Book Two: KOTLC One-shots and More

Please Don't Die (Dex POV)

Waking up on a strange street in a Forbidden City with Sophie by his side was both the worst and best moment of Dex's life.

He was elated that they'd been rescued from their sadistic kidnappers, and beyond relieved that Sophie was alive and relatively unharmed.

He'd thought they were both going to die in that place.

But...they were alone. In a Forbidden City. With no home crystals, no registry pendants, no nexuses. He would probably do okay leaping without one, but Sophie was right to be concerned--her concentration wasn't great.

But it was a moot point if they couldn't find their way home.

But they'd been given a clue.

As they began to wander, Sophie was making connections, realizing where they were and figuring out how to decipher the cryptic clue they'd been given. She also filled him in on everything she'd been hiding from him.

Secrets she'd hidden from the very start--like the fact that she was a Telepath, though he'd sort of assumed that much already.

She seemed relieved to finally be able to tell him, and that eased his bitterness. She hadn't wanted to have so many secrets.

It also turned out she was suddenly a Polyglot too.

Dex's jealousy spiked up a bit when he realized he had probably manifested as a Technopath.

What a stupid, pointless ability.

But he was grateful for Sophie's skills of deduction when they crossed the strange bridge, searching for elvin clues, and found a leaping crystal that would leap them home the next day.

Dex should have known it wasn't going to be that easy.

The nightmare wasn't over.

Their kidnappers had found them again.

And they were armed.

"I wouldn't scream if I were you," the one holding a melder warned them. "I'm not afraid to use a melder, and you will not enjoy it. A few seconds will only stun you. Any more will cause permanent damage. Do you understand?"

"You wouldn't do that with humans around," Sophie said in a shaky voice.

But all three of them just laughed and one of them pulled an obscurer out of his pocket.

No one could see or hear them.

Sophie reached for Dex's hand.

It felt like a goodbye.

But Dex wasn't giving up. Even as the kidnappers grabbed them and tied them up again, he began to rally his concentration, determined to fight. To protect Sophie any way he could. And this time, he could protect her by fighting rather than by trying not to move.

He lost track of the conversation Sophie was having with the kidnappers as he concentrated on channeling extra energy--as much as he could muster--to his arms.

He did notice when one of them gave Sophie a particularly hard shake and yelled at her for trying to transmit for help.

Even in his terror, a sort of rage overcame Dex then.

They would not hurt her again if he could help it.

Adrenaline mixed with his channeling and he burst out of his bonds and screamed, "duck, Sophie!"

She listened, and he threw himself at the one with the melder, knocking him off his feet and the melder out of his hand.

But before Dex could grab it, one of the others did and blasted Dex right in the chest. It was strong enough that it knocked him back, and he had no control over the convulsions it caused.