Fury of Earth

by Kat Adams

  Betrayal hit the back of my throat. Yep, here comes the tea. I bolted from the chair and reached the sink just in time, emptying out the contents of my stomach. I leaned on my elbows, panting as I swallowed to wet my raw throat, and deliberated my next move. I could lose my shit, scream at her for never telling me, just like she’d kept the secret of the real reason my mom had left this world and how long Ms. Wilkerson had known about my destiny. If I did that, I’d probably lose the support of all the witches, which would cut our numbers in half. I could walk away and go about my business as if this never happened, keeping our numbers intact, and never confront the traitor in our midst. I knew from past experience ignoring something like that resulted in disaster every time, so that one was out.

  “How could you do this?” I spoke into the sink, not wanting to look her in the eye until I had control over this turmoil swarming inside me like angry murder hornets. My hand throbbed beneath the ward. It didn’t glow. It didn’t radiate in the shape of the original cut. It just fucking hurt. Everything inside me hurt. My head. My heart. My soul.

  “Do what?” She set the supplies on the floor and walked into the treehouse, but not over to me. She crossed to the table and picked up my teacup, studying the leaves. When her shoulders fell and she lowered her head as she slowly replaced the cup on the saucer, I knew. The leaves had foretold the truth. I was destined to die, and she’d been prepping me to do exactly that. “I see.”

  “You see?” I straightened and angrily wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “What do you see, Stace? What exactly do you see when you look at me? The sacrificial lamb? The stupid girl who trusted you with my life, never knowing you were grooming me to die? How could you?” I inhaled sharply to stop my voice from cracking, the emotions tightening my throat.

  She kept her head down and said nothing.

  “Stace?” Renee prodded and rested her hand on Stace’s shoulder. “Say something. I interpreted the tea leaves wrong. I had to have read them wrong. There’s no way you’d do something like this. Please, tell me I’m wrong.”

  “You’re not wrong,” she said softly, sadly, her voice thick. “I’ve tried so many times to find another truth in the prophecy. Another interpretation. Something, anything but this.” She finally lifted her reddened gaze, her eyes swollen, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Anything but this.”

  I blinked, sending tears melting down my own cheeks. “I’ll never trust you again.”

  I teleported out.

  JUST ONCE, I’d love to stick the landing.

  I should have known better than to teleport as upset as I was. At least I landed somewhere familiar, right next to the statue of Cressida Clearwater, and scrambled to throw on the necklace before anyone saw me. I was elemental enemy number one and probably had a price on my head for my capture. I wouldn’t put it past Vanessa or one of her twin Barbie bitches to turn me in if given the chance.

  It was cold, dreary, and the wind had a bite to it. I kept forgetting to bring a coat. Then again, I didn’t expect to teleport outside the veil. In fact, I didn’t think that was possible and made a mental note to talk to Stace—no, I’d never talk to that treacherous witch again—I’d talk to Renee. Or Serenity. Or any of the other high priestesses. But Stacey Layden and I were done.

  Now that I was back at the academy and completely hidden from view, I’d take advantage of it and poke around. Clay and the others were back at the grove, and as much as I tried, they’d refused to leave me, so I no longer had eyes and ears at the academy.

  Time to go sleuthing.

  I followed two water elementals as they walked out of Aquae, sneaking up close to listen in on their conversation. I recognized them both as MEs—magically enhanced—from the tribunals at the beginning of the year. In fact, I was pretty sure I’d had to save one of them after a Council member’s brutal attack left them barely breathing.

  “I don’t know who she thinks she is,” the female of the duo snapped, her high sandy-brown ponytail swinging as she moved in jerky, rigid movements. “She made me clean her room. Why does she get an entire dorm room to herself and we have to stay in the basement? It’s cold and dark down there.”

  “I’m pretty sure there are rats,” the male added. “My pure made me do his homework and his laundry. I even had to fold it and put it away.”

  Hold the phone. His pure? What the hell?

  “What’s so great about being a pure anyway? That just means they’re all inbred.”

  “Keep your voice down, Anna. If the Council hears you talk like that, you’ll go back to Carcerem. You know the rules. This is the only way we get to stay at the academy.”

  “By being Vanessa Graves’s servant,” she spit out, her tone sharp, angry. No shit. I’d be pissed too if the Council forced me to wait on the likes of that ice-queen bitch. “I miss Clearwater the way it was when we first got here. Don’t you, Jacob? I miss Katy Reed.”

  “Shh,” Jacob hissed through his teeth and glanced around. “You know it’s illegal to say her name. Come on. We don’t want to be late for Primary.”

  They walked away as I thought about what I’d just learned. The Council outlawed my name? Real mature, assholes. Who feared a name? And what the hell? They forced the MEs into servitude? They weren’t any less elemental than the pures, and I hated that the Council treated them as if they were.

  How many MEs refused to wait on pures and wound up back at Carcerem? How could I get them back out? They didn’t deserve to be there any more than they deserved to be there for being magically enhanced.

  I headed toward the main hall and snuck into the building behind a student with his nose in a book. Carefully, I crept into the main office and over to the door leading to the headmaster’s office. It was closed. I couldn’t just open it and announce my presence, so I looked around for something to cause a distraction.

  “I don’t care if you have to hire a hundred more hunters to patrol the woods. Find her!” Alec’s shout from behind the closed door caught my attention. Who was he talking to? I really needed to get into the room. Could I teleport in without them hearing the audible pop announcing my appearance? I didn’t want to chance it and continued to look for a distraction to at least get them to open the door enough for me to slip inside the office.

  “We’ve graduated students early to work for the Council.”

  Was that Virgil Graves? I stopped looking for a distraction and listened in.

  “We’ve tried hiring more. Those that haven’t already left are threatening to leave if we don’t stop recruiting Council members from the academy.”

  “Don’t give them the choice. Force their hand.”

  “How do you propose I do that?”

  “You’re head of the fucking Council, Graves.” Alec raised his gravelly voice once again. “Make it law to serve on the patrols.”

  “A draft?” Graves didn’t sound overly enthused about the idea. “That sort of thing may have worked in the Nelem world, but it won’t work here.”

  “Make it work. If elementals refuse to serve their governing body, they’ll be sent to Carcerem.”

  “The prison is already over capacity.”

  “Jesus God, man. Must I think of everything?” Alec slammed something. “Slap them with an elemutus, then. Give them ultimatums. Let them know the consequences if they don’t comply with the new law. Rule with an iron fist, Graves. Now, where is that cute little snitch?”

  “Mind your tongue, Alec. That’s my daughter you’re talking about.”

  Gross. I already knew Alec had a thing for girls half his age, as he’d proven by being with Jules, and a thing for women his own age as he’d proven by being with my mom. Now he had a thing for Vanessa? I shuddered.

  “Oh, of course. How rude of me.” Alec sounded less than sincere with his reply. “Bring her to me.”

  “I’m not your errand boy. I don’t work for you. You work for me, lest we forget.”

  “How can I forget when you remind me of that fact every chance y
ou get?”

  “Just reminding you of the pecking order, Alec. We have a deal.”

  “You had a deal with Samantha Reed, and look where that got her.”

  My heart pinched at the mention of my mother’s name. She might have been evil to the core of her very being, but she was still my mom. Despite everything she’d done to me, done to destroy this world, I still hadn’t wanted her to die and now I missed her every day.

  “She changed the deal. I warned her what would happen, just as I’m warning you now. I’ve given you everything you’ve asked for. All I’m asking in return is for you to keep your word. It’s not that difficult a concept.”

  Ouch. Virgil Graves was kind of a badass when he needed to be. I’d be impressed if I didn’t already hate him.

  “I want the quint,” Alec growled after a silence so long, it made me uncomfortable, and I wasn’t even in the room.

  “And I want world peace.”

  Alec barked out a laugh that seemed to bounce off the walls. “You want world domination, Graves. Don’t kid yourself, and don’t lie to me. Once we kill the quint, the rest of the elemental world will kneel before us.”

  “With them out of the way, the Nelems won’t stand a chance.” Graves joined in with an equally maniacal laugh. “Speaking of errand boys, where is yours?”

  “He disappeared along with the two in your patrol, no doubt to join the resistance. I knew they were lying when they said they’d broken it off with her.”

  Oh, shit. They knew the guys were with me. No way could they return to this world now, not until we took down the Council and made it safe for all elementals to live out in the open.

  “How is it your patrols haven’t picked up so much as a scent from the defectors?”

  “Witches,” Graves hissed. “Layden, no doubt, is helping her.”

  Layden, no doubt, can suck my big toe. I didn’t want anything to do with her ever again. Bitterness enveloped me and left a bad taste in my mouth. So that was what betrayal tasted like. Good to know.

  “We knew this would happen,” Graves went on. “It’s why we agreed to get rid of her. If the leechers hadn’t failed, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

  Oh my God. Oh my God! Virgil Graves had ordered the hit on Stace? How far would this guy go to get what he wanted? Siding with dark elementals. Inviting leechers into the academy. Killing my mom. Now ordering hits on good elementals? When would this end?

  When I put a stop to it.

  I’d heard enough and backed away from the door. My hip clipped the corner of a table and knocked a potted plant over. It rolled across the surface and out of my reach. I froze as it fell over the edge and called air before it hit the floor, leaving it hovering an inch from impact. Whew. That was a close one.

  The office door flew open, and out stormed the darkest of dark elementals, the bane of my existence. I tensed as he did a quick scan of the room with those sharklike eyes. His hair once again looked as if he’d washed it in motor oil. It hung like sad, wilted curtains around his thin face. You’d think no longer being in hiding would grant him the liberty of taking a shower. Apparently not.

  “What is it?” Graves appeared behind him in the doorframe and glanced around, his piercing blue eyes taking the same path. He stopped abruptly when he spotted the plant hovering an inch above the floor.

  Crap.

  Should I teleport out? They’d hear the audible pop but wouldn’t be able to see me. If I did, I’d safely escape but would lose the advantage of them not knowing I had a way of becoming invisible. If I stayed, maybe shrank down into a corner, they’d eventually leave, and I’d be able to walk away without them ever knowing I’d been here.

  Graves approached the table. I stepped out of the way, careful not to run into anything else. He held up the plant and studied it. “This was Lulu’s. She’s the most powerful air elemental I’ve ever encountered. Perhaps she put some sort of charm on it to never break.”

  “No, you fool. I smell the scent of her call. It’s her.”

  “Who?”

  “Who do you think? The quint.”

  Shit.

  Alec spread his arms and felt the air. “This is why we can’t find her or any of her followers. They’ve mastered some invisibility spell. She’s still here. I feel it. I feel her presence.”

  Eww, dude. Gross. I didn’t want him feeling anything of mine. I wanted so badly to set him on fire, possibly bury him up to his eyebrows in the ground, or maybe attack him with another corpsenado. Attacking him wouldn’t help the situation, but it sure as hell would make me feel better.

  I couldn’t take the chance he’d get off a lucky shot that would not only hurt like hell, it would also hurt the guys thanks to our wards. They’d all come rushing to my aid by teleporting in and getting themselves sent to Carcerem for defecting. I couldn’t let that happen.

  “Daddy?” Vanessa Graves walked into the office and gave him a look as he circled inside the room. “What are you doing?”

  Both Alec and Virgil had their arms extended as they felt around the room for me. I could dodge two of them, but if she joined in the search, I’d be forced to teleport out. I couldn’t avoid three sets of hands reaching for me. It wasn’t that big an office.

  “Not now, princess. I’m in the middle of something.”

  “Come now, Virgil. Your princess may have news.” Alec, shockingly enough, stopped searching for me to give Vanessa his undivided attention. For what could possibly be the first time ever, I was happy to see her.

  And so was Alec, judging by the fresh spark of disgusting interest in his gaze as he scraped it over her body. She visibly shuddered and inched back, looking away. I didn’t like her and wanted to cut the bitch just about every time she opened her mouth, but at that moment, I wanted to jump between them and protect her from the predator now eyeing her like she was on the menu.

  “Please, princess.” Alec’s use of her nickname didn’t carry the same meaning and seriously gave me the creeps. I could only imagine how it made Vanessa feel. He closed the gap between them, causing her to stiffen. When he lifted a lock of her raven hair and held it to his nose, I threw up a little in my mouth. “What news do you bring?”

  She looked to her dad with wide, pleading eyes. He seemed more interested in searching for me than in the fact his daughter was being objectified and nearly assaulted by a man twice her age and creepy AF.

  “Daddy?” she squeaked out, her voice weak, shaking in fear. I feel you, sister. I may not like you, but I will jump in to save you if Alec touches you again.

  Finally, Graves acknowledged her, spotted how close Alec stood behind her, and straightened. “Alec, we’ve talked about this.”

  “Not out in the open,” he growled and rolled his eyes.

  What the actual fuck? That was how Daddy protected his little girl? Not by beating the snot out of the creeper clearly freaking her out, but by giving him permission to assault her behind closed doors? I was seconds away from grabbing Vanessa and teleporting out, just to get her the hell away from Alec’s wandering hands and her own father’s compliance with it.

  “Continue the search. I’m going to have a little chat with your daughter. Come, princess.” Alec waved for her to enter his office. “Let’s see what you have to offer.”

  That did it. If Virgil Graves wouldn’t protect his daughter, I would. I reached for her hand. At the same time, Alec took her other hand to lead her into the room. I couldn’t teleport while he touched her, or I’d take him with us.

  Time for plan B.

  I snuck into the room with them right before he closed the door and stayed as close as possible to Vanessa without giving away my presence. Alec pulled her over to one of the chairs by his desk and sat her down, his hands lingering on her shoulders. He gave them a caress before and stepping around to take a seat at his desk.

  Now was my chance. I reached for Vanessa’s hand and nearly had it in my grasp when what Alec said stilled me. “Any new messages in that cartoon of hers?”
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  Cartoon? He called my beloved webcomic a cartoon? Now I had to kill him. But that wasn’t what had me frozen in shock. He knew about the messages. How’d he know about the code and the cypher and all the carefully hidden gems I’d worked so hard to place inside each webisode?

  There was only one way—I had a spy on the inside.

  “She posted a new one,” Vanessa announced proudly, like it was some sort of secret. It was on the internet, Einstein. “We haven’t been able to crack it, but we will. I’ve got two MEs on it.”

  “Are you sure they can be trusted? Most of those dilutes are sympathizers of the quint.”

  She fluffed her hair, which Alec took keen interest in watching. His nostrils flared as if picking up the scent of her shampoo like he’d done earlier when he’d literally sniffed her hair. I was in serious risk of losing my lunch over the display. You are doing nothing to help your cause, ice queen.

  “They wouldn’t dare cross me.”

  “So says you.” He stood and closed in on her. She stiffened, clearly bracing herself for another assault. “What else do you have for me, princess?”

  She thrust out her chin, and I grinned. That was her standard response right before she told someone off. Finally, she’d put Alec in his place for calling her princess and touching her like he had that right.

  But…she didn’t.

  “I want more MEs.”

  Alec barked out a laugh and moved to the window behind his desk, looking out and clasping his hands behind him. “You already have two. Why do you need more?”

  “I have a lot of work I need them to do. It’s too much for two. I need at least twice that.”

  “There aren’t enough to go around as it is with so many locked away at Carcerem. The ones left seem to be disappearing. Assigning two more to you takes them away from other pures.”

  Vanessa’s lips twisted into the hint of a smile. “I’m okay with that.”

  Alec glanced over his shoulder, an amused expression on his face. “How very cold and selfish of you. You truly live up to your nickname of ice queen, don’t you, princess?”