Elemental Betrayal

by Elle Middaugh

  “What if the Revolutionists attack the front while we secretly attack the back?”

  Elise shook her head. “It’s a much smarter plan than going down the middle, but waiting on backup will cost us precious time. Are you willing to risk Cade’s life like that?”

  “I’m not willing to risk Cade’s life at all,” I said honestly. I glanced at Holden, who’d turned away with flushed cheeks. “Do you have any intel on the Traditionalists?”

  Last I’d heard, Henrie was supposed to be convincing them to help us. Clearly Exis hadn’t complied, considering the bitch had kidnapped me, but it was possible he’d managed to scrounge up some allies, anyway.

  Holden shook his head. “Your dad convinced the Modernists to partner up with the Revolutionists, but as far as I know, the Traditionalists are doing what they do best—staying out of it.”

  God, that pissed me off. I understood the effectiveness of it, but it annoyed the hell out of me to imagine them keeping to themselves while the rest of us sacrificed and died.

  Lilly nudged Elise’s arm. “Feel that?”

  My cousin paused, palm to the dirt, listening to its secrets.

  Chase’s eyes widened and a smile lit his lips when he realized he could now try to do the same. He pressed his palm to the ground and his mouth dropped open. “Whoa.”

  Elise nodded. “They’re coming.”

  “The Revolutionists?” I asked, needing to be sure.

  She nodded again. “As soon as they get here, we attack. We can’t risk waiting a moment longer.”

  My heart squeezed tight as I imagined Cade being tortured in a cell. His family had shot me when I was being tortured; what would my family do to him? Whip him? Beat him? Stab him? Starve him? The possibilities were endless and absolutely sickening.

  Elise pulled out her bag and opened it up to reveal the Surge Protectors.

  “There are eight of us, and only five of these. I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say Cade won’t be needing one. Who should wield the others?”

  “I want one,” I said, holding my hand out.

  “So do I,” Holden agreed, staring me down and daring me to protest. “Nicholai murdered my father in cold blood. I deserve vengeance.”

  Elise sighed. “He’s murdered countless people. I’m pretty sure every Elemental on our side wants vengeance on him.”

  Even so, she put one of the rainbow-sheened crystals in my hand and one in Holden’s. I tucked it into the belt of my jeans for safekeeping. Holden followed suit.

  “I want one, too,” she said, picking up another one with her free hand. “Rosenthorn is mine.”

  “So, there are two left.” I glanced from Lilly to Pax to Chase. None of them seemed overly anxious to get their hands on a crystal. “Maybe we should save them for Sienna and Xavier? Nicholai killed Cade and Xavier’s mom and both of Sienna’s parents. I’m sure they’ll want a chance to stick it to the man.”

  “All right,” Elise agreed. Then she pointed to the woods. “They’re here.”

  I turned and saw multiple rows of Elementals exiting the trees. Sienna, Xavier, Jay, and Kale led the way. As soon as her eyes met mine, Sienna launched into a run. Xavier trailed after her, but Jay and Kale stayed behind to keep the others from doing the same. Calla, Soren, Tom, and Miranda—the coaches who’d trained us in Berwindale—were all there, too, heading up the group farther down. I watched as the Revolutionists formed a sharp line, patiently awaiting the order to attack.

  Pride filled me. I’d helped train these people, helped prepare them for this very moment. To see them standing there so brave, calm, and ready was more than a relief; it was a deep reassurance.

  Sienna pulled me into a fierce hug, squeezing the life right out of my lungs.

  “Oh my god, Val, I thought I’d never see you again.”

  I patted her back and chuckled as best I could with what air I had left. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

  “Where’s Cade?” Xavier asked, scanning our little group as he arrived. “I thought he was with you.”

  I untangled myself from Sienna’s arms and shook my head. “He was captured by Nicholai at the same time I was captured by the Sect. I didn’t know until this morning, but we’re going to get him back.”

  I grabbed a crystal Surge Protector and placed it in his hand.

  “You’re damn right we are,” he agreed, squeezing the weapon tightly even though he had no idea what it was or what it did.

  Elise handed Sienna the other one and explained how they worked. Then she grabbed the other bags, full of the armaments we’d brought from back home. Everyone reached in and claimed their weapons of choice. I equipped myself with a number of daggers for throwing and a couple handguns. Anything else would weigh me down too much.

  “We’re going to have the Revolutionists attack head on while us demigods slip silently around back,” Elise said, explaining the game plan. “The goal is to get to Cade as quickly as possible. Once all eight of us are together, we’ll attack Nicholai.”

  Sienna nodded, and Xavier turned around to signal to Jay and Kale.

  I glanced at Pax then nodded toward the woods. “Better go join the others.”

  He surprised the hell out of me by pulling me into a hug and softly saying, “Good luck, Valerie.” Then he ran over and joined the Revolutionists in the trees.

  I looked up ahead and took a shaky breath. The gray, craggy backdrop before us looked freaking menacing, the stronghold in the middle impenetrable, but I refused to let my fear get the best of me.

  I’m coming, Cade, I promised him in my mind. Please stay strong just a little bit longer.

  “Let’s go,” Elise said. Then she paused as a last-second thought seemingly came to her. “Team up. Holden, come with me. I’ll help you blend while you help me control my Wind.”

  He nodded and grabbed her hand.

  “Sienna, you and Xavier go with Lilly,” Elise continued. “She can cover you guys while you help with her wayward Wind powers.”

  They did as told and latched onto Lilly.

  Then Elise turned to me. “And Val, you go with Chase. He’s probably not the best at blending since he’s such a new Earth, but you’re gonna have to make it work. Stay close to me. I’ll try to help you cover, and you can help Holden with any Fire outbursts.”

  I nodded and took Chase’s hand. It wasn’t hard to pretend he was my friend again, which surprised me. The same was true of Holden now that he wasn’t bitching about my driving or trying to keep me from Cade. I supposed anyone who was on my side now, when it really counted, was a true ally no matter what had happened in the past. For the time being, at least, I could forgive them long enough to accept their help.

  “Okay, now let’s go.”

  Xavier and Sienna sent a final hand signal to Jay and Kale, and a second later, the Revolutionists were charging forward. A loud cry erupted from every mouth like the sound of angry bees. They even looked like a swarm, converging on the Elitists as a synchronized group on a deadly mission.

  Our enemies came out to meet them. They filed through every door, window, and crack the fortress had, more than double our group in number.

  My stomach fell, but Chase tugged on my hand, pulling me away from the action.

  “Over here, Val. Let’s keep up with Elise.”

  I stole a quick glance up at the sky. Please, Ida, don’t let them die. But it was futile. I knew she couldn’t intervene, no matter how much she wanted to.

  I bent over and followed Chase through the wreckage, dipping into craters and hiking over piles of loose dirt and rocks.

  The sound of Elemental enemies converging hit my ears like the crash of a cymbal. Weather erupted from every hand and filled every inch of the environment. Cracks tore through the earth, and the blackened sky rained down spears of ice. Fireballs launched like flaming arrows, and the wind kicked up so much dust and debris it was nearly impossible to see. Guns fired, swords clashed, and fists and blood flew everywhere.

  It was t
he single most terrifying thing I’d ever seen—and I’d witnessed quite a few alarming scenes.

  “Come on, Val,” Chase urged gently.

  His words compelled me to tear my gaze away from the gore beside us, but I couldn’t block out the noise. Even through the whistling gale, screams, splattering, and explosions rang in my ears.

  The need to puke was overwhelming, but I fought through the gagging by concentrating on the back of Elise’s head. Her blonde strands jostled as she ran, swinging back and forth like an ever-flowing river of gold. I never even glanced at the terrain beneath my feet; I was too numb to really feel it anyway. She turned around a few times to make sure Chase and I were following, but I never made eye contact. I just kept focusing on her hair. It was all I could do to keep from losing my shit.

  When we rounded the first corner of the structure, the battle was out of sight, and though the noises were thankfully muffled, I could still hear them echoing loudly across the barren landscape.

  We clung tightly to the building’s silhouette, keeping as flat against it as we could to stay clear of any Elitist spies or sentries. My fingers met with gritty sand as I slid along the wall, but the surface was solid as steel. Nicholai had probably built the damn thing himself.

  As soon as we reached an opening, we filed in and kept to the shadows. Elitist soldiers ran around spouting orders, grabbing extra ammo and weapons, and relaying messages. They were apparently too busy to notice any intruders—either that or the Earths were doing a really good job at concealing us.

  Suddenly, Nicholai stormed up the hall, coming from what looked suspiciously like a cave…perhaps a dungeon of some sort where they were keeping Cade? My heart started racing.

  “What’s the status?” he barked at the closest Elitist—my mother, Amelia.

  “The war has started, father. Revolutionists at the front, Shadow Sect soldiers converging at the back.”

  My eyes widened. Oh shit. That was bad news.

  “Any word on your daughter and the other demigods?”

  “No. They weren’t with the Revolutionists when they attacked.”

  Nicholai growled and marched farther up the hall. Then suddenly, he stopped. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was like he was reaching out with his other senses and, most likely, his Earth powers.

  Shit. Shit. Shit!

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” he muttered before spinning around and scanning the shadows.

  He’d felt us. Even three Earth demigods weren’t enough to overpower his control.

  “All seven of you?” he mused disdainfully. “You couldn’t even make it a challenge for me?”

  Amelia followed his gaze toward the shadows, and she squinted. “Seven heat signatures…”

  Fuck! Chase, Holden, and I should have been on that. Such a stupid, stupid mistake! This whole plan was stupid. We were fucking stupid.

  “Get to the cave!” I hissed then lurched into a sprint, hoping the Earths were still covering me as I used my Fire to fade out our body heat.

  “Draven! Erion!” Nicholai shouted. “Guard the cavern! Do not let them through!”

  The Skyden brothers each took a few long strides and effectively blocked the entrance to the cave.

  My sprint faltered.

  Looks like this is it, I thought with an unnerving sense of calm. It ends right here…

  Right now.

  33

  I opened my hands and charged up my wisps.

  An angry blue fire blazed in my left palm as a furious geyser of water erupted from my right. I’d never seen my elements so aggressive before, so ready to break free and destroy shit, but I’d also never seen them so obedient, waiting patiently on me to set them loose. The realization of my control made my confidence soar.

  I stared at the brothers. They were both Winds, so my elements could hurt them if I got close enough. Of course, that also meant they could hurt me, too. As Winds, though, they’d naturally be better at defense than offense.

  As I quickly contemplated my strategy of attack, more Elitists joined the group and circled around us: Brad Rosenthorn, Adira—the owner of The After Dark nightclub—Loren Marlowe, and her mother, Chelsea.

  One by one, the others fueled up their wisps.

  Great. This many Elementals in such close proximity? It was basically a climatic free-for-all just waiting to happen. I threw caution and strategy to the wind, simply attacking the Skyden brothers as fiercely as possible.

  I reached out, sending a wave of icy spikes at their chests, but they quickly formed power shields and eroded them into tiny ice shavings.

  I jabbed my other hand out, throwing a stream of fireballs, but they tucked and rolled, narrowly avoiding getting scorched.

  Not backing down, I charged closer, blasting them with a powerful surge of water. They merely spun in a circle, forming a mini cyclone, and sucked up my water into their funnel. When they abruptly stopped, all the water crashed to the ground.

  Growling, I formed my nasty fire whip, snapping it at the ground by my feet. For the first time since the fight had begun, they almost looked nervous.

  I lashed out, snaking the whip around Draven’s left ankle and pulling hard. He dropped to the ground with a thud, clawing at the ground as blue flames crawled up his leg. I reeled the whip in, slowly dragging him closer to me as he screamed.

  Erion retaliated on his brother’s behalf. He sent a tornado of wind sailing right for me, spinning me off my feet and into the air. I kept my hold on the fire whip, though, so I ended up dragging Draven into the air with me.

  From that height, I had a clear view of the rest of the fight. Every demi that had even an ounce of control over the Earth was focusing on Nicholai and Brad, and considering the two Elitists couldn’t kill them, it was an extremely smart move.

  Holden was facing off with my mom, Xavier had taken on Adira—who was apparently another Fire Elemental—and Sienna was battling it out with Loren and her mother Chelsea. I had no idea who was winning, or if anyone was yet. It mostly just looked like a bunch of chaos.

  When Erion realized his tornado wasn’t really doing much, he dropped me to the ground—a twenty-foot plunge, at least.

  I gasped and prepared myself for the fall, accidentally letting go of my magical whip.

  Remember parkour, I coached myself. Tuck and roll. It would help divert the impact of the hit and keep my body in motion. I did as I’d ordered myself, but fuck, it still hurt when I met the ground. It felt like half the bones in my body had compacted and crushed.

  I stood, carefully rolling my neck out as quickly as I could, and turned my attention back to the cave. The brothers were slightly distracted—Draven crying out from the pain of his burn wounds, Erion desperately trying to pat out the flames—so the cave was momentarily unguarded.

  I knew it might be the only chance I’d get.

  Lighting myself on fire, I sprinted as fast as I could into the mouth of the cavern, and when I finally made it past the threshold…every last flame died.

  I was out of breath and sweating like crazy, but now I was also insanely freaked out. I held up my hand and willed it to relight, but nothing happened. Swallowing hard, I looked at my other palm, hoping beyond hope that some water might gush out, but again, nothing.

  Fear gripped my chest as I spun around.

  The Skyden brothers were glaring at me, but they didn’t seem to have any desire to follow me inside. Was this cave the reason my powers weren’t working? I looked around at the dimly lit, damp hole in the ground and tried to figure out how it was possible.

  Suddenly, Nicholai’s enraged voice echoed from within the fortress. “YOU LET HER GET THROUGH?!”

  Then he shouted, screamed, roared. The noise alone could have shaken the building’s walls, but coupled with his Earth powers, he brought the entire structure to the ground. Chunks of roof and wall met the floor in a dusty pile of rubble, Elementals were buried alive, and the mouth of the cavern was quickly sealed shut.

  Ph
ysically blocked from the rest of the fight, it was now eerily silent. A few torches hung along the jagged walls, but there didn’t seem to be anything around me. Had he tricked me? Made me believe this cave was important only to trap me down there forever with no Elemental powers to help me out?

  My heart started racing, but there was no reaction whatsoever from my elements. It terrified me. My lungs pumped harder, and my breaths came in short, shallow bursts. This was no time to panic.

  Scan the cave and check for Cade then find a way out of this freaking tomb.

  “Cade!” I called out. I wasn’t sure if he was in any condition to speak, groan, make any kind of noise to alert me to his whereabouts, or whatever, but I had to try. “Cade!”

  Aside from empty echoes, I was met with nothing but silence, pure and numbing.

  Grabbing a torch, I followed the wall deeper into the cavern.

  It was smaller than I’d originally thought, just a teardrop-shaped space in the ground with a narrow mouth and a wide bottom. Even at the broadest point, it was only about fifty feet or so across. I held the torch higher, trying to shed more light on the situation.

  “Cade!” I shouted again, my voice echoing ominously off the cold walls all around me.

  He’s either not here, or he’s already…

  I closed my eyes and swallowed hard.

  No. God damn it, NO!

  I hadn’t come this far just to lose everything. I needed to find a way out of this anti-Elemental cave. Nicholai must’ve been keeping Cade somewhere else. That was it. There was no way he was down here—he would have answered me if he were—because there was no way he was dead. He’d survived so much; I knew he could survive this.

  But that’s when I saw a body…bruised, bloody, deathly pale, and unmoving.

  A sob tore from my throat, and I was running before I even knew what was happening. Crashing to my knees beside him, my fingers quickly flew to Cade’s neck. Dear Jesus, he was cold. If there was a pulse, it was too weak for me to feel it. I blinked back the tears flooding my eyes and held the torch closer to his face. The glow from the flames was warm and orange, but even still, I didn’t think he looked…blue or gray. It gave me hope that I might not yet be too late.