Elemental Air (Paranormal Public Series)

by Edwards, Maddy

  “The dorms are safe,” she said. I asked myself: of all the possible dorm mothers I could have been given, how did I end up with her?

  “Yes,” I said. “Astra is safe. Were you scared?”

  Martha stirred, meeting my eyes. She shook her head once, barely, like an afterthought.

  “No,” she said. “It’s my job to protect the dorms.”

  “Well, Astra anyway,” I said. But before I could tell her how tired I was, she continued.

  “I switched your room,” she said. “Your old room wasn’t as safe as your new room.”

  “You WHAT?” I cried. “Are you crazy?”

  “No, dear,” she said. “You were in danger and now I’ve fixed it.”

  “Do you even know how to be a proper dorm mother?” I asked bitterly.

  Martha gave me a steely look. “A dorm mother is whatever I say it is.”

  “Is there such a thing as a paranormal robot?” I stormed, throwing my hands up in the air. “Because I don’t think you feel at all.”

  If my goal was to get a rise out of her, I succeeded. She shoved herself out of the chair, her eyes burning and turning wild.

  “My only concern is the safety of my Public,” she spat out. “YOUR safety. You ungrateful elemental. How DARE you put yourself at risk?”

  “I’m NOT at risk,” I yelled. “I’m fine. I’ve been taking care of myself since I got here. Before. I’ve been taking care of myself since Mom died three years ago.”

  Wow, had it really been just a few years ago? She had died when I was sixteen, but it felt like a lot longer, maybe because the elementals had been extinct for years before that, and I thought of myself as an elemental. I feared the day it became hard to remember Mom’s smile.

  “You haven’t been taking care of yourself,” she fumed. “Just today you nearly died. What is the MATTER with you? If you weren’t at Public the whole school would be a lot safer.”

  It was something I had thought myself from time to time: that my presence was what brought the demons to Public, and maybe Lisabelle’s too, and that if we were to leave everyone else would be a lot better off. But I had always pushed the concern out of my mind. Dacer and the other professors had always steered carefully away from that implication, but now that I heard it from my dorm mother I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach.

  I turned on my heel and raced away. Forgetting in my fury what Martha had said about moving me to a different room, I took the stairs two at a time, desperate to get to the privacy of my own space. When I threw open the door, all I saw was emptiness. Even my sheets were gone. My shoulders slumped and I wanted to cry, but instead I turned around and walked slowly down the stairs, heading for the front door. Martha was standing in the entryway.

  I walked right past her.

  She didn’t look at me.

  Furious, I grabbed the handle and pulled. The door didn’t budge. I raised my eyebrows and pulled harder. I was tired and I thought maybe it was just stuck, but in my heart I knew that wasn’t what was happening.

  Martha had locked the door, imprisoning me. I was now a captive in my own home. Never in my life had I been so angry, not even when my stepfather had done something horrible, which had been a pretty regular occurrence when I lived at home.

  “Your room is now off the kitchen,” said Martha, her voice soft and infinitely reasonable. “There are no windows.”

  “For my own protection?” I seethed, not looking at her. I continued to stare at the door.

  “You may leave for class, but nothing else,” she explained. “There is no Tactical this semester, and you are not a member of any clubs. If your friend Ms. Quest should require help with gala preparations and you run it by me first, you may be able to assist her in that endeavor. I’ve also been informed that you have painting duty this Saturday with the fallen angel Mr. Erikson due to an infraction you engaged in before you arrived on campus. Since you have already received a punishment for that poor choice, I do not feel the need to express to you how disappointed I am in you for that behavior.”

  I just walked away. I didn’t argue. There was no point. I found my room off the kitchen, which, although I would never have admitted it, was fantastically cool and dark, but also a lot smaller than my old room. There was space for my bed, a dresser, a small desk, and little else. I could barely turn around. It was very different from the nicest room in the entire dorm.

  I flopped on my bed and fell instantly asleep.

  Chapter Twenty

  Saturday couldn’t come fast enough. Martha was a terror. We didn’t speak. She didn’t even try. She didn’t appear to care if I was happy or sad or indifferent. All she cared about was control. My friends told me I should just move out, but I couldn’t leave Astra or the Mirror Arcane.

  Their next suggestion was to talk to Oliva, but he still wasn’t very happy with me after the bus incident. Dacer was out. I didn’t want to bother him either, and I didn’t know any of the other professors well enough. Everyone was busy getting ready for the gala, and I couldn’t think of anyone who would really care if one student wasn’t a fan of her dorm mother.

  At least sometimes I still snuck out at night. I would go up to the library, where Sigil was still ensconced, and leave out a window he left open for me. Keller would be waiting there for me, ready to fly me wherever we wanted to go.

  Often, all I wanted to do was go to sleep in Aurum, but sometimes we would float over Public, watching the night sky or the quietness down below. There were no vampires out anymore; Oliva had banned that. He was trying hard to keep control of the campus, and during our first week back I could see that he had succeeded.

  Keller and I walked hand in hand to paint the Long Building early Saturday morning. I had spent the night at Aurum, because I could barely stand to be in the same place as Martha. Keller would sneak me back to Astra in the morning whenever I thought Martha needed to see me before I left for the day. I figured there was no sense getting Sigil in trouble too. This morning we just didn’t bother going back. Martha knew I had to paint early. Hopefully she would just assume I had left without running into her.

  Keller had heard from his mother the night before, and she had told him that she and his father were going to Europe until Christmas. Keller was angry. I still hadn’t met his parents, and she had promised that this fall would be the time, but now they were leaving the continent. When I asked him why it was so important to him that we meet, he gave me an incredulous look.

  “Because the world is made up of moments. Until now I’ve just lived in the present moment. There’s been no point in worrying about the future. People get sick, injured, you don’t always get what you want. That was what I thought until I met you. I had no idea you were what I wanted until I laid eyes on you, and since then I haven’t wanted anything else. Even ice cream pales in comparison.”

  “Even chocolate ice cream?” I said.

  “Especially chocolate ice cream,” he said warmly. “You are the first person, the first thing in my life, that has made me think I want to plan for those future moments. I need to plan for them, because thinking about that and about you makes everything brighter. No moment will mean anything unless I have you to share it with.” His eyes were so serious, my heart nearly broke.

  In the emotion of the moment, I almost forgot where we were going, but then I caught sight of Sip, Lisabelle, and Camilla waiting for us in front of the Long Building. Camilla was as far away from my friends as it was possible to be while still remaining within earshot. Keller had already set up all the paint and the brushes. We just had to start.

  “This is going to be fun,” said Lisabelle, eyeing the white paint and her black clothing. “At least the weather isn’t too hot.”

  “I told you to dress appropriately,” Sip chided.

  “If I’m wearing it, then it’s appropriate,” said Lisabelle.

  “Alright,” said Keller. “Let’s get to work.”

  The four of us spent the morning painting in near sile
nce, with Keller supervising and even taking a brush in hand at times. If Camilla hadn’t been there, the rest of us would have been chatting away, but none of us wanted to speak in front of her. Since she was so outnumbered, she wasn’t even that mean.

  “She’s the worst painter in the world,” Sip muttered to me. “We’ll be lucky if she’s finished a four foot area by dinner-time.”

  “She’s doing it on purpose,” said Lisabelle, “just to try and get a reaction from Keller.”

  But the fallen angel appeared not to notice Camilla.

  As we painted, I kept hearing something behind us.

  I glanced back a couple of times, but I didn’t see anything except the trees swaying gently in the breeze.

  Periodically one of us would say something, but when it was quiet I still heard that strange noise.

  Finally, sick of whoever was playing tricks in the woods, I spun around, still crouched low to the ground, and there, right behind us, I saw a black tide heading straight for us. With horror I realized that it wasn’t smoke or dust or Lisabelle playing a joke. No, what was racing toward us at breakneck speed was a pack of demons.

  Those things seriously were not supposed to be on campus.

  “RUN!” I yelled.

  Sip, Lisabelle, Camilla, Keller, and I threw down our brushes and raced for the nearest entrance to the Long Building. Lisabelle reached the doors first. Skidding to a halt, she seized the massive handle and tugged.

  Nothing happened.

  “OPEN THE DOOR,” Camilla screamed.

  “What’sa matter, Camilla? The demons aren’t going to let you live if they catch you?” Sip asked icily.

  Lisabelle tried the doors again. Then Keller did. They wouldn’t budge.

  “Shouldn’t these doors be open?” Lisabelle grunted.

  “I’ve never tried,” I said. “I always go in the doors near the Museum.”

  “Now you tell me,” Lisabelle muttered.

  “Let’s run!” Sip cried.

  We had to get to the doors at the other end, the ones we knew were open. Otherwise, we had no protection and from the attack.

  We ran for the unlocked doors, the demons on our heels.

  “FASTER!” Keller yelled, forcing everyone ahead of him. As he ran, he kept turning around to stare at the demons, his eyes two hard blue crystals.

  I didn’t argue. Sip, Lisabelle, and even Camilla tumbled along the length of the Long Building. Camilla tripped, but she quickly caught herself by reaching for the building’s side. Then she screamed. The demons had blasted fire along the building’s length, heating the walls. Camilla’s hand was a bubbling burned mess.

  Keller grabbed Camilla’s arm, and she instantly stopped screaming as his healing power flowed into her. She stared at him in wonder.

  Of course he’d heal you, I wanted to scream at her. He’s a decent paranormal, unlike the pixies.

  When we reached the doors, Lisabelle didn’t bother trying to open them, she just blasted through.

  I turned to watch Keller walk through the doors behind us.

  He wasn’t there.

  He had let go of Camilla and was now running toward the oncoming monsters.

  “Keller!” I yelled.

  But he ignored me.

  “There are so many,” Camilla breathed. To my fury she didn’t sound scared, but kind of impressed.

  “Shut up,” Sip told the pixie.

  “Get inside,” I ordered, grabbing her arm and shoving her through the door despite her protests. She stumbled after Sip and Lisabelle while I stood just outside, watching the fallen angel who had put his life between ours and the darkness.

  The demons were a pile of smoking black rage. Several of them were on fire, and others there were some Demons of Knight mixed in with the others. I knew that the woods would be teeming with demons by this time, and if Keller didn’t fly they would overtake him.

  Just as I thought it, I saw his wings spread, shining and powerful and totally blocking out the inky blackness of the demons.

  The lead demon threw a ball of fire that got bigger the closer it got, eating the very air. Keller stumbled to avoid it.

  “Keller!” I cried again. “RUN.”

  He started to push off again, but more fireballs rained down on him, barely missing his unfurled wings.

  I was sick with fear.

  He needed help, so I did the only thing I could think of at that point: I called to my ring.

  The wonderful thing about magic is that it doesn’t entirely do what it’s told. My ring, old and powerful, was ready. It was begging to fight.

  My eyes never left Keller. Blue power, cool and calming like the lakes around my home, flowed through me. Clouds gathered overhead, filled with warm rain. They sped into place just above Keller as he rolled and dodged to avoid the rain of fireballs.

  “Release,” I whispered, feeling my ring pulse as it did my bidding.

  Dacer had recently lectured us about the ancient protections of Public. He had said that once a thing holds magic for a long enough time, be it my ring or the walls of Public, that magic takes on a life of its own, especially if protection is required. My ring was always ready to defend us.

  As Keller tried again to rise into the air and fly to me, I turned my face up to the rain, letting it wash over me and drinking in the power.

  The water sizzled as it hit the mass of demons.

  Keller’s wings snapped back out and he rose into the air, shooting toward me. I dashed inside the safety of the Long Building. The rain was now beating down hard, like angry slaps on my bare skin. By the time Keller touched down, furled his wings, and stepped through the doors in one fluid motion, he was drenched. I knew I would never be that graceful myself, but he was a joy to watch.

  Without even thinking, we wrapped our arms around each other.

  “And now it gets gag-worthy,” Lisabelle said from behind us. I had nearly forgotten they were there, but now I buried my face in Keller’s shoulder and smiled.

  “We have a demon problem,” Sip commented.

  “You make it sound like they’re rats and we need traps,” said Keller over the crown of my head.

  “Maybe that’s exactly what we need,” said Sip thoughtfully. “We’re having a gala at the end of the semester. We can’t have demons ruining my gala.”

  “I thought it was Oliva’s gala,” said Lisabelle.

  “Yeah,” said Sip casually, “that’s what he thinks too. Silly pixie.” She grinned. I could hear the grin in my friend’s voice, and I felt the vibrations of Keller’s chest as he chuckled.

  “Silly someone,” Lisabelle muttered.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  After that the demon attacks became more frequent. At first, Dacer was the only one who believed we had been assailed by demons while we were painting the Long Building, and he was furious when Oliva made us go out on Sunday and finish the job. He did stay with us, but of course no demons came to try and kill us after the debacle of the day before, and in the face of Dacer’s strong presence.

  But Oliva finally started to believe after other students were attacked besides us.

  “Maybe all pixies are bad,” Sip muttered when we finished. “I used to like Oliva.”

  “He’s just trying to do his job,” said Lisabelle, shrugging. “He has a lot to manage, and he’s young.”

  “I can’t believe you’re defending him,” said Sip indignantly.

  “You should be the one defending him,” Lisabelle countered. “You’re the one throwing him a party.”

  “I’m not throwing him a party,” said Sip, sticking her small nose in the air as only she could. “I’m throwing him a gala.”

  “Whatever.”

  “There’s something else,” Lisabelle whispered to me while we painted. “It’s about Dacer.”

  “What?” I whispered back.

  “Oliva is wondering if Dacer knows something he isn’t repeating about the demon attacks, because he’s the only one who spends a lot of time i
n the Long Building. Besides, there was that strange symbol on the library after it blew up.

  So Lisabelle had seen it too.

  And whatever it was, Dacer was a suspect. The situation was just getting worse and worse.

  Despite the early denials, as the weeks passed Oliva could no longer pretend that the demons couldn’t come and go as they pleased. Whether they were getting onto campus through the catacombs in the Long Building or by some other means, the Power of Five force field was not keeping them out any longer.

  I heard no mention of Dacer or the strange symbol I’d seen on the library, but I knew that didn’t mean anything. If Oliva had suspicions about my mentor he would keep them to himself until he had proof. Meanwhile, I felt sick. I couldn’t loose Dacer, and I knew he had nothing to do with the demons.

  One cold fall day, as the leaves were just starting to turn from summer green to rusting brown and orange, we had class outside. The grass was brittle under our feet, but we were still happy to be outside instead of cooped up in Cruor.

  Then, at a point when Professor Zervos had turned his back on the class for a moment, Faci started to cause trouble. Zervos didn’t like any students, regardless of dorm, but Faci was different. Zervos ignored Faci, almost as if he was afraid of him and didn’t want to show it. I was never sure, though, because Faci seemed to like Zervos, and of course just like Zervos he was a Cruor who treated me and my friends like garbage.

  While Professor Zervos dealt with someone on his Contact Stone, Faci was having a delightful time trying to hit birds with miniature fireballs. At first he failed miserably, much to Lisabelle’s delight. We were near the forest, where most students usually came onto campus at the start of the year and where Lisabelle had come to protect me when I had arrived for second semester.

  Faci’s aim improved as he went along, and soon he was hitting the birds he targeted.

  “Do something,” Sip ordered me out of the corner of her mouth.

  “Like what?” I asked, as the first bit of fire struck a bird.