Like Nick and Jerik, Megan had been held for questioning upon returning to the Water Nexus territory in Miami. Unlike Nick and Jerik, her interrogation didn’t go nearly as smoothly. She wasn’t given nearly the same level of consideration - she’d been thrown into a narrow walk-in freezer so that she could not use her powers, and it seemed like she’d been forgotten.

Rachel had spoken to her hours later, once she was certain everyone had settled in, and that the wounded were being taken care of. In spite of everything that had happened, Megan had been happy to see the woman. A friendly face, even one that thought she might be an enemy, was as welcome as the wave of warm air that had accompanied her into the freezer.

“Come out, child,” Rachel had said, with none of her customary warmth, her face set in stern lines. Megan had hesitantly stepped out of the freezer but regretted it almost at once. Felix sat on the floor of the room, directly in front of the only door. He didn’t look at Megan, but the lines of his body were rigid and angry. His purpose at this interrogation was clear; to prevent her escape.

“Tell me why you have betrayed us,” was all Rachel asked. The accusation wounded her like a knife to the heart, but she’d explained the best she could. She shared every detail about Grimr’s mission, how he’d recruited her for her help, and the reward that was promised to her. She also made sure to point out that she’d had doubts all along the way, and how she’d ultimately decided to turn against Eric and Grimr, even if it meant that they would become her enemies.

“I was never in support of the killing that Grimr planned,” she’d said. “At least, not after I’d met you all. Grimr said that the Nexus powers were unnatural, and threatened the balance of Earth. I couldn’t face an Ancient, but I also couldn’t betray  you.”

“So. This world that you are from. What is it called?”

“I’m from Earth,” Megan replied. “So are Eric, Nick, and Jerik. We’ve just been in Ahya the past few years. Well, Eric and I, at last. I didn’t meet Nick until we did the joint training.”

“You’re from Earth? Then how do you know that alien so well?”

In spite of the raw emotions pouring through and out of her, Megan had to stifle back a laugh. She’d never considered Grimr to be an alien. “As I said, I spent a lot of time in that world. It wasn’t by choice at first, but I found friends there and decided to stay. But I’m from Miami. I attended college in two thousand eleven. I was born here.”

Rachel had given Felix a pointed look then, and he’d retrieved a phone from his pocket, looking the information up. A few seconds later, he gave her a quick nod.

“Well, it seems you aren’t lying about that, at least. Then I just want to know one more thing.”

She lowered herself slightly then, putting their eyes at the same level. “What made you turn against them? It seems an awfully convenient ploy. You obviously want me to trust you, but I’m not sure I can after learning everything I’ve learned. Why would you decide to turn against your comrades and your new home?”

It was more difficult than Rachel knew to answer that question. She’d struggled with it for a few moments, before realizing that the answer was quite simple. She inclined her head in Felix’s direction. “Your son.”

Rachel’s eyes widened slightly, and behind her, Felix uncrossed his arms. They weren’t expecting that answer, she’d thought. She’d been happy to give it though, because it was the truth, and she couldn’t hide away from it. Not that it changed Rachel’s reply.

“I see.” She rose again, assuming her full height and bearing as an Alpha. “While it would have been my pleasure to call you Daughter, I cannot tolerate this treachery. We will not harm you, but you cannot stay here.”

She’d been tempted to let the grief consume her, to collapse on the side of the road or throw herself in the ocean at this, the greatest loss in her life. But she’d never been one to give in to her emotions. She stored them away and used them as fuel to fight other problems. So rather than allowing herself to wallow in self-pity, she’d set out for Fairbanks at once. She too knew that was a likely ground for Grimr’s first attack. The Fire Nexus had suffered the worst casualties, and were, therefore, the weakest.

“Megan,” Eric said, pushing himself off the ground and back to his feet. His face was set in a stiff grimace from the heavily bleeding wound in his shoulder. She walked over to him and put one hand on it, using a little of her healing power to close the wound. “What happened?”

“I’ll tell you later,” she said, stamping out the flicker of grief that had swelled in her chest at the thought of everything that had happened so far. “Just know that I’m back with you now.”

He recognized the repressed grief and sorrow in her face but didn’t dare question it. So instead, he nodded his understanding. “I’m glad to hear it. Emily would have been heartbroken if you didn’t come back with me.”

She smiled weakly back at him but was prevented from speaking again as Nick interrupted them. “There was no warning of a Water Nexian flying here! How did you get into the state without being noticed?”

“Of course, you’d know if I approached by plane,” she said scornfully. “You think I was going to let you know I was coming?”

“But how did you get here then?” Eric asked. “Did you take a ship?”

“Wouldn’t have been fast enough,” she said with a shake of her head. “But I travel really fast on water, you know.”

She saw the expanding confusion on his face and laughed. It was such a strange sensation that it didn’t sound at all like herself. “I’m guessing you didn’t know that the Chena River runs all the way out to the ocean on the coast.”

“You came here by sea and river?” He asked, amazed. “But we’re in the middle of a desert here. The Chena goes through the top half of Fairbanks, and nowhere near the airport.”

She shrugged the confusion away. “Guess that will have to go in the ‘later’ pile. I thought we were on a job here?”

As if in on cue, a roiling ball of flame shot over their heads, making them duck. But it wasn’t aimed at them. The fireball collided with the ice that was pinning Nick in place, shattering the worst of it and freeing the Air Nexians. Eric whipped around, his teeth clenched. “Jerik. Grimr’s keeping him busy, but we can’t assist without Nick getting in the way.”

“Guess we’ll just fight together, then,” She said. “I know melee combat is your preference, but it seems we’re both mages this time around.”

At that, Eric let out a grin. “Actually, I wouldn’t say that.”

He flashed over to where his batons were lying on the ground and scooped them up. Megan let out another harsh laugh as she saw them, and shook her head. “You never change.”

They threw themselves back into the fight then, and Eric fought harder than ever. Nick had taken to the sky at once but stayed low enough to keep throwing his knives, collecting them when he ran low. He dodged each bolt, icicle, and torrent of water that Eric and Megan threw at him, but he couldn’t seem to get any hits in either. Still, he flew circles around them, peppering them with attacks and keeping their attention on him.

“Can’t you jump up at him?” Megan asked, jumping back on a swirl of water to avoid another knife. “You can run up buildings, for crying out loud.”

“Do you see any buildings nearby?” Eric snarled, performing a weird sort of somersault forward to dodge a blast of air, then pushing himself to the side to avoid a spinning knife. “I’m not completely hopeless, though.”

He threw the two batons at Nick, but the Air Nexian had become accustomed to his trick now. He shot into the air to avoid them, then jerked to the side before the electricity could shoot between them. They heard his mocking laughter as he came back around for a new attack.

“Remember when we fought Averin?” Megan asked, throwing up a wall of ice to intercept a knife, then exploding it outward in a wave of icy shrapnel.

“Of course,” Eric replied as his batons returned to his hands. “What about it?”

“Do you remember how we beat him, in the end?”

“I believe that was Samuel,” Eric casually smacked a knife out of the air with his baton. “All we did was knock him down.”

He caught Megan’s eye, then understood. “Oh. I see what you mean. But you can’t teleport me, can you?”

“No, but there are still ways to do it. Follow my lead.”

She drew some of the dropped water out of the ground and swirled it around her, forming a small whirlpool that grew to stand just a foot taller than her head. Eric had no idea what she was up to. Neither did Nick, it seemed, but he switched his tactics in a moment, now focusing solely on her, rather than the two of them. The knives he threw had no chance to pierce the wall of water whirling around her. He tried to hit Eric, then, but he was also protected, standing so close to Megan.

At the direct center of the miniature vortex, Megan was performing some kind of spinning dance. It looked nothing like any martial art Eric had ever seen, but there was a definite purpose to it, as the vortex was responding to her every movement. At her guidance, several long streams arced away from the spinning wall and shot toward Nick. He avoided them, but they turned on a dime and followed.

“Nice one,” Eric commented. “Still no teleportation.”

Megan gave him a quick glare, but otherwise ignored the comment, focusing her attention on trying to pin Nick down. The Air Nexian changed direction with consummate ease, but he couldn’t sit still for longer than a second if he didn’t want to get hit. This made his attempts at retaliation a little trickier, for he lost the time required to aim well.

“Keep it up,” Eric encouraged. He’d allowed his speed to fade for a few seconds and catch his breath, glad of the time to recover a bit. His shoulder was still killing him, even if Megan had closed the wound. He rolled the shoulder now, grimacing at the stiffness that was setting into the joint. Before long, that would be very difficult to move and fight with.

“Any second now,” Megan muttered, creating two more streams of water that whipped out of the wall. Over half the water was flying around now, chasing Nick and proving just how much control she had. The way she fought now dwarfed any display of skill he’d seen during their time in Ahya.

“How am I supposed to get up to him?” Eric asked. “I can’t jump that-”

He cut himself off in mid-sentence, right as Nick let out a frustrated yell. He stopped running, and summoned a whirling wall of his own, this time made of wind. When the streams of water hit it, they were shredded, and it all rained down on the two standing below it. Quick as a flash, the wall of water around Megan vanished. Or rather, it stopped spinning and flew forward as a broad stream at Nick, who was still in the same place.

Eric knew exactly what she had in mind, and he reacted quickly, running toward the spout. The instant before his feet touched it, it froze solid. Nick sent a powerful blast of air at the spout, trying to deflect it, but by the time the wind touched it, there was no liquid to move. The wind couldn’t even reach Eric as he ran up the face of the new ice hill, because the cold around it disrupted the ordinary flow of the air. Then Eric threw his two batons, forcing Nick to shoot up in the air, and leaped.

“No!” Nick spun on the spot, creating so much air pressure between them that it was like a physical wall. It expanded, slamming into Eric and throwing him away at a sharp angle. The wind was knocked out of his lungs with brutal force, and when he hit the ground a second later, he saw stars pop into his vision, and everything got very dark for a moment.

Now this was a familiar sensation, he thought, remembering the final fight against Archmage Averin. Michael had been there to support that time, he recalled, and it still wasn’t enough. Now, as he watched Nick shatter the slanted tower of ice with a monstrous gale and send Megan flying, he realized that, as long as Nick was in the air, he was too powerful for them to handle.

Shame there’s no Samuel to save our ass this time.

He heard the sound of a footstep nearby and lifted his head. Was that Nick, landing to deal him a finishing blow? Then he caught sight of the dark blue robe, and the world spun back into focus for him. How in the world was this possible? Had he summoned him with a thought? Even Megan, struggling to her feet a few yards away, seemed weakened by the surprise of the newcomer.

“Samuel?”

There was no way it could be true, Eric and Megan thought at once. But the evidence before their eyes couldn’t be ignored. For, standing just in front of Eric, his hands free and dripping with fire, was the tall man in dark blue robes and jet-black hair with a white streak. The champion of a god in another world. He was here! And, judging by the torrent of flames he released, he had also gained Nexian powers.