Page 76 of Crossing Quinn

Quinn continued his rant. “You’re a one-woman demolition team, but we do not want to blow up the Magic Kingdom. And why is that?”

“The kids.” Someone was being awfully cranky.

“Right.” Quinn expertly lifted the helicopter into the air.

He was bad as my father. I watched the landscape change from mountains to desert to badly damaged cities and towns. The roadways were littered with bomb craters. The closer we got to Los Angeles, the worse the damage. Charred metal superstructures of a once vibrant downtown rose like freakish skeletons against the turquoise sky. It was about time the Tai-Kok got punished for their crimes.

His right eye twitching, Papa announced over the headsets, “I can sense Eleni. She and Clio are at the Magic Kingdom.”

“Copy.” Quinn landed the helicopter in an abandoned supermarket parking lot. “We teleport the rest of the way.”

I instinctively reached for my communications bracelet’s tracking scanner and sighed. Quinn still hadn’t replaced it.

A brilliant orange glow popped into existence and spun rapidly. Adan rolled out of the vortex and morphed into his junior wizard form. He walked over to me and handed me a Coletti warlord-class communications bracelet. “As promised.”

I put it on and threw my arms around him. “Thank you.”

Quinn pulled me away. “Adan is merely the messenger. I got you the bracelet.”

“You didn’t forget.” I was so relieved.

“I did not.” He leaned down. “What’s my reward?”

One look at my father’s narrow-eyed gaze, and I kissed Quinn’s cheek. “Thank you, my lord.” I linked with him mentally and added, “Lots of hot monkey sex.”

Quinn grinned. “I’m holding you to that.”

“Eleni and Clio are in a place called Futureland,” Wulf advised, his gaze on his tracking scanner.

I checked my scanner. They were ten feet in the air and going around in circles. Mami did love the rocket ride. The last time we were there, we rode on it so many times I lost my breakfast all over the poor attendant.

Quinn pulled me against his chest. There was a flash of black, and we popped in by an awesome display of shiny orbs. The Magic Kingdom had miraculously survived all the attempts by the Tai-Kok to destroy it. It was a place where kids could be kids. A place where peace and harmony reigned. Where you could be a fairy-tale princess, a handsome prince, a big bad wolf, or a cartoonish robot.

Wulf and Adan stared around in amazement at Futureland’s kinetic sculptures, flowers in the shape of animals, and the roaming robots.

Papa’s irritated gaze was fixed on my mother.

My attention was drawn to a giant rock sphere spinning on a bed of water. Holy Goddess! A shocking amount of power radiated from it. “Do you feel that?” I walked over and placed my hand on the rock.

Papa, Quinn, Wulf, and Adan followed suit. Varying degrees of astonishment flashed across their faces.

“We found the Shebu!” I did a little dance.

“Now we know why the Tai-Kok never managed to destroy the Magic Kingdom,” Quinn remarked.

Papa smiled. “The Nabatean’s Shebu shielded it, and my Eleni found it.”

A piercing scream shattered the happy chattering of children.

Three males wearing ill-fitting black stormtrooper armor were dragging Mami off the rocket ride.

The crowd watched with astonished interest.

“No hurt Geema!” Clio transformed into a twenty-foot tall black and purple dragon. She swung her tail, knocking the stormtroopers down.

Mami quickly ducked behind Clio’s massive form.

The stormtroopers charged.

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