"You can say it, you know," he whispered.
"Say what?"
"That you're scared. I know you are."
"Did Marissa tell you that?"
"No."
She ran her finger over his brow, attempting to put that stray hair in its place. "I'm scared."
"I can't promise that nothing bad will happen to you, but I can promise that I will do everything in my powers to keep you safe, including your sisters."
"Our sisters," Terra corrected softly.
"You see me as your brother, Terra?"
Her brother... It would have been easy to say that she had never thought that fire would have been a girl. It never occurred to any of them, as they had all been girls. Why wouldn't the last one be as well? She realized that her silence had turned into a pregnant pause.
"Well, isn't this fricken great. We're like the damn screwed up Brady Bunch. If all of those brats had been orphans..."
"I don't think of you as a brother, Bryne," she reassured truthfully. "Do you think something like this was meant to happen? I mean... We never thought that the last element would be a boy."
"You think this is meant to be a romance story?" Bryan asked.
"Not exactly..."
"I don't believe in fate."
"Then what is this?"
"Choice." Bryan stated.
Choice... It was a fascinating concept. It was hard to believe. In their defense they lived in a world with magic, elements, prophecies and extra powers for freaks. How could she not and how could Bryne?
His fingers lightly played on her lower back where her shirt had ridden up, a small portion of her skin exposed. It made it hard to concentrate, to put her thoughts in order of what she wanted to say.
"After everything we've been through - that you've been through, you can't believe that this wasn't predetermined? Someone saw it."
"I'm not saying that all of this wasn't set up by cosmos or whatever it is that you believe in. I'm saying that you are my choice. Fire was meant to be with Air. It was meant to be that way by nature. But I'm human and it's my choice in who I want to be with. It's you." Bryan explained.
"Why? Why me?"
"Because you're strong enough to withstand fire. I'm not saying I won't burn you, but you're resilient. You can withstand me." He lowered his head, tilted it sideways, and she knew what was going to happen before it did, her heart spiking.
His lips brushed over hers, a feather touch, tasting of mint julep and Camel cigarettes. He pressed harder, their hips meeting where he pulled her to him. It was wonderful, better than anything that had ever touched her. She touched his cheek, feeling the scruff, the heat of his neck. His hand moved over her rear to her thigh positioning it around his waist. His hand above them stroked her tresses. There was nothing like it, a complete warmness, from inside out, and if it was heaven, then she would be okay risking her life every day if that was what she had to look forward to.
"Terra," he breathed a moan. On her sensitive lips she felt every word. "God, Terra. You're wonderful."
“Bryne,” she warned. “My sisters.”
He mumbled incoherent curses. “You're right. That's... Wrong.”
“That'd be a good word for it." Terra chuckled.
"We should sleep, but whatever will happen, know that I'm here. I won't ever leave you to tackle this by yourself. In fact, I won't leave you at all." He kissed her lips one last time. "Good night, flower child."
She smiled, her forehead resting on his chest. "Good night, hot - head."
"That's a good one." He said.
Terra was nearing sleep, on the precipice of a good dream. The lips of Bryne having rid anything bad from her system. He stopped the worrying of their future by a simple but splendid kiss. Somewhere in her mind that jotted down useless things, she noted that his breathing was slowing to a rhythm and that he was to doze soon too. Then, they were wakened by a piercing scream.
They all jumped, Terra falling to the floor. Bryne pulled her up, and she appeared to see Era shaking Marissa from her nightmare. She was kicking, crying, tears forming to small streams soaking in her hair. It was wet and clumped as if she had been running a fever.
“Marissa, Marissa, wake up.”
She jolted, her eyes springing open, but as she surveyed the ceiling, Era, and Bryne, she saw Terra, and she cried harder than ever. “No, no, no, no,” she bawled flinging herself to Terra.
Terra held her fast and close. “What's wrong, Issa?”
“You... You...” She howled in pain and torment.
She rubbed her back comfortingly. “Just say it.”
“You... You... You were...”
“Yes? It's okay. It was just a dream, right?”
“N…no, it's n…not. You were...Dead.”
Chapter Seventeen
The Idea of Death
There is no element that is immune to poison.
It took an hour and half to calm Marissa and even then she was gulping, the tears continuing to flow. A small mountain of tissues were beside her and she pulled out another handful from the cardboard box. She sniffed, dabbing her red nose and bloodshot eyes. Terra and Era both sat on either side of her on the makeshift bed. Marissa kept feeling her hand, the drawn lines in her palm like it was the only thing that was assuring her that she was alive and well.
"Tell us again."
"Don't push her, Bryne," Era scolded, a rarity for her. She was normally unagitated, but it appeared that the vision had gotten to her, and Terra didn't know whether to be flattered or saddened by that.
"We have to know what we're facing here!"
"Go smoke one of your cigarettes."
He nearly growled at her. "I'll wait until Water control can tell us what we need to be certain of. So zip it, Wind-fest."
Terra sat numb to what she was hearing, and that did not just include the bickering. It was not as though she didn't understood because she understood perfectly well. It didn't seem to bother her. The kiss lingered on her lips, the disbelief that she could be as lucky as she was, crisp in her mind. She had her sisters, and if she died it somehow made sense that they would be safe. She wouldn't die for no reason, would she?
Marissa took a couple of deep breaths before she retold her vision. "Hadrian found us here... I don't know how... We had given our powers to Terra and she was doing really well, Hadrian was getting weaker, but he grabbed her, he forced poison in her mouth... There is no element that is immune to poison. Poison in the air, the water..."
“How does it demolish fire?”
She thought about that a few moments. “It doesn't...”
"Do you know what it was?"
"No... I wish I did... I can't get a feel on it... I don't even know what it does...” She furrowed her brows in concentration but it did nothing to help, it never did. It was a constant frustration to Marissa, to not be able to control her visions, or when she melted.
“Where were we when he was killing her?”
“Era was knocked into a corner... There was blood on her head. I think... I think she was dead too,” she croaked. “You... You were fighting with him... My leg was broken... I didn't get there in time...”
Era tapped her shoulder. "Go into the bathroom and take a bath. We'll work this out."
She became hysterical at the suggestion. "I want to be here! I want to help!"
Bryne jerked his head to the hallway. "Go on, Mari. There are too many strong emotions in here for you."
"I can handle it."
"Now!" Bryne ordered.
She stood, anger flashing in her eyes. "You can't tell me what to do! You are not my father or brother; you're just the useless elemental we needed!”
"I did tell you what to do, and as far as being elemental I can evaporate you pretty quickly, so watch it Water before I melt you.”
"She's my sister, not yours!"
"And I'm grateful for that!" He pointed to the hall again as if he was directing a difficult child, which was more or less true. "Go!"
"No!"
Era tugged on her hand. "Please, Marissa?"
She relented, and stormed to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.
Terra finally spoke. "That was uncalled for, Bryne. You didn't have to yell at her like that."
"She's almost as stubborn as you." He doubled back to her, as if something about her had caught his eye. "Are you okay?"
She shrugged. "I'm fine. I'm okay with my death; I'm not okay with yours. When…”
"If…”
"This happens," she went on pretending as if she hadn't heard his correction, "we need to come up with a plan of what you three will do. I think the powers will die with me, so there won't be any elements left to help you."
"I refuse to talk about this. Nothing is going to happen to you. That vision is implausible. There are four of us and one of him."
"I'm the only one that'll be carrying all four elements, don't forget that."
“This is insane.”
“Insane or not, we have to take this seriously.”
“She's right,” Era concurred. "Marissa doesn't tell us much about the visions she has but we know that they all have come true. It used to scare her when she was a child, everyone could tell when a vision came true because of her reaction. When a glass broke, a song played, the little things. You can see how much this would scare her now."
"So what are we going to do?"
They fell into quiet reflection. What were they going to do? Was there anything? As the numbness wore off Terra found that she was more than comfortable with her death, she was ready for it.
"Nothing," Terra responded calmly. "We're aware of it. There's nothing that we can plan to do to prevent it."
Era nodded optimistically as if it had changed the whole outlook of what was to come. "Maybe knowing in itself is prevention."
Bryne shot her a lethal look. "Don't get your hopes up." He glimpsed to Terra, seizing her hand and tugging her to her feet. "Come with me."
"Where are we going?"
"To my place, flower child. There's something I want to show you."
"What about Marissa and Era? We can't leave them alone."
"I'll send Erick back over. His powers are pretty developed, believe it or not. He could help if trouble comes but I doubt it, we won't be far."
"We left once and our house caught on fire. We were just down the street, Bryne, this isn't….”
"Please, Terra? You have my word that they'll be fine. Unlike your house, Hadrian doesn't know where we are. My grandmother moved a lot after my mom and brother died. When I turned eighteen I took our last house and she moved here. He assumed she died long ago, I bet." He groaned and stepped closer to her, speaking quietly into her ear. “I promised you last night that I would protect you and your sisters. I promise you again that I will do that. Maybe that's why I'm the guy, because we feel the need to protect the girls.” He smirked playfully.
It warmed her once more, and his declaration was reasonable enough. She nodded.
Chapter Eighteen
Fire, Fire
It was a rotten promise to make, and they both knew that it was thin as a sheet of ice, but if it made him feel marginally better...
The house was in disarray, newspapers scattered over the couch and trickling down to the floor. The whole place reeked of cigarette smoke, but she had known that beforehand. It was lucky with his training outside habits that his grandmother's house did not suffer the same fate. She was not so much saying that it was luck than it was the Kin who kept it in good order, as little as there was.
It was not surprising. They had not taken their car, but Bryne's instead. Preferring to walk if he could, for most of the time it was left in the driveway. Fast food wrappers littered the floorboards, a thick blanket of dust covering the dashboard. She saw a silver gum wrapper in the handle of the door. It reeked of smoke too, more so than the house. Again, she was not surprised.
"Why did you want to leave your grandmother when she was in such poor condition?"
"I didn't want to leave her. I thought it would be safer for her. You heard what Hadrian did to my family. I wouldn't let him take her too."
"It doesn't sound like you blame yourself," she noted aloud.
He gave her that crooked grin. "If I expect you not to blame yourself for Ian's death, I should do the same. Can't be a hypocrite now."
She smiled right back. "That's right. I don't blame myself, but I wish there was something else I could've done. I still think about it, still dream about it."
"I know. I hear you. Before Marissa woke us up, you were crying. You cry a lot since his death. You gaze off into space and I know you're thinking about him. You fumble more. Yesterday you buttered your hand instead of the toast. For anyone else this would be cause for years of therapy and realizing at the end of your sessions that it's never going to go away. I think you're doing well, if that means anything."
"It does."
"Follow me."
Terra trailed Bryne into his bedroom. A king sized bed set in the middle. There was an expensive stereo system in front of it, the remote control on the nightstand, the legs being carved of dragon feet or a similar reptile. It was gloomy, the black curtains pulled over the windows blocking out any source of light. It may have been because of that, but either way it smelled worse of smoke there than anywhere else. She supposed the curtains held most of it, the heat from the sun extracting it and releasing it into the air, and it was especially sunny that day.
There was a guitar in the corner. He picked it up, perched himself on the edge of his bed and set it on his knee. He strummed a few strings and altered the knobs at the top.
"You play. You never told me that." Terra sat next to him kicking off her shoes and bringing her feet up.
"Yes. I play." He flicked the strings, his fingers moving over them, holding them expertly. He tapped his foot setting a beat, and he began to sing, low, deep, sensuous, and striking cords in her that she hadn't known were there. Then, he sung slow and sweet....
“Fire, fire, bring me down,
Where the embers glow.
Dying inside of me,
I hate you, I hate you, I do.
Air, air, bring me to life,
Spark the skies with red,
Show me why I'm alive.
Water, water, drown me in your flowing heart.
Show me what I've done wrong,
Hurt me the way I've hurt.
Destruction is my peace,
It's why I exist.
I hate me, I hate me, I do,
I hate everything I'm putting you all through.
Earth, earth, bring me to myself again.
My purpose is within you holding it deep,
Feed me what you can't keep.
It's you I belong to.”
He slowed, the crescendo trailing to the last cord that rung and echoed. He kept his eyes down, as though he was embarrassed by what he shared, but for Terra it not only rung and echoed in the room but it rung and echoed in her heart.
"When did you write it??"
"Six years ago."
"Before you met us," she said softly. "That's amazing. It's beautiful, Bryne. Thank you.”
"It shows you that I knew it was you before I met you. Earth was the only one to make sense to me. I never knew why that was.”
She sighed, “because you're born from me? Air helps you along. That would make sense.”
“I said I never knew why, I didn't say that I wanted to figure it out. Some things don't have answers, Terra. I'm okay with that, to just live as it is without seeking anything more. You're all I need.” He traced a vein in her hand, from her wrist to her knuckle. “Be careful defeating Hadrian. Don't die.”
It was a rotten promise to make, and they both knew that it was thin as a sheet of ice, but if it made him feel marginally better... “I won't.”
He filled the gap between them, and pushed his lips on hers, moving against her in a slow melody that was just as meaningful a
s the lyrics he sung and played for her. She placed her hand to his cheek, the heat nearly burning her, but not enough. She wouldn't break from him. Suckling his bottom lip it was her secret promise that what she felt was true. Whatever would happen in the future wouldn't change that. He was hers and she was his. They belonged together.
He bit her gently, and something swooped inside of her stomach. It was unlike anything she had felt before, but when she pressed harder, looking for it again he pulled back.
"We have to go," he said, his tone four octaves lower than usual.
"Um, Bryne, do you think it would be okay if I asked your grandmother a question?"
He rose his brow in surprise. "What question?"
It was time that she told him. They couldn't do it behind his back, and she was the right person to ask him. His song proved it. "About the prophet. I think… Marissa thinks…that she may know who the person is. Haven't you ever wondered?"
"I had more important things to be spending my time wondering about. What's important about it?"
"I don't know... I guess it's..." Terra looked to the blocked window, not wanting to look him in the face. "I guess in case anything happens to me, I want to know all of the answers. I want to know what exactly I'm dying for."
He got on his knees, his expression flickering with frustration to borderline fury. "You're going to die. I won't let that happen, you have my word."
"You can't promise me that."
"We all make promises we can't be sure if we'll keep." He groaned, "fine then, I promise you what I've promised you several times in the last few days. I will do everything I can….”
"To keep me and my sister’s safe," she finished for him and touched his chin. "Thank you. For everything you're doing for us."
"You're my family now," he said simply. "Home now? You can ask grandmother about the prophet when we get there."
Terra smiled in agreement and they walked out of the house, his guitar swung over his shoulder. Outside, in the frigid air he noted a tree, attempting to grow out of the hard and harsh ground. He handed her the guitar case, and went back inside. He came out with a small spade and a clay pot. He dug up the tree, the roots and all and placed it inside, patting down the soil with his fingertips.
The Elementals Page 11
