Earth: The Elementals Book Two

by Jennifer Lush

  “Yes,” Grandma Eloise answered, walking into the room. “Not of this magnitude I don’t think, but it’s not unheard of for earthquakes to occur there.”

  “That’s the fifth one today.”

  “In the states. That doesn’t count all of the others around the world.”

  Everleigh gasped, and her eyes widened. She opened her mouth to ask her grandma more, but Grandma Eloise held up her hand.

  “There will be plenty of time for that later. Are you on your way out?”

  “I just have to put my boots on,” Everleigh smiled.

  “You have time,” her grandma said in her knowing way.

  Everleigh didn’t know what she meant by that, but she learned long ago to trust it to be revealed soon enough. “What do you need, Grandma?”

  Grandma Eloise smiled at her and leaned against the wall. “Maybe we could talk for a bit before you go. I’ll probably long be in bed before you return home.”

  There was something her grandma wasn’t telling her, but it would do no good to ask. Her grandma reveled in riddles. “What do you want to talk about?” Everleigh asked.

  “How do you think the girls are coming along with their progress?”

  That cemented her suspicion. Grandma Eloise didn’t actually need her opinion on this matter. She was stalling, but why? “They’re coming along. It’s still early, Grandma, so I’d say they’re on track.”

  “Exactly what I was thinking,” her grandma agreed.

  They continued to talk about how their progress compared to Dorian and Isaac who were still working on the craft while away at college. Grandma Eloise detailed some lessons she had lined up for the upcoming weeks as well, and she was never one to divulge her plans.

  “What’s this about, Grandma?” Everleigh asked softly. “What’s really on your mind?” Worry was beginning to mount inside of her as she tried to figure out what it was that her grandma wasn’t saying.

  “It’s nothing,” she replied, looking off wistfully. “I just want to make sure you stay safe more than anything.”

  “I’m always safe,” Everleigh narrowed her eyes, wanting to decipher exactly what her grandma meant.

  Grandma Eloise smiled at her and placed her hands on Everleigh’s shoulders. “I know you are. It’s not you I’m worried will…” she cut her eyes to the side for a moment, “make a wrong turn,” her grandma looked back at her and smiled.

  “I’ll be careful,” Everleigh reassured her again.

  “I know you will,” Grandma Eloise started to walk away. “Oh, and one more thing,” she said, stopping in the hall to speak back over her shoulder. “Let me know if you find out anything about our new friend.”

  “How did you…?” she stopped herself from finishing the thought. Her grandma had already disappeared into the sunroom leaving Everleigh shaking her head. It was a pointless question anyway. Grandma always knew everything, so it should be no surprise she knows about the new person in Jackson’s life without Everleigh having mentioned it.

  “You aren’t ready yet?” Amber asked from the entryway.

  Everleigh walked past her irritated gaze into the living room. “I just need to put on my boots.”

  “I thought you said we were leaving. I’ve been waiting.”

  Everleigh took a deep breath to stay calm. The entire night was going to be like this with her in tow. “Grandma needed me for a minute.”

  “More like fifteen,” Amber snorted.

  It didn’t take more than a couple minutes to slip her boots on and zip up the sides. She had just finished when she heard the screeching metal on metal shrieks from somewhere close by. Jumping to her feet, Everleigh immediately felt panicked over whatever had happened outside.

  “Holy…” Amber said slowly from the doorway.

  There was nothing visible looking out the front window, so Everleigh joined her in the hallway.

  Amber had the door wide open and was looking out the glass outer door. She stepped aside to let her cousin have a look. Turning her head to the left, she saw the crumpled mess of red metal wrapped around a light pole. Flames were already shooting out of the engine. She turned to face her cousin and saw a flash of grandma disappearing into the sunroom again from the corner of her eye.

  This is what she had meant by keeping her safe. If Grandma Eloise hadn’t stopped her to chat for a moment, her and Amber would probably have been at the stop sign on that corner waiting to turn out onto the highway when the driver lost control. They would have been smashed between that heap of fiery metal and the light pole.

  Everleigh grabbed her phone and called it in, but several reports of the accident had already been made. Hanging up, she headed back to the front room to wait out the emergency crews. They could take a different route to the highway and would still get to the bonfire. There was no hurry. They could wait until the chaos outside had calmed substantially.

  The bonfire was as large as it had ever been when she arrived. Sometimes Everleigh thought Jackson’s friend Sam was intentionally trying to get the cops called out to his dad’s property. There had been many reasons why she was nervous about going tonight, but most of them melted away soon after arriving. Even with Amber’s sometimes annoying presence, it was good to catch up with old friends.

  Jackson and Lilah could be seen around the other side of the field, and she would have to make her way to them eventually. If not, Jackson would surely find her. Maybe it could wait a little longer. She secretly hoped that if she put it off pretending not to notice them long enough, they’d leave before the introductions could be made. It was too much to ask, and she knew it would only serve to put her in the doghouse with her best friend.

  Near the end of the night, she found them again only they were looking straight toward her and her friends. It was time to get it over with. As she started to walk in their direction, she heard the name that was worse than nails on a chalkboard to her, “Lee-Lee!” It was Jackson. The truth is she didn’t mind the nickname. In fact, she rather delighted in it, but she hated when he used it around other people.

  Not wanting to take her eyes off Lilah for a minute, she listened while Jackson made the introductions using her nickname again. She corrected it quickly for Lilah’s benefit. There was nothing to be picked up from this girl. She would have to be an Elemental, but if that was the case, Jackson should have been able to pick up on that. The only other explanation would be a protection spell, but her family would know of any other witches in the area. It didn’t make sense.

  ‘Of course!’ The thought hit her out of nowhere. Her aunt had been working on getting it touch with different Elementals for months now. That would definitely bring attention to the area. This was probably someone connected to one of her contacts.

  Everleigh caught herself nodding at her own discovery and realized she would need to say something quick before Jackson tried to dive into her mind to find out what she was thinking. She attempted to cover it by talking up what a great catch Jackson was which she immediately regretted. The boy already had a big head and ate up compliments like his life depended on them.

  They talked briefly, and Jackson confessed he thought Everleigh wasn’t going to show tonight. He didn’t say it in front of his girlfriend, but she knew it was because he thought Everleigh didn’t approve of her even though they hadn’t met. He wasn’t wrong. Their kind, especially his, were in danger with very little information about who was responsible. No plan in place. Each day could be the one that brought an attack on Jackson or his dad. Soon it would be Earth’s turn to face whatever faceless menace was hunting them. This wasn’t necessarily the time to add a new flavor of the week to the mix even if the boy insisted this one was different.

  It also wasn’t the place to have this conversation with him again, so she filled him in about the car wreck not even a block from her house. Maybe it was her already substantial suspicion of the newcomer, but she thought she saw something come over Lilah’s face when she talked about it. Something that indicated i
t wasn’t news to her. Even when Jackson mentioned a reckless driver they encountered on their way out, Everleigh could tell Lilah knew they were talking about the same person. But how?

  It wouldn’t be wise to hang around with them for long. Soon Amber would find her way over, and it was hard to say what might come out of her mouth when she couldn’t get a read on Lilah. Not to mention, Everleigh knew her directed questions and comments toward her might wind up showing her hand as well.

  Using Amber as an excuse, she left the two lovebirds to enjoy their evening. ‘Hopefully, Grandma will be able to fill me in more about her when I return home. It’s obvious she knows more than she’s told me. She always does.’

  Chapter Twelve

  The day after the bonfire, and Everleigh had dragged Amber to Jackson’s to hang out with Lilah. There had been something about her that Everleigh couldn’t quite put her finger on in addition to being unable to read her. It made her not want to give the new woman in Jackson’s life a chance from the start. The unknown can be hard to embrace. The last thing she had wanted to do was spend the evening with this woman who had somehow managed to wrap him around her little finger from the moment they met.

  Disappointing Jackson would have been worse, and that’s exactly what she’d be doing if she hadn’t agreed to go. He wanted his best friend and girlfriend to get along. Taking Amber had been her way of preparing for the worst. If the night was too unbearable, she could have her cousin be the excuse for why they had to leave.

  Turns out an escape route wasn’t needed after all. The night began horribly with Everleigh dreading her decision to go in the first place and wondering how soon was too soon to take their leave. Lilah’s offer to give them a ride home left her regretting every life choice she had ever made bringing her to be in that situation at that point in time. Not accepting the ride and walking home in the cold would have seriously upset Jackson. Everleigh was sure of it.

  That car ride wound up being exactly what she needed to put a spin on everything. Not only did she learn Lilah was an Air Elemental which answered more questions than Everleigh had the chance to think of yet, but she’d be able to let her grandma know that Air was definitely not behind the attacks on Fire. They were also willing to assist Earth. That could quite possibly be the biggest news of the night. Air had notoriously kept to themselves, and their involvement would be monumentally huge.

  Even so, there were a few things left to figure out. Everleigh knew Lilah’s identity, but she couldn’t be absolutely certain whether Lilah knew all of Jackson’s secrets. It didn’t seem likely. If Lilah knew everything, there would be no cause for hesitation in telling him the truth about who she really was. The fact that she was keeping her background from him was enough to make Everleigh believe that Lilah was in for more of a shock than Jackson would ever be.

  Everleigh walked away from Lilah’s car when she dropped her and Amber off after their talk. She waved at her aunt who had just pulled in the drive. Meredith had been in town for a few days, but they’d hardly had any time to spend together. She was hoping maybe they’d have a chance now. She half skipped the last couple of steps over to her.

  “Aunt Meredith!” she said excitedly.

  “Heya, hun,” Meredith said and leaned over to give her a hug. She hugged her and rocked back and forth. “I was hoping you’d be here when I got back. How you doing, Amber?” she asked, and turned to give her other niece a hug.

  “Good,” Amber answered.

  “Handling everything alright?”

  Amber shrugged.

  “It has to be a lot to take in when you weren’t expecting it.”

  “Yeah, but what you going to do?”

  “You’re right, Amber. What can you do?”

  Meredith put an arm around each of her nieces, and they headed toward the front walk. “Have you ladies been out causing trouble tonight?”

  “We were out with Lilah,” Everleigh told her nonchalantly.

  Meredith looked at her with curious eyes.

  “You know. Your friend Todd’s niece.” Everleigh cast Amber a sly glance.

  “Oh?” It was obvious Meredith wasn’t sure how to respond.

  “She’s an Air,” Amber added, picking up on what her cousin was doing.

  Meredith looked surprised for a moment then remembered, “Well, yeah, you would know that since you know about Todd.”

  “Yeah, that… And she told us she was,” Everleigh said, walking away from her aunt to run up the porch steps. She reached the top and looked back. Her aunt hadn’t moved, but was staring after her with wide eyes.

  Amber turned away trying not to laugh and was making weird chortling noises instead.

  Meredith looked between the girls and thought she figured it out, “Oh, I get it. You’re messing with me?”

  “No, Aunt Meredith, she really did tell us about her family,” Everleigh insisted.

  “What?” Meredith wasn’t sure what to think. “Air never talks to anyone. It took Todd years to trust me. Her family won’t be happy about this.”

  “Her family knew she was going to tell us, Auntie M,” Amber said.

  Meredith put both hands up in front of her and opened and closed her mouth several times. “Girls, let’s get inside. I need a drink to process this. What is the world coming to?”

  “That’s why she told us,” Everleigh told her. “Because of whatever is happening in our world.”

  Meredith’s face turned solemn and nodded. “Yeah, I supposed that’s right, baby girl. We all need to be reaching out to each other.”

  The three of them walked inside, and Everleigh’s grandma was waiting for them several feet from the door looking like she was about to let someone have it.

  “Grandma, I’m sorry. I sent you a message from the café.” Everleigh’s thoughts swarmed, but she had no idea why she was in trouble.

  “This has nothing to do with you. Get on up to your room, and take your cousin with you. Your aunt and I need to have a talk.”

  Everleigh looked at Meredith who only nodded toward the stairs. It was her way of saying do what your grandma told you. The cousins headed upstairs, but were barely halfway up when their grandma started yelling at Meredith.

  “I don’t know what games you’re playing at, but you need to get that vampire out of my house now!”

  Everleigh stopped mid stride and watched the conversation below her.

  “Vampire?” Meredith tried to act like she didn’t know what Eloise was talking about. “What do you mean?”

  “Don’t act like you don’t know. You stashed him in the attic days ago.”

  “Grandma,” Everleigh headed back down.

  “Get upstairs. This don’t concern you.”

  “I was in the attic earlier looking for those candle holders you wanted for tomorrow. There was nobody up there.”

  Her grandma ignored her, and brought her attention back to Meredith, “You spelled it so we can’t see him, but you think I don’t know what’s going on in my own home? I don’t want him here. You need to take him somewhere else.”

  “I’m trying to protect him!” Meredith shouted. “I’m out of options,” she lowered her voice, with tears starting to stain her cheeks.

  Everleigh couldn’t believe what she was hearing, and she looked up at the ceiling overhead. She wondered if there could really be someone hidden up there by a spell. There were spells that could hide objects, so they were unseen by anyone around them. She’d never heard of it being used on a person.

  “And you’d put us at risk to do so?”

  “We’re already at risk, Eloise, and you know that.”

  “Exactly. We have a big enough target on our backs. I want him out.”

  “Where are we supposed to go?”

  “Go to your friend’s house in the country. Stash your boyfriend there.”

  Meredith was caught somewhere between hurt and surprise. Her family had never approved of her relationship, but she hadn’t expected anyone to be this cold. Luke h
ad never done a damn thing to hurt anyone in this family, or anyone period. Eloise didn’t think much about Air either, but she did hold them in slightly higher esteem. That’s why Meredith hadn’t mentioned to her that they were using the old farmhouse outside of town. No one has to tell the old woman anything. Eloise has her ways of finding out. Todd would’ve been just as much of an outcast to Eloise as Luke except Todd wasn’t the one who lured her away, tricking her into falling in love with him. That’s how the family always saw it, like Luke concocted some evil plan to win her heart.

  “That’s right,” Eloise continued, “I know about the psychics gathering too.” She tapped her finger to her temple. “I’m smarter than you give me credit for, always have been.”

  “No one thinks you aren’t smart,” Meredith closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.

  “Says the girl who thought she could play with Fire in the attic without me knowing.”

  Meredith sighed in defeat. “Okay, Eloise, we’re going.”

  She started running upstairs with Everleigh and Amber at her heels. Meredith went down the hall to the doorway to the narrow attic stairs. She stopped and looked at her nieces. “What do you think you’re doing?’

  “I want to meet him,” Everleigh said point blank.

  “Me too,” said Amber.

  Meredith rolled her eyes and shrugged. “Why not? Air are giving up their secrets. Elementals are turning on each other. It seems like everything has been flipped upside down overnight. C’mon, then.”

  She opened the door and headed up with the girls close behind. Once inside the attic, Everleigh looked around carefully. It looked just like it had earlier. Boxes and trunks were scattered around with a few pieces of old furniture thrown in for good measure. There was no evidence of anyone else having been there.

  Her aunt walked toward the far side of the room. Everleigh saw nothing except a couple dusty boxes and an old mirror. Meredith held both arms straight down at her sides with the palms up and slowly lifted them while chanting a spell in Latin.