Page 65 of New Nebraska Home

“You will keep my family the fuck out of your mouth,” I screamed in her face. I reared up and hit her as hard as I could in the jaw and it was an instant lights out for her.

It was exhilarating. I’d never punched someone out before. I had wanted to, mostly my sister—but I had never done it. Later, I would probably feel bad, but later-Liz could deal with the guilt. Now, I had to focus on keeping Leif safe and helping Brock.

Brock was still fighting off the other elementals. It was obvious they weren’t as strong as he was. He was fighting off at least four that were using different powers to try to combat him. That didn’t mean his magic was infinite. Or maybe it was? I had no idea.

He looked tired, though, and I could hear more people coming in. I grabbed my bat and got to work helping Brock. Taking a page out of Karen’s books, I snuck around the edges and started flanking people, hitting them with the bat until they were on the ground. Hopefully, they’d be smart enough to stay down.

“I told you to stay upstairs,” Brock yelled.

I ignored him and kept swinging, but my arms were starting to burn. My ribs felt like they were on fire, and my head was throbbing. It didn’t matter.

I would protect Leif and our home until my last breath.

A roar sounded outside, so loud it rattled the foundation of the house, almost making me slip in the blood that was spattered in blotchy circles across the floor.

“You fuckers are in trouble now!” I screamed, knowing what that roar meant. No one seemed phased. They weren’t listening to me; they were focused on trying to overwhelm Brock.

I fought harder, pushing myself harder than I thought possible, trying to help Brock and take out a few of the people coming at him. There wasn’t a whole lot I could do, but I had to try.

When the window next to me shattered, I looked out to see Zmei standing on my lawn, a sick smile on his face. An elemental was by his side, his arms outspread, and palms raised to the heavens. Churning with hurricane winds.

I screamed, as I got felt a thump over my head. I fell to my knees, dizzy and nauseous, and just like that, the world around me was gone. Nothing but pitch black.

Liz

FAMILIESFIGHT TOGETHER

Ifelt something flowing over my face. It was water, cool and clean, but something else was in it. Something comforting that helped me open my eyes and let the world around me reappear.

“There she is.” Brock said, pulling his hand away from my head and taking the water with it.

“What happened?” I asked, my throat dry and scratchy.

“I told you to stay locked away with Leif, but you didn’t listen to me.”

“I couldn’t leave you alone. I had to fight for Leif and our home too,” I said, sitting up, making the room spin. It took me a moment to get my bearings. Only to realize my home had been destroyed.

My grandmother used to say it looked like a tornado ran through her house when it was a little messy. Now, that was exactly what it looked like. The floors were flooded and warped, vines that had ripped through the floorboards now lie in dead heaps, and the couch was not only overturned but smoking. A discarded torch lay nearby.

Lovely.

“I heard you hit more home runs than Babe Ruth,” Cal said, a hint of amusement and pride in his voice.

“Is—” I tried to speak, but I couldn’t get the words out.

“Everyone is gone,” Cal said. “It took some effort, but we got the mob to pull back. Malik went to go check on the kid.”

I nodded and lay back on the floor, needing a moment to stop the room from spinning and my stomach flipping.

“Malik, he’s okay?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. “You two are okay?”

“They roughed Malik up a bit in the jail. Probably that asshole detective mad he doesn’t have the power to face me, so he took it out on Malik.”

“Malik is much stronger,” Brock said, confused. “Than the detective,” he added when Cal shot him a look.

“They have anti-shifting chains they must’ve commandeered from a powerful Fae in that jail. Thankfully, they took them off when he was in the cell,” Cal explained.

I let them talk, tuning them out and taking a mental inventory of myself.

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