woman, warn a man before you attempt to make bacon out of one of his appendages.” Liam looked at her and winked. “Don’t be jealous, Gabs. There’s no one hotter than you.” He raked his eyes down her body and bit his bottom lip.
“And if I were to say Ra is hot?” Gabby asked.
Liam’s head snapped forward to glare at the pharaoh. His jaw clenched before he finally turned back to her. “Message received, babe.”
Gabby smiled at him and gave his hand a squeeze to let him know she wasn’t mad. She was insecure, but it was something she was going to have to get over. Poking Liam in the process was just a perk.
She was certain the tunnel was going to lead them back to the United States, right underneath all the countries between them and the Atlantic Ocean and then right through the Atlantic itself. But finally, the tunnel ended at a huge metal door.
Professor Frost knocked and, a minute later, the door opened. A loud hum dispelled the quiet of the corridor.
As they filed into the room, Gabby saw half a dozen other elementalists already there. She recognized them from the various teams on the mission.
“How are things going in here?” Frost asked Professor Eddison King. He was a Tempest Academy professor, if she remembered correctly.
“So far Crey and Tinley”—King motioned to the pair who had their hands pressed against a massive contraption Gabby suspected was one of the engines—“have managed to warm it enough to keep running. The turbines are working, otherwise, no amount of their heat would matter.”
Frost nodded. “We got the gorge thawed, and the elementals are keeping it that way.”
“Some of the earth elementalists are pulling heat from the earth's core to prevent the entire plant from getting too cold,” Professor King explained. “At some point, we will need to switch people out so they can rest.”
“Where are the ones who aren’t working now?” Frost asked him.
Professor King’s lips turned up in a smile. “We had some pixies show up at the call of Professor Hart, and they’ve been using their persuasion magic to convince the workers here that we are a relief crew. They’ve set us up with a dorm-type room. It’s got cots, blankets, pillows, and even some food and drinks.”
Frost chuckled. “Pixies are great when they’re on our side.”
Gabby wondered what pixies that weren’t on their side could persuade a person to do.
“All right my crew,” Frost said, “let’s head to this makeshift dorm. Professor King, would you lead the way?”
“Of course.”
And they were off again. When they reached the dorm room, as they were calling it, Gabby saw Tara and Elias. They were standing at a table loaded with all sorts of food and drinks.
“Where did that come from?” she asked.
“Pixies like to make use of the forests they live in and love to share their food,” Professor Frost said.
“I didn’t learn that in any of my classes,” Gabby said.
“That’s because you haven’t taken the upper-level elemental classes yet,” Frost pointed out. “Now, enjoy the food and get some rest.”
When Gabby and Liam reached the table, she realized that everything was fruits and vegetables.
“I guess pixies don’t hunt,” Liam said, looking quite forlorn over this fact.
“They’re more planters and gatherers, I’m guessing,” Tara said.
“Did everything go okay with you guys?” Shelly asked Tara and Elias.
Tara nodded. “They just had us pulling heat from the earth’s core. Same song, different day.”
“Would you rather be fighting giants?” Elias asked as he tugged her ponytail.
“I suppose not.” Tara sighed. “I think I’m just tired. It’s making me grumpy.”
“Or that’s just your general disposition,” Shelly said as she filled up her plate and then bit into a carrot. She kept right on talking as she crunched the vegetable. “What doesn’t make you grumpy, Tara-bear?”
“Well, you looking like Bugs Bunny, chomping away on a carrot makes me want to laugh. So, that’s a start,” Tara said as she shook her head at her friend.
“What?” Shelly asked. “I’m hungry. Don’t judge.”
Gabby took the plate that Liam handed her.
After dinner, they found a corner that had enough cots for all of them.
Gabby saw Tara blush as Elias pushed two cots together, and she smiled.
“Elias,” Tara whispered with a hint of reprimand, “I think we can sleep a couple of feet apart for a night.”
“That’s great, love, but I don’t.” He kept making up their joined bed as if she wasn’t glaring daggers at him.
Ra did the same thing, making two separate cots into one. He gave