Burned

Shannoncompton, Montoya, Elliott, Sophie, Geraty, and Venus with you. I’ll take Dallas and Kramisha in Z’s Bug. Follow me—we’re goin’ to the lower parking lot of the depot.”
    “Sounds good, but how’re we gonna be sure we can find those red kids? You know those tunnels are like, well, an anthill down there,” said the little kid nicknamed Ant, and everyone chuckled.
    “I been thinkin’ ’bout that, too,” Kramisha spoke up. “And I have an idea, if you don’t mind me sayin’ somethin’.”
    “Hey, that’s one of the reasons I called y’all together, ’cause I need everybody’s help with this,” Stevie Rae said.
    “Yeah, well, this is my idea: Those kids tried to kill you once already, right?”
    Figuring there was no hiding from her fledglings, Stevie Rae nodded. “Right.”
    “So I figured if they tried but didn’t get rid of you once, they’d want to give it another shot, right?”
    “Probably.”
    “What would they do if they thought you was down in the tunnels again?”
    “They’d come get me,” Stevie Rae said.
    “Then use the earth to let them know you’s there again. You can do that, right?”
    Stevie Rae blinked in surprise. “I never thought about it before, but I bet I can.”
    “That’s genius, Kramisha!” Dallas said.
    “Totally!” Stevie Rae said. “So, hang on and let me try some-thin’.” She hurried from the parking lot to the side of the school that adjoined it. There were a couple of old oaks there, a wrought-iron bench, and a tinkling fountain surrounded by what was now an ice-encapsulated bed of yellow and purple pansies. While her fledglings watched, she faced north and knelt on the ground in front of the biggest of the two trees. She bowed her head and concentrated. “Come to me, earth,” she whispered. Instantly, the ground around her knees warmed, and she smelled the scent of wildflowers and long, waving grass. Stevie Rae pressed her hands against the earth she loved so much and reveled in her connection with the element. Feeling warm and filled with the strength of nature, she said, “Yes! I know you—I can feel myself within you and you within me. Please do somethin’ for me. Please take some of this magic, this awesomeness that is us together, and pour it into the main tunnel under the depot. Let it be like I’m there, so much so that anyone who rests within you would know it.” Stevie Rae closed her eyes and imagined a glowing green bolt of energy leaving her body, traveling through the earth, and pouring into the tunnel right outside her old room in the depot. Then she said, “Thank you, earth. Thank you for being my element. You can go now.”
    When she rejoined her fledglings, they were all staring at her with wide eyes.
    “What?” she asked.
    “That was amazing,” Dallas said, his voice filled with awe.
    “Yeah, you was green and all shiny,” Kramisha said. “I never seen anything like it before.”
    “It was totally cool,” Johnny B said, while the rest of the kids nodded and smiled.
    Stevie Rae smiled back at them, feeling like a real High Priestess. “Well, I’m pretty sure it worked,” she said.
    “Ya think?” Dallas said.
    “I think,” she said, and they shared a look that made Stevie Rae’s stomach feel quivery. She had to shake herself mentally and refocus, saying, “Uh, okay. Let’s do this.”
    The kids scattered to the two vehicles, and Dallas draped his arm around Stevie Rae’s shoulder. She let him draw her close.
    “I’m proud of you, girl,” he said.
    “Thanks.” She reached around his waist and slid her hand in his back pocket.
    “And I’m glad you’re bringin’ us along this time,” he said.
    “It’s the right thing to do,” she said. “Plus, we’re stronger together than we are apart.”
    Beside the Bug, he stopped and pulled her all the way into his arms. Bending, he murmured against her lips, “That’ right, girl. We
are
stronger together.” Then he kissed her with a fierce possession that surprised Stevie Rae. Before she really knew it, she was kissing him back—and liking the hot way his hard, familiar, completely
normal
body was making her feel.
    “Could y’all please get a room?” Kramisha called to them as she crawled into the little backseat of the Bug.
    Stevie Rae giggled, weirdly light-headed, especially as the thought
Get real—you can’t even kiss the other one
whispered through her mind.
    Dallas reluctantly let her step out of his arms so she could move to