by Kat Adams
“Stace?”
“Someone help me! She’s so cold. I called fire, but it burned her skin. It actually burned her!” His voice shook as much as he did. “I-it doesn’t make sense. Fire shouldn’t burn her, not like that.”
Unless it was already too late.
Clay popped back in with Syd Franklin. He took one look at Stace and rushed into the middle of the chaos and spread some sort of shiny blanket on the ground. “Set her on this.” He then covered her in another shiny blanket.
Syd ordered everyone back. I refused to move as I stared at her pale, motionless body, her usually neat hair ratty and full of twigs and leaves. Her usually warm expression still, lifeless. “No.”
“Montana.”
“No. Oh, God. Clay, I can’t feel her. I can’t feel any type of life, any power at all, coming from her. W-what’s that mean?”
Clay took my hand and led me away before pulling me into his arms. I held him tight, fighting back my emotions. Stacey Layden was yet another parental figure in my life to leave me.
“We have to get her core temp up,” Syd stated in a tense voice. “I need fire.” He turned and looked to me.
“No,” I said and shook my head violently. “They tried that, but it didn’t work.”
Syd adjusted his glasses as he returned his attention to Stace. “I need everyone to stand way back. I don’t know how much it’ll take.”
A white glow illuminated from his hands. Clay staggered and leaned against me. I didn’t feel anything. The call wasn’t strong enough, so I rested him against a nearby tree before kneeling next to Syd and placing my hands on her. She was so cold, so still, and had a sickly gray color to her.
“Is she already gone?” I asked Syd under my breath.
“I refuse to believe she is.” When he regarded me, I spotted the trickle of blood trailing out of his nose. “Th-third call today.”
“Let me help.” I concentrated on the light flowing from my soul and into Stace. Her color returned, if only slightly. My heart rate spiked as hope flooded me and surged my power.
“Focus your call on her torso,” Syd instructed, now too weak to maintain a call of his own. “Feed her heart with the light.”
I did, scared I’d give her too much, while also scared of not giving her enough.
“Enough.” Syd placed his hand over mine. I pulled back. “That should do it until I can get her to the infirmary. Let’s get her out of here. Who can teleport us?”
The elementals all exchanged glances and shook their heads. My light call had shorted them all out. I took a breath to volunteer when Brooks popped in and pulled Stace into his huge arms. “I got this.”
“My call shorted out everyone’s powers.”
“I teleported to the other side of the forest since I figured light would be involved. Doc, grab my wrist. Let’s go.” They popped out.
A maniacal laugh caught in my ears and whipped me around. The dark elemental I’d had trapped in a cage of roots gloated. “Told you. She’s as good as dead.”
A rush of cold raced through me, charging me and making me hyper focused on my task. This woman needed to die. They all needed to die. Fury blinded me as that cold took over. Anyone in my way of being the supreme elemental needed to be removed by any means necessary.
I didn’t slow as I marched over and grasped her around the throat and squeezed, her pulse pounding against my fingers and thumb. I pressed my fingers deeper into her throat. She coughed as her eyes bulged. I smiled, enjoying her pain and suffering. “If I squeeze just a little longer, you’ll lose consciousness. If I twist my hand just a little to the left…” I paused and did exactly that, stopping before I snapped her neck. “Bye, Felicia.”
“Killing me won’t bring her back.”
“But it sure will make me feel better.” I tightened my grip, drawing in a deep breath as pleasure raced through me. I wanted nothing more than to torture this weak elemental before killing her. She didn’t deserve to walk this earth. I’d eliminate all weak elementals once I ruled this world.
And I would rule this world. It was my destiny.
Grinning, giddy from the power coursing through me, I squeezed and twisted. The thought of snapping her neck, watching the life drain from her body, exhilarated me. A blast of air hit me from behind, dropping me to my knees. I spun and was about to counter with earth when blazing green eyes assaulted me.
“Stand down, Reed.” Rob walked out from behind Clay, standing shoulder to shoulder next to my air elemental. Having my own boyfriends attacking me didn’t shock me nearly as much as who stood with them, his hand up, palm facing me.
“You’re out of control, charge.” Spencer spoke in that damn haughty voice I hated. “Clearly, we’ll need to work on that.”
“B-b-but you’re dark.” There went me impersonating a backfiring car again. The coldness racing through my veins melted away. I looked at him, he at me, for what felt like an eternity.
“Am I? Or are you?”
I stood and dropped my jaw as more and more members of the patrol joined them, facing me. “What are you all doing standing there? Standing with him? He’s using dark magic to enhance his powers. Can’t you see it?”
They all stared back at me. Even the dark elemental whose neck I’d nearly snapped blinked at me, fear evident in her gaze.
“We got her to the infirmary as fast as we could.” Brooks returned and stood with the line of elementals looking at me like I was the bad guy and not the ones who’d attacked us, who’d nearly killed Stacey Layden. His eyes saddened as he regarded me. “It was as fast as we could, but…” He released a ragged sigh.
Hearing that broke me. I shook my head. It couldn’t be true. She wasn’t gone. She couldn’t be. “No.”
“Montana…”
“No!” I refused to believe it and backed away. Another parental figure—gone.
Spencer stepped forward. “Katy.”
“No! Stay away from me!” I continued to retreat. They were closing in. They were all closing in, choosing their side. The crushing blow blinded me and fueled my actions. I had to get away from them, had to clear my head and plan my next move.
So I teleported out.
19
Where the hell was I?
In my haste to escape—okay, run away—I didn’t think about where my teleport would take me, only on how much I hated Spencer Dalton, which would explain why I had no clue where I was now. It looked like a dark, deserted alley, which was never good. And it was cold, which made no sense. It was still summer. I drew in a deep breath. Why did it smell like oil and seawater?
Something tells me we’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto.
I didn’t trust myself in my current state of mind to stick the landing of another teleport, so I whipped out my phone to order an Uber. No service. Holding my phone in the air, I walked around in search of the elusive signal and dropped my arm when that failed. The buildings flanking me probably blocked it, so I moved out of the alley and onto a sidewalk in front of a line of storefronts, grateful at the sight.
Civilization. People walked up and down the sidewalks, in and out of the stores, and made me feel a heck of a lot better that I hadn’t teleported to somewhere so remote I was the only living thing for miles.
I glanced around and spotted the source of the smells. Several ships were drydocked and in various stages of repair as they sat in a line in front of huge docks.
I’d landed at a port. Which port was the question. I checked my phone for a signal, surprised to still have no service. I moved away from the ships being repaired and toward the docks, where hundreds of masts were scattered across the skyline like toothpicks. Surely there’d be a signal over there.
“Pardon me.” The comment wasn’t directed at me, wasn’t even near me, but the accent had me jumping back into the shadows. A very distinctive head of shaggy blond hair stood out of the crowd. What the hell was he doing here? Was he looking for me? Were others looking for me? How’d he know where I landed when I
didn’t know where I’d landed?
Careful not to be seen, I followed Spencer as he weaved through the people and hurried along the sidewalk, darting from the shadow of the buildings to hide behind a parked car. Then a giant mailbox. Then another car. When he disappeared around a corner, I waited a few ticks before turning the corner.
And immediately jumped back when he slowed and glanced behind him. Shit. Did he see me? I peeked around the building and confirmed he’d started walking again, this time a little faster and toward a metal building with a huge sliding door. A warehouse, more than likely for repairing boats, considering where I was.
I followed. When he paused at the entrance and glanced behind him again, I ducked behind a forklift. The screech of metal against metal pulled my attention back to the entrance as the large door slid open enough for him to walk inside. It slid closed again.
Glancing around to make sure no one followed me the way I followed him, I hurried to the side of the warehouse and swept it with my gaze, looking for a way inside without having to use that monster of a noisy door. I spotted a ladder attached to the building and moved to it, hoisting myself up to the flat roof. I hated heights of any kind and swallowed my fear, telling myself I’d just use one of my elements to catch me if I fell instead of me breaking every bone in my body on impact with the cement.
I could use my elements to lift me to the roof, but didn’t want to risk Spencer smelling my call. He knew the scent of my call, considering he’d been with me every day since school started, training me, torturing me, and being a general pain in the ass.
I pulled myself over the side and planted my feet firmly on the roof, searching my surroundings before moving to a set of windows providing natural light into the warehouse. Spencer stepped into the square of light and seemed to be talking to someone. I couldn’t hear anything and glanced around for a way to get closer, spotting an access door on the other side of the rooftop. Rushing over, I placed my hand on the knob and slowly turned it.
It was locked.
“Dammit,” I muttered. If only I knew how to pick locks. Wait. I didn’t have to know. I could use air to move the tumblers. It was a gamble, calling this close to Spencer and risking him picking up on the scent, but I had to get closer. Whatever reason he had for sneaking off to a shady warehouse couldn’t be good. This could be the proof I needed to convince everyone he was the dark one, not me.
I called only enough air to unlock the door and immediately killed my call once the tumblers clicked into place. I turned the knob and slowly, carefully opened it a sliver. It didn’t make any noise, so I opened it just enough to slip inside and silently moved along a grated platform until I was close enough to pick up the voices.
“Yes, I’m quite sure I wasn’t followed.”
Think again, dickwad.
I couldn’t hear the other person, only that the voice was distinctly male. It…sounded familiar. Gravelly. Like the owner had gargled glass. My heart rate kicked up as memories of that voice haunted my thoughts. No. It couldn’t be. I had to get closer to be sure and descended a set of short stairs that led to another platform, careful to stay low as I moved to a better position.
“No,” Spencer went on, his haughty accent grating on me. “They suspect nothing. They even included me in the search. It was quite amusing watching them run around. If that girl hadn’t given up the professor’s position, they would have never found her. She lives, but barely.”
Stace was alive? The relief coursed through me, lifting my spirits and bringing a smile to my lips. I’d jump for joy and pound my fist into the air if I weren’t currently hiding from and spying on my handler.
“And what of the prophecy?”
Oh shit. That voice. It had to be him.
I froze as the man I’d defeated and supposedly killed last year walked into the light. The same greasy black hair curtaining his narrow face. The same sharklike orbs for eyes. The same scar bisecting his right cheek. A shudder of fear ripped up my spine. I’d nearly died defending my world and with four powerful elementals on my side. I’d lost battles against the man now partnering with the darkest of dark elementals. Those two together would be impossible to beat.
He still wore that full-length leather duster and heavy black boots, looking like he’d just come from an Assassin’s Creed cosplay event. He had a leather glove covering the hand I’d taken from him, and I wondered what he had inside it, filling out the fingers since he no longer had any there. “And the quint? She lives?”
“She wasn’t alone.”
Alec slowly walked in a circle around Spencer, who stood at attention and stared straight ahead. No question who remained the grand poohbah of dark elementals and who was just poo. “I didn’t ask for excuses.”
He stiffened and gave a curt nod. “Yes, the quint still lives.”
Alec held up his hand and squeezed the air. Spencer’s eyes suddenly grew wide, rounded, as he grasped at his throat and dropped to his knees. “That’s the second chance I’ve given you to destroy her. You’ve disappointed me yet again.”
Holy shit. Was he about to kill Spencer? I mean, it would save me some time and effort since I wouldn’t have to kill him, but wow.
“Alec, stop!” The high-pitched voice was unmistakable. Julie Bailey rushed to his side. “Baby, please. You promised.”
Baby? Eww. Apparently, the depths of this woman’s stupidity still had no bounds.
Alec lowered his hand, and Spencer fell forward on his hands, coughing as he dragged in deep breaths. Jules helped him to his feet. “What about my sister? How close have you gotten?”
As close as disgustingly possible and then some. I shuddered again, this time for an entirely different reason than eavesdropping on my mortal enemy, his new pet minion, and his misguided girlfriend.
“I’ve broken her,” Spencer replied in a hoarse voice. “She’ll follow me anywhere, even to our side.”
Our side. He’d called it our side, which confirmed my suspicions. Spencer Dalton was as evil as Alec von Leer. And now I had two powerful dark elementals to battle to save my world.
Well, isn’t that just freakin’ peachy.
“Return to the academy,” Alec ordered. “Continue weakening the quint.”
“She’s healed the cut. I don’t quite understand how, but I’ll need to hit her with another powerful spell to reopen it.”
Shit. He saw that? So much for keeping it from him and giving me the advantage. I still planned to figure out how to ward myself from dark magic so he couldn’t do it again. I didn’t understand why the cold continued to take over even after the magic had disappeared. Then again, my hand did glow, first at the wards, then again in the fog, so something was still in me.
“It will require her using light on me again to weaken her.”
Alec nodded. “Keep attacking the boyfriends. She’s blind when it comes to them and won’t even see it coming.”
Wanna bet, asshole? Now that I had proof Spencer was dark and working with Alec—awesome tidbit there—I needed to get back to Clearwater and tell someone. But who? Stace was in no state to go to the Council. What other connections did I have?
I had a boyfriend who now worked for the Council. My decision made, I concentrated on the academy.
And teleported out.
20
News of Stace’s attack spread around the school like a wildfire in high winds. Students I’d never talked to stopped me to ask if I knew anything. Being her TA gave me an in with her.
I walked into Ignis and took the stairs to Rob’s room like I had every right to be there, my heart in my throat and my tail firmly between my legs. I didn’t exactly leave on the best of terms. I was batting a thousand when it came to the way I’d been treating the guys. The whole trying-to-kill-them part wasn’t exactly my fault. Sneaking away like a coward every time I had to face something I didn’t like totally was. I needed to stop being such a big whiny crybaby.
Embrace the suck. It was something a friend of mine from high
school used to say. Her dad had been career military and had all sorts of sayings. I didn’t know if that saying had anything to do with the military or not, but it fit this situation, because it definitely sucked.
After knocking on Rob’s door until my knuckles were numb and throbbing, I whipped out my phone to text him, frowning when the screen didn’t light up. Dammit, it was dead. I tucked it away and knocked again. He didn’t answer. Maybe he was still out on the call, which wouldn’t make much sense since we’d found Stace. He could be helping clean the scene for brownie points with the Council.
I needed to tell someone what I’d learned. About Alec being alive. About Spencer being dark and partnering up with him. About how Julie was working through Spencer to get to her sister. This was major news. Someone needed to know, someone with a connection to the Council. I couldn’t go to Jess and tell her that her boyfriend was dark and then ask to use her phone to call her aunt. Not only would she refuse to believe me, she’d also refuse to let me use her phone. Who’d that leave?
Ah crap.
When it clicked, I cringed at the twatty solution. There was one other person. As much as I didn’t ever want to step foot in that dorm again, let alone talk to the occupant of that room, let alone talk to the father of said occupant, I had no choice. She had a direct link to the Council through her dad, and I needed to tell the Council what I knew.
Resolving myself to the task, I set out, leaving Ignis and crossing the grass to Aquae. I slowed as I walked inside the building. It still smelled the same, like wet cardboard and loneliness. The same ugly watercolors graced the walls of the commons. Students stared at me as I walked through the main room and took the elevator to the top floor.
I half wanted her to be gone so I didn’t have to see her again. I don’t know how we’d managed to successfully avoid each other since school started, but I’d definitely enjoyed the peace. I heard faint giggles and a male voice from the other side of the door. Oh, darn. Looked like I was interrupting something.
Knocking on the door, I waited. The voices fell silent.
