Fire: The Elementals Book One

by Gilbert, L. B.

  “Pedro, I want you to know how sorry I am about your son,” she said finally.

  He looked at her directly then. “I understand that it was you, not the vampire, that killed those responsible.”

  She was surprised he had been told of Alec’s true nature. Only the highest level servants were privy to that sensitive information. She hadn’t known he was that high in their servant hierarchy.

  “He helped.”

  A lot.

  Pedro nodded.

  “He must trust you a lot to tell you what he is,” she said softly.

  He sat. “It was not him that said what he was,” he said, waving that away. “It was the leader, the father. Long ago. Not a bad man. Perhaps not a good one, but not a bad one either.” Pedro paused. “I have served the family since I was a boy. When my father died.”

  “I see,” Diana said. “And would your son have served after you?”

  If he said yes, there was no way she could leave Katie here.

  “No. It was understood. Only my lifetime is expected. There is a choice these days as long as you don’t know the secret of what they are. And they keep their word in these matters. It is part of their code.”

  Diana hesitated, but the sense that this was where Katie belonged remained.

  “Okay, then. I know this isn’t a good time to ask, but I need a favor.”

  * * *

  Diana left the apartment an hour later convinced things would work out for Katie. Pedro had immediately been taken with the little girl who had known his son. He had made Katie lunch and showed her around the apartment.

  Watching her play with his son’s toys had made him tear up, and Diana had asked him if he had changed his mind. But he said no. Katie could stay.

  Before she had left, Diana had taken Pedro aside and put several unpolished gemstones in his hand. The old man hadn’t recognized them for what they were until she told him.

  “No, please. I have a good income. I don’t need this,” he’d said.

  “But she might someday. Put them somewhere safe. She might want to go to an expensive university,” she’d said, and Pedro had stopped pressing her to take them back.

  Diana didn’t return to the hotel suite Alec had gotten them. Instead, she made her way to the new safe house.

  Gia had decided to move it once Alec had learned its whereabouts. She should have told her not to bother. Alec would find the next one so long as she was there. But Diana hadn’t been able to acknowledge to her sisters what Alec was. . .not yet.

  How could she when she couldn’t even tell him? Or at least confirm what he already seemed to know. Admitting it would require the telling of secrets she’d never spoken aloud, secrets only Gia knew.

  Gia kept all of their secrets.

  Diana decided to avoid dealing with Alec for the time being. She did have other business in Boston, and it had gone unattended for too long.

  When she got to the new safe house, she started going over the building plans for the Denon Corporation once again.

  38

  It had been two full days since Alec had seen Diana. He’d stayed busy checking on his business interests and reading reports from his men. One was on the Denon Corporation and several detailed Pedro’s progress.

  Pedro seemed much better since Katie’s arrival. He had even enrolled her in school.

  It grated slightly that Diana had been right. Very few people had ever dared to contradict or disagree with him. And even though he had always known Diana was special, he had still expected to be right and her to be wrong.

  Well, in this case, he couldn’t argue with the symmetry of Diana’s plan. Not now that it had worked anyway. Feeling magnanimous in defeat, he decided to set up a trust for Katie’s care. He would make sure Pedro had whatever he needed to keep her happy and safe.

  Alec had also reluctantly made contact with his parents as well, stopping in briefly to inform them that the issue with the Elemental had been resolved. He also strongly suggested that his mother take greater care in her future dealings with the Otherkind.

  They hadn’t said much, restricting their complaints to the fact he was now staying at his penthouse at the waterfront instead of the coven house.

  By late afternoon on the second day, he was ready to reach out to her. He knew she had another investigation in Boston on the Denon Corporation, and he was sure he could be of use. It was an exciting prospect. The leisurely part of his life, that of travel and academic study, would be too quiet now that he’d met Diana.

  Alec was confident he could help her in all of her cases. With his business contacts and corporate ties, he could open doors for her almost anywhere. She would never have to pretend to be a secretary ever again. And when cases involved the supernatural, he thought he’d proven the advantages of having someone there for help and support.

  Determined not to wait any longer, Alec got ready to go meet Diana. He turned on the news and business channels in his private office as he put on his tie and cufflinks. He’d opted for more formal business attire in case he had to go to Denon headquarters with Diana later today. But when local news bulletin came on, he realized he was overdressed.

  “Shocking revelations regarding a huge environmental disaster that were covered up by the board of the Denon Corporation were revealed today as private internal communiqués were anonymously sent to hundreds of news outlets,” said a male reporter standing outside of the now-familiar office building.

  Alec sat down with a grunt. “Well, there goes the easy way,” he muttered to himself, sitting to watch the news coverage.

  He had some idea of what was coming due to his preliminary investigation into the company’s dealings, but he hadn’t yet discovered what Diana had just made public.

  The company had knowingly and systematically been poisoning entire villages with heavy metal waste across the African continent as they mined for precious metals and raw materials for the computer industry.

  Most of the major computing companies were in some way tied to the scandal as customers of Denon’s various subsidiaries. Their eco-conscious customers were already expressing their outrage on social media. Boycotts were being organized. After strong advisories that children should not watch the broadcast, graphic pictures of villagers who had died from poisoning flashed across the screen.

  Despite the sadness of the news, the pang of concern he felt was about Diana. She had moved faster than he’d expected. Now she could leave town whenever she wanted. He wanted to believe she would get in touch with him on her own, but he couldn’t take the chance. Worried, he called Daniel first to check on his mate’s current whereabouts.

  “Do you know where she is?” he asked as soon as he’d reached his man.

  “I saw the news. Was about to call you. ‘Fraid she gave us the slip. Guess she’s going to be moving on soon if she hasn’t skipped already. I don’t know where she is at this moment, but it looks like her people moved their local base. I’ve got it narrowed down to two blocks near Chinatown. Should I get more men out here?” Daniel’s naturally hoarse voice was a little out of breath, as if he was walking the area on foot instead of by car.

  “No, I’ll go down myself,” Alec said.

  He’d been exceptionally lucky at tracking Diana down when he tried. Hopefully, his luck would hold.

  Unless she’s left town.

  Hurrying now, he grabbed his suit jacket and threw it on as he went to the front door.

  He stopped short at the sight that greeted him on the other side. Ten men in dark suits with black embroidered insignias over where their hearts no longer beat.

  Shit. The Council.

  39

  Diana was feeling fairly accomplished. She’d managed to send off hundreds of secure emails without frying the safe house computer.

  The charms Gia had sent to the apartment had done their job and ensured the emails were untraceable.

  Gia’s talent was extensive, but she hadn’t found a way to safeguard electronics against Diana an
d Serin’s inherent destructive ability. Diana had worked in short speedy bursts, interspersed with frequent long breaks to make sure her talent wouldn’t affect the computer too badly.

  Consequently, the laptop in their safe house would live to fight another day. In the meantime, she might look into getting one of those rugged laptops used in combat like the phone Alec had given her.

  Alec. She looked at the phone lying on the coffee table and tried to work up the courage to call him.

  Stop being an ass. You know you want to see him.

  Doubt assailed her. What if she was wrong, and he didn’t want her after all?

  She knew that probably wasn’t the case, but she still didn’t pick up the phone. If she called him now, it meant she was starting a relationship. There would be someone there to second-guess her decisions. But he would also be there to comfort her when the job started to get to her. Provided it didn’t get to him first.

  He’ll want to know your secrets.

  That was the worst part. She knew Alec would never hold her past actions against her. His willingness to cut a bad guy’s head off suggested a certain moral flexibility. And he wouldn’t turn away from her when her job got ugly. What she wouldn’t be able to stand was the forgiveness.

  Diana sighed and sunk into the leather couch and stared at the phone a little longer.

  “I don’t think you can make it ring that way,” Logan piped in from somewhere behind her.

  Diana turned in surprise. “You’re back already. How’d it go? Did you give one of the others the blade?”

  “Gia is taking a look at it. She was closer than Serin. She’s not sure of its origin yet, but she’s working on it. And she attributes the annoying buzz to its material. From a rare asteroid.”

  Diana lifted her brows. “I was afraid of that.”

  Logan flopped on the couch next to her. “Do you think it’s like our kryptonite?” she said with a wrinkled nose.

  “In case you missed it, I’m still alive,” Diana said, hitting her with a green throw pillow.

  It looked like something Serin picked out. Lots of beads.

  “Well, it’s definitely not something we’ve seen before. And the fact the circle had it when most of their other things were new and cheap is. . .disturbing. Gia suggests we send a little message to the old man at the Burgess estate. She supports your idea of making an example of them. Serin and I agree.”

  “Yeah, I thought it would come to that,” Diana said. “I’ve been looking into the current generation. I have an idea of who might have helped the circle in the first place, but I’m not sure.”

  “Who do you think it is?”

  “Hillard’s wife. Maybe. She’s been clean all her life, but you know what they say about the woman scorned. I’m gonna go shake the tree and see what falls out.”

  “About that. . .I figured you might want to head over there, but I think you should let me handle that for you. I need to go back to Europe anyway. And there is something you need to do here first. Something more important,” Logan said, rising from the couch to stand in front of her.

  “What?” she asked cautiously.

  “You need to rescue your boyfriend.”

  “What? Why?” Diana burst out, incinerating the pillow inadvertently.

  She threw it in the fireplace and turned back to her sister questioningly.

  Logan glanced at the impromptu bonfire before grimacing. “I heard whispers on the wind about the vampire Ruling Council. They know about the two of you. How he helped you. And they figured out he’s a Daywalker. They are going to censure him.”

  40

  This place needs a makeover.

  The East coast headquarters of the vampire Council were not what one would expect if they’d ever been a guest of any of the coven houses in U.S. or Europe. Instead of a mansion, the headquarters was a plain stone building hidden in the woods of upstate New York.

  There were no sumptuous furnishings or delicate antiques here. Instead, the furniture was massive and heavy, imported from the old country and their earliest days as an organization. The entire place was a throwback. The only concession to comfort was the richness of the rugs on the floor.

  Alec studied the imposing and impossibly large dark wood table in the central meeting hall. Even though it was rare for all the members to attend a meeting at the same time, tradition dictated that there be a space for every member of the council.

  Meetings were held once every ten years, and many members still didn’t bother to show up. Only the weakest and most powerful members attended regularly. It was a pattern that fueled itself. If they were savvy enough, the weak might grow strong based on what happened in that chamber. And the powerful maintained their control by feeding on those that weren’t. The only impromptu meetings happened after cataclysmic events in the human world so they could assess how it would impact them.

  For the moment, the meeting hall was empty except for Alec and the ten sentries stationed behind him. He recognized all of them. They were the most senior members of the Council guard, the strongest vampire warriors chosen to serve from the lower classes.

  As if he needed their presence to convey the seriousness of the situation he now found himself in.

  Just what exactly did they find out?

  He could only think about Diana. Her strength, her deep green eyes, and the smell of her skin. God, he wanted her. And he should have known his kind wouldn’t let him have her.

  Maybe he could overwhelm the guards and fight his way out.

  He glanced in their direction. Now there were thirteen. All old and strong.

  With an inaudible sigh, he sat at his normal position at the council table and waited.

  * * *

  It took over an hour for the Council members to drift inside. And there were a lot of them. He locked eyes with Daviel Saturne, a junior member of the council, and, though Alec normally had many allies here, the only one he considered a true friend.

  One look at Daviel’s face was enough for him to be sure that his friend didn’t know why they had been summoned in such an unprecedented manner. And in such unprecedented numbers.

  Good god, even Edenny Stanishlough is here.

  The pompous ass had an air of gloating triumph as he walked by to sit opposite of where he normally did at Alec’s left. None of the council members took their normal seats, save one.

  Socar Diespiter was the oldest vampire in the room. Whether or not he was the strongest was debatable. As a diplomat, he had no equal, though it was the kind of ruthless diplomacy that made as many enemies as it did allies. He was still considered their de facto leader because those enemies never had enough impetus to join forces against him. Socar made sure they had more reason to distrust each other too much to consider allying against him. He’d been the council head for the last two centuries, since before Alec had joined.

  In all, there were almost two dozen Council members, more than was typical for a council meeting. And they had all seated themselves opposite him, instead of around him as they normally did.

  Alec showed no reaction when he saw his father Alden. His father was not a member, but he occasionally attended during those big disastrous events when the Council weighed the concerns of the coven heads as well as their own.

  Okay, this is bad.

  “Well, I take it there is a problem,” Alec said suavely, sitting back in his chair and crossing his legs.

  His urbane attitude and tone were flawless. He had done nothing wrong and wanted them to know it.

  Socar inclined his head slightly but was obviously annoyed that Alec didn’t seem concerned. Though they had butted heads with him before, their interactions had been cordial. Mostly. There was no sign of cordiality now.

  “It seems you’ve been keeping some very unusual company lately,” Socar said.

  Alec considered his answer carefully. He smiled. “I made a new friend recently. We had a matter of mutual interest to attend to. A matter of honor to my house,” he said w
ith a pointed look at his father.

  Stanishlough leaned in and sneered. “You don’t make friends with an Elemental. They are our mortal enemies.”

  Socar gave Stanishlough an annoyed glance but didn’t contradict him.

  “Is that what you believe?” Alec asked with a note of disdain.

  There was a general rustle of discontentment among the others. Most did see the Elementals as the enemy, but more of a symbolic one. If vampires had bogeymen. . .But no one in that room would ever admit they feared anyone or anything.

  “So this is about my relationship with Diana?”

  “She gave you her name?” Socar asked with a lift of his thin grey eyebrow.

  “Why wouldn’t she?” Alec asked.

  He knew some in the room believed Elementals were simply witches with singular gifts. To witches, names had power. Most did not share theirs readily. But Diana was beyond the type of magic Socar was alluding to.

  Socar dismissed the issue with a slight movement of his hand. “The witch doesn’t matter. What matters is you and the secrets you’ve been keeping.”

  Crap.

  “And what would those be?”

  The Council leader’s expression hardened. “Do you dare deny that you found the secret of the Daywalker ritual?”

  There was a buzz of astonishment among the rest of the Council, save a few. Only a handful knew why they were here. . .Stanishlough among them.

  “Why would I deny it? Most everyone here knew I was searching for the ritual. I actually found many of them scattered among different cultures. Some of those rituals are known to others here. Searching for the true Daywalker ritual is a favorite pastime of our kind. Just because I found something doesn’t mean it worked. What makes you think I succeeded where so many others failed?”