Page 53 of Beta Lies and Cursed Lives
It should scare me that I feel nothing at this revelation. I guess that’s not entirely true, I do feel something. Right. Like, being at one with my curse, not fighting it but embracing it, is just...right.
This helicopter is capable of flying over two hundred miles per hour, but although the fuel is full, I don’t want to push it too hard in case we can’t stay where we go. But I do fly fast for the first fifty miles or so to get away from the academy. When there’s no chatter for a while, I take a quick glance behind me to find Mira and Aubrey passed out. The stress and anxiety of today’s events must have drained them terribly if they can sleep with this racket.
Colton is still awake but deep in thought, looking out the window to the earth below. Even from this angle, I can see his drawn brow and the concern etched on his face. He must hear an errant thought of mine because he turns to me with his usual cocky smirk before thinking at me with sarcasm, “Just wondering if I made the right choice bringing us out here, or, you know, if I’ve thrown our lives away.”
I raise a brow at him before looking back at the instrument cluster, ensuring we’re still on the right course and making small mental adjustments.We had no choice. They would have killed us if we stayed. At least we have a chance now.I look at him a moment and then ahead again.That’s thanks to you.
He snorts a laugh. “Really, it’s thanks to you and Nyx for disabling the collars. Didn’t know you had it in you, man.”
I wouldn’t have been able to do it without Mira. Our mating...changed my curse somehow. Maybe we’ll be able to figure it out now that we’re out of that place.
A bit more than an hour into our flight, something peers over the lightening horizon. They’re structures of some kind.
“Holy shit,” Colton says aloud in a whisper. “It’s fucking real.” He leans forward to get a closer look and begins to point. “Look! They’re buildings covered in snow and ice.”
I do look, and he is right. Some of the buildings reach high into the sky, some lay lower to the ground, all are pure white and glisten where the rising sun’s beams hit them.
“Wow…” Colton’s voice in her ears must have awakened Mira, and Aubrey too, as they both lean forward to peer between the seats to get a look at what might just be our salvation. “Do you think there are people in there?”
Colton’s head is shaking as he responds. “I can hear thoughts, but they’re really distant.” He jolts. “They know we’re approaching.”
Aubrey taps Colton’s shoulder, and he responds, “Yeah, arriving in a GBE helicopter can’t be a good look if those inside are rebelling.”
“Do they seem hostile?” I ask. “Maybe we should land farther back and hike.”
“So we can freeze to death when we’re this close?” Colton is obviously not a fan of my idea. “Have you seen the way we’re dressed?”
Good point. Not one of us has even a coat on.
“There’s a wall around those buildings,” Mira says. “Let’s land outside that by the arch there.” She points, and I follow the line of her gesture to where an enormous arch opens up the wall.
I don’t wait for a consensus before guiding the helicopter in that direction with my mind. But something is wrong. My body, my mind, both begin to feel light and distant, disconnected.
“Hey, brother,”Colton says in my mind with alarm enough to jolt me. I hadn’t even realized I was falling asleep. “Hey, deep breaths. Just land us right there, nice and gentle.”His words come fast, a bit panicked. In the back of my mind, I can’t blame him. We’re in a giant death trap, and I’m losing control of it and of myself.
I get to the spot we’re going to land in and begin our descent, but then there’s cursing and a loud crash before blackness envelops me.
Miranda
The helicopter slams into the snow-packed ground, groaning metal scraping and creaking as my heart pounds in my chest. When the racket finally stops, the helicopter has also stopped moving. We’re still upright, at least, and I take a huge gulp of air.
“Rai passed out,”Colt offers in my mind as he looks over his shoulder at me and removes his headset. “I think this was too much of a strain on him. His curse.”
I nod, more to myself than him. I can’t even imagine the amount of energy Rai has exerted today, with his newfound control. But he got us here safely. “We have to get him out of here,” I call out as I pull my headset off, too. Aubrey follows suit, and I disconnect my harness and slide from the vehicle, my sneakers sinking into the layer of snow atop the ice.
Colt and Aubrey help pull Rai from his seat, and he’s nothing but dead weight. I flinch as they adjust his arms around their shoulders, the tops of his feet dragging on the snow when they turn and face me.
Colt surveys the helicopter. “Rai disabled the tracker, but anyone could see this thing from the air or land.”
Yes, the helicopter is a big black X surrounded by pure white. But what can we do? Even if Aubrey destroyed it, that would create a huge explosion just as easy to see as the vehicle itself.
But what if…?
Before putting more thought into it, I step back a bit and extend my hand, palm down. Eyes closed, I feel for the moisture in the air, the cold temperature all around us. A deep inhale cools my lungs, and I let it out, slow, all the while thinking two things: If Rai can do his best to help us with his curse, so can I. And, I want this helicopter surrounded by camouflaging ice.
The skin of my hands and forearms turns cold before I hear that familiar cracking sound of ice as it forms. I visualize the helicopter encased in a dome of solid white, and my hair rises from my back and shoulders, taken by a breeze that surrounds me. I concentrate harder and open my eyes, demanding my will be done. Demanding it of the elements, of the universe, of my curse.
My hands and arms are encased in jagged ice, sharp claws tip my fingers, puffs of white, cold air emanate from them. I close my hand into a fist, and with the motion, ice springs up from the ground and also forms in the air, thick and solid, covering the helicopter in a dome of white.
