Page 140 of Powerless

“You know,” Andy says with a smug smile, “you haven’t changed one bit, Blair.” She shrugs. “Once a bitch, always a bitch, I suppose.”

With that, Blair raises an army of pinecones off the ground in a silent threat. “I would keep your mouth shut if I were you. Or you might just find a pinecone lodged in your throat—”

“You’re only proving my point,” Andy singsongs.

Blair’s abandoned the pinecones for one of the many giant rocks littering the ground. She sends it flying towards Andy and inevitably flying towards me in the process. With the flick of a hand and the borrowing of Blair’s ability, the boulder changes directions, flying away from us and crashing into a nearby tree.

“That’s enough, ladies.” My tone is bored, portraying my current mood. “I’d rather not be in the middle of this.”

Braxton grunts in agreement, and we fall into a tense silence as we continue to climb. The sun crawls across the sky at a slow pace, beating down on us until sweat is rolling down my face and my throat aches for water.

Then a scream shatters the silence.

I spin to find Andy clutching her calve, her eyes glued to the ground.

“Kai.” Her voice is little more than a whisper. “Don’t. Move.”

I follow her gaze to where dozens of beady, black eyes stare back at me, forked tongues flicking. Snakes. Huge and hungry. I can’t even make out how many of them there are with all the underbrush and rocks scattering the ground, but I know that there are enough for me to be worried.

Blair bites back a scream when she spots the slithering creatures surrounding us while Braxton swears under his breath.

“Alright,” I say slowly, never taking my eyes off the ground, “this is going to have to be you and I, Blair.” She turns her wide gaze on me, her cold demeanor thawing from fear.

“What do we do?” she whispers harshly, trying to hide her horror.

I draw out a breath, not sure if I have an answer for her. The snake nearest to me is drawing closer by the second, and I eye it, mind reeling. “I’ll deal with the snakes over here,” I nod to where Andy and I stand, “And you handle yours over there.”

“Handle?” she hisses, sounding like one of the snakes encircling us.

“Yes.Handle.” I sigh. “It’s not a great plan but just...throw them.”

“Throw them?”

“Ready?” I ask, ignoring her question. She grumbles something, and I take that as a yes. “Good.” I pause. “Go.”

I reach out blindly with Blair’s power towards the snakes slithering at our feet. I lift three of their massive bodies off the ground and send them flying far down the mountain. I hear a chorus of hisses and spot two more before letting them sail through the air after their friends.

There are dozens of them. Blair and I are sending snakes flying left and right, all of us dodging and dancing on our feet when they get too close. I hear a yelp from Andy and spin to see a snake lunging towards her, mouth wide and fangs ready to sink into flesh. I suspend it in the air before it can add another bite to Andy’s leg.

After finally scrambling up and away from the nest of snakes, Andy staggers, and I’m at her side in a heartbeat. “You got bit.” It’s not a question. “Let me see.” Her face is pale as she peels her hand from her leg, revealing two deep fang wounds, blood dribbling down her foot and into her shoes.

I brush a strand of deep, red hair from her sticky forehead, searching her eyes. “How do you feel?”

“Well,” she chokes on a laugh, “my pride seems to be hurting more than I am. I didn’t even see the snake coming. And then the rest of them showed up and...I’m sorry.”

She trails off, focusing on the sun now beginning to sink behind the mountain. “Hey, none of us saw them, remember? But I need you to tell me how you’re feeling.”

Plagues, please don’t be poisoned.

“I feel alright. It hurts like hell, but I’m alright.”

For now.

The unspoken words hang in the air between us.

I’m hoping that our only problem is the pain she is in and nothing more. Hoping that I don’t almost lose another one of the few people I can’t afford to.

“Can you walk?” I ask.

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