Fire & Ice

ch. 18

DANIEL

After leaving Jamie, I blasted off into the sky and jetted towards the rising sun back to the house. I figured that if I went back to the cellar and retrieved the others, I would at least have some backup before I made my way to the city to rescue everyone. But I knew I needed to hurry.

When I got there, I realized I definitely made the right decision to come back when I did. Jas and Nat were tied up and bound to two of the beds, and Ethan was nowhere to be found. I untied them, anger bubbling in my veins at the sight of their terrified faces. 

"Are you alright?" I asked them.

"That little bitch," Nat growled when I removed the tape from her mouth. 

"I don't know what happened," murmured Jas. "I remember the kids running away...but after that everything just went black." 

"She knocked you out," Nat hissed. 

"Who?" 

"That María chick. She made me tie Jas up and then she tied me to this stupid bed, and then they left with some supplies, including our guns." Nat explained. "I did manage to cut her with my knife though." 

"That's my girl," I blurted without thinking. Nat blushed bright red.

Jas's eyes went wide, but then she smiled, shoving my shoulder. "It's okay, Danny. I know about you two. Izzy said it was obvious." 

Now I was blushing. I rose, rubbing the back of my neck. "Well, I guess everybody knows now except for--" 

"Ethan!" Natalie gasped suddenly. 

"Where is he?" 

"I don't know! He was outside when María tied us up." 

Before going back outside, we searched the cellar for Ethan, but we were out of luck. 

"Ethan!" Natalie called as we got back outside, but there was no reply. The woods seemed to be deserted.

"Maybe we'll find him along the way," I told them. "We need to get to the city. Jordan's captured everyone else besides Jamie." 

"Where is Jamie?" Jas asked. 

"She's on her own, I guess. I'm done trying to keep her safe," I said, realizing I meant it. 

Jas put her hand on my shoulder, squeezing tight. Natalie frowned. "Danny..." 

"Nat, I don't want to hear it right now, okay? I just want to find everyone else and stop Jordan from hurting them." 

"Well...how about using some of that ice power to get us back home?" She took my hand, giving it a squeeze.

"We're going to have to be ready for anything," I warned them, summoning my powers. "María's probably still out there, and we need to get to HQ because I'm sure that's where everyone else will be." 

Just like before, I created an icy surfboard and loaded the girls on. We stopped by the house to gather any remaining weapons, and then we were off. Once I saw the city limits on the horizon, I lowered us to the ground. 

"Alright, we'll head in on foot from here. Keep a lookout for Ethan." 

"Guys...I think I found him," Jas said suddenly, pointing. Up ahead, right outside the gates, there he was, talking to...my father? 

"What are they doing?" I wondered, hesitating. I hadn't seen or heard from my father since the attack on Headquarters, and I had assumed Jordan had thrown him in jail with Mom. So why was he outside the city gates?