An Odd Sort of Magic

Chapter Twenty-One

Even before she let go, Kiya dropped to the floor. Jayan pulled her hand back as quickly as possible. For a moment, Kiya didn't move. Then she groaned, "crap that hurt."

"Well, I did warn you," Jayan said, "and you could have asked Vanessa too."

Vanessa winced, "you'll be okay. Unless you start getting shooting pains in the chest, I think you'll live."

Drew tapped Jayan's shoulder, "um, is anyone bothering to see if it worked? Because guess what?" Jayan looked up. It hadn't.

"Told you," she muttered, not really to anyone in particular.

Vanessa sighed, "now what?" Jayan glanced around. There had to be some way to open the door. A voice from behind her made her jump.

"Oh, this is too easy," Rachel laughed. She strolled forward, not bothering to explain herself.

"Um, what are you doing here?" Drew asked.

Rachel's eyes sparkled. Her expression was cocky. She clearly knew she was in a situation where she held all the winning cards, "I can open the door for you."

"Yeah right," Kiya said, "if I was just shocked, and that didn't work, I don't know what will." She was still kneeling on the ground, her face twisted up in pain.

Rachel shook her head, "you guys are going about this all wrong. Payment? Pu-lease. That stuff only works in the movies. Let me demonstrate how you open a door that you simply can't open."

Jayan worked through the words over again in her head, making sure she understood what on earth Rachel was talking about, "so you're saying you can open the door for us?"

Rachel nodded. Kiya looked slightly annoyed, "well, do it then!" If Beta had been there, she would have already been pushing Rachel to the door. Beta liked the direct approach. For a girl who could turn invisible, she certainly was a fan of violence.

Rachel folded her arms, "what do it get if I do open it?"

Jayan groaned, "seriously? Isn't it enough that you'll have helped saving both of our worlds?" Rachel didn't budge. Jayan sighed, "what do you want?"

Rachel grinned, "I want to come with you down there. I want to be part of the team."

"Fine," Kiya said, "now just open the dang door."

Rachel smirked, then placed her hands on the door. It glowed red for a moment, then white. Finally, it dripped down, melted, forming an opening big enough for a person to go through. Rachel turned back to the group, satisfied, "now, that is how you open a door."

Jayan distinctly heard Kiya mutter, "I hate you," under her breath. But Jayan was too grateful to be picky about who had helped them.

Rachel swept out her hand, letting the others pass her. Jayan felt slightly uneasy with Rachel behind her. She didn't quite trust her. The passageway wasn't dark, as Jayan had expected. It was actually very bright.

At the end was a room, almost as brightly lit. It was a good thing, because that meant Jayan could actually see. And what she saw startled her.

It was a generator, a literal mechanical generator. Nothing magical about it. It was a smoky gray, in subtle contrast with the rest of the white room. There were several other doors, and Jayan wasn't eager to play game show host to find out what was behind them.

"Was anyone else expecting something more, I don't know, magical looking?" Drew asked, "because I certainly wasn't expecting that."

No one else said anything, but they were all on their guard. Rachel was the only one who appeared nonchalant about the whole thing. She walked over to the generator, placed both hands on it, and let it melt. The liquid metal seeped down, pooling on the ground in gray, oily puddles.