“You’re killing me,” he told her. “All I want to do is keep you safe. All I want to do is make sure that at the end of the day you are alive and well, and you are asking me to drag you into a place that will threaten that outcome.”

“Consider it a character building exercise,” she teased.

Cush pressed his lips to hers quickly but firmly. “Stay with me. Do not leave my side.”

She smiled triumphantly up at him. “I won’t; I’ll be right beside you the whole time.”

“Where you belong,” he murmured to her.

“Right where I belong,” she agreed.

“I’ll take lead,” Cush said as the small group stood twenty feet from where they had exited the vehicle. “Rin, you pull up the rear. Oakley and Tony, you flank the women.”

“Flank the women?” Elora asked dryly. “It sounds like some freaky punishment.”

“Don’t tempt me,” Cush told her with a tight smile. “Our goal is not to engage the enemy. We want to get to the crops and set them ablaze. Hopefully that will draw out anyone inside. Then we will go in and see if there is a way to destroy the already created Rapture.”

They moved into the formation Cush had ordered and followed him. Elora had to trot to keep up with his long strides. He moved with such stealth that she felt like a bull in a China shop as she followed behind. The others behind her sounded just as loud, except for Tony and Rin. When she looked back over her shoulder at them, she saw that they were moving with nearly the same grace and silence that Cush did.

They moved off the road and headed into a field that had obviously been a vineyard at one time. The tall plants were overgrown and unruly. They twisted and climbed over each other and seemed to have taken on a life of their own without the guidance of a vinedresser. Cush pushed away branches and Elora was careful to hold them until her mom behind her was able to grab the branch to keep it from whacking her in the face. The ground began to slope and Cush stopped and looked back at them. “It’s going to get a little steep so tread carefully.”

When they began moving again, Elora found herself leaning back to keep from rolling forward and doing a head dive down the hill. After what seemed like forever, the land leveled out again. The sun was getting higher as the morning grew later. Elora hadn’t previously considered how large the vineyard probably was. She figured at this rate that it might be early evening before they reached the first Almare crop.

“Bingo,” she heard Cush whisper.

All of a sudden she looked up and saw a very different looking plant than the ones they had been traipsing through for the past half hour. Before her stood rows and rows of tall leafy plants, each laden with small red fruits, about the size of a cherry, only brighter. Okay so not earlyevening then, she thought to herself somewhat relieved.

“What now?” she whispered to him.

“When I say run, you follow me and you run. No standing and staring or ooing and ahhing, okay?”

Elora nodded, not having a clue what he was talking about but guessing that it would be better for her to just agree with him than to ask questions.

Suddenly Rin and Cush both reached out their hands and bolts of light shot out. The field before them that had been overflowing with a lush vine–like plant was suddenly burning in a blue-white blaze. Elora felt her mouth forming into an O just as she heard Cush’s voice over the crackle of the flames. “RUN!”

She felt her arm being pulled and finally tore her gaze from the incredible sight before her. She turned and took off after Cush, pumping her arms in time with her legs. She glanced back quickly to make sure Lisa was with her and, sure enough, her mom was right behind. Though surprising because of the roaring fire, Elora could hear voices traveling over the fields. The sounds only made her want to run faster. They came upon another field and once again Rin and Cush did their flame throwing act and they ran again. Elora was convinced that somehow her body was feeding itself mega doses of adrenaline because she couldn’t believe she was still sprinting. Field after field they burned and then ran until finally they were brought up short by a large building.

“We’re not in Kansas anymore,” she said breathlessly as she hunched over her knees attempting to catch her breath. She looked over at Cush who looked annoyingly un-winded and unruffled. Butthead, she thought as he flashed her a rueful smile.

“Halfway done,” Rin said, just as calm and collected as Cush was.

Elora waved them on. “You guys go on ahead,” she said still attempting to catch her breath. “Really, we’ll be the look out, if we see any dark elves we’ll totally yell for you.”

Cush laughed. “Babe you can’t even talk; how on earth are you going to yell?”

“Technicality,” she wheezed out.

He walked over and took her hand, tugging her behind him. “Let’s go, tough girl,” he teased. “Keep breathing like that and you might just scare away anyone headed our way.”

“Ha, ha,” she retorted. “You are freaking hilarious.”

The others followed behind Cush as he led them to a side door. His head tilted to the side as if he was listening, though Elora couldn’t imagine what he could possibly hear over the blaze they had set and the screaming dark elves out in the fields trying to deal with the chaos. After several minutes, he put his hand on the door handle and pulled it effortlessly open.

“Was that unlocked?” Elora whisper shouted.