A dark shape came down from overhead and Keller landed gently next to me. He was still wearing his suit from the gala and his blue eyes were frantic. His dark hair was messy from flying, and it got even messier when I tangled my fingers in it.
He pulled me into his lap and kissed me soundly. It was a good thing I was sitting, because the kiss he gave me would have made my knees weak at the best of times. For a while, I just sat there on his lap. I knew he was healing me with his touch, and I let him. I was so tired I didn’t mind taking some of his strength.
“You’re getting your suit dirty,” I whispered, pulling away.
“What suit?” he muttered and pulled me back to him.
When he finally pulled away himself, I said, “What suit indeed?”
He grinned. “You were hurt,” he said. “Your wrists and ankles. What happened?” I couldn’t see his face very well under the tree where even the moon couldn’t shine, but I could hear the fear in his voice.
“I’ll explain everything later,” I said. “Right now we have to get to -”
“Sip and Lisabelle,” he said. “Yeah, somehow I knew that.”
“Want me to carry you?” he said.
I shook my head, showing him the mask that was sitting in my lap.
His eyes widened, but he didn’t say anything. His powerful legs propelled him into the air as his dark wings unfurled. I put the mask on and instantly felt the wind rushing around me. I turned my face up to the moon that was no longer covered by clouds.
“Where are they?” Keller said. “They aren’t in Astra?”
“I think they’re at Oliva’s house,” I said. “But I’m not sure I know how to get there from here.”
“I do,” said Keller, and he sped off with me right behind him. I felt perfect. Keller had healed me so that even the little scrapes and bruises from daily life were gone. I felt like I had slept for days.
“You okay?” Keller called over his shoulder. He dodged some birds that were flying in the opposite direction.
I nodded and gave him a thumbs up, and he turned his attention back to leading us to Oliva’s.
The president of Public’s house was dark. Frowning, we landed outside the massive gardens. Strewn in front of the gates were the bodies of hellhounds. I couldn’t tell how they died, other than that it was gruesome enough to make me flinch and look away. Keller’s face was grim. The hellhounds looked like they had been suffocated, which had Martha written all over it.
“Are there more demons around, do you think?” I whispered.
He shook his head. “They aren’t really known for stealth. If they were here and they saw you show up, we would be seeing them.”
I nodded.
“Can you use a Contact Stone?” Keller said to me.
I shook my head. “Martha.”
He looked at me like I was crazy.
“Your dorm mother?” he said, his face filled with confusion.
“Not exactly,” I said dryly.
“Can we get in?” he asked, turning his attention to the gate.
I walked up to it and pushed. It swung open.
This was bad. Caid’s guards should be protecting the entrance from demons, but there weren’t even any demons.
Keller tugged at my arm, silently directing me to go in behind him. I didn’t argue. We both knew the gate should have been locked.
It was still fully dark, but the sun must have been on its way to rising; that much time had surely gone by since the attack on the gala. From somewhere else around campus I could smell smoke, and for the first time that night I wondered if the demons were winning. Martha must have killed the hellhounds that had been waiting outside of Oliva’s house, hoping Caid would show up, but then my friends should have tried to escape, and I knew they hadn’t.
With that thought, all the worry that I had just pushed away by stopping the explosions came rushing back into my mind. But I forced myself to stay calm. They were fine. Surely my friends were fine.
Oliva’s gardens did not look like I remembered them. As a powerful pixie, he brought a lot of magic with plants to his job, and his gardens had been extensive and beautiful. Now, many of the flowers were wilted and dying. Some lay right in the path that we walked on, as if they had risen up to try and stop an attack and been cut down.
Oliva’s back porch was black and charred, the stairs burned away.
There was still no sign of a living paranormal, but at least there were no more bodies, not even of demons. Unfortunately, that suggested that it hadn’t been the demons that had breached the walls, it had been something worse.
“Do you think your friends are in there?” Keller whispered, pausing in front of what used to be Oliva’s back steps.
I pointed to the porch, my stomach churning, and nodded.
There were Caid’s bodyguards. I had decided that they were pixies, and now they were dead pixies.
I shoved away a flashing vision of Cale’s dead body. He had just started his training, he certainly wasn’t in charge of the president’s protection, and he was not lying dead in front of me at this very moment. Nevertheless, sadness threatened to overwhelm my control.
Keller pulled me close, redirecting my gaze.
Moving as quietly as possible, we snuck into the house. Even together we were no match for Martha, and we just had to hope that she was too busy with whatever she was doing - just not killing my friends - to notice that we were there.
Oliva’s place was covered in plants, but he had only a little furniture. All of his floors were wood, and the large windows let in a little moonlight. No damage had been done to the inside of the house, and there was even what looked like leftover dinner on the table. From somewhere below I heard a weird sort of clicking sound, but otherwise the house was silent.
“Do you think he has a basement?” I whispered to Keller. The fallen angel nodded and we started to search. As in so many houses, the door to the basement was through the kitchen.
This time I insisted on going first. I knew Martha better than Keller did, and however weird it seemed, her previous actions suggested that no matter how many other students she did away with, for some reason she didn’t want me dead.
I crept down the stairs, but it was hard to be quiet. There were definitely voices, and I was pretty sure I recognized them. They got louder as I got closer. Hopefully the talking would drown out my footsteps.
As I got close to the bottom of the stairs I saw Martha standing in front of a group of paranormals, all of whom I recognized. Caid, Oliva, Dacer, Lisabelle, and Sip were all seated on the floor, tied together.
Sip had a cut on her cheek and Caid had a black eye. Dacer’s hat was gone and his eye makeup was streaked, but he was otherwise fine. Lisabelle just looked furious, and I couldn’t read Oliva’s expression.
Standing in front of them was Martha.
She was ranting about the protection of Public.
But my friends couldn’t keep the surprise from their faces, and there was only one thing I could think of to do.
With a cry I threw myself at Martha’s back.
She wasn’t expecting it, which was good news, because at the sound of my footstep on the stone floor of the basement she turned and blasted power in every direction. I called to my ring, but it had already gathered whatever powers I had left. The powers of earth, air, fire, and water poured through me and into my skin. I felt saturated to the point of bursting, but I needed the protection, and since I wasn’t a fallen angel and didn’t have healing powers, for myself or others, this was all I could do. I wrapped myself in a cloak of power and hoped it was enough.
Martha sent a direct blast into my chest.
I saw Dacer flash to his feet.
Then I stumbled, knocking into her, and disappeared again into the dark unconscious.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
“Wake up, wake up!” It was Sip’s voice, and she was slapping me lightly in the face as I came awake. “Who sleeps at a time like this?”
“You’re
so ornery,” said Lisabelle. My friends’ voices sounded distant and foggy and I didn’t want to move.
“Do I have to get up?” I mumbled, trying to turn over and at the same time cover my ears with my arm. Strong fingers gently kept me on my back.
“Yes, you do,” came Lisabelle’s voice. “We need to know what’s going on and we need to know who your dorm mother really is and we need to know why she’s an insanely powerful wizard who spends her time baking chocolate chip cookies. Dacer thinks he has a theory, but he is so raving mad at the moment that no one’s really listening to him. Then, on top of all that, Sip wants to take us somewhere.
“Sip is more than welcome to take us somewhere,” I said. “So long as by somewhere she means a shower.”
“You can shower,” said Sip. “They will wait.”
I had no idea what that meant and I didn’t care. Instead, I did what my friends asked and opened my eyes. I felt dizzy, and what I could see was more like a set of vague shapes than actual people. Sip took my hand and put a glass in it.
“Drink,” she ordered me. “Keller put healing powers on it.”
I drank. To my surprise it didn’t taste terrible. Usually this stuff tasted like the seaweed Ricky had tricked me into eating on our last family vacation, but this tasted more like lemons, lots of lemons. It burned down my throat and set fire to my tired limbs.
When I was finished I looked expectantly at my friends. I felt better. Not as much better as when Keller had healed me after the first time I stopped Martha, but good enough to get up and walk around. “Shower? Explanation? How long have I been out?”
“Just a couple of hours,” said Sip. “They spent most of the time arguing.”
Sip tipped her head and I realized I was in Oliva’s living room, only now the lights were on. We could see the kitchen from here, where Oliva, Caid, Dacer, Zervos, and Erikson were sitting around a table. There might have been a couple more senior paranormals there that I couldn’t see.
“Keller wanted to transport you to Astra, but his aunt wouldn’t let him,” explained Lisabelle. “She said there were still demons.”
“There can’t be that many demons if they’re all here,” I said, nodding toward the kitchen.
“No,” said Lisabelle with admiration. “Martha took care of most of them. Violent little protector when she wants to be.”
“Remind you of anyone else you know?” Sip asked, batting her eyelashes.
Lisabelle tapped her chin with her index finger. “Nope, not really.”
Sip scowled.
“They’re interrogating Martha now,” said Lisabelle. “They wanted us to leave when you woke up.”
“Which is just fine with us,” said Sip. “They won’t even tell us who else is alright. What about Lough, in fact; do you know where he is?”
“I’ll tell you on the way,” I said, realizing with some urgency that Lough had now been alone in Astra for hours, if indeed he was still there. First things first, though, so I asked, “Where’s Keller?”
“He went back to help out at Airlee. A blast went off there after we left,” said Sip, her eyes worried.
“I know,” I said grimly. “I saw Nolan.”
“Oh, you did?” Sip sounded relieved. “How did he help?”
“He told me where you were,” I said.
The senior paranormals didn’t even notice when we left. I wanted to talk to Dacer, but now obviously wasn’t the time; we could talk once Caid had left. Except that I didn’t want Caid to leave with my Mirror, if he even still had it. I was afraid that he had given it to Malle by this time.
“Hopefully they’re telling Martha-slash-Public that she just made a poor life choice,” I said as we headed out the door
“And to think Public was the last solid thing I thought I could rely on,” said Lisabelle, shaking her head.
“Life’s tough,” said Sip without sympathy.
Ignoring my friends, I broke into a run. I could feel Alixar where I had safely tucked her inside my dress - my poor, poor dress - but I wouldn’t use her, since Sip couldn’t fly.
My friends stopped bickering and started to run along behind me. I tried not to look to my left or right, because I didn’t have time to cry yet. First I had to make sure Lough was okay, and there was somewhere Sip wanted us all to go. After that I might let myself break down and grieve. Public was burning, and smoke hung heavy in the air.
To my great relief, Trafton was at Astra with Lough. They were in the fire sitting room, which was fast becoming my favorite. Sigil was hovering around, looking nervous.
“None of these paranormals are elementals,” he said as he pushed his glasses up.
“I know,” I said. “It’s okay. They’re friends.” The ghost nodded, but he didn’t look reassured.
“I saw Keller,” Trafton said tiredly. His beautiful blue eyes were dull from lack of sleep, and there was a streak of something dark, either dirt or blood, across his forehead. “He said he would come to you as soon as he could, but they’re trying to save the wounded. Between the demon attack and the explosion at Airlee. . . .” He paused grimly. “It’s bad.”
“How’s Lough?” Lisabelle asked, moving Trafton aside to sit next to our friend.
“He’s going to be fine,” said Trafton, not sounding very concerned. “As we all know, he has a thick skull.”
“Better that than to look like a male model,” said Lough, without opening his eyes. His face was very pale and his lips were pinched. I was sure his head must still hurt. Sip knelt down on the floor next to his couch and took his hand. Lough smiled.
“I’m fine,” he said. “What happened?”
“Yeah, Charlotte,” said Trafton, “what happened? You just ran away from Nolan.”
“I had to,” I said. “I’ll tell you everything after I shower.”
“That would be good,” said Sip. When I raised my eyebrows she said, “That will give everyone else time to get here.”
“Who is everyone else?” I asked.
“You’ll know soon enough,” said Sip.
Lisabelle met my eyes and gave me a crooked grin. “Even I’m impressed. I didn’t know she had it in her.”
Sip stuck out her tongue at the darkness mage.
Lough said, “Can I have a cookie?”
I showered, not outside like Martha had made me, but upstairs where I had always showered. I wanted to stand under the water and let it soak into my skin for a while, but I was too eager to talk to my friends. They still needed an explanation. I hoped Dacer and Keller would get there soon.
To my surprise, there were a lot more paranormals in the living room when I got back, and they were all eating Martha’s treats.
Keller was there and so was Zervos. I tried not to glare at him, but he noticed me stiffen anyway. Nolan and Cyi were there, as was Rake. I gave Rake a quick hug. There were several other professors I had never had classes with. Even Betsy Butter was there.
“Um,” I said when I came in, and all conversation ceased except Sip’s quiet voice talking to Nolan.
“We’re just waiting for Dacer,” she said, turning briefly to me before resuming her conversation with Nolan.
“Waiting for Dacer for what?” I asked, totally confused.
But just then Dacer himself breezed in behind me. He hadn’t had a chance to shower yet and his beautiful clothing from the gala was in tatters, but he didn’t appear to care.
“Martha explained everything,” he said, shocking me by giving me a one-armed hug. “Are you alright?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine,” I murmured. “Just confused.”
After a pause for thought, I asked the question that was foremost on my mind: “What happened with Martha?”
“Paranormal Public’s founding members wanted fail safes,” began Dacer. “I also think they just wanted to experiment with powers, having no idea that Public would manifest itself as Martha long after the founders were gone. Martha is Public’s defense system, which came into being when we c
ouldn’t keep the demons from attacking. Unfortunately, Martha would only exist insofar as Public was far overextended. We can’t punish Martha, but she has seen the error of her ways. She is now set to disappear, although I have a feeling she will return sooner or later, if for no other reason than because, as she tells it, she has discovered a longing to bake chocolate chip cookies.”
I rolled my eyes.
“They are really good cookies,” said Lough.
“What about the Sign of Six?” I wanted to know. The Sign of Six had been blamed for a lot of Martha’s damage, because none of us could imagine who or what Martha really was. Now I wanted to know what they really were and why they had kept quiet all semester.
“We’ll explain everything,” said Nolan, ceasing his quiet conversation with Sip.
Lounging in a chair next to Lough, Lisabelle said, “I can’t wait.”
“You better sit,” said Dacer, steering me to an armchair next to the unlit fireplace.
I sat and waited.
“So, we’re the Sign of Six,” said Sip, her eyes intent on my face.
“We are the group that has appointed ourselves protectors of the paranormals,” Nolan added.
“You’re the Sign of Six?” I stared at Sip, practically dumbfounded. “But how? When?”
Sip shrugged. “I met some werewolves in LA over the summer, including Cyi, and we were all worried. After some very long conversations, we decided to do something about the things that were worrying us.”
“Okay,” I said. “So, what?”
“So, we came here,” said Nolan. “The faeries came here and the dragons too. They’re all members of the Sign. We don’t have any pixies yet, but there are a few, like your friend Cale, who are on the list. He helps himself by putting distance between himself and pixies like Camilla Van Rothson.
“Ah,” said Lisabelle sweetly, “a group of pixies after my own heart.”
“What’s the goal?” I said.
“To defend the paranormals against the Nocturns by getting the objects on the Wheel,” said Nolan, and his eyes hardened. “By any means necessary. After the demon attacks, that we now know were thanks to Martha, we put our mark out there so that other members would know we had looked into the demon attacks. When we started to be blamed for them, we realized that we were in no position to reveal ourselves just yet. We have a couple of members in pretty sensitive positions, and we can’t afford to put them in danger.”
Elemental Air (Paranormal Public Series) Page 25
