Air Bound (Sea Haven/Sisters of the Heart 3)

Of course. It's all about energy and igniting the gasses in the air, Lissa replied.

Lexi, I'll need you to keep the men near Judith's occupied while I get into position to pick them off, Levi said, ignoring Maxim.

No problem, Levi. Lexi slipped her palms about an inch beneath the soil, listening intently. I've got them. Stay above the little dip Judith has near her arbor. Tell me when you're clear. Blythe, Rikki needs Judith to boost her while Airiana is directing the wind. Can you give me a little extra power?

Blythe never spoke of her gifts. She was a Drake, not an element, but she had power, and they suspected it had to do with unifying all of their gifts, not in the same way as Judith did, but in a much more subtle way. She soothed them all and yet could empower them as well. She seemed to be a melting pot of several gifts.

I'll do my best, Lexi, Blythe promised.

Lexi pulled her hands from the soil, doubled them into two tight fists and angled her punch toward Judith's home, mapping out the path of the tremor in her mind. She hit the ground hard, a one-two punch that sent a small ripple through the earth. As it moved toward the group of five men, the ripple spread and picked up speed. It shook the earth beneath the mercenaries, knocking them off their feet.

One fell to the right of the group, almost under Levi's nose. The man rolled, clutching his automatic weapon as if that would save him. Before he could come back up on his feet, Levi was on him, hooking him around the neck and snapping it fast, leaving him where he lay and scooting away. One of five, he reported.

Airiana concentrated on the helicopter. Maxim had said to bring the wind in hard from the left, to slam it into the stealthy helicopter. She took a deep breath and called the wind to her. She felt the rapid buildup of power--of energy--suddenly aware of the roiling gasses in the air around the helicopter. Sparks crackled around the rotor blade and body of the craft.

The wind slapped at the helicopter, swatting it like a bug, nearly knocking it from the sky. At the same time, the helicopter rocked wildly from side to side, the buildup of electricity in the air tangible. The sparks surrounding the craft and the ropes burst into flames. The wind fanned the flames so that the helicopter appeared to be a ball of orange-red in the sky. The ropes caught fire.

Maxim rolled from the low side of the roof, directly over the spot where the first of the team had landed after fast-roping down as the rope above him burst into flames. Maxim waited until the man began to rise cautiously and dropped directly on him, wrapping his legs tightly around the man's neck, driving him back to the ground as he snapped his neck. Immediately he rolled into the brush and scooted forward toward the next target he had marked.

Above his head the helicopter spun like a top, throwing one of the men to the ground while the other three slid down their ropes fast to give the pilot time to try to find a place to land the burning craft.

Hit him again with the wind, Airiana, drive him out to sea, Maxim commanded as he came up behind his next mark, his knife in hand. He drove the blade deep, one hand over the merc's mouth to keep him silent until the life drained out of him. Two down. They won't get into the house, Airiana, I promise you that. Lissa, can you make your way around toward me?

Lissa was much smaller than he was, so slight she barely made a shadow on the ground. She was dressed in dark clothing and had tightly braided her hair. Maxim had watched her closely during their numerous training periods and she had skills when it came to combat. She was absolutely calm in any situation he or one of his brothers had thrown at her.

I'm making my way toward you now, coming in from the south. Are you in position to take the man crouched in the flower bed? Lissa asked.

I'm in front of him. There's no way to get on him without being seen. I can't risk the gunfire yet, it would alert the other teams, Maxim said.

He won't be able to see you in a couple of seconds, Lissa assured.

A stream of bright orange-red flames crackled and danced in the air, a fiery whip extending from the helicopter to the ground. The whip lashed at the spot where the third mercenary had crouched low, cradling his weapon, frantically looking around with his night goggles to see what, if anything was coming at him.

The whip suddenly went white-hot, a dazzling display lighting up the ground as if it were a lightning bolt, blinding the team members wearing night vision.

Maxim was on the third mercenary immediately, moving with blurring speed, using his body weight to control the weapon while his blade sank into the man's heart and his hand covered his mouth. The man died staring at him. For a moment, he recognized Maxim. Maxim had seen him a few times over the years, always for hire to anyone who would pay him, uncaring what the job was.

Maxim lowered the body silently to the ground and slid into the shadows. That's three. Lissa, you've got one to the right of you. Don't move, I don't want him to fire his weapon. Just ease down to the ground, keeping every movement slow and I'll work my way over to you. We'll trap him between us.

Maxim tried not to worry about the woman, but he'd called her out of the safety bunker, knowing she would be the best one to get onto the roof to watch over the children. If necessary, he knew Lissa would kill to protect the others. Killing up close was far different than from a distance. It would bother her, but she'd be able to live with herself.

The children had to be protected on the off chance that whoever was running the operation had a couple of others waiting until everyone else was occupied. They could sneak in and supposedly grab Airiana or the children. That's what he would have done--sacrificed the pawns to get the queen. Lissa was his best bet against that possibility.

I need a little help controlling these waterspouts, Rikki said. I've got too many of them. Thomas, stay back until I know I've still got all of them under control.

Airiana threw the wind at the helicopter, doing her best to hurl the craft out over the ocean. She didn't want a forest fire or the thing crashing on someone's home. The moment she saw that the helicopter, now engulfed in flames, was over the ocean, she turned back to help Rikki.

The spouts were everywhere, a virtual army of water surrounding the five mercenaries coming at them from the back side of the property. The men knelt, watching the water dance around them. One held his hand out experimentally and touched it to his mouth. They looked relieved that it was only water.

I'm moving into position. Can you cut off the one flanking them? He's dropped back about six feet from the others? Can you be that precise? Thomas asked.

Rikki gave the telepathic equivalent of eye rolling. Seriously? She could do anything with water. She had already planned to start twisting the tops of the waterspouts together to form a tunnel around the men.

You're such a show-off, Blythe teased.

Rikki closed her eyes, feeling the water heavy in the air now. Judith fed her power slowly, but it wasn't really necessary. Every drop of water for miles responded to her, she could feel it, the drops all interconnected. She had to be careful that she didn't call in the seawater as well. She manipulated the twisting spouts, so that several left the ground, cushioned by the air Airiana sent under them.

I'm in position. Drop them, Thomas commanded.

Rikki did so easily, the spinning spouts landing solidly between the four men and the one who had dropped back. The four men were completely surrounded by walls of water so thick it was impossible to see through them. Thomas struck hard and fast, coming in from the mercenary's left where the strongest pull on the water was.

He struck with his fist, a punch of enormous strength against the artery in the neck, paralyzing the man momentarily. He eased him to the ground as his knife bit deep, twice. He laid him almost gently on the ground and moved back into the shadows.

One down from the backup team, Thomas reported. Rikki, push the water inward on the left side.

Rikki did and the wall of water, all the spouts merging completely, revealed one, soaking-wet mercenary. The man spun around, trying to get the water off his goggles to see. It

was already far too late. Thomas rose up like a monster from a horror film, his knife slashing deep, hitting arteries on the way, even as he yanked the weapon from the man's nerveless fingers. The blade buried deep in the mercenary's throat. He lowered him to the ground.

That's two, he reported as he rolled through the wall of water to the other side of the three men left.

He caught a glimpse of the remaining three. They had become aware of their missing companions and had gone back to back. He continued his roll until he was in the heavier brush. The moment they examined the bodies, they would know they weren't alone.

Can you push them toward the irrigation pond? Thomas asked. Subtly though, but keep them moving. I don't want them to have the chance to spray the area with bullets.

Judith, pull back the power altogether, Rikki said. I'll handle this, you help Levi.

Rikki maneuvered the wall of water closer to the three men huddling in the center. They inched away from it. The water had built into a powerful fall that was endless, soaking the ground and creating a muddy mess that sucked at their boots. One ducked his head and tried to go through it upright. The force of the water drove him to the ground. His buddies grabbed his boots and pulled him free before the water could bury him in the mud.

Lexi, Rikki said, can you help me saturate the ground with water? I'm calling it up from underneath, but if we can stop them from moving, as long as Thomas is careful, we can contain them there.

Sure. Lexi plunged her hands in the earth, feeling for the ebb and flow of the earth's song. The melody connected with the blood in her veins, and sang through her body until her heart beat with the same rhythm.

Lexi felt for the disturbance in the earth toward the back of the farm. Water was pounding down, saturating the ground. She shook her hands gently, mixing the dirt with her fingers about an inch or so beneath the soil. At once the earth responded to her call.

The ground beneath the three mercenaries shifted subtly, turning to soup, trapping their legs in the mucky goo. The water shifted directions, hitting them in the face, effectively blinding them.

Be careful of the ground, Thomas. It's highly unstable, you could sink with them, Lexi warned, or get stuck.

Thomas slid on his belly, dispersing his weight across what essentially had become quicksand. He moved slowly and deliberately, not drawing attention to himself. The mercenaries had other things to worry about. Each of them had realized they were sinking and had laid their bodies as flat as possible on the surface, dispersing weight as Thomas had.

They probably wouldn't have sunk any farther than their waists, but the combination of spinning water towers and sinkholes had shaken them all. He didn't want them back on their game. He killed the man nearest him with a quick thrust of his knife through the back of the neck. As he started to move away, the closest man suddenly turned his head.

He's got me, he's targeting me, Thomas said, rolling, trying to use the dead body for cover.