Furious Flames (Elemental Book 3)

by Oxford, Rain

  Henry was asleep at his desk with his face in his textbook. Just as I decided to be quiet so I didn’t wake him, the door burst open and Darwin ran in. He slammed the door shut behind him and locked it. “What did you do?” I asked Darwin when Henry jerked awake.

  “Nothing! It wasn’t my fault!”

  “It never is. Trouble sleeping, Henry?”

  He nodded, yawned, and rubbed his eyes. “Bad dreams.”

  “Not spiders again, right?” It had been a long time since I had any problem with John’s spiders. I still saw one or two around, but they stopped bothering me and I didn’t think anyone else even saw them.

  “No. I keep dreaming that I lose control of my jaguar and kill everyone.”

  “Everyone as in just Holli and your parents, right?” Darwin asked.

  “No. I kill a lot of people in my dreams, although it is primarily my parents.” He held up the amulet. “Are we doing this or not?”

  Darwin grabbed the doorknob to run at the same time I grasped his hoodie to stop him. The doorknob flashed and turned yellow. “I don’t want to do it!” he said.

  “Do you want get expelled?”

  “Yes!” His voice cracked. He was lying.

  Henry got up and pushed Darwin into the seat. “Darwin, settle down. You will do this or I will smack you very lightly on the hand.” Darwin’s eyes widened with fear. “You are twenty-two; it’s time for you to act like an adult.”

  Darwin’s eyes narrowed in anger. “You’re only three years older than me. You can’t trick me into getting angry; I’m too smart for that. I know what I’m capable of.”

  “You hide behind your intelligence.”

  “Yeah, that’s pretty stupid. Why are you pushing?”

  “I do not want you to be expelled for your stubbornness. I have seen you shift your claws and teeth, so I know there is a wolf inside you.”

  A weird choking sound made us look at Ghost, who was suddenly sitting on my desk. The cat looked more amused than angry, which was a first. Despite the fact that I saw him quite often, it always surprised me how mangy he looked.

  “You got something to say, fleabag?” Darwin asked.

  Ghost made the same hacking sound again… the old bastard was laughing. “What are you here for?”

  He narrowed his eyes and flopped down on his side for a nap. “There’s something really wrong with that damn cat,” Darwin said.

  “Yeah, but he always seems to give us the key we need. Ghost…” He opened one eye to glare at me. “Are you here for something or to give us something?” I asked. He purred and I rolled my eyes. “Get off my desk.”

  He reached out his paws in a stretch and then stood. Watching me with a mixture of glare and delight, he emphatically extended the claws on his front paws and dug them into the wood desk.

  “I’m going to regret this.” I reached out with my power to communicate with the cat. I felt the minds of my roommates and went for the unfamiliar consciousness. The cat was not a person, but not a normal, wild animal, either. He welcomed my intrusion.

  Instantly, I saw his memory. Through Vincent’s eyes, I saw an underground cavern in a circle of fire. Outside the fire, blood was pooling on the ground. Okay, so my uncle is weird. I already knew that. What should I be looking at?

  Vincent held his hand outward and the fire turned blue. Langril appeared on the other side of the fire. He smirked and pulled the red ball out of his pocket. “What’s your angle this time, Vincent?”

  “We need to either destroy Krechea or destroy the tower.”

  “I’m not letting you destroy the tower.”

  “Then you need to let us use your key so Logan and I can–”

  Langril’s cold laugh was ominous. “You wouldn’t last a day in Dothra.”

  “You don’t want Krechea freed any more than Logan and me. What is it you want for your help?”

  He was no longer amused. “Save Heather. Bring Heather back and I will let you destroy the tower.”

  “You know I can’t make a deal with her because of Ghost.”

  “Your nephew can.”

  “Leave Devon out of this. Had Heather gotten the key before she was killed, you two would have banded against Logan and me. You are not turning my nephew against me.”

  “You’re getting really attached to him, yet I suspect he doesn’t know anything about you. Does he know that John–” His words were drowned out by distortion for a moment. Vincent’s glare was not encouraging. “I’m starting to think nothing could sway Devon’s mind. He’s got your stubbornness.”

  “You realize that Krechea had the shadow walkers possess Logan’s golems to kill him, right?”

  “Of course. Krechea has all of my grimoires and my teachings.”

  “Then he knows that killing us is easier than finding the last key himself. You know him more than the rest of us. Does he know about Devon?”

  “He’s seen Devon, but as long as Devon doesn’t look him in the eyes, he can’t know the power your nephew has. If he learns, he will try to get Devon to attain the key for him. He’s smart, though; he’ll study Devon first to decide whether to use force or coercion.”

  It was startling to be forced from the cat’s mind as a stronger one took over. Vincent. I opened my eyes, back in my room, and the cat vanished. “How the hell is that supposed to help?” I asked the empty space.

  “What did you see?” Darwin asked.

  I relayed the vision as we went outside to the clearing in the forest where I had my earth training meetings.

  We reached the clearing and Henry held the amulet out to Darwin, who took it hesitantly. “Sit down and concentrate, just like I showed you.”

  “I don’t like sitting still.”

  I knew that. Trying to get Darwin to sit still was like trying to hold a football underwater. “Sit,” I said, pointing to a large rock.

  He rolled his eyes and did as ordered. With a dramatic sigh, he closed his eyes and fiddled with the talisman in his hand. Henry and I settled on a log to wait. It was a nice night, at least. After about half an hour, Darwin stood. “This is ridiculous.” He tossed the amulet at Henry and stomped away.

  I sighed and stood. “Henry, can you give me a minute alone?” He nodded and left. After a few minutes, I leaned against the nearest tree and looked up. “Did you have fun following me?”

  Astrid jumped down with a gracefulness only a vampire could achieve.

  “Getting shot multiple times, called a monster, rejected repeatedly just because I’m not human, and forced to hide from the sunlight in a dumpster? Oh, you mean for the last few days. No, but that other stuff was a blast.”

  “I don’t remember you being sarcastic as a kid. I could have been killed in that house.”

  “It’s not my fault you were slow and your friend is a psycho. How long did you know it was me?”

  “I can sense vampires, remember? Did you step on the wire on purpose to put me through that?”

  “Of course not. I didn’t know what would happen. Some people like pushing buttons, I like pulling on tripwires. Why didn’t you say anything at your apartment if you knew?”

  “I didn’t think you would follow me back here.”

  “You should be thanking me. If it weren’t for me, you would have a real investigator tailing you.”

  “Who hired you?”

  “Regina. She called a P.I. company to set up an investigation on you, and Stephen has some guys on the lookout for that kind of thing. We can’t have someone investigating a paranormal.”

  “I thought it was the council’s job to watch for that kind of thing.”

  “We never rely on wizards to do their job. Our butts are on the same line. So, I intercepted the request and told Regina I was assigned to her case.”

  “And?” I prompted.

  She grinned. “And…” She pulled a small notepad out of her back pocket. “August twenty-forth, nine-thirty, subject goes rollerblading in the local park until noon, where he was abruptly asked to judg
e a wet t-shirt contest before winning a three-dollar coupon to Hooters.”

  “Really? You’re making up bullshit to mess with her?”

  “It’s hilarious. And I get paid for it!”

  “Then why have you been following me around?”

  It wasn’t her smile that changed but a subtle tone in her eyes that made her appear absolutely serious. “Maybe getting shot multiple times, called a monster, rejected repeatedly just because I’m not human, and forced to hide from the sunlight in a dumpster is worth it.”

  “Tell me you didn’t come here just because of me.”

  “No. I actually have a real job to do here. Some of Stephen’s information was leaked to an enemy coven in Canada. He took a lot of damage from it. We were able to track down communications, not to a person but a place. We’re pretty sure it’s a student here.”

  “Do you need help?”

  “This is nothing I can’t handle. It does mean I’ll be sticking around here for a while. Would you flip out and shoot me again if I suggested we go get something to eat together?”

  “You can eat human food?”

  “You’ve known me for over twenty years and now you ask me.” She walked away and I followed after a moment.

  My instinct didn’t warn me of danger, despite the fact that I was walking alone in the woods at night with the single greatest predator to ever exist on land. This made me wonder how a vampire would fair with a great white or a box jellyfish.

  “I can eat food, but I don’t need it,” she said, unaware of the battle going on in my head. “I eat it for the taste mostly. Some vampires can’t stomach it at all and some just want the sensation of chewing. I’ve also heard of the disgusting synthetic blood they have here.”

  “You didn’t try it last time?”

  “I didn’t need it. I heard there was going to be a supplier of chewing gum, cigarettes, and gummy bears.”

  “I know. Darwin is the supplier.”

  We arrived at the dining room just as three of the teachers’ assistants started passing blood cups out to the vampires. As I got my food in the buffet line, I heard a vampire mention that they should have tomato juice for the non-vampires to feel included.

  Astrid sat in my usual seat, so I sat next to her and Darwin sat down on the other side of me a few seconds later. Henry sat across from us, not at all concerned with Astrid’s presence. Astrid was scowling at her cup, while Darwin began examining his food for any unexpected ingredients.

  “So, are you here as a student?” Henry asked.

  Astrid shook her head. “Officially, I’m here to make sure my coven is behaving appropriately, not being given special treatment or being treated unfairly, and that their curriculum is appropriate. The treated windows are a huge plus. The distribution of blood needs work. A non-vampire could easily get one.”

  “Dr. Martin said it would work as an unpleasant sedative on non-vampires,” Darwin said. “Does it taste as bad as they say?”

  She grimaced, and drank it. “Worse,” she said with a shudder.

  Darwin started talking about foods of different cultures that were delicacies in that culture and considered revolting in others. This made Henry and me a little nauseated. Astrid, on the other hand, went very pale. She suddenly got up, threw her cup in the trash, and then threw up in the trash.

  The woman next to the trash screamed before asking Astrid if she was okay. Astrid said she was fine and sat next to me. “That blood isn’t going to work.”

  * * *

  Intermediate Alchemy and Potions was my first class on Tuesday morning. I had to use the map to find the room. It was one of the more normal rooms; it had a flat floor, large windows against the south wall, and had six round tables instead of desks. Professor Barton was an average-looking wizard in his mid-fifties.

  I approached his desk before class started. He stopped organizing pages and smiled up at me. “Hello, Mr. Sanders.” He stood and reached out his hand to shake mine. “I have heard a lot about you from other professors.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Professor. I was just wondering if the classes are random or…”

  “I understand you were Professor Langril’s top student for two semesters in a row and this might be unusual for you. However, Professor Watson took over scheduling this semester and he thought you would be better suited to my advanced class.”

  I studied the students entering for a moment. All ten of them were students I recognized and liked working with. Also, it was no mystery that Langril was insane and often had us doing extremely dangerous and often pointless tasks, so I knew Professor Barton’s class would be safer.

  “With all due respect, Professor, I would prefer to transfer back to Langril’s class.”

  His eyes widened. “Really? What for?”

  “I like that class.”

  He nodded. “You will have to get his permission, but it’s fine with me.” I nodded and left. It only took a minute to reach Langril’s class. I knocked and entered. Everyone turned and Mack dropped the cauldron in his hands.

  Professor Langril had eight classes a week from beginning potions to advanced. His classes were often small, as most students wanted other professors like Professor Barton or Mali, who were both respectable and taught a range of regular and advanced classes. The students who did take Langril’s classes, however, usually wanted to remain in them, so each of his classes tended to stay together throughout their required potions classes. For this reason, I saw the same five classmates I had my first two semesters… with one edition.

  “Hey, Devon,” Jackson said, uncharacteristically polite.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked him.

  “I’m Professor Langril’s assistant.”

  “I’ve never seen anyone escape the nuthouse and then voluntarily return,” Becky said.

  “It’s Stockholm Syndrome,” Andi told her.

  “That doesn’t work on cops.”

  “I’m not a cop,” I said. They both rolled their eyes in disbelief.

  “Welcome back, Devon,” Professor Langril said as he entered the classroom. “I thought you had escaped. Mack, clean that up. We don’t need another shoe-melting incident on the first day of class.”

  There were still stains of melted rubber, burns, and blood all over the stone floor from previous spills, the majority of which were Mack’s doing. Students in Langril’s other classes thought we routinely performed blood sacrifices in here. Of course, we played along by checking out creepy books from the libraries or leaving weird equipment in the classroom that we found in storage.

  At the end of class, everyone else left quickly, including Jackson.

  “Why did you choose to come back to my class?” the professor asked when we were alone.

  I shrugged. “Because I think I have a lot to learn from you.” Not necessarily potions, though.

  “Do you trust me?”

  “Not at all.” I gathered up my stuff and started to leave.

  “I need my books back. It is your responsibility to take care of something you borrow without permission.”

  I recalled the time during the previous semester when Darwin, Henry, and I went into the professor’s secret library and found books on the castle and the original founders. I would have felt guilty for breaking into the wizard’s room if it weren’t for what we found in the books, which was evidence that Langril was much more than a professor of potions.

  Although I knew instinctively that Darwin was correct in the fact that Keigan Langril was Leara Kingling, who worked with Heinrich Baldauf on building the castle, we had no proof. Ghost took the books, which probably made getting proof more difficult, but I wasn’t concerned. At the moment, I had no reason to call Langril out on his past. Langril already said he didn’t think I was ready— for something— so I didn’t think he would tell me about the tower just because I knew who he was.

  Besides, I was pretty sure Hunt and my uncle already knew, and there was most likely going to be a chance where I could
use the information to get them to tell me about the tower.

  “Well, Ghost borrowed them from me without permission, so I’ll have to talk to Vincent.”

  “Send Darwin over. I have something that can prove useful.”

  * * *

  My illusions class was on the top floor of the castle, which was normally for the fae classes. No matter how physical my job could get, walking up seven flights of stairs in ten minutes was hell on my lungs. When I reached the top, I first noticed a commotion. To my left was a glass door leading to the sixteen-by-sixteen-foot terrace.

  Quintessence was a secluded university where keeping the students secret from humans was paramount. Between the wizards, vampires, shifters, and fae, drinking and drugs were not an issue because they led to mistakes none of these students could afford. At the same time, they needed to decompress more than humans. Thus, there was a lot more fighting. The new clubs were helping, but “epic duels” were basically tradition.

  I was about to turn and go the other way when a familiar shout stopped me. I sighed and went outside. Darwin and a fae named Laiden were surrounded by other students. Laiden’s fists clinched.

  “I didn’t touch her!” Darwin yelled.

  “She said you did and she’d never lie!” Laiden swung his fist to strike Darwin, but I was ready for it.

  I reached out with my power and flooded the man’s mind. “Stop,” I commanded. The fae froze. “Darwin?” I asked, letting the fae go.

  “He says I groped his girlfriend! You know I couldn’t touch…” he stopped talking when he realized he was waving his hands around. Normally, he could use that defense, but he was wearing latex gloves. He put his hands behind his back and blushed. “I didn’t do it.”

  “Why does she think you did?”

  He shrugged. “Because I was behind her. I… was the only one behind her. I didn’t do it, though.”

  Laiden scoffed. “You practically just admitted it.”

  A woman pulled Laiden off to the side. Several of the students were looking at me like I was about to go postal. I used to get that look a lot before I learned to hide my abilities and dismiss them as intuition.