Fire: The Elementals Book One

by Gilbert, L. B.

  “Don’t think to make fools of us. You were seen walking in the daylight.”

  Shit.

  He should have been more careful, but he’d been too wrapped up in Diana and the investigation. And now the Council knew, and he only had himself to blame.

  “Has the council taken to spying on its own?” he asked evenly.

  An outright denial would have been unwise.

  Another ripple passed among the council until the rumble of whispers became a roar. Some clearly did not believe what Alec was being accused of. Other members were hissing their disbelief to one another. A few took exception to the implication of spying.

  Alec was a respected and powerful member of the council. If he had been spied on, then it was likely they were all subject to the same kind of treatment. And that violated their unspoken code of honor when it came to dealing with their own kind. It was one very few of them adhered to, but all of them pretended. At least openly. An admission of spying in open Council was unprecedented.

  “You were seen in New Orleans and again in Toulouse, France. Your association with the Elemental was being closely monitored. It was foolish to think otherwise. When one of their kind shows up, it is always trouble.” Socar drummed his fingers on the table in a slow and deliberate movement.

  Alec conceded that with a shrug and a hint of a smile despite himself. Diana was trouble. Just not the kind they thought.

  “Well, now what?” He sighed, affecting boredom.

  Socar bristled with anger. “Now you hand over the details of the Daywalker ritual or you face censure.”

  Censure.

  Alec stifled a shudder. His gut twisted. It was the worst punishment the vampire Council had to offer.

  That particular penalty had been carried out only a handful of times in their long history, and all of those times had occurred in distant dark periods no one spoke of.

  Censure had destroyed some very powerful members of their kind who’d found themselves at odds with the ruling faction of the council. They had been buried deep underground only to be periodically dug up for systematic torture. Then they were reburied again. The cycle repeated every few years.

  The few vampires who had been interred deep under the ground of the vampire council’s seat in Europe had long since been dug up. They were put out of their misery sometime during the Enlightenment.

  Usually they went mad within the first decade, although one had supposedly kept his mind mostly intact twice that. Maybe he would get lucky and last as long.

  “Where the hell do you get off threatening me with censure? There is nothing in our laws that says I have to hand over something as sensitive as the Daywalker ritual to you lot. In fact, it’s the last thing I would do.”

  Stanishlough leaned forward. “How dare you keep something like that to yourself, you selfish bastard! We have been searching for a way to walk under the sun again for as long as we have existed. You have no right to keep the secret to yourself!”

  His outburst had an electrifying effect on their audience. The reality that there was a Daywalker in their midst was slowly sinking in. So was the idea that maybe they too could walk in sunlight someday. The rest of their audience looked confused or apprehensive. Even Daviel was glaring at Alec.

  Socar’s attitude was calmer however. After Stanishlough’s flare-up, he tightened his control.

  “Of course, I knew you would not hand over that kind of advantage to your house without some persuasion. Censure was probably inevitable in this case. You will be buried under this Council house and exhumed once a year until you hand over the secret.”

  How many years before he went insane? Alec shot a glance at Daviel, who now looked troubled as more security guards filed into the room.

  “That’s not why I’m not giving you the ritual details. I’m not doing it because I don’t want a bunch of irresponsible idiots running around on a power trip swarming the world over in daylight as well as night. That includes the members of my own house,” Alec said harshly, meeting Alden’s eyes.

  His father looked angry but didn’t say anything.

  “You self-serving sanctimonious little shit!” another member of the council yelled.

  “Bury him now!” another shouted.

  Alden walked to his side and said, “You’ve done it now. Just hand it over to them.”

  “I’m sorry,” Alec said sadly. “I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

  He and his father frequently didn’t see eye-to-eye, but most of the time it didn’t matter. This was different. Like the others here, his father believed they were the superior form of life on Earth. To even share the same air as one of their kind was a privilege.

  No wonder Diana hates us.

  Diana. He wished he’d had more time with her. She was starting to come around. He was close to convincing her that they belonged together. She simply needed a little more time with him and his more persuasive talents, the ones he’d been too cautious to employ yet.

  If he ever got out of this, he wouldn’t waste any more time. Whatever was keeping her from being with him was going to be dealt with, whether she liked it or not. If he ever got out of this that is. And since no vampire ever had survived censure compos mentis for long, that better be soon.

  The guards swarmed around him, waiting for Socar to give them a sign.

  “Last chance, Alec,” Socar said. “Just tell us what we want to know and you are free to go. For a time, at least.”

  “For a time?” Alec asked, deadpan.

  “We expect your assistance with the ritual should we run into any problems,” Socar said with a dismissive hand wave.

  Alec drew in a sustaining breath. “I’m not going to help you. You may as well just get on with it,” he said at length, sounding and appearing more firm and in control than he felt.

  Socar looked simultaneously disappointed and smug. He signaled his men, and two of them went to the marble mantelpiece. Working synchronously, they tugged on the widely spaced circular carvings on either side of the front panel. The small moon shapes were almost obscured by other occult symbols that had been added later.

  Before this more technological age where the lights of cities drowned out the stars, the moon was the most revered symbol for the vampires. For a long time, it had been the only light that had guided them.

  The entire mantelpiece slipped back and away, revealing a pit with a mechanical lift. Levers on the side walls had to be pulled simultaneously to lower the lift and a huge stone slab down from the ceiling. The thing had been left open since the creation of this place, back when only Native Americans and Supernaturals had walked this continent.

  The door opened, and more men wheeled in a huge stone sarcophagus. The top was carved with the symbols of Alec’s house.

  “Well, clearly you did not have any confidence in your powers of persuasion. This carving work would have taken some time,” Alec said in a flat tone.

  Socar dismissed that with a languid wave. “One has to be prepared for every eventuality. But you will tell us everything in time. We can afford to be patient,” he said, smiling at Alec.

  Asshole.

  The men who wheeled in the stone sarcophagus stopped in front of the opened pit at the far end of the room. Four more joined them, and together they lifted the lid of the sarcophagus with strained effort. It must have weighed several tons.

  Alec’s heart sank. Well, that’s inconvenient, he thought as the guards dropped the lid on its side. It landed with a resounding thud. He fought the urge to get up and run as the men moved aside to display the open tomb and waiting sarcophagus.

  “Last chance,” Socar said.

  “You already said that. I’m not giving you the ritual details,” Alec said disgustedly as the guards moved behind him.

  “Then I have no choice. Alec Broussard, I censure you to entombment beneath this hallowed ground for the rest of your life or until you reveal the secret of the Daywalker ritual.”

  The guards behind him grabbed his ar
ms and were starting to drag him from his seat when a melodic voice interrupted.

  “Hallowed ground? Seriously?” Diana said with a little laugh.

  The guards in front of the sarcophagus parted like the Red Sea to reveal the Fire Elemental in all her leather-clad glory.

  Several members gasped as she walked farther into the room. Except for his father, none of the vampires in this room had attended his mother’s soiree. But apparently they had all gotten the description.

  The guards backed away like there was a bomb in front of them instead of a five-foot-four-inch woman.

  “You know, for a group of decidedly flammable individuals, you lot are overly fond of fireplaces,” Diana said nonchalantly as she reached the long wooden table.

  Without missing a step, she hopped onto its surface and kept walking.

  “What the devil is this?” Socar seethed, head drawn back stiffly.

  “Your kind is not welcome here!” Stanishlough spit out, his face purple as Diana sauntered over the long table to Alec’s side.

  The guards behind him started to edge away. When she reached Alec, she smiled down at him. He looked at her in astonishment, and in one fluid movement, she dropped into his lap and sat on it.

  “Hey,” she said, twisting to look back up at him, giving him another little smile.

  He smiled back, momentarily forgetting everyone else in the room.

  “Hey, yourself.”

  They must have smiled at each other a little too long because there was a heavy rap on the table.

  “What do you want, Elemental?” Socar asked, his voice deceptively calm.

  Diana turned around to glare at him. “I want to know what the hell you think you’re doing,” she said, annoyance dripping from every syllable.

  Socar was surprised into stunned silence. Unfortunately, Stanishlough wasn’t. “This is Council business, and you have no place here! You pollute this sacred place with your presence! You’re forbidden from interfering with our affairs!”

  Diana’s face hardened. She put both hands on the table and slowly leaned forward from her seat in Alec’s lap.

  “If I were you, I’d shut my stupid fucking mouth right now because there is nothing forbidden to one of my kind. And as for me polluting this place, I will remind you that there is nothing as purifying as a little fire,” she hissed before leaning back into his embrace with a relaxed expression.

  Alden had remained rather still during Diana’s sudden appearance. Now his features were expressionless.

  “Is this some sort of declaration?” he asked, his glance flicking back and forth from Diana’s face to Alec.

  She turned to Alden. “And what sort of declaration would that be?”

  “Are you here to tell us that Alec is under your protection for the service he provided you?” he asked, his face carefully neutral.

  Diana cocked her head, and seemed to consider her answer.

  “I’m here to tell you that if anyone fucks with my mate, I will burn this place to the ground with everyone in it,” she said before smiling sweetly at their audience.

  41

  Behind her Alec tensed, his body heating around her, but she didn’t turn to look back at him.

  Wordlessly, he took her hand in his and gripped it tightly. while she took in everyone’s frozen expression. None of the other vamps made a sound. Seconds stretched to a full minute before anyone stirred.

  It was Daviel Saturne, of House Saturne, who finally spoke. “This is unexpected. Are you sure?”

  Diana shot him a speaking glance, and he coughed apologetically. “I mean, an Elemental has never taken a vampire for a mate. A Fire Elemental has never. . .”

  The poor guy couldn’t think of anything else to follow that.

  She shrugged. “There’s a first time for everything.”

  Socar took a steadying breath and stood. “Your association with Alec is a. . .an honor to his house,” he finally said with an acknowledging nod to Alden.

  Diana pursed her lips, waiting for more.

  “But I’m afraid that the business we have with Alec supersedes any of his other associations,” Socar continued. “This Council requires that he hand over information critical to our survival.”

  Diana rolled her eyes. “I realize you might actually believe that, but your kind has gotten along for a millennium without walking around in daylight, and you can get along without doing it now.”

  The level of tension in the room jumped up a notch.

  “Are you refusing to give us what is our right? What is our due!” Socar’s renowned control broke down.

  The guards responded by fanning out behind them. But they kept a noticeable gap between them and the chair in which the odd couple sat.

  “No, actually,” Diana replied without batting an eyelash.

  The whirl of confusion that swept over the crowd left several with comical dumbfounded expressions on their faces. Her smile grew wider and Daviel’s expression went from confused to besotted as he looked at her. Alec shot him a warning look before turning his attention back to Diana.

  “Not that I believe anything of Alec’s is your due,” she continued. “He owes you nothing. His discovery was the result of decades of brilliant work, and if he wants to keep it to himself, he can.”

  “So you don’t want me to hand over the ritual?” Alec asked looking down at her, genuinely confused.

  “No, you can give it to them,” she said gently. She twisted a little on his lap so she could put a hand on his cheek. “The ritual is pointless. It worked for you because it was you. It won’t work for them.” She paused to make sure he was taking it in. “It’s simply a tool, a way to focus what magic there is in this world on you. If you are worthy and have the skill, it changes you. If you’re not, you stay the way you are. There is usually only one of your kind in a millennium that can pull it off. . .if that.”

  Diana’s explanation was met with complete and utter silence. Alec looked simultaneously relieved and disappointed. She continued to stroke his cheek.

  Stanishlough laughed. “She’s lying!”

  For people who didn’t need to breathe much, the shocked intake of breath coming from multiple vampires around the table was very loud. Even some of the guards behind them broke their stoic silence to gasp aloud.

  Insulting the bogeyman in their midst was suicide.

  “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” Diana said, fighting the urge to laugh. “But only because your scintillating company is starting to get on my nerves. We are leaving. Alec can email the ritual details. You will leave us alone. Or you get my undivided attention. . .but only for as long as it takes for your smoldering pile of flesh to stop smoking.”

  With that, she got up off Alec’s lap. Slightly dazed, he followed after her toward the door, but Stanishlough was too stupid to keep his mouth shut.

  He got up from the table and pointed to them while making eye contact with Socar and as many members that would return his glance.

  “You can’t seriously think of letting them go! She’s lying. The ritual will work. He has to show us how he did it! I can get it to work this time!”

  “This time?” Alec turned sharply to face Stanishlough. “What do you mean?”

  “Aren’t others always in pursuit of the chance to walk under the sun?” Socar said evasively.

  “Yeah, but why would you bother to do the homework when you can just steal it?” Diana asked, looking up to check Alec’s reaction.

  “You stole my research.” Alec’s tone went from incredulous to angry before he’d finished the sentence. “But you can’t have. No one knows where I hid the research. No—” he stopped short. The look on his face was one of realization and. . .pain.

  “What is it? Did someone else know where you kept it?” she asked quietly with a glance at his father.

  “Yes, but not him,” he replied. With a look of hatred, he focused on Stanishlough, “Where is Daniel?”

  “Who?”

  �
��My servant, Daniel. He is the only one that had access,” Alec bit out.

  His voice was arctic, colder than Diana had ever heard.

  There was a pointed silence. It stretched so long the other members of the circle began to edge away from Stanishlough in a clear retreat of support.

  Not noticing, Stanishlough drew himself up in his most arrogant and supercilious manner. “It was his own fault. He would have survived if he had been quicker to obey.”

  The silence stretched. The loyalty of a servant to his house was a point of pride. Kidnapping and torture of a loyal retainer was sufficient cause to declare war on another house.

  Alec was frozen for an immeasurable moment until he suddenly blinked and lunged for Stanishlough. The older vampire broke his grip, and in the space between heartbeats, he twisted away from Alec.

  In movements too quick for eyes to see, the two fought in vicious bursts, one getting the upper hand and then quickly losing it as the other wrested it from him.

  Diana suppressed a flinch as one of the enemy’s blows landed hard. She debated moving in and ending it, but the entire council was watching. As much as she hated it, Alec had to end this on his own.

  The vicious fight continued in near silence. The other members of the council must have been too unnerved by her presence to take sides. She stood ramrod straight, fighting to keep her face impassive. Alec slammed Stanishlough against the table, the advantage clearly his when Diana saw Socar twitch his hand. A few nervous guards inched forward, responding to his sign in surreptitious movements.

  They hadn’t moved more than a few steps when a wall of fire rose in front of them. The guards reared back, and the wall became a circle around the two fighters.

  “Don’t even think about interfering,” Diana hissed at the old man.

  Socar sneered. “I bind you to the same rule, Elemental.”

  “You can’t bind shit. I don’t answer to you. But Alec doesn’t need my help,” Diana said firmly.

  “Stanishlough is centuries older. Your mate—”

  “Will still tear him apart,” Diana cut him off sounding more sure than she felt.