Consuming Fire

Chapter 6

There was something sinister about Joshua's powers that always gave Eli the heebie-jeebies. He felt his heart pound in his chest as Joshua threw open their hotel door.

Joshua drew the ice from within him and crafted it carefully into a dangerous weapon.

An FBI agent a few feet down the hall raised his gun. Joshua threw the icicle at his hand quicker than the agent could fire and the gun clattered to the floor. The other agent on guard ran to attack Joshua, his black trench-coat billowing around him. Joshua stood his guard, ice swirling around his hands.

It was like watching a ballerina dance in a snowstorm. Joshua's movements were both deadly and graceful. Joshua administered a sharp kick to the first agent's chest, bending low and swiping the other with his wrist. He threw a gust of ice at an agent running up the stairs at the end of the corridor and that agent went flying back against the wall, sinking to the floor. The two agents still standing fought Joshua with precise movement in the limited space, but Joshua was somehow more skilled. Eli made a mental note to ask Joshua who taught him martial arts, but for now, he and Jenny cowered in wonderment of their travelling companion as he formed another icicle and used it as a club. One took a hit to the gut, the other took a swipe across his jaw. Back and forth. Hit, hit, hit. In less than ten seconds, the agents were down and Eli had to snap his mouth shut before his tongue fell out.

Joshua turned back to them. Black strips of hair hung over his glacier-blue eyes. His veins were nearly white, throbbing under his skin. Eli had to admit that the man he knew as an awkward, lanky scientist suddenly looked scary-as-fuck.

Eli glanced at Jenny. She had a flushed look on her face.

"Let's move," said Joshua in a deep voice.

As Eli made to follow Jenny, he leaned in and whispered, "looks like the ice isn't the only thing that's wet."

Jenny scowled at him.

They managed to dodge the rest of the FBI agents, who had not been alerted to the fight upstairs. Joshua took them to the back streets, at which point Eli realized he was about to have a heart attack.

"Are you alright?" asked Jenny.

"Yeah," he said, bent over with his hands on his knees. "Thank God I don't have asthma anymore. I'd be dead."

The cab they caught smelled of pizza and leather boots. Eli sat squished between Jenny's small frame and Joshua's stiff, cold body, his heart pumping and his mind replaying the scene he'd just witnessed over and over again, hoping to permanently glue it there.

"That was ... pretty much the most awesome thing I've ever seen." Eli gazed at Joshua and the blue glow that still throbbed beneath the skin of his pale arms.

"Thank you Eli," said Joshua as he rolled down his sleeves. There was an almost invisible smugness on his face. Clearly he enjoyed outsmarting the FBI and escaping the hotel they'd been trapped in for so long. Eli had to admit, it was wonderful to finally be free again, even if he was stuck being the third wheel for the second time. "I just hope we find something useful at the cabin, or we'll be in worse trouble than we're already in."

"It's okay," said Eli with surprising cheer. "I'm prepared for jail."

Joshua and Jenny chuckled, turning their eyes to the blinking city lights.

The drive to the secret cabin was long. They listened to the radio, watched the traffic pass by and the sun kiss the top of the buildings before disappearing from sight. It reminded him of being on the road again.

Eli hadn't been to Seattle for a long time, and he'd forgotten how serene it was. The outskirts were just as picturesque, but before he could truly appreciate it, darkness settled and all they could really see was the shadowed dirt road in front of them.