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It's funny, growing up with someone who has magic in their blood. Especially the magic of elements. Maybe my parents had a word for it or maybe it was just the way families were. But it was like I was able to pick out Artie's voice from the crowd when he got lost and called to me. It was like the first time I had seen him work with elements and lights and sound and all of it. It was magic, sure.
But it was still Artie.
It was still his voice and his hands and that same kid that would come into my room in the middle of the night because he watched a scary movie before he went to bed.
I knew him and I knew his magic and when Dante announced himself as a Power, and Artie answered, I knew that it was his magic that shifted the ground beneath their feet.
Thanks to Dante, there were not as many guards left. Maybe ten, maybe less. Bianca also remained, and in the hand that was not holding the gun to Savannah's chin, she had the blowtorch.
I couldn't tell where Artie was. I didn't even know if he was here or if he was doing this from a distance. The best I could hope for was a distraction and to carry Celia out of here.
Then, there was another shift and several things happened at once.
Bianca lit the blowtorch in her hand and touched the flame to the kindling beneath my feet.
I watched as it spread from my pile to Celia’s.
I don't know why I didn't panic or struggle. I wasn't sure if I was beyond feeling anything at this point. I wanted to beg Dante to go, for Bianca to let Savannah die, and to carry Celia out here. But everything inside of me froze.
"There!" Someone shouted.
I turned and between two buildings Artie stepped out. I was so angry at him, angry beyond words. I wanted to scream at him to yell at him to tell him to run, he still had time.
But there was something in his eyes that told me that physically, Artie was with us, but mentally he was somewhere else. I've never seen him look like that and I knew that I was finally seeing what Artie looked like when those men came to our house and demanded that he leave with them.
I felt the heat of the fire creep closer to me.
I watched in a daze as Artie continued to get closer. They were shooting at him but he was able to easily block those. He took one look at the fire beneath Celia and met my eyes. I wondered if all my words had got through to him, that he had to make it out alive.
The wind picked up and usually, that would be a blessing to us, but now it only seemed to push the fires beneath us to a greater height. He could control earth and air, but fire was not his specialty. Artie saw this and the wind stopped. He turned to the guards instead and for the first time, I saw panic in his eyes. He still had his shield up but I didn't know how long he could hold them at bay.
"Dante, do something!" Artie said.
Dante looked from Savannah back to Artie. "She'll kill her."
Artie seems to grow colder at that moment. "So?"
I waited for Dante to snap back, to say something mean or hateful. I saw that something had changed between the two of them.
But instead of snapping at Artie, Dante shook his head. “She tried to protect Celia and Eli. If we don't save her, we’re no better than her."
The guards ran for Artie and that snapped me out of my daze. I screamed, pulled at my restraints, and saw Celia stir next to me. She opened her eyes and even though it was impossible to know what she had seen and what she had heard, she threw herself against her restraints too.
It didn't help.
The fires beneath her feet grew as the guards ran for Artie and one after another fell.
Then, something happened. For the first time, Artie’s concentration broke and it was like we were back in Miss Maricel's kitchen all over again. There was a shift, and Artie looked over his shoulder.
There was a whisper, a promise.
He looked terrified, like the first time he saw Lou and understood what he would become.
And then the guards had him.