Chapter 20

Chapter 20

          Smoke billowed up along the sky. Approaching the gates of the capital, Ellie knew there was trouble, as did Rhapsody. Both women were tense, but Ellie found she was still compelled to follow Rhapsody through the gates. Rhapsody noticed the fire but was simply ignoring it, as if she was expecting it.

          “Someone will put the fire out soon,” she said, more to herself than Ellie. She was worried, which meant that level of fire is not what should have been burning, if there should have been a fire burning at all.

          The soldiers still stood at the carriage Ellie and Rhapsody had exited, watching the night sky cloud over, the flames the only light offered. The flames were not far from the gate, meaning it was either within the barracks, or one of the homes surrounding the barracks. Ellie knew this had to be about her, this was not a coincidental fire.

          An explosion was heard from the gate, loud enough and strong enough the ground shook beneath them. Ellie held her arms out to balance herself, but Rhapsody had a longer way to go and crumpled to her knees. A cloud of smoke went up even closer than before. This one Ellie recognized. It was within the barracks, the doctors’ chambers, where they had tested their abilities. She would not have to walk far to be able to see the building, but she knew it was a large fire.

          “What is he doing?” Rhapsody whispered to herself.

          Jacen was creating the fires? Perhaps Ellie should not have been surprised. Did that mean Sloane was on their side as well? No, there was no way after that conversation Sloane had joined Rhapsody and Jacen. But perhaps he had since he returned.

          Moistening her dry mouth, Ellie looked at the fires that were growing and wondered if Loqi had betrayed her. He could have, she could not control him. He was better at manipulating her, as he had proven.

          “Ellie!” Sloane’s voice calling her name made Ellie’s heart swell and she opened her mouth to scream for him, to warn him, but Rhapsody was faster, even in the shaking of th explosion. She had crawled to her feet and did the only thing that was natural to her. The punch landed hard across Ellie’s jaw and threw her down to the ground. Rhapsody had been expecting this, and Sloane had not been expecting her.

          Sloane aimed and shot. Ellie was horrified he would shoot that easily at her sister, but not enough to even try to move to stop him. She hit the ground from the punch and watched, wondering when her world had turned to this burning flame of horror.

          The bullet stopped, spinning in the air and going nowhere. Sloane looked surprised and Rhapsody looked smug. She slashed her hand through the air and the bullet fell to the ground, having done no damage. She smirked at Sloane and said, “Too predictable.”

          She turned and looked at Rafe and her eyes did the red rim reflection again. Rafe crumpled to the ground. Sloane reached down to grab him, but Rafe waved him off, sitting on the ground instead of fighting what Rhapsody was doing to him.

          No, Ellie knew what she was doing. She had turned his gift on him, she had taken his gift from him, and it left him weak enough he could not stand on his own. Ellie reached up and grabbed Rhapsody’s ankle and pulled. Rhapsody let out a cry, too busy focusing on everything else to realize Ellie was on the ground yanking her down. Ellie did what she had done as a child, wrapping her arms around Rhapsody’s legs until she hit the ground, then she pushed up and slammed her own fist into her sister’s face.

          Rhapsody was immediately healing from the fist, but it broke her concentration. Ellie swung her fist down again, but Rhapsody leaned out of the way and then kicked her sister off of her. The two scrambled to stand, facing one another and Rhapsody said, “I told you to come with me.”

          Ellie smirked now. “I did. To the gate, as you told me to.”

          Rhapsody said, “Come with me to the manor.”

          Ellie smirked again and said, “No.” Rhapsody looked appalled. “Whatever you are doing only works if I use my gift, like it did while I was screaming for help, you could take it. If I’m not using it, you can’t use it. So, no, Rhapsody, I won’t go with you.”

          Sloane came over to Ellie and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her to him in a half hug half protective stance from Rhapsody. He glanced at his former friend and said, “Rhapsody, Jacen’s dead.”

          “What?” she asked, her voice as hot as the fires burning in the distance.

          “Sorry,” Sloane said with a shrug that showed he absolutely was not sorry. “Let’s go, Ellie.”

          “You are going nowhere!” Rhapsody held out the gun that had been strapped to her waist, ready to use at any moment. “Ellie is coming back with me to the manor, and you two are going to die for treason.”

          “Rhapsody, how could you?” Sloane asked, pulling Ellie closer. “How could you be this person?”

          “How could you?” Rhapsody snapped back. “How could you choose this man over your friends?”

          “You didn’t give me a choice,” Sloane admitted. “You were willing to destroy me if it meant going to the president.”

          Rafe was standing up, looking around him as people rushed, the gates closing, sealing them into the capital. He was looking for a way to escape, to ditch Rhapsody without killing her.

          “Sloane,” Ellie warned, “she has a power that uses other peoples’ gifts. If you aim, she’ll stop it again. Rafe, if you stop gifts, she’ll just stop yours.”

          “Then no gifts, and we have to be fast,” Rafe said, “or she’ll heal.”

          “You can fight me,” Rhapsody said, “but can you fight everyone coming for you?”

          And the soldiers were coming. Behind her there were many dark shadows moving in the darkness, all with small purple insignias. The president’s soldiers. They would have no loyalty, or even compulsion, to follow or hesitate with Rafe. They were only going to listen to their orders, which everyone predicted were take Ellie and Rhapsody back to the manor, Rafe and Sloane could die.

          They needed a plan, and no one, not even the general, seemed to have one. Then Sloane told Ellie, “Manipulate her to take my power.”

          “What? Why would I do that?” Ellie was incredulous.

          “Do it,” he told her.

          “Rhapsody, take Sloane’s power.” The red reflection shone and she turned it back on them. Rhapsody was swearing but Sloane had already figured it out. He grabbed Ellie’s hand and slammed his revolver into it and said, “Bang,” forcing Ellie to pull the trigger. Rhapsody went down, a bullet in her skull.

          “Rhapsody!” Ellie screamed.

          “She’ll heal,” Rafe said roughly, seeming to lose the sweats that had taken over his entire being as Rhapsody stood there draining him of everything he had. “We need to run, it’s our only option. Like this we can’t win.”

          “Loqi?” Ellie asked.

          Sloane seemed disgusted, but he said, “He had to grab something. He said he would catch up with us.”

          Ellie nodded and the three of them ran.