by Kat Adams
Because I totally would.
She tossed an unimpressed glance Bryan’s way. “I should have known you’d be here. Practically shacking up now, aren’t we?”
“Always a pleasure,” he retorted and mock bowed.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the wicked witch of the water.” Clay snorted at his joke as he walked into the room, followed by Rob and Leo. “That’s a good one, right? See what I did there? That’s funny.”
“Don’t tell me you’re all coming.” Vanessa huffed and changed hips. “My dad’s invite extended to her only, not her little groupies.”
“We have no idea what you’re talking about.” Bryan’s attempt at innocence needed work. He nodded for the guys to follow him. “We’re just going to a bar to hang out. Come on.” Once they were all out in the hallway, he hurried back into the room. “Forgot one thing.”
He swept me into his arms and stole a kiss so fast, I gasped. He took advantage of my open mouth and thrust in his tongue, searching for mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back, pressing my body to his. His kiss, so deep, so breathtakingly passionate, heated me from the inside out. I knew he only did this for Vanessa’s benefit, but I didn’t care. I’d take his kiss any way I could get it.
By the time we came up for air from eating each other’s faces, I was dizzy. He grinned and licked me from his lips. “See you later, Katy.”
“Later,” I whispered, unable to do anything more. Damn, did that boy know how to give a kiss.
“You’re disgusting,” Vanessa snarled.
The guys all laughed and popped out, leaving me alone with my least favorite person.
I smiled sweetly and waved to the open door. “Shall we?”
3
Deception Brewery was disgusting. I began to wonder if DB really stood for the name or the random dead body I suspected had graced this fine establishment a time or ten.
The old tables weren’t from this century. Neither were the floors. Hello, DB? The 70s called. They’d like their décor back. Everything was covered in a fine film of filth, making every surface sticky and gross. I was afraid to touch anything for fear I’d pick up some communicable disease with no cure.
I had to squint to see, which made no sense. Why squint in the dark to see better? The lighting was terrible by design, for sure. Judging by the mixed crowd of those in desperate need of dental care, others who probably kept the porn industry in business, and the rest drowning themselves in glasses of liquid, the less lighting, the better.
And then there were those with seriously bad hygiene that permeated the air. The entire dive smelled like a cross between BO and bad decisions. We hadn’t even been here a full minute and I wanted to take a shower to wash off the stink.
My shoes stuck to the floor as we made our way over to a table in the back. Wolf whistles sounded, which Vanessa lapped up by flashing a flirty smile and flipping her hair. I kept my head down and fought the urge to teleport out. Virgil Graves could meet me at a nice café. Or maybe a park. Hell, I’d even meet him in the warehouse where I’d nearly died defeating Spencer and Alec. Anywhere but here. This place needed to be condemned, along with the patrons.
“Hi, Daddy!” Vanessa’s squeal earned several head swivels. I shrank down lower inside my coat and stole glances around, searching for the guys. Where the hell were they? I didn’t see them, which only edged my anxiety higher.
“Have a seat.” He didn’t even glance up from his phone as he waved at the chairs on the opposite side of the sticky high-top table. Reluctantly, I pulled out a chair and eased into it, regretting every move. Even the seats were sticky. So gross. I’d have to burn these jeans and wash my hands with industrial-strength soap to cut through the diseases now breeding on my fingers.
“You too, sweetheart.” Graves nodded for Vanessa to join me on my side. She seemed to deflate before my very eyes, her excitement wilting from her face and stilling her expression, her shoulders sinking. Even her spine seemed to wither. Wow. Her dad had serious…um…influence over her reactions. That was even more disturbing than the way the guy in the hoodie sitting the next table over kept moving his head so the hollow shadow that should be his face pointed directly at me. It reminded me of the faceless villain in my webcomic. Onyx would pull something like this, lure Amethyst to a dive bar filled with his dark elemental buddies to try to kill her.
But I digress…
Back to Vanessa and her weird reaction to her father asking her to sit on the other side of the table. Without a word of protest, she shuffled over to the chair next to me and slid in. After a quick exchange of glances that basically admitted that neither of us knew why we were here, we both regarded Graves and waited.
He looked completely out of place at DB. Most of the patrons wore muted colors in some shape or form. Ratty black leather jackets. Dirty flannels that were probably a different color at one time but hadn’t seen the inside of a washing machine in years. Even the bartender, who was probably prom queen when she’d peaked in high school but now didn’t give a shit about her appearance, wore a dusty brown tank with a plethora of stains.
Not Virgil Graves. He had on a sharp blue suit that pulled out the piercing color in his eyes, a bright red tie, and a white pocket cloth. The entire ensemble was a stark contrast to everyone else, including me in my black puffy coat and jeans. This had to be his plan, to be the sharpest-dressed man in the joint, to stand out as the most important, the center of attention like a bride at her wedding.
The bartender appeared at the end of our table, her attention on Vanessa. “Can I take your order?” She had a thick New England accent that made her R’s disappear.
“I’ll have a white wine spritzer.”
Of course she would. I stopped short from rolling my eyes.
“We got mango White Claws.”
“Close enough.” Her shoulders seemed to droop even more as she stared at the table.
“And for you?”
I returned my attention to the bartender, then stopped. She wasn’t looking at me.
“Scotch, single malt. Neat.” Graves barely glanced up from his phone.
“I’ll see what I can do.” She turned to walk off.
“Wait. I didn’t get to order.”
She ignored me and continued to move away.
“Do you know who this is?” Graves said it loud enough to turn several heads, including the bartender’s.
She turned back around and placed her hands on her narrow hips, eyeing me with such disdain, it heated my face. “Yeah, I know who she is. She’s the reason we lost half our customers. My dad can barely keep the lights on now, thanks to her.”
Graves sat up ramrod straight, squaring his shoulders as he regarded her. “This is the prophecy. She’s destined to save our world, so I’d suggest you show her a little respect.”
Every set of eyes—even the ones hidden by Hoodie, I assumed—suddenly riveted to me. My palm began to ache, which was never a good sign. Something called to the darkness inside me, luring it to the surface. I hid my hand beneath the table before it started to glow as the light inside me battled the dark, keeping it at bay. Several different comments broke through the thick stench in the air and burned into my conscience.
“That’s Katy Reed? She’s younger than I thought.”
“She’s the one who beat Alec?”
“How’d she manage that?”
“That’s our girl.”
The last comment drew my attention to the back, where four distinctively beautiful men sat in a corner booth, watching me. I pulled in a deep breath, feeling their strength feed mine even from clear across the room.
“Katy?” Graves grabbed my attention. “What would you like?”
Right now? Or in general? I’d like world peace, for starters. This civil war was tearing our world apart. Right now, I’d settle for a beer. “Can I get a hefeweizen?”
The bartender shot poisoned daggers at me with her glare, so I smiled sweetly in response. She spun o
n her heel and stormed off. Great. She’d probably spit in my beer.
“I’m sorry about that, Katy.” Graves finally set his phone onto the table. “There are still some resistant to the positive change I’m trying to bring about.”
“What change would that be?” I purposely left out the positive part. If it had anything to do with Spencer Dalton not only being allowed back at the academy but now in charge of a bunch of brand-new elementals, it was anything but positive.
“Uniting the two sides of our world. There should be no elemental versus elemental. We have a hard enough time remaining hidden from the Nelems. If non-elementals found out about our world, we’d all have to go into hiding to avoid becoming science experiments. Or worse.”
Worse as in what Cressida Clearwater and the elementals of her time had gone through, driven from their homes during the Salem Witch Trials to avoid dying a horrible death. I hated the idea of fighting alongside my two biggest archnemeses. I’d rather be declared a witch and burned at the stake.
The bartender returned with our order, setting the drinks in front of us. I stared at my beer, watching the droplets trail down the outside of the bottle. At least it was cold. I still wouldn’t be drinking it, not after the way she’d reacted. God only knew what she did to it before serving it to me.
“Why did you want to meet with me?” I finally asked and glanced around the dive. The customers had all gone back to their own business. Well, most. Hoodie still stared at me, creeping me out. I rubbed my palm to alleviate the throbbing. “And why here?”
“You asked me to look into your mother’s claim that she had another child.”
I perked up, ignoring the way Vanessa rounded her eyes. I would have preferred to have this conversation in private, but wasn’t about to ask him to stop now. Why he wanted his daughter here for this was beyond me. It wasn’t like she was anywhere near a support animal.
“My sources have found no truth to her claim. She left you six years ago to fulfill the prophecy. Even if she’d been pregnant at the time of her disappearance, the child would be no more than five years old. She would have had to leave her in someone else’s care and, from what we’ve found, your mother didn’t have any known associates.”
“Besides Tweedledum and Dumber, that is.” I shuddered at the thought of her associating with the likes of them in any way, shape, or form. Graves cocked his head, clearly not understanding the reference. “Never mind. So it sounds like she lied about that too?”
“Ms. Reed, your mother…wasn’t well. Her hatred for you was so blinding, she would have said anything to hurt you. I’m truly sorry for the pain she caused you.”
I didn’t believe him for one hot second. He’d been the one to strike a deal with her. He’d give her the prophecy, and she’d give him the Council. It wasn’t for her to try to kill me on multiple occasions. It wasn’t for her to double-cross him when all her attempts failed. It most certainly wasn’t for him to kill her.
Graves went on. “There are a few changes taking place at Clearwater I want you made aware of. First, Arts & Crafts has been canceled.”
I dropped my jaw. That was the only class I liked. “Why? Couldn’t find someone to replace Professor Layden?”
“No need. Witchcraft has been banned in our world. It’s too dangerous, too unpredictable. Look what it did to your mother.”
Was he serious with that statement? Being a powerful witch hadn’t been what killed her. The man sitting across the table had been responsible for that. She’d handed him the Council when she shoved a tree branch through the heart of the now ex-head of the governing body. How had Graves repaid her? He’d snapped her neck.
And I hated him for it.
Granted, she’d never win any mom-of-the-year awards, but she was still my mom.
“You outlawed spells?”
“The Council has made it illegal to practice witchcraft of any kind. It’s brought nothing but negative consequences to our world. The magically enhanced are a direct result of the craft’s unpredictability. The witches responsible had no idea how destructive it would be to a young elemental to have their powers forced to manifest before they were ready to control them.”
“I thought my mom was the only one who magically enhanced them, purposely tried to destroy them because they weren’t purebloods.”
“Regardless of the reason behind the enhancements, the root of the cause was witchcraft. Most covens have been disbanded. Those resisting the order will be brought in front of the Council and tried for treason. Anyone caught practicing the craft will be dealt with accordingly.”
Holy history repeated, Batman. It was the Salem Witch Trials all over again. Did we learn nothing from what happened to Cressida and the rest of our kind? Had those trying to wipe out the entire race of elementals succeeded, none of us would be here today.
“The MEs were a direct result of dark magic,” I clarified, trying to reason through this insanity. “Ban that, but don’t ban all magic. That’s like making it illegal for anyone to drive a car because someone somewhere ran a red light. One has nothing to do with the other.”
“It’s already done. That type of sorcery may be allowed in the Nelem world, but not here in ours. I need your help ensuring this is enforced.” He took his time nailing us both with that piercing stare. “You can be sure this message remains positive. You two are the most powerful students at the academy.”
“Us?” Vanessa squeaked out. “Daddy, you know I’m only a single, and she’s…” She paused and shot me a cool, sideways look dripping with envy. “Not.”
“Sweetheart, you’re the most popular girl at Clearwater. You’ve got a great deal of influence over the rest of the student body.”
I swallowed my snort. Vanessa Graves was anything but popular. An ice queen with stone in place of a heart. A manipulative beyotch with fake friends just as manipulative. A spoiled brat who expected the world to serve her instead of the other way around. All that added up to her being just about the least popular girl at Clearwater.
But she definitely had influence at the academy, mainly due to her daddy being the head Council dude now.
“And you,” he went on. I stiffened, pretty sure I didn’t want him to finish his thought. I wasn’t popular. At all. Students ran in the opposite direction for fear they’d be sucked into the vortex of chaos I called my life on a daily basis. He checked his phone, keeping his attention on the screen. “You’re the prophecy. Need I say more?”
“I wish you wouldn’t,” I retorted lightly. “Are you expecting a call?”
He set it back on the table without answering the question. “Can I count on you to do the right thing?”
“Of course, Daddy.” Vanessa reached across the table. When Graves rested his hand over hers, patting it as he would a dog, I shuddered. Seriously weird dynamics.
“That’s my angel.”
She beamed at the compliment. I shuddered again.
“Is that all?” I moved to slide off the chair, anxious to get out of his hellhole before whatever evil was calling to the darkness inside me popped up.
“No. There’s one more thing I wanted to share with you, Katy.” He motioned for Hoodie to join us. Shock ripped through my body when he grabbed a very distinct leather duster off the back of the chair on his way over. The closer he came, the more I readied myself for yet another fight of my life. I recognized that gait, how he favored his right side after I’d taken out his knee during one of our epic battles. I know why he wore leather gloves and held his left arm bent at the elbow, protecting the hand I’d shattered during another battle.
It couldn’t be. No way was Graves stupid enough to trust a guy who’d made it a habit to try to destroy our world on a regular basis. When he pulled off the hood, revealing the scar that bisected the right side of his face and removing any doubt who it was, I focused on calling an element, any element, to protect myself.
No. Fucking. Way.
“I believe you know Alec.”
“O
h my God.” Vanessa pushed away from the table. “Daddy? What are you doing?”
I jerked my gaze to the guys, who’d all jumped out of the booth and were on their way over to join me in destroying this dark elemental once and for all. I returned my attention to the grand poohbah of dark elementals, the biggest bane of my existence, Alec von Leer.
It took every fiber of my control not to set him on fire with my purple blaze. As powerful as he was, he couldn’t beat my hellfire. But we were in public. A battle here would expose our world.
Which was the point in bringing me here to meet with him. A public setting ensured I’d behave.
Wrong.
“Hello, quint,” Alec stated in that gravelly voice that sounded like he’d been gargling glass.
“I’ve always been impressed with your gift for nicknames, jackwagon.”
“Before you attack,” Graves added when I brought up my hands, charging the fire stemming from my core. “Please hear me out. Alec is the greatest influence over the dark elementals. If he agrees to a truce between the sides, so will the majority of his followers.”
“I have a better idea. How about I kill him instead?”
“And then what? Continue to drive the wedge between our sides? Please, Ms. Reed. Stand down and allow me to explain. If, after I’m done, you still wish to divide this world by taking up arms against someone who’s come to the table seeking peace, that is your choice. However, if you choose to demonstrate how to be a true leader and agree to the truce, your act will bring us that much closer to harmony in our world.”
God, I hated how much sense that made.
“I’ll hit him with fire,” Rob announced.
“I’ll put up an airfield to contain it,” Clay added.
“Let me freeze the water molecules in his blood.” Leo went dark with that one.
Bryan didn’t say anything as he launched forward and threw a punch, knocking Alec to the ground. Several patrons jumped out of their seats and moved in. Great. As if we didn’t have enough to deal with knowing the head of the Council had a new BFF, now we had the rest of the dive bar to fend off.
