three
Before Elena could comprehend what was going on, Kaz grabbed her arm and leapt at the closed window. Elena closed her eyes shut, ready for the impact of breaking glass but though she heard glass shattering, she didn't feel anything. A shot rang through the air a moment late, missing them and finding a home in the window frame. When Elena opened her eyes, they were free-falling from two storeys up.
Something in her kicked in; she turned in mid-air, rolling when she hit the ground and coming to a halt on her knees. Kaz landed beside her far more gracefully than she had.
"Not bad," He commented, standing up. "For someone who claims to have a case of amnesia."
Elena ignored her aching legs and straightened, eyeing the window they had jumped from. Nella was glaring down at them but at least she wasn't pointing a gun this time.
"Come on, we have to go," Kaz said.
Only then did Elena notice people filing out onto the street from the nearby shops and houses. They were murmuring among themselves, their eyes travelling between the motel window and the two teenagers.
"Mind your business," Kaz snapped at them, holding up his hand which had the tattoo. The people seemed to silence and back off at the sight of the black skull inside his wrist.
Whatever this tattoo and the Devils meant, Elena got the feeling it was important. Nella refused to tell her anything; saying she will tell everything later. Elena had been foolish enough to believe her. She decided not to put all her trust in this kid either.
"Where are we going?" She asked, limping behind Kaz, trying her best to ignore the stares.
"You really don't remember anything?" Kaz asked. "At all?"
"Sorry. No," She muttered.
Kaz gave her a weird look. "Can losing one's memory alter their personality, huh?" He asked in a mocking tone.
"What do you mean?" Elena frowned at him.
He shook his head, his dark bangs falling onto his forehead almost hiding his eyes. "Never mind."
"Do you at least remember how to drive?" He asked, stopping in front of a black jeep in an alley.
"I...don't know," Elena shrugged helplessly. "I guess I'd have to try and see..."
Kaz made a face. "Let's not take any chances. Maverick won't like it if you die."
She blinked. "Maverick..." This time, it wasn't a visual memory. It was like she could feel the light brush of lips against hers; could smell the sandalwood. She felt her cheeks heat up.
"Oh, you remember him," Kaz raised his eyebrows, shaking his hair out of his forehead and climbing into the driving seat. "Are you coming or not, Lendorr?"
Blinking a few times, she clambered into the passenger seat. "Where are we going?" She questioned again.
"To the human world."
They had been driving in silence for a few minutes now. Kaz didn't say anything, and neither did she. Elena stared out the window, watching the houses and an occasional tree pass by. It seemed like the Lost City had a lack of trees.
"Tell me if I remember this right," Elena broke the silence, half-turning in her seat towards Kaz. "The Lost City is another layer over...some part of the Earth. Like another dimension. There is a Rift only we can see which opens a doorway between the two worlds. But if we aren't human, what are we? What am I? What I did back there, what was that?"
"Answering in order..." Kaz tapped a finger against the steering wheel. "Yes, you are right. The whole dimension blah blah blah. We are... I don't know if you can take all of this without your brain exploding, anyway, we are called—at least we call ourselves—Spellcasters. Humans call us witches and warlocks and different variations of that noun." He made a face, still staring straight ahead. "What you did back there... How can I explain all this?" He ran a hand through his hair, frowning at the road.
"Please, I need to know," Then as an afterthought, she added, "I promise my brain won't explode."
Kaz snorted a laugh. "You have changed, you know. Anyway, what you did back there..." He bit his lip as if lost in thought and pulled the jeep to the side of the road. "Our kind, you see, though they can do magic, they kind of need a little boost for their power to properly run. There's a special kind of stone that they siphon their power from. Everyone has those as a ring or a necklace or whatever else it is."
"But I don't have any stone," Elena pointed out in confusion. "You don't either, do you?"
Kaz shook his head. "No. You and I... We can do things others cannot do, Elena." He looked grim, like being special didn't sound even a little bit appealing to him. "Like back there, you can create and control light. You can change the sun if put enough force into it. No one can do that. Not even me."
"Then what can you do?"
"I'm your exact opposite. Your antipole, your darker counterpart." Kaz sighed, his blue eyes darting away from hers. "You are a healer; you can save a dying man. I can make his death faster."
"What else can you do?" Elena asked in a small voice.
"You really wanna know?" From the way he asked it, Elena felt like the reason they didn't get along when she had memories was because of the contrast between their powers. Maybe he was afraid that rivalry will start again once she remembers.
"Yes," She said in a steady voice.
"Don't freak out," Kaz said, sounding awfully young.
He closed his eyes, his hands slowly unclenching—she hadn't even noticed they were clenched in the first place—palms up. The temperature seemed to drop suddenly. Elena started and looked around when she saw it was starting to get dark. Inky black shadows rippled around Kaz, folding in on themselves and spreading out. It was like the shadows and the boy was becoming one. With a gasp, his eyes opened and the sunlight returned.
"Now you know," Kaz's eyes were wide in his pale face.
"Yeah," Elena hoped she didn't sound as panicked as she felt. It was kind of cool but it was terrifying too. It felt like...death.
Kaz blinked and he was back to his old self again, all the vulnerability replaced by the mischievous gleam his eyes had before. Elena had noted the two of them sort of looked alike, with their jet-black hair and blue eyes; but when her eyes were the pale blue of the sky through a thin veil of clouds, his eyes were darker and brighter; the colour of the starry sky before the darkness settled. She wondered if they were related by any chance.
"Now if you don't have any more questions," Kaz pulled the jeep to the road again. "Amnesia or no amnesia, we have a mission to complete."
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