed as they bounced back and forth between the two. What were they talking about? Tucker was only eighteen. Wasn’t he? And Zuri didn’t look a day over twenty-five, yet she spoke to Tucker as a matron might speak to an insolent child.

  Tucker opened his mouth to say something else, but Zuri didn’t give him the chance. She lunged for him as she said, “I’m done talking.” She swung her sword but Tucker was ready. The weapons clashed as they came together, and Tara jumped at the echoing sound. She glanced around to see if anyone else was watching the medieval battle happening right in the middle of their school grounds.

  “I’m not here to hurt you, Tara,” Zuri said as she turned away from Tucker, dodging his sword. “I’m here to help. Jax and Elias are not the bad guys. This jerk on the other hand? He’s nothing but bad news.”

  “Isn’t that what the bad guy would say? It’s not like you are going to come and say that you want to kidnap me,” Tara pointed out.

  Tucker kicked out a foot, trying to sweep the woman’s legs out from underneath her. But she’d anticipated the movement and nimbly leaped over his foot as it passed. Zuri rotated on her feet and swung her sword around. Tara thought it was going to make contact with Tucker’s back, but he whipped around faster than humanly possible.

  Tara watched as they continued to battle, their swords flashing. It was clear after only a few seconds who was the better fighter. Tucker was beginning to slow. Beads of sweat were falling from his forehead. He growled and grunted with every lunge, but he never came close to putting a scratch on the woman. Zuri, however, barely moved. With each of Tucker’s sword thrusts, she merely shifted and he whiffed, or she effortlessly blocked his blade with her own.

  “Tell me this,” Zuri said without taking her eyes off Tucker. “When you’re with Elias, does it feel like he’s evil? Do you feel unsafe with him? Does your gut tell you to run away from him?”

  Her gut definitely told her to run from him but not for the reasons Zuri was suggesting. She’d never felt that Elias was a danger to her. Was he dangerous? Absolutely. To her heart, to her fragile emotions, and to her soul. One hundred percent. But not to her safety. She never got the evil vibe from Elias.

  “I’m going to take your silence as ‘no’ to each of those questions.” Zuri nonchalantly jumped back from a jab Tucker aimed at her stomach.

  Tara worried she was about to see Tucker disemboweled or beheaded, judging on the well-aimed swipe of Zuri’s sword, narrowly missing Tucker’s neck.

  “Tara, Seth and Hayden are elemental magic wielders like me,” said Tucker. “They will get you to safety. They will come looking for us any second.”

  His words must have ticked Zuri off. Suddenly, the woman’s speed increased. Her sword whipped through the air so fast Tara didn’t know how Tucker could possibly dodge it. And apparently he couldn’t. A second later, he staggered back, his hand wrapped around his shoulder and blood seeping out through his fingers. The sword fell to the ground. Zuri held up a hand, and the ground beneath Tara’s feet rumbled. Tucker fell to his knees. Tara’s mouth fell open as she saw the earth itself rise up and take the form of a human hand attached to a rock-like arm that came from beneath the surface of the ground. The hand grabbed Tucker and clamped down on his ankle.

  “Let me go, you bitch!” He struggled, but his foot remained rooted in place.

  Before Tara’s mouth could even drop open, the woman was standing next to her. The sword was re-sheathed, slung across Zuri’s back. Eyes wide, Tara pointed to Tucker and began to say something, but her voice was nowhere to be found. A second later, the woman grabbed her and flung Tara over her shoulder. Um, hello? She just picked me up like I weighed nothing. Tara tried to make sense of what was happening, but she couldn’t shake the image of a giant hand coming out of the ground and grabbing her prom date. Vaguely, Tara noticed cars and street signs speeding past her. Then she saw trees and bushes. The woman was running so fast. How can she be running so fast? Another thought quickly followed. Should I be trying to get free? Tara began to thrash and pound the woman on her back. If she felt it, Zuri gave no indication. She merely kept running at an inhuman pace. Tara looked at the ground zooming mere feet below her. She thought about how it might hurt someone to fall and strike the pavement. But Tara knew it wouldn’t hurt her. She redoubled her efforts to escape.

  “Stop,” said Zuri without slowing.

  “Let me go.” Tara growled.

  “If I drop you, it will hurt.”

  “No it won’t,” said Tara. “You cannot hurt me. No one can.”

  Then Tara screamed. The sensation she felt on the back of her leg was so foreign to her she couldn’t help but scream. She hadn’t felt anything like it in five years.

  “You pinched me,” she yelled at Zuri.

  “That’s right, little-miss-invincible. Your days of being Iron Woman are over. Don’t make me do it again.”

  “But … but … how?”

  “No time for explanations now. Just quit trying to escape, or I really will have to hurt you. And I don’t want to do that because I kind of like you.”

  Tara’s heart raced. She’d spent so long being unable to feel pain, she’d become accustomed to it. She realized now how she had taken her gift for granted. It was almost as if she’d lost a part of herself, and Tara was surprised when a tear actually escaped an eye and rolled down her cheek. She couldn’t try to escape now if she wanted to.

  When they began to slow, Tara lifted her head and tried to figure out where they were, but all she could see was dense forest. When Zuri finally stopped, the woman didn’t put her down like Tara had expected. Instead, she continued to hold Tara over her shoulder as she began to chant a long string of words Tara didn’t understand.

  “Can you please put me down? All the blood is rushing to my head, and it’s making me dizzy,” Tara finally said.

  Zuri ignored her and continued her chanting. Then she took several steps forward, and warmth enveloped Tara’s body. The forest around her shifted, and when Tara strained her neck to look up, she was staring at a shimmering rectangular space, as if a doorway filled with water had appeared in the forest. She turned her head to look to her right and then looked straight again. The forest around them was not the same forest on the other side of that shimmering doorway in front of her. She whispered under her breath, “Portal. It’s a portal.”

  “You’re not in Kansas anymore,” Zuri said and then took off running again.

  Chapter 20

  As Zuri ran, Tara closed her eyes and tried to wrap her head around everything Tucker had said. Had he been telling the truth? She couldn’t reconcile his words with Elias’s actions. The only thing she felt with Elias was safe and wanted.

  Tara did believe one thing, though. It was obvious Tucker and Zuri were able to use magic. She had no doubt Elias had the same ability. So, why had he kept it a secret? Probably because he knew I’d freak out if I saw it. That doesn’t make him a liar.

  Tara didn’t know how long her captor—if that’s what this woman really was—carried her, but it seemed like forever. Tara wondered why the woman hadn’t collapsed many miles ago. What she was doing was impossible. Then, Tara noticed something. She wasn’t being jostled. They were moving along at breakneck speed, but Tara’s body wasn’t being bounced around. How could that be? Tara opened her eyes and looked at the ground, only a couple feet from her head. At first, it appeared the ground was moving quickly beneath them, which Tara knew must be from the speed of Zuri’s gait. But then Tara realized the ground actually was moving. “What the…” Tara said as her eyes widened. She looked around Zuri’s legs and got a couple of glimpses. The ground itself was propelling the woman forward. And when Tara lifted her head to see the ground behind them, it looked completely untouched. There weren’t even footprints in the dirt.

  Finally, Zuri slowed down—or the ground did—and came to a complete stop. Tara couldn’t be sure. Zuri leaned forward, placed Tara on her feet, and then held her steady. Tara tried to get her bearings after having been upside down for so long. Her head hurt from all the blood rushing out of it.

  “You okay?” Zuri asked.

  Tara nodded and took a step back, out of the woman’s grasp. She didn’t waver on her feet, and she felt more grounded by the second. No pun intended.

  “I’m sure you have a lot of questions,” said Zuri.

  Tara shrugged. “Not really. There’s a supernatural world, people can do magic, someone wants to kidnap me, but I’m not really sure who. Naw, I don’t have any questions.”

  Zuri’s lips tipped up in a small smile. “I can see why he’s so taken with you.”

  “Elias?”

  A brow quirked up. “You have so many gentlemen courting you that you aren’t sure which one I’m talking about?”

  A huff of laughter whooshed out of Tara. “Hardly. I’ve never even had a boyfriend before.”

  “And you never will if Elias has anything to say about it.”

  Tara frowned. “What does that mean?”

  Zuri waved her off. “Nothing. I’m still running on adrenaline after battling it out with that acolyte.” She started walking. “Come on. We’ll get inside and then you can start asking all those questions you don’t have.”

  Tara looked back in the direction they’d come. She had no way of knowing how far away from the portal they’d gone. And even if she could get back to it, she had no idea what she would need to do to get through it. With nothing else to do, she turned and followed Zuri. It was then she finally lifted her eyes and found herself at the base of a mountain so tall she couldn’t see the top because it was covered in clouds.

  “Where are we, exactly?” Tara asked.

  “Thought you didn’t have any questions.”

  “I lied. You gonna whip your sword out and stab me for it?” Tara quipped.

  Zuri shook her head. “I’m either going to really like you or want to kill you. I’m not sure which just yet.” Tara could hear the smile in the woman’s voice despite the fact she couldn’t see her face.

  “You never said where we are,” Tara said, choosing to ignore the comment.

  “On the border of China and Bhutan. We’re at Terra Academy. That’s spelled T-e-r-r-a.”

  “Glad you clarified that. I thought for a second there that someone had named a school in the middle of BFE after me.” She looked around and still all she saw was forest and a huge mountain. “Where is this supposed school?”

  “It’s right in front of you,” she said as she pointed at the mountain.

  “Does having the ability to do magic also make you crazy? Or just stupid?” Tara asked. It was a bitch move, but she was feeling freaked out and that was bringing her inner bitch to the surface. Shelly would be proud. “Crap,” she muttered. Shelly was probably losing her mind right about now. She had to have realized by now that Tara was gone. Carol wouldn’t know until tomorrow morning, so she had a little time before she needed to panic about that.

  Zuri turned to look at her. Her intense eyes examined Tara’s face as if she could find the answer to all her questions. “Okay, I’ve decided. I’m going to like you. But that won’t mean I won’t kick your ass. I believe wholeheartedly in kicking the asses of those I like to keep them humble. There’s nothing more annoying than a friend with an inflated ego.”

  “If you know Elias, then you must know Jax,” Tara pointed out. “Is he your friend? Because I’m pretty sure his ego doesn’t fit in my town.”

  Zuri laughed. “Oh, I know Jax. And I kick his ass more than others just for that reason.”

  Tara didn’t want to like the woman just yet because she had no idea if she was the enemy, as Tucker had claimed, or if Tucker had been blowing smoke up her dress.

  “Follow me,” said Zuri. They walked down a rocky path that led to a sheer face of rock at the base of the mountain.

  There, Zuri stopped. She reached out a hand and knocked as if she were simply knocking on someone’s front door. Her knuckles made no sound on the solid rock. A few seconds later, a rumble came somewhere behind the rock. Then Tara heard a loud crack. She took a step back, ready to bolt if any boulders came tumbling down the side of the mountain.

  “Keep your panties on,” said Zuri, who hadn’t moved. “You’re perfectly safe.”

  The mountain wall split down the middle, as if the rock had been rent like a curtain. With grinding and groaning, the two pieces of rock pulled apart, revealing a huge set of doors, equally stone, behind them.

  The door sat, unmoving. Seconds stretched into minutes. Still, nothing happened.

  “Oh, c’mon, really?” said Zuri, rolling her eyes.

  Zuri reached out and shoved one of the doors with her palm. It swung inward as easily as if it were simply the screen door on a porch. Tara saw a long corridor within. Torches, some of them burning and some of them cold, were spaced at regular intervals as far down the corridor as she could see. Just inside the door, resting on a small stool, and snoring quite loudly, was what Tara could only describe as a gnome.

  “What’s that?” she asked Zuri, pointing at the small slumbering creature.

  “What does it look like?”

  “Well, it looks like a gnome, but I have to admit I’m not an expert.”

  “It looks to me like the laziest doorman on earth.” Zuri put a foot on the sleeping gnome’s chair and pushed, sending him toppling. He came back growling and cursing and pulled a dagger the length of a butter knife from his belt.

  “Put that thing away, Fizzlebink, before you hurt yourself.”

  “Professor Petrov, what are you doing at the front door? Why haven’t you used the gateroom?”

  “I think the better question is why have you fallen asleep on the job?”