Don't Stop Now [Finding My Path Sequel]

Chapter 26

Andi stole a curious glance at the wall in front of her. "You're sure this is it?" she asked me.

"Uh," I started. Was I sure? Thinking back, this spirit nonsense made no sense. How did that thing even know who Luca was? It was clearly working for Enide, so how did I know this wasn't all her scheme? "Yeah. This is it."

"How do we get in?" Lina wondered.

Andi rolled her eyes next to me. "Earthbender, remember? I can take out this wall easy."

I stood beside her nervously. I could feel the build up coming on. This was either it or it wasn't. Something told me, though, that some kind of danger was on the other side of this wall. We would have to face it now.

"Do it," I said.

"Stand back," Andi hissed. Jaxon did as she said, forcing me to do the same. Andi planted two feet hard onto the ground and brought her arms down. The wall broke into two pieces and then collapsed with ease. Slowly, we all crept through the cloud of dust with Lina leading us.

The room we entered seemed like a scene from a mover. The room was almost totally empty, save the many piles of boxes moved out of the way. They were pressed against the three remainig walls of the room.

A second floor of the warehouse was visible only if you looked up a flight of stairs, opposite from where we stood. Some noise came from up there, and then the steady thumping of feet.

Someone was about to walk down the stairs. Naturally, I got ready for an attack. Lina, however, shooed us behind a nearby pile of boxes. "Go back and hide. I'll call for help if I need you."

None of us looked too pleased about this, but Andi and Jaxon went back without an argument.

"Be careful," I told her, kissing her cheek quickly.

She smiled, but it soon faded into a hard glare as the footsteps reached the stairs. I slid next to my sister just in time for a shocked voice to say, "Malina?"

We were close enough to hear Lina take a slow, composed breath. "Dad."

Although I should've assumed the voice was Luca's, he sounded much different than the last time we had met. I wondered what he had been doing for two years that changed him so much.

"That's him?" Andi asked in a whisper.

"Yeah," I answered, listening for him to respond.

"What are you--I didn't think you'd be back--You came to find me?" His thoughts seemed broken up. I couldn't tell if it was seeing his lost daughter or something else that led to this.

Moving silently, I slid closer to the pile of boxes. I peaked out of a whole between two of them, seeing only a sliver of the scene.

"I came for Mom," Lina corrected harshly. Her hands were tight fists by her side, but she held her ground. "I know you have her."

Luca looked completely broken down. His hair was a tangled mess, and a full beard covered his chin. His size and stature hadn't changed much since last time, though. He would still be a force to be reckoned with.

"She's not hurt," Luca said, defending himself more than anything else.

"Where is she?" Lina demanded.

Luca stayed silent. He must've done something to clue Lina in though, because a second later she asked, "She's upstairs?"

"You can't go up there," Luca snapped.

"Andi, Jaxon," I whispered. They were a step ahead of me, already moving to get up.

"We can get her," Andi agreed.