FLOOD

The Decoy

For a minute he just stood there staring at me, and I thought for sure he was going to argue, that I would have to leave him behind here in a forest full of jotun and hostile humans. In the middle of a war. That would be almost as bad. I would lose him to.

But he just nodded. "Hold on one second."

I watched, surprised, as he strode over to one of the dead soldiers and pulled the scabbard from his belt, clipping it onto his own. Eli slid the sword into the sheath and then turned back to me, his face grave. "All right. Now we can go. I guess you don't need a weapon."

"I am a weapon." I turned for the spotlight sweeping through the trees, heading for it instead of ducking away from it. My limbs felt strangely  light. Like they didn't belong to me. I wasn't sure if it was fear or elation that was pressing up against the insides of my chest. I was going to get Gunny, Eli was coming with me. But we were walking straight toward my old cage, and the room with the burnished steel and sterile tables and plastic chairs. Was the floor still painted with Kali's blood? Would I walk in to see the faint reminder of her violent death etched into the cement beneath my feet?

Bile rose in my throat, and I forced myself to swallow hard and press on.

This was incredibly foolish, like walking into the iron jaws of a bear trap. But what other choice did I have. Besides, with my ability, no one should be able to stand in my way.

No one would stand in my way. I corrected myself.

As we neared the clearing the source of the spotlight came into view. It was mounted on a wide metal pedestal just in front of the door. I jerked as the echo of gunfire reached us across the clearing and between the trees.

That's why there were no guards at the back door, the owner of the spotlight was the guard. And armed to the teeth, by the sounds of it.

"You don't have a vest on." Eli's voice was tight, and he dug one finger into my ribs a little harder than necessary. "A semi-automatic will kill you as fast as it would kill me."

"I just have to get close enough to him, and make sure he doesn't see me." I chewed my bottom lip, anxious. I could barely sense the guard now. He kept slipping out of my mind's reach. It would be impossible to do anything from this distance.

"And how are you planning on doing that?" Eli wrapped one hand around my wrist, as if he were afraid I might sprint forward at any minute. "You can't dodge that spotlight."

My eyes went wide. "What if you put yourself right in it instead of dodging it? Like a decoy."

His eyes narrowed and my stomach sank, guilt already chewing at my insides. "Never mind, it's a horrible thing to ask you to do. I just thought—"

"That I'm obviously one of them." Eli rubbed one finger over his jaw, his dark eyes fixed on the spotlight as it tracked groups running through the trees. Obviously the guard trying to get a clear shot. "It's true. It's the only way this will work. It will also take out this bastard. Pretty sure he's killing a lot of your men."

I bit my lip, hard, and stared at him. He had to decide this one for himself. It was dangerous so there was no way I was pushing him into this. But if he said no...

I had no plan b.

"All right," Eli said finally. "He shouldn't shoot me. I think." Before I could say anything he stood up and started walking towards the spotlight platform, hands tucked into his pockets. 

My hand flew over my mouth and I started to get to my feet, then froze, as the spotlight swung around and hit him full blast, clearly illuminating him in the dark forest.