Air: Elementalist Book 1

by Rebecca Wolf

  “Oh, shut up Penny,” I said flustered.

  “Don’t be so self-conscious, you’re not the only one who apparently almost combusted from lust at that kiss.” Penny made a gesture towards the crowd, and as I looked around I noticed several women fanning themselves, apparently overcome with arousal.

  “We still hate him though, right?” Penny asked as though unsure.

  “Yes.” I said emphatically.

  “Love, Hate, both elicit such similar responses.” Aiden cut in, smirking. If I could, I would have shot flames out of my eyeballs and burnt him to a crisp. Unfortunately that was his talent, not mine.

  “Careful sweetheart. If you keep looking at me like that, we might have to do another public display.”

  “Drink your water Zephy, while I look into getting you a tranquilizer,” said Penny.

  “Remember, manslaughter gets prison time,” added Brian looking anxiously between us. I took a deep breath and drank the water. One more hour and then I will go home, get into pajamas, and eat Ben and Jerrys, I thought to myself. I leaned over so that my mouth was close to Aiden's ear, and hissed softly.

  "You had me so fooled, acting just like a gentleman before your real nature was revealed and we signed that contract."

  He turned to look at me, and his smile was wicked. "I obviously have no need to hide behind a gentlemanly facade now that you have signed it."

  I stood, needing a break, and pulled Penny up after me.

  “Where are you going?” asked Brian

  “we need to visit the ladies’ room,” I said.

  “Yes, we need to… powder our noses,” added Penny awkwardly.

  “Really Penny? Powder our noses??” I asked exasperated, as we made our way to the bathroom. “I was caught off guard!” Penny exclaimed, defensively.

  Thankfully, we found a private bathroom, and both of us quickly shuffled in before locking it behind us. I leaned back against the door and let out a huge sigh.

  “So… intense day, huh?”Remarked Penny.

  I slid down the door with a dark chuckle, “that’s one way of putting it.”

  “You know what?” said Penny. “Let’s just go back out and dance the last hour away after we compose ourselves from that hot tamale of a kiss. My God girl, you didn’t tell me he kissed like THAT! Are we still sure we hate him?”

  “Yes Penny. We hate him.” I enunciated slowly, “I know I contacted him to form an alliance, but I did so under major duress. The only reason he has the ability to protect me is because he’s one of them! And the only reason he’s motivated to protect me is because of my power."

  “Ok, ok, just checking,” said Penny, putting up her hands in surrender.

  “Look, just because he’s charming, and he kisses like a criminal doesn’t mean that he’s good marriage material, Penny. He’s a liar, and a manipulator. He uses his sexual magnetism as a weapon in his well-used arsenal of evil.”

  “Wow. Arsenal of evil, huh?” Penny said, elbowing me.

  “Are you making fun of me?” I asked with a mock glare.

  “Maybe a little,” Penny said with a smile. “Let’s stop wasting the rest of our time thinking about men. I know the reason behind this entire event is infuriating, but maybe the best way to take back your power is to have a good time despite those idiots.”

  “I know this seems ridiculous and self-inflicting, but I don’t want Aiden to feel like he’s causing me happiness. I don’t want to give him that satisfaction.”

  “He’s going to be full of himself regardless of how you act. Don’t let him control your choice to be happy.” replied Penny.

  I nodded slowly. We used the bathroom since we were in there, and somehow just being near the toilet made me feel like I had to pee. Then the two of us linked arms and left the bathroom. We joined everyone on the dance floor, partnering up for the rest of the event, and if we got a few strange stares for being two women dancing swing and tango together, we didn’t care. It was actually kind of liberating.

  “You were right,” I said, “thanks Penny.”

  After the event, we went home together and sat on the couch in pajamas, just as I had hoped. We gave ourselves four hours of downtime before opening the bar at eight. The rest of the night went as usual, and I felt the most relaxed since this whole disaster went down.

  That week passed by without a hitch. Penny was singing in the shower, and humming as she took care of the bar. No graffiti, No threats, just business as usual. We had fewer customers showing up, but we were hopeful that now that the harassment had stopped customers would feel comfortable coming back again. Ben even stopped by with some of his buddies for a drink after their shift ended. He gave Penny a friendly shoulder clap on his way out.

  One late afternoon we arrived at the bar to open up a little later than usual. We both paused for a moment when we found the door to be unlocked. “Careful,” I whispered. Penny morphed into a man, and we tried to move quietly, tiptoeing as we crouched from the foyer towards the main room. On the way she picked up an umbrella someone had left in the corner. “What?” She whispered defensively.

  “Who do you think is in there?? A flock of pigeons??” I whispered back. “What, you’re going to open and close the umbrella and yell “git!” to scare them off?? Your fists are much more effective weapons.”

  “Good point,” Penny whispered back, handing me the umbrella. “You need this more than me, what with your puny little lady hands.”

  “I can’t believe you just said that,” I whispered furiously, “just wait until I tell girl-Penny what you said!”

  “I AM girl-Penny,” said boy-Penny, in exasperation, “stop judging me by my cover.”

  “Shhhh,” I said.

  “Shhhh,” said Penny.

  A shushing war ensued, only interrupted when we heard a quiet whimper coming from the bar area. We both looked at each other and grimaced. For a moment we had forgotten what might be waiting for us. As we moved into the main area, it took us a second to register the destruction because it was so unexpected. Broken glass bottles littered the floor. Bar stools lay smashed and overturned, and the words “suck your own cock and choke on it,” were spray painted to cover the entire rear wall of the bar.

  “Well, I guess we’re not actually opening up tonight,” whispered Penny.

  Both of us took a moment, not sure where to start. We heard a second whimper coming from behind the bar counter. We rushed over as quietly as possible and peered underneath. There under the bar huddled next to the steel garbage can was Tommy. One cheek was so swollen that the adjacent eye was squinting. He clutched his left hand to his chest and was shaking.

  “Hey buddy,” said Penny quietly, “what happened here?”

  “Shhhh,” whispered Tommy, “they’ll hear you.”

  “Who?” We asked, while quietly joining him under the bar.

  “They are downstairs in the storage area,” Tommy continued. “They chucked a bottle at my head and got my cheek. I fell and landed wrong on my hand before crawling over here where they couldn’t see me. I can’t shift to my mouse ‘cuz it hurts too bad.” he whimpered again as he accidentally jostled his arm. I crouched, moving towards where we stored the ice and poured some in a bag before knotting it and heading back.

  “Here,” I said placing it as gently as possible on his arm. “Hold this on your arm until we can get it looked at.” Penny grabbed the sawed-off shotgun that we kept under the counter by the cash register, and strode quickly towards the basement. She placing her ear on the door to see if she could hear them downstairs. Just then the door banged open, slamming Penny into the corner between the wall and the door. Penny's finger slipped on the trigger, and the gun went off so loud our ears rang. Just as the dust cleared from the plaster falling, another intruder burst up from the basement. He saw his companion crumpled on the floor and his eyes widened with shock. He didn’t check behind the door where Penny was currently slouched, looking slightly dazed from the recoil. Instead he looked straight and spotted
me where I crouched in front of Tommy, blocking him from view on instinct. He lifted his gun, and without hesitating, he fired at me.

  A baseball suddenly hit my upper arm and stung me like a bee. How does that even make sense? I thought in confusion, as I looked down at my arm. It was bleeding, my shirt sticking to me where the blood stained it. I stared at my arm, feeling a little woozy at the site of my own blood. Had I just been shot? Tommy took a clean dishrag from one of the cabinets next to us, and held it to my wound, grimacing as it caused his own bad arm to jostle. His face was white as a sheet. I heard more shots fired and heard a scuffle before Penny ran over and crouched next to me.

  “I tried to shoot him, but he was too fast. He jumped over bar tables like he was playing leapfrog. I can’t believe he got away.” She said breathlessly. You all right?” she asked, her face a mask of concern.

  “‘I’ll live,” I grunted, “what about the first guy?”

  Penny started as if just remembering him. She ran over and after looking the guy over, reached for his pulse. “He’s dead,” Penny said, and then, as if just realizing what that meant she startled her eyes looking crazy. “I shot him, and I killed him. Oh my GOD. he’s really dead!" she looked at me as though I had all the answers. “What should we do? We can’t call the enforcers, what if Ben didn’t get a chance to talk to them about backing off? What if they still have it out for me? What if these two WERE enforcers? Oh my GOD.”

  “Okok,” I said, taking a deep breath, we have to think.” I looked at Penny and Tommy. “Anyone know someone who could hide a body?” No one responded. “We need to figure this out quickly. Tommy needs medical attention, and we can’t call a medic or go to a medical facility until we figure out what to do with the body.” I thought for a bit, “I would do it myself but my right arm isn’t really up to it right now.”

  “That’s an understatement,” said Penny, looking again with concern at my arm. "Tommy is not the only one who needs medical attention, Zephy.”Penny hesitated, looking at my bloods soaked arm with worry as she continued to think.

  “We could call Ben, maybe... I mean, he did apologize.”

  “I’m not sure at this point we should trust Ben’s apology,” I said gently.

  Penny nodded, swallowing hard.

  “Jerry would do it for cash.”

  “Jerry would sell us out for cash.”

  “We could call Aiden.”

  “What? No. absolutely not.”

  “Think about it Zephy, he is likely to want to cover this up for your image as a couple, and he is powerful enough to have connections who won’t rat him out for money.”

  “I don’t want us to owe him anything more than I already do.”

  “We're basically doing him a favor, allowing him to cover this up before it compromises his image.”

  I sighed and slumped against the cabinets behind me. I was too tired to argue anymore. “Ok, fine, but you call him.”

  “Your his fiancé, you call him.” said Penny, jabbing at the air in front of me.

  “You’re the one who killed the guy. This is your bar. YOU call him!” I said setting my jaw. I closed my eyes. I refused to budge on this.

  “fiiiiine,” Penny huffed, “but I’m calling him as a woman so I sound more vulnerable.”

  “Do what you gotta do,” I said.

  Penny morphed back into a girl and pulled out her cell.

  “Aiden, this is Penny.”

  I didn’t think Penny had to fake the tremor in her voice. “Zephyr had been shot and is refusing medical treatment until we deal with the shooter’s body.”

  What??

  My eyes flew open in shock. I gave Penny a startled look of disbelief, and tried to grab the phone away. “Don’t you DARE make this about me!" I hissed.

  “what’s that? Your coming?” Penny said, while fending off my feeble attempts to grab the phone.“Make sure she doesn’t move? Yup, got it.” She hung up with a smile of relief, “and that, lady, is how its done!” she whooped.

  “What the hell was that?” I yelled shrilly, “he doesn’t need to know I’m HURT!”

  “Hey, you said to ‘do what I gotta do’. I was just following your suggestion. Now he’s motivated to get here sooner. Five minutes is a lot sooner than if I had just said, ‘there’s a dead body.'"

  Five minutes later the bar door banged open. A flash grenade went off and a team of guards charged in, spreading out with laser scopes searching and securing the area. Aiden stalked in after them, and started immediately issuing commands on how to dispose of the evidence. I rolled my eyes at Penny. Talk about overkill. You would think he was running an elite military operation.

  One of the guards hopped the counter and crouched next to me.

  “Are you Zephyr, ma’am?” I nodded affirmatively. “My name is Adam Silf. I am a medic with the team, and I will be assessing your wounds.”

  “I’ve only got the one, and it doesn’t even really hurt anymore, I’m pretty sure Tommy has a broken wrist though, you should probably see him first.”

  “John is seeing to him ma’am,” the medic said nodding to one of the other armed personnel crouching over Tommy. Adam probed my wound gently, before pouring solvent on it. The next thing I knew I was flat on the floor looking up at the ceiling. “Get a stretcher!” Someone barked.

  “Nono. I’m fine, really.” I reassured them, as I tried to sit myself up. A searing pain went through my arm, and my vision got dark around the edges as I collapsed back down. Oops, must have tried to use the wrong arm, I thought woozily, as they lifted me onto the stretcher.

  “Ma’am, if you can’t stop moving we’re going to have to tranq you,” Adam said sternly. “Wow. Sounds like I’m in trouble,” I slurred.

  “You’re lucky it looks like a clean through and through, and it missed the major arteries. The bullet must have ricocheted off the stainless steel garbage can before hitting you through the deltoid. I’m giving you a shot of localized painkiller to help with the pain.” Adam pulled out a hypodermic needle and plunged it into my arm. Aiden appeared next to the medic.

  “Adam, how is it looking? Any debris, broken bones?”

  “No sir, it’s a clean through and through.”

  “Great. I’m going to cauterize it, but don’t worry,” he said, looking at me reassuringly, “I have excellent thermal precision. It’s more like using a laser then a heated blade.” He took his index finger and thumb and placed them over the entry and exit points. There was a smell of burning flesh and when he took his fingers away, the bleeding had stopped. Adam continued talking to me as if people cauterizing wounds with their bare hands was an everyday occurrence. For him, maybe it was.

  “I’m going to bandage you up and put your arm in a sling.” Said Adam, “you’re going to need to re-bandage it daily, and I’m going to give you a pack of antibiotics. It will probably take about two weeks to heal. Clean it gently. You got all that?”

  “Yup,” I said, my mind starting to clear now that the painkiller was kicking in, and I was no longer losing blood.

  “I was talking to Penny," he clarified.

  “Yes I got that,” said Penny.

  “There’s no need for Penny to understand this, Zephyr is coming back with me.” Aiden said peremptorily.

  “The hell I am!” I said shrilly.

  “Your house is not safe and Penny can hardly protect you when she is the reason your life is in danger.”

  “Penny is my best friend and I will not abandon her.”

  “Him,” said Penny, who had apparently switched back to her male form.

  “Oh, pick a gender already and stick with it for more than two seconds!” I snapped, losing patience with everyone at that point.

  “Maybe you should go with him, Zephy. He’s right, I’m not safe to be around right now.”

  “Shut up Penny. There is no way I’m leaving you when someone clearly has it out for you.”

  Aiden, apparently done with the conversation, made a circular motion with one
finger in the air. “Let’s wrap it up!” He called out, as he headed out towards the back exit. I felt the stretcher move as two guards grabbed each end, preparing to take me with them.

  “Wait, I’m not coming with you!” I exclaimed stubbornly, as I tried to sit up on the stretcher to hop down. Didn’t we just have this conversation?!

  “Tranq, Adam.” Aiden commanded over his shoulder.

  “Don’t you dare, Adam!” I said right before I felt a prick in my neck.

  “Sorry ma’am, Boss’s orders.”

  “Your boss is a jerk,” I managed to slur right before I lost consciousness.

  Chapter 16

  I woke up in a large white room in a queen sized four-poster bed. God, could I GET more femme fatale right now?? I thought self-deprecatingly as I blinked everything into focus and noticed all the pink frills. Penny leaned over noticing that I was awake.

  “Let me guess, were at Aiden’s,” I said dryly.

  “Good morning, how are you feeling?” Penny asked tentatively.

  I harrumphed a reply.

  “Look Zephy, I know your mad, but I think it makes sense you should stay here until we figure out who is after me.”

  “You mean, us, Penny.”

  “No. I mean me, Zephyr,” Penny said in a tone that brooked no argument. “And for the record, Aiden said that I could stay here too if it makes you feel better.”

  “It doesn’t. We’re fine on our own.” I implored her, “seriously, before Aiden came around we were handling things just fine. Now suddenly an elementalist shows up and we need his help? Penny!” I said urgently as an alarming thought formed in my head, “what if Aiden is even the one who is setting this whole thing up?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Zephy,” Penny started before I interrupted her.

  “No seriously, I know I sound paranoid, but think about it. I meet Aiden in a field, soon after someone starts harassing you, Aiden tries to get in my good graces, I decline his advances once I find out who he is and suddenly the harassment escalates? In addition, suddenly my half-brother tries to blackmail me into an alliance? What if Aiden and Jonathan are in cahoots? What if Aiden is trying to destabilize our lives so he can act as the knight in shining armor? What if my father’s family already knows who I am and wants me to marry Aiden to strengthen family ties? Maybe Jonathan blackmailed me to CAUSE me to turn to Aiden??” Penny hesitated as she thought about it.