Elemental Fate (Paranormal Public Book 12)

by Maddy Edwards

  “We could come up with worse options,” Averett mused. “I like the idea of Ring Race best too.” The rings of most of the vampires were red, and they were all subtly was fingering them now.

  But Eighellie had a point too. I didn’t like the idea of taking off my ring, I just liked all the other ideas even less. Each of the six groups had to pick an idea and submit it, but only two ideas at a time went before Dobrov for review. Then Dobrov picked which of the two he liked best, so that although each group was coming up with several options, in the end we would do only three Cornerstone projects in all. In other words, three groups wouldn’t even get to do their projects.

  I thought Dobrov had instituted that rule so that if any group submitted a bloodthirsty idea he could reject it out of hand. The Burble siblings had probably encouraged their groups to do just that; they were split up between two groups, making the possibilities even worse than if they had all been together.

  The groups were also yet to be given names, but Dobrov had said that he would assign names eventually, in such a way as to make the groups easily distinguished. If we had been left to choose our own names, lives would have ended before decisions could be reached.

  “Let’s do the Ring Race,” said Greek. “It’s the most civilized and original. I think we have a chance of wining with that one.”

  “What do we win?” said Hannah.

  “Honor,” said Greek. “The best thing of all.”

  Hannah looked slightly less excited.

  “Ring Race it is,” said Averett. “I’ll enjoy watching the other groups try.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  That night in Astra was the first time I felt like I had time to study. Unfortunately, I had no interest in studying.

  The first week back at school for second semester had started with a bang, literally, when we were attacked by Surround. Since then it had been business as usual. I had met my sister’s new secretary, Ester, I had started classes, and we had chosen a Cornerstone project. Keegan was still being mysterious, but I had a pretty good idea what he was doing. I didn’t want to say anything, though, because Eighellie still didn’t have the remotest shred of a clue.

  I had even managed to get in touch with Lisabelle, which was more than any other paranormal could say. The fact that she hadn’t told me anything helpful wasn’t great, but at least I had planted the seed in her mind that we needed to talk.

  Other than the article about Luther, the Tabble hadn’t reported anything of note since they’d revealed who Elam really was. There had been a small note in the paper stating that Risper was missing, but no one even reacted to that. Obviously Risper was missing. If he was the best thief in the history of the world and he decided he didn’t want to be found, then he wouldn’t be found.

  In other news, Astra was quiet. Too quiet. Eighellie was staying at Airlee so she’d have a better idea of what was happening on campus, and Keegan was staying . . . well, wherever Keegan was staying. A couple of nights I had gone down to see Charlotte and Keller, and that had been nice, but they were in very different places in their lives from me. Keller didn’t say much, and Charlotte told me privately that he was still devastated about what the fallen angels had done.

  There was still no sign of Sigil, the Astra ghost, and I hadn’t seen Martha since I had arrived on campus in the fall. Nothing new had been discovered, or at least published, about the murder of Ms. Cernal. The first news would probably come from either the Tabble or Ester, since she was a resident of the town where the murder had taken place.

  The most newsworthy event to happen at Astra since we came back was not actually school-related. Eighellie had been in a panic at one point, thinking that the reason Keegan was being weird and mysterious was because he had a girl. I told her she was crazy, but she hadn’t seemed sure she could believe me.

  “What if he’s dating someone?” she said, biting her lip. I stared hard at her. So this explained how agitated she’d been recently about Keegan’s disappearances. The fact that he was again off to a place he had refused to reveal was the only reason Eighellie felt she could have the conversation with me at all. When he disappeared, he disappeared for hours at a time.

  My darkness friend and I had skipped the whole bit where you ask if she likes him, then ask what she thinks he feels for her. She knew I suspected and just hadn’t bothered to ask, and it was just as clear that she had a pretty good idea how he felt about her – platonically.

  “You have a thing for Keegan?” I asked hoarsely. She glared around and ordered me to shush, but I needed to hear her say it.

  “Who’s going to hear us?” I demanded, throwing my hands up in the air.

  We were alone in the Astra kitchen. She had stopped by that morning at breakfast to discuss something of the utmost importance, and it had turned out to be this. I kicked myself. Given the way she always looked at the tree sprite, I should have known she was going to bring it up sometime soon.

  “He likes Averett,” she said. “I know he doesn’t like me. He sees Averett and looks like a puppy dog. He thinks Averett likes you, by the by.”

  Now she had said something truly shocking.

  “Yeah, right,” I said. “No way.”

  “Way,” she said, shrugging. “He rants about it when you aren’t around, that’s how I know he likes her.”

  I shook my head to clear it. All of this sounded too fantastic to be real.

  “You could tell him how you feel,” I offered. I wasn’t sure I wanted my two best friends dating, but then again, I couldn’t be selfish about it. Eighellie had obviously had a thing for Keegan for a long time.

  Eighellie scoffed. “No thanks! I’m not a glutton for punishment, thanks all the same,” she said. “I don’t think he’s ready to hear it anyway.”

  I looked hard at my friend. She was saying something very serious. The voice in my head was still yelling at me that I should have seen it coming, that Keegan should have also seen it coming, and that he hadn’t because he had a thing for a vampire, just as Eighellie said.

  She leaned forward, scrutinizing my face. “Do you like Averett?" she demanded.

  My arms jerked and I nearly sloshed my tea. I felt wild, sort of like I’d just been electrocuted.

  “I mean, um,” I said, and squinted at my friend. She only leaned further forward and looked more intense. “Well, do you?”

  My mind went over all the times I’d seen Averett, all the times I’d been impressed by her abilities. I thought about how I felt when she smiled at me (trust me, it did happen), and now even that fact felt telling.

  “She’s a great vampire,” I said. Eighellie started forward as if she was going to climb over the table and wring my collar, but before she could I continued: “But I don’t like her. She’s a great girl, that’s all.” Lame, Ricky, so lame, I chided myself.

  Eighellie eased herself away from me as if she’d just decided the prey she was stalking wasn’t going to be that tasty after all.

  “Does Keegan know that?” she challenged.

  I threw up my hands. Keegan and I talked about girls, but not a lot.

  For a split second I was about to tell Eighellie as much, then I realized that wasn’t fair, so instead I said, “What Keegan and I talk about isn’t any of your business!”

  Her eyes narrowed and once again I had the sensation that I was prey.

  Luckily, she wasn’t as angry as she looked. “Fine, if that’s how you want to play it,” she said. Then she slid backwards until she was looking down her nose at me. “Good luck,” she added.

  Until that moment I hadn’t realized I was going to need it.

  I didn’t pursue it because I had other things on my mind.

  My sister knew that my visits to her were really a plea for news, but she didn’t have any. She said Keller continued to check on Bertrum, and Bertrum continued to do poorly. She didn’t say anything at all about Sip, except that Keller had offered to help Lisabelle and the darkness premier had replied that she had better help
already than Keller could give.

  I went to one of the windows in the water lounge and peered out. There was night construction going on, a new big building. I wondered what it was for. There had been no announcements about the Public construction, although we saw workers moving around all the time. For the most part the workers had spent their time shoring up existing buildings, but this was one entirely new, and far taller.

  Public had had a fire when Charlotte was first there, and the old Tower had come down. They had built a new building toward the end of her time at Public, but that was now used only for offices and storage, since they had found damage in it nearly a year after the end the Nocturn War. Apparently a couple of Demons of Knight had decided to call the place home.

  At least the next morning the Tabble had something interesting for us to read about, unlike the stuff on our class reading lists. The night before I had fallen asleep doing the reading for Professor Penny’s class; I had figured out last semester that I could put myself to sleep that way. It had been a good night for me.

  In the morning, the Tabble was going on about a new topic. The headline screamed:

  Let’s get into the nitty gritty of the Counter Wheel

  I leaned forward with interest. Although many students had apparently heard various things about the Counter Wheel already, I wasn’t among them. Charlotte found it upsetting to talk about it given how hard we had worked, the risks we had taken, and the danger into which we had put our own lives in order to gather the objects on the Wheel, so she hadn’t told me much. I was eager to learn more.

  The article went like this:

  The Counter Wheel is becoming increasingly prevalent as a topic of paranormal discourse, so we thought we would share what we know. We’ve spoken with several experts who have given us great information about what exactly the Counter Wheel means.

  Our readers have sent in all kinds of questions about the Wheel, and we will answer them as best we can. The first question wonders if the Counter Wheel is even real, given that it has never been used, and unlike the lore of the real Wheel, where it was a known fact that powerful paranormals had placed massive amounts of power in important objects, the Counter Wheel is more of a mystery. To the best of our knowledge the Counter Wheel is in fact real. Part of the reason it is not so well known is that the whole notion was not approved of for hundreds of years. That didn’t stop many powerful paranormals from creating objects in which they stored enormous amounts of power.

  Also, records were not so well kept in the past, and fighting factions destroyed each other’s artifacts, so even though all of the objects that are assumed to be part of the Counter Wheel are believed to have existed at one time or another, whether or not they still exist is a pretty big question mark.

  Of course all the experts who love the study of power and the study of history believe that the objects do still exist. Any one of them could be in someone’s home, and that paranormal might not even realize the value of the object, which could be sitting in a pile of junk just waiting to be found. Or one or more of them could be hanging on the wall of the president of Public. There are many options for where the artifacts could be. The Map Silver could have found them, except that the Map Silver was only just found itself.

  No one knows what happened to the objects on the Wheel after the Nocturn War. Despite the demand by this publication and others for information, information was not forthcoming. We get an across the board message that the records were lost, which if you ask us is a lie.

  Now, today, why is the Counter Wheel so important? The Counter Wheel is important because, as the name indicates, it can be used to Counter the magic on the Wheel, or in a pinch to fight the likes of Lisabelle Verlans, the out of hand darkness premier.

  I paused in my reading and wondered at the Tabble’s boldness. I figured all they really wanted was to provoke Lisabelle, and if they succeeded in doing that, all the better. But then if they did truly succeed in provoking her, surely, at the very least, their offices would be destroyed. What kind of game were they playing?

  I read further:

  The Hunters are now desperately trying to find the objects on the Counter Wheel. Many believe it’s a Hail Mary effort but find it a fun exercise to watch. This publication will keep you updated about these objects, which may or may not include some of the items on this list:

  Golden curl Cup

  Golden slice Saucer

  Golden break Barrel

  Golden cut Cathedra

  Golden explode Rod

  Golden decimation Sling

  The objects are all named with a surname of Golden, only exhibited in reverse, and they all have middle names explaining how they are destructive. It’s charming, really.

  Later, I discussed the article with my friends.

  “What I don’t understand is where you start a search like that. Some of the objects on the Wheel had known locations, or were at least known to have been stolen,” I said.

  “There are theories about some of the Counter Wheel objects,” said Eighellie. “They’re just not that easy to find. Theories aren’t directions.”

  “Where are these theories kept?” Keegan asked.

  “In the archives, I’d expect,” said Eighellie. She looked back and forth between us.

  Keegan rubbed his chin. “Let’s add it to the list.”

  “Are you joking?” Eighellie said.

  “Not if you have to ask,” Keegan mumbled. When she still didn’t get it he said, “I only meant to imply that we had a lot to do in a lot of places where we shouldn’t be doing anything. It was funny.”

  “What else is there? This article sort of cuts off. What aren’t they talking about?” I said.

  “Well, they could always try talking about the Wheel itself, but maybe that’s too easy,” said Eighellie.

  “When we fought, we didn’t use a wheel,” I told her.

  “I know,” she said, “but that doesn’t mean that you couldn’t have. A golden wheel is a famous symbol. It’s all over the place. What do you think they’re talking about?”

  “Steering a ship?” Keegan said.

  “Um, no,” said Eighellie. “That’s not even a little bit what they’re talking about, but please feel free to play again tomorrow and remain wrong.”

  Keegan dusted a wood chip off his shoulder and onto Eighellie’s eggs. She scowled at him and picked it off.

  “Are you ready to show us what you’ve been working on yet?” she said.

  Keegan pretended to think about it while Eighellie’s face got very red. Remembering her recent panic about him, I thought I knew what was on her mind.

  “Yeah, I am,” said Keegan eventually, an evil glint in his eye. “Tonight after dinner?”

  “Sure,” I said. “I could study, but why would I?”

  “So that we can graduate and become useful senior paranormals?” Eighellie threw out there. “It’s just a suggestion.”

  “Oh, that’s crazy talk,” I said, then grinned as she rolled her eyes.

  “After we see whatever it is you have to show us, we should go to the Long Building,” she said. “I’ve figured out some stuff about Hunters.”

  “Great,” said Keegan. “A fun-filled evening it is.”

  Eighellie had made a good point. If the information about the Counter Wheel was anywhere on campus, it would be in the archives. The library was a possibility, but the librarians tried very hard not to restrict students from accessing any of the library’s materials, so all the important papers and books were hidden away in the archive, where students couldn’t get at them. Even less of a coincidence was that the archive was in the same place as Dobrov Valedication’s office.

  That afternoon, after my last class, I wandered down to the pond. The place held special meaning for Charlotte because she had seen Mom there, which was why I had never visited. I was afraid of what I might see.

  The brown house that stood nearby and that had once been President Malle’s had been demolished. In its
place was nothing but a patch of brown dirt. Stones marked each corner of the patch, which made it look as if someone planned to plant a garden there.

  I sat down on one of the large rocks near the pond and stared out into the water.

  “What are you doing out here?” Trafton’s voice was very close behind me, and I was chagrined that I hadn’t heard him coming.

  I stood up, spun on my heel, and shrugged. “I had some free time. Charlotte’s told me a lot about this place,” I said.

  Trafton nodded. “The pond certainly has power.”

  I nodded, unsure what to say. I didn’t know Trafton very well, and I had always been close to Lough, his rival. Now that the dream giver was a professor here, I didn’t really feel comfortable asking him questions.

  “How are you liking Public?” Trafton asked after a couple of uncomfortable minutes of silence.

  “I like it,” I said. “It’s not your average college experience, that’s for sure.” But I didn’t know anything else, I added silently, so how could I really tell?

  “It’s different from when I came here,” he said. “When I was here everything was carefree. I mean, not entirely, of course; there were the Nocturns hanging over us, after all. But there wasn’t an immediate history of pain as there is now. There wasn’t so much revenge and blame in the air. Public was an institution and a respected one. Now everything has changed. To see Public just scraping by, to hear about the oversight board not approving Dobrov, it’s all disheartening,” he said.

  “At least Dobrov’s still here,” I said. “At the end of last semester none of us were sure if he’d be around when we got back.”

  Trafton shook his head. “You’re right, that’s a plus. I didn’t see Public last semester, but I’m sure it was in worse shape than it is now.”

  “They taught a lot of theory,” I grumbled.

  Trafton chuckled. “I did hear about that, and about how bored the students were. What do you think I’m doing here?”