The Last Elementalist

Chapter 30

Old servant passages wound throughout the White House which gave Connor something to do while he waited to be brought into battle. He knew that Evie was mad at him, but he had to do it for Lielle. Though his feelings were uncertain, he was certain that they were good ones, and she, as so few did, had a way of comforting him in his most difficult times. After all, she was the one who had gotten him through Jean's loss.

Connor was wondering around the lower levels that only staff ever had the need to go into when it happened. He was removing a water bottle from the fridge when he heard it, and then everything went down at once.

"Evacuate the building," he ordered hastily, loud enough for anyone in that wing to hear him. Connor began to run toward the Oval Office, for he had no fear for the twins whom were already safe outside. He only cared that his parents were evacuated, but as he neared the Oval Office, the beeping got louder, and the smell of smoke reached his nostrils. At the last minute, he turned to the wife's wing, deciding that his father would teleport to safety, but as he entered his mother's empty bedroom, a loud explosion deafened his ears and he was blasted onto his face.

Bruised and bleeding, the young boy crawled forward, focusing all his energy into escaping. Fires blazed around him as he painfully shifted to his cheetah form, silently apologizing to all those people that he had promised he would not shapeshift until fully recovered. Bones rattling, he sped through the nearest window, no faster than sixty miles per hour, and shifted into a puma partway, bracing the sure to be painful landing ahead.

Upon impact with the ground, his arm gave away and he collapsed, retracting all the hair he had grown in the past two minutes. Groaning and rolling on the ground, he opened his eyes, face to face with one of the normal secret service agents. Well, he thought, I'm the one who gave away the secret of all of the Thrillers. They're going to kill me when this is all over for sure, but at least Lielle and Evie will live.

He clenched his teeth as the man hesitantly lifted him in his arms and jogged away from the crumbling building. Sirens blared nearby and Connor could only lay in the ambulance and watch the firemen fight for American history. Of course they had informed him that his family was safe and there was nothing to worry about, but he had developed some serious trust issues over the past month. Besides, he had promised to fight for the Thrillers, how could he back out now?

He stumbled across the vehicle and onto the packed pavement, and when the doctors came to stop him, he figured that they already knew about him so why hide it any longer. Letting loose a low growl and barring forming fangs, he pushed his way to the fence and performed a flying leap as a puma once more. Once on a rooftop with his group, he morphed back, quickly explaining his situation. They nodded their approval before turning around to almost get shot in the head with a bullet from below.

Snipers shot blindly into the fading day while groups from every position moved in to confront the threat. Soldiers marched toward the forming shadow while Soarers hefted guns or knives, preparing for the order to kill. A small head of frizzy hair threw Connor off track as he bolted after the little rascal.

After running into Goners and Forcer's protection bubbles, he finally made it out of the slowing line and to the spot where the one person who he had known to be safe stood only moments before. Her one mistake of the night was the lilac scent that she so loved, but Connor could smell it anywhere. He fell onto all fours and launched into a run at breakneck speed, creating shortcuts for him and obstacles before her, but she just ran right through them. Without a second thought, his body formed an eagle and took off.

At his screech of pain only seconds later, she halted, causing Connor to soar right into her and send them tumbling over the gravel. With minimal grunting, the two untangled their limbs and pulled themselves behind some nearby trash cans.