Haven's Legacy by Melissa Benoist

Author:Melissa Benoist
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Abrams
Published: 2023-02-07T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

Parker watched with dread as her bolt of lightning hit the Danger’s core and branched out into dozens of dancing, scorching fingers. A loud crack echoed through the forest as the lightning hit one of the trees, splitting its trunk in two. As the tree turned into a tower of flame, it began to pitch to one side.

Jules and Aiden were directly beneath it.

“Juliette!” Moreau shrieked, as Aiden lunged forward, wrapping his body around Jules as though his slender frame could possibly shield her from the tree’s impact.

Parker mustered every ounce of energy she had left and latched onto the nearest boulder, pulling it as quickly as she could toward what she hoped was the correct spot. At her urging, it slid easily across the ground, through the snow and mud. She had only a split second to doubt herself before she placed the boulder just below the tree’s rapidly descending branches.

Charred needles and sparks rained down as the tree crashed into the rock, its descent halted just as Parker planned. She hoped that Aiden and Jules could get out from under the tree before the flames reached them.

“Jules?” Len called.

“Aiden?” yelled Finn, as a panicked Moreau bolted toward the fallen tree. But no sooner had she started in that direction when a slopping, gurgling whirlwind of mud and snow whipped up around them. It quickly extinguished the flames with a series of crackles, hisses, and spits. Smoke filled the air, rising in a great plume toward the sky, where the stars were almost visible again.

Aiden crawled out from beneath the charred branches, with Jules emerging right behind him. They were both caked with mud, their hair and faces covered in messy streaks.

“Who’s responsible for this mud facial?” she asked.

Ellie sheepishly raised her hand.

“A McFadden,” she laughed. “I should’ve known.”

Aiden shook his head at her. “Of course you’re laughing after we almost died.”

“Well, as glad as I am that you’re both alive and capable of laughter,” Finn called, “the Danger is still out there.”

“Are you sure?” Moreau asked them.

“The blizzard is still going.”

But just as soon as Finn had made their declaration, the snow began to dissipate and within seconds had tapered off to nothing but a few stray flakes, fluttering through the air like the last remnants of confetti after New Year’s Eve. Parker set her eyes on Finn’s face, which had turned itself into a series of straight lines. Their lips were pressed tightly together, while their eyebrows looked like two dark brown shelves stationed beneath the faint, parallel lines spanning the width of their forehead.

“Is that . . . normal?” Parker asked.

Finn shook their head. “No,” they answered. “It doesn’t usually dissipate on cue. But it isn’t normal for the Danger to attack us twice in the span of thirty-six hours either. Excuse me,” they said, looking Parker in the eyes and shoving their hands in their coat pockets, “I need to make a phone call.”

With that, they walked away, trudging across the muddied grounds and disappearing into the boulder field toward headquarters.

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