by Kat Adams
“Seek out the legends, Katy. Convince them to bear elemental arms alongside you. You’re not only taking a stand against a common enemy but also uniting a world. Restore the balance, my daughter. Bring peace to our land.”
“That’s the plan.”
14
Seattle was huge. And loud. And tall. The buildings stretched high toward the sky, a cluster of metal, cement, and endless windows. The Space Needle sat off to the side, dwarfed by the concrete jungle. I’d only been to the city a couple of times and remembered why I didn’t make it a habit. It was too much, an overload of my senses.
Bryan and I walked close to groups of people to hide in plain sight and avoid Council members on patrol. When we’d break from the crowd, we moved in the shadows as we made our way to the address Rob gave us.
Please don’t let it be some big, scary, dark, and deserted building. Those creeped me out for obvious reasons, having nearly lost my life in one. Twice.
“We’re here.” Bryan checked the address on his phone and glanced up.
Ah crap.
I stared at the big, scary, dark, and deserted building. A giant warehouse on Seattle’s waterfront, it cast a gloomy shadow over the entrance. My neck hairs stood on end, warning me something wasn’t right. “Maybe we should put on the crystal.”
Bryan moved closer, wrapping his arm around my midsection. He felt it too. “Maybe you’re right.”
I expanded the leather strap as big as it’d go and placed it over both our heads. Carefully, we walked in sync to the front of the warehouse and looked around to make sure no one else glanced our way. Nelems went about their business, completely oblivious to the war threatening to destroy the world. If I succeeded in getting the legends to join Sentry, if we stopped the Council before it was too late, the Nelems would never know how close they came to annihilation.
We stepped inside and paused, taking it in. Sure enough, it was big, scary, dark, and deserted. It smelled like oil and decay and forced me to breathe through my mouth. Gross.
“What is this place?” My voice echoed through the air and bounced off the walls. Jeez, that came out way louder than expected.
“An abandoned warehouse, from the looks of it. Come on. Let’s move further inside.”
That was the exact opposite of what I wanted to do. I’d rather wait for them outside. We had the crystal. We’d stay perfectly hidden. This place gave me the serious creeps.
I moved closer to Bryan and whispered, “There’s no one here. Maybe it’s the wrong address.”
“Maybe we got here before them.”
“Or maybe you two should learn to whisper quieter.”
We jumped apart, nearly snapping the leather as we turned and faced Clay standing there, a grin on his bearded face. I removed the crystal necklace, revealing Bryan and me. Clay’s grin widened, lighting up his green eyes, even in the dark warehouse. “What’s the word, Katy bird?”
“Clever. How’d you find us? We were invisible.”
“Been working on it all morning.” He kissed my cheek. “Invisible, yes. But not inaudible. Found you right away. Remind me not to have you two do any sort of sneaking up on anyone. You’d be captured like that.” He snapped his fingers.
“Reed, don’t you eat in the grove?” Rob’s voice spun me around. His dark gaze settled on me as he sauntered up. “I don’t like how much weight you’ve lost.”
Leo joined him and gave me a once-over. “I think you look great. I’ve missed you, babe.”
I took turns saying hello to each of my guys, starting with Leo. He preferred slow, lingering kisses. I moved to Clay, who dipped me and playfully nipped at my lips before proceeding to eat my face. Rob grasped my wrist and spun me in a dance move, pulling me close and devouring my sanity in his kiss.
When I recovered from all three kisses, I licked my lips and glanced Bryan’s way. Not one to play favorites, I stood on my tiptoes and brushed my mouth to his. As I pulled away, he held me at the small of my back and really kissed me, licking my lips open and consuming my soul. By the time I came up for air, I felt dizzy.
“Wow,” I breathed. “That’s the kind of greeting a girl could get used to.”
“I’m glad you said that.” Rob regarded Clay and Leo before returning his attention to me. “We came to a decision last night, the three of us. I’m sure you’d both agree. We’re better together. I get that you need us outside the grove recruiting members to join the uprising, but the custodian has been doing our job for us, and we can’t do this anymore. We can’t be apart from you. We can’t be apart, period.”
“I think it’s our matching wards.” Clay held up his hand to show us the slightly shimmering M on his palm. “The only time it does that is when the five of us are together. Otherwise, it’s pretty useless. Well, unless we’re, you know…” He trailed off and waggled his eyebrows.
“That’s actually why we wanted to see you.”
He perked up, his expression brightening. “Really? Would this be a one-on-one thing? Or all at the same time? Or… I mean, I love you guys, but I don’t love love you, you know?”
“Dude, no.” I pushed at his hard chest. He laughed and playfully stumbled back. With Clay, it always came down to sex. “We need to bring you back to the grove with us and ask Renee to remove our wards.”
Clay dropped his smile and stared at his palm. “Aw, I was just getting used to it.”
“We don’t need a ward to stay connected.” Leo pointed out the obvious. “We’re already connected.”
“The ward allows us to tap into each other’s elements.” Rob waited until all eyes were on him. “That’s huge, Reed. Why would you want to get rid of that?”
“Are you serious? This from the guy who insisted he didn’t need a protection ward?”
“I said I didn’t need protection,” he corrected, challenging me by puffing out his chest, like that would work on me. He might be a good six inches taller, but I was way feistier. And a redhead with a wicked snark spark.
“Is that so? From the day we met, you’ve needed protection. In the morgue. In the ruins. In the warehouse. You’re like a child running with scissors. You need protection from yourself. No ward will do that.”
“What I need,” he countered and wrapped his arm around me, jerking our bodies together and immediately igniting the flame of my want for him, “is for you to stop fighting me. Every. Step. Of. The. Way.” He nipped at my lower lip with those last few words.
“Oh, man. Here we go.” Bryan groaned into the air.
“Someone get a hose,” Clay added.
“Do you guys really think now is the best time for you to, uh…” Leo darted his gaze around the dark room, avoiding ours. “Like right here? Right now? Knowing, you know…the volcano scenario?”
“No.” I refused to back down and kept my stare riveted to Rob’s. “We’re not about to have sex. We’re fighting.”
“Fighting is foreplay for you two.”
I shifted my glare to Leo. He shrank back in response.
“We’re not removing the wards.” Rob sliced his hand through the air to make his point. “They give us an advantage. Remember the void? What drew us to Bry? It was our wards.”
“And when Rob got pissed that I used all the hot water and covered me in a layer of ice, it didn’t incapacitate me like before.” Clay brought up his hand and traced the M on his palm.
“You did what?” A flare of anger fired my muscles to tense. No one hurt one of my guys, even another one of my guys. “What happened to Clay not being able to handle another ice attack?”
“He lived.” He shrugged, like his answer somehow justified his action. “My point is, the ward bonds us by more than just our connection. We can’t tap into each other’s elements without it. We can’t sense each other or use it as a beacon if you have it removed. Come on, Reed. Think about what you’re giving up, what you’re forcing us to give up.”
“Rob.” I slipped my hands into my pockets to stop myself from reaching for him.
The unease tightening his features pulled at my core. My fire elemental wore his emotions in his expression and his heart on his sleeve. “The cons far outweigh the pros on this one. If one of us gets hurt, we all get hurt. That means we have five times the possibility of a dark elemental beating us. If Spencer steals the air from one of us, he steals it from all of us. That’s five forbidden calls for the price of one.”
“But wait,” Clay cut in. “There’s more. We haven’t had to battle anyone since we got warded. What do you suppose would happen if Montana called light? Would it drain us even if we’re not in the room? And what about the darkness? Would we all lose our shit—don’t look at me like that, you totally lost your shit the first time you used it—if she called that element?”
“The ward won’t allow me to tap into my darkness.”
Rob nodded far too enthusiastically. “That’s a good thing.”
“That’s what I said,” Bryan added.
Not helping, bro.
“That’s not a good thing,” I countered, fighting the urge to bare my teeth. I was so over having this argument. My darkness didn’t make me dark. I had learned how to control it. It boosted my powers. Besides, I only tapped into it when absolutely necessary. “The darkness is a part of me now. It always has been. I don’t use it all that often, but I want to be able to use it if I have to. I’ll need every bit of juice I can get when we take the fight to the Council. The wards are coming off.”
Rob’s face reddened, and he turned away, shaking his head and muttering something about stubborn women.
“Look,” I said and softened my voice. “Let’s just go to Renee and have her reverse the spell. We’ll still be us. Nothing will change that. No one can take that away.”
“On one condition.” He brought his hands to his hips and kept his back to me as he glanced over his shoulder, snagging eye contact. “We stay with you.”
Not this again. “You already know why I need you guys outside the grove.”
“And we need you. Period.” He turned and acknowledged the guys with a quick sweep of his gaze. “If you want us to agree to remove the ward, that’s the condition.”
“You speak for all the guys?”
Clay and Leo exchanged glances before both nodding.
I regarded Bryan. “What do you think?”
He didn’t waste any time moving next to Rob and slinging his arm over his shoulders. “I’m with my bro.”
“Of course, you are.”
“Face it, Reed.” Rob smiled smugly, and I wanted to blast that smile from his perfectly whiskered face. “You’re outnumbered.”
“Do you guys even understand what could happen if I call light?”
“No,” Rob fired back. “And neither do you. So, let’s just get that out of the way right now. Do it, Reed. Call light.”
I stilled. Was he calling my bluff? Was it even a bluff? “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Do it. We’re inside an abandoned warehouse. If it shorts out our powers, then so be it. We’ll just stay here until we recover.”
“You’re crazy. I’m not going to call light to see if it hurts you.”
“Actually,” Clay chimed in as he scratched his beard. “He’s got a good point. Better to do it now and see what happens than to be in the middle of a battle and find out the hard way. I’m with the hothead on this one.”
Rob glared at him. “Thanks.”
Clay flashed a wide grin. “You’re welcome.”
They both turned to me. When Leo and Bryan sided with them, I rolled my eyes and accepted that I had to call light, or they’d never let this go. “I can’t believe you guys are serious.” With a sigh, I shook out my hands and walked around to get into the zone. Calling light came second nature anymore. This time last year, I barely had control over any of my elements and hadn’t learned to harness the power of light yet.
You’ve come a long way, baby.
“Do you want me to just call it in general? Or hit you with it?”
They all looked at each other before Rob stepped forward. “Hit me.”
My mouth fell open. I wasn’t planning on attacking them and was only kidding with my question. I didn’t expect any of them to volunteer. “No, Rob. I’m not going to hit you.”
“Do it, Reed.” He took another step.
I took a step back in response. “No.”
“Goddammit, Reed. For once, stop fucking fighting me!”
His outburst—him literally screaming at me—immediately triggered my temper. I hit him with a fireball hard enough, it sent him reeling back. He stole my call and killed the flame. “Wrong element.”
No shit.
“It’s the first one that came to mind when you yelled at me.” I thrust out my chin. “I stand by my choice.”
“Do it again.” Bryan’s request sent me around to face him.
“You want me to attack him again?” Was he serious? What the hell was going on with my guys? Why did they want me to hurt them?
“I felt it. The fire, I mean. When you called it, I felt it.”
I stiffened and glanced to Rob as he rejoined the group, his clothes a little singed. He brushed off the charred remnants as he thinned his lips. “This was a new shirt.”
I ignored him and kept my attention on Bryan. “What do you mean, you felt it?”
“It felt like my insides immediately heated, like I had a fever and…I don’t know…like I broke out into a sweat under my skin.”
“That’s how I felt when fire first came to me,” Leo pointed out. “You’re the only one who can’t call fire in the group, so you wouldn’t know how it felt unless you actually called it.”
Interesting concept. Bryan had loved it when I called fire while we were in the heat of the moment. Could he be developing into a trio as Leo had? Or was it the ward allowing him to channel my fire?
Only one way to find out.
“I’m sorry about this,” I said as I regarded Clay. His eyes widened right before I called earth, sending up a tidal wave of dirt through a giant crack in the floor. It crashed down, swallowing my air elemental.
We all watched in amazement as the dirt fell all around him, but never touched him. It was as if he had a protective barrier around him. Once the dirt settled on the floor, Bryan asked me, “Did you direct earth to avoid him?”
“No. You?”
“Nope.”
Clay checked his arms and shook out his beard. “Would you look at that? I’m not covered in grime. Guess the ward really does work. Now do Rob.”
“Screw you.” Rob motioned at his shirt. “I already got mine.”
“Call light, Katy.”
Bryan’s request had me shaking my head. It was the only element none of them had the power to control. Well, that and my darkness, but I didn’t want to think about that at the moment. One potentially deadly experiment at a time.
“Okay, fine. You guys better find something to hold on to. When it hits, you’ll immediately weaken.”
None of them moved. Shocker.
I started slow, barely calling light in case this backfired on us and wound up hurting them. My hands glowed a faint white. When the guys didn’t seem affected, I increased the power in my call, brightening the glow around my hands.
Leo was the first to stagger. Could their weakness from my light transfer back to me through the wards? Could me shorting out their powers in turn short out my own? That was an angle we hadn’t considered.
I was just about to kill my call when Clay said, “Hey, check out Leo’s hands.”
Leo lifted his hands and widened his eyes at how they now glowed a faint white. It wasn’t as bright as my hands, but it was still light, and it was coming out of an elemental who didn’t have the power to control it.
“Very cool.” Bryan held up his glowing hands and turned his wrists. “Teach us how to 3C light. Let’s see just how far we can channel each other’s powers.”
It made sense. If me calling light sent light to them, and since none of them
were flat on their backs, it didn’t short them out, then in theory they should be able to call it from me. They needed to know how to control such a powerful element. I killed my call and mentally prepared myself, switching from caller to instructor.
“It’s going to hurt at first.” I recalled when the element first came to me right after I’d connected with my primary element, courtesy of amazing sex with Bryan. I’d initially connected with each of my elements during sex with each of my guys. With Rob, we literally had a ring of purple fire around us when we connected for the first time. With Clay, sparks of yellow surrounded us as we connected in midair. For Leo, the waves of water filled my dorm room and waterlogged everything touching the floor.
And then there was Bryan. My connection to him had always been more than physical. Maybe it was the fact we shared the same primary. Maybe it something else. I had no idea what it was, only that no matter what, he always got me. He got everything about me. He might not like everything about me—like my darkness or my propensity for running away instead of staying to face something I didn’t want to face—but he got me.
I faced him. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“If we can all harness the power of all the elements, we’ll be unstoppable. The Council won’t stand a chance.”
“We’re only five people.”
“With an entire army behind us. Come on, Katy. Teach us how to be quints.”
“Plus one,” Clay added. “Don’t forget her darkness.”
I kept my focus on Bryan. He was the one who had the biggest issue with me channeling the darkness inside me. “Do you want me to teach you how to control all my elements?”
He hesitated as he studied me. Eventually, reluctantly, he nodded. “If we’re going to make this work, we need to know how to call everything you have the power to control.”
Which meant we’d need to stay concealed, or the Council’s patrols might pick up our calls on their ECADs (Elemental Call Alert Devices). I turned to Rob. “I guess you get your wish. Let’s take this to the grove.”
