I nodded. “I’m fine.”
Embarrassment and irritation crept up my neck in a heated wave. How could I have let that happen again? I’d pulled myself together faster than the last time, but still. Jay knew I could do better—he’d trained me to do better. I refused to make eye contact with him again.
The night was a solid sheet of black, and I could just barely make out the silhouette of the factory as we approached. The wind was quiet—Sienna must’ve finally calmed herself down—and snow was falling peacefully to the ground in thick chunks—Jay’s doing, not mine.
He pushed open the rotten back door, white paint now gray and chipping, and ushered us inside. It was equally dark in there, if not more so, and eerily quiet. How he found the stairs to the cellar in all that blackness was anyone’s guess, but we followed him down to a big metal door and waited. There was a dim bulb screwed into a cinderblock wall, casting just enough light to illuminate a rectangular slat at eye level. It slid open, and we were met with a steely pair of eyes, probably brown, but appearing ebony in the dim light.
“What do you want?” he asked us gruffly.
Jay smiled, a stark contrast against the cold greeting.
“To come in, of course.”
“What are your names?” the guard asked.
“Walsh, Moore, and Aeris.”
The eyes narrowed at us. “Wait here.” Then the slat slammed shut.
I exhaled a nervous breath just before Sienna said, “Well, he seemed…nice.”
“Are you sure we have the right place?” I asked.
This didn’t seem like the sort of establishment three young adults would venture into. I was expecting lasers and flashing lights, overly loud music, bouncers with sunglasses—not some shady dude guarding the cellar of an abandoned cheese factory. What the hell was Jay thinking?
He nodded. “This is the place.”
The rest of the fifteen-minute wait was suffered in silence, with me seriously contemplating leaving at least every other second. Then the slat snapped back open and a different set of eyes appeared—pale green, surrounded by lush black lashes and crowned with perfectly trimmed brows.
“Jay? Is that you?” the woman asked from the other side. She sounded foreign, Middle Eastern, maybe?
His smile deepened. “It is.”
Her eyes slid to the right and the door unlatched with a heavy groan. In its place stood a gorgeous woman in sexy business attire. Shimmering black hair swirled up into an elegant French twist and burgundy lips pressed into a seductive pout. Her skin tone was the perfect shade of olive. The white blouse she wore had its sleeves rolled up to the elbows and was gaping open by at least three buttons. Heather gray pants clung to her slim legs down to the ankle, where a set of stunning black stilettos added a good five inches to her height.
I eyed my cork wedges with mild indifference. I needed to get a pair of those stilettos.
“Jay Walsh,” she practically purred, batting her lashes. “It has been too long.”
“It certainly has.”
She slipped her arm through his, leading us into a dingy, musty, concrete hallway.
“Welcome to my club, The After Dark.”
She glanced backward and eyed Sienna and me impartially. Back at ya, lady. At the end of the hall, she yanked open another metal door, and this time it led to an immaculate nightclub.
My immediate impression was that of a dark oasis. Underneath the shadows, the color palette ranged from dusty tan to deep brown, jungle green to tropical turquoise. Draping plants and exotic flowers hung gorgeously all around. A circular bar, glowing some shade of magical blue, filled the center of the space. The music was deep, dark, and sensual; it made my skin itch to feel other skin. Completing the whole impeccable scheme, blue and green lasers flashed in tandem with the bass, just as I’d hoped.
I was fairly certain my mouth was gaping a bit. Sienna’s definitely was.
The woman smirked smugly.
“You do not mind if I steal Mr. Walsh away, do you? We have so much catching up to do…” After eyeing him like a piece of red velvet cake, she handed us two passes the size of credit cards. “Tonight, you are VIPs. These cards will get you anything you want, free of charge. If anyone dares give you trouble, tell them Adira personally gifted them to you.” With that, she spun on her gorgeous heel and led Jay to God only knew where. He didn’t seem too upset about it, though, so I rolled my eyes and brushed it off.
Maybe he wasn’t going through a wild mourning, but rather a promiscuous one? Or perhaps he wasn’t actually mourning at all?
From the corner of my eye, I instantly noticed someone. It distracted me from my previous thoughts, like how silence in noisy places alarms the senses. The man was quietly, unknowingly drawing me into his mysterious void.
“So, you wanna dance?” Sienna asked excitedly. “There’s this hunk of a stud eyeing me over there, and his buddy is totally…” Her words drifted away from me. The music drifted away too. I couldn’t concentrate on anything but the stranger across the dance floor.
His dark green hood was pulled up and his hands were shoved stiffly into his pockets. He obviously didn’t want to be bothered, so naturally that was exactly what I wanted to do. There was something in the way he carried himself, the elegant way his lean body moved when he walked. There was something so perfectly ordinary about him, and yet, he was completely captivating, ensnaring me without even an ounce of effort.
My stomach twisted anxiously, a realization that hadn’t yet made it to my brain. My feet began propelling me in his general direction.
“Okayyyy…” Sienna muttered from the outer reaches of my attention. Then she disappeared completely.
With every step closer, my heart crescendoed into an almost audible pounding—more bodily intuition that my brain failed to recognize.
It wasn’t until he looked up, emerald eyes peering over the heads of the dancers to the right of me, that it finally hit me.
There was a reason I was so drawn to this man, a reason his body and motions seemed so familiar and alluring.
He was perfect. He was alive.
Cade Landston.
Chapter Seven
What the hell is he doing here? The question was practically burning my tongue.
Or was it actually burning?
I quickly assessed my body to make sure there were no flames licking up my sleeves, and I let out a long sigh when I found that there weren’t. In the same moment, Cade had started moving. Stalking like a predator, he weaved seamlessly through the crowd.
Where is he going?
I managed to keep up while simultaneously staying back, but it was a hell of a lot harder than the movies made it seem. He disappeared through a side exit and I followed too many seconds after.
As the club was located underground, the side exit was actually just a dank, dimly lit hallway leading to a set of cracked stairs. I assumed they led above ground, and upon glancing up and seeing the snow still peacefully falling, my guess proved correct.
There was something else, though—another door to my right. No writing or anything on it, just a rusted knob that didn’t even have a lock. I didn’t know if it was curiosity or gut instinct, but I felt like I needed to see what was back there.
I slowly cracked the door open, expecting it to screech like some wounded animal, but it didn’t. Playing detective had never been my thing, but I figured that meant this door was probably well used, and that felt odd to me. It seemed too far off the beaten path to get much traffic.
When I pushed it open all the way, I couldn’t see anything but a black void; I couldn’t even tell if it was a hallway or a room. It was creepy as all hell. The panic started rising, but I squeezed my fists and refused to let my elements escape.
Wait…
When was I going to learn that I could use my power to benefit, rather than just fearing its destructiveness? I cupped my palm and smoke wisped into a big teardrop-shaped flame. The surrounding area lit up with a soft, cool
blue glow and my nervousness abated somewhat.
It was a hallway. I walked to the end, where there wasn’t a door but rather a ninety-degree turn into a large storage space. Rows of shelving held cleaning supplies, boxed glassware sets, spare light bulbs, and more. Beyond that, there lay yet another door. From behind that door, the distant sound of conversation tickled my ears.
Who would Cade be meeting back here? And why?
Other than trying to find a way to kill my grandfather, and maybe even the rest of my family, I had no idea what he’d been up to since we last spoke. I supposed I was about to find out.
I took a couple steps toward the door but never made it there.
A hand clamped tightly around my mouth, an arm wrapped around my waist, then I was lifted and hauled into a tiny aisle between the shelves. I didn’t even have time to panic—survival instinct just completely took over. Blue flames ignited up my arms and the assailant staggered backward, hissing in pain.
“Shit!” He dropped and rolled, smoke rising from his clothes. “Turn the fire off, you idiot! Do you want them to catch us?”
I knew that angry voice; I had just expected to hear it coming from the other side of the door.
“Cade?”
He immediately went quiet, concentrating on finding my face through the flames. I doused them all at once, accidentally plunging us into complete blackness. I’d had a half-assed thought that getting rid of the flames would help him see past them and recognize me, but clearly I was an idiot. A ringing hummed in my ears as my eyes tried to adjust. The only light available was coming from a crack beneath that door, and it was barely enough to spit at.
Cade sucked in a sharp breath through clenched teeth, and coupled with the smell of singed flesh, I knew I must’ve burned him pretty badly.
“I’m so sorry,” I pleaded, trailing off before remembering what had set me ablaze in the first place. My ruefulness subsided, replaced with firm resolve. “But you shouldn’t have gone all hijacker on me. You should have known it would trigger my instincts.”
“An instinct to kill, huh? Forget that I recognized your fire and your voice, only a relative of Nicholai would share his murderous disposition.”
His words slapped me—hard, heating my cheeks and knotting my stomach.
“How dare you say something like that! I’ve never killed anyone. In fact, I saved your brother. I’m the reason Xavier’s alive.”
“Is he?” There was a tartness in his tone.
“Isn’t he?” There was uncertainty in mine.
“I don’t know, Valerie, I haven’t seen him since you engulfed him in a raging stampede of whitewater rapids.”
His accusation completely flabbergasted me.
“Engulfed him? You act like he drowned! He’s a Water Elemental, Cade—those raging rapids were the only reason he lived.”
“If he lived.”
I scoffed. “Right, of course.”
I was all prepared to storm indignantly away, but then I remembered that I couldn’t see a damn thing. There was always the option of reigniting my plump little fireball, but Cade’s words came floating back to me: Do you want them to catch us?
I crossed my arms and rooted my heels to the floor.
“Who are you spying on?”
“As if you don’t know…” he muttered sarcastically.
A strange aroma suddenly filled the air, like aloe, eucalyptus, and mint—an herbal concoction he’d made himself, no doubt. I hope it healed as quickly as Aunt Marge’s always did.
“Nicholai?” I assumed, getting back on point. “Why on earth would he be here?”
“You tell me.”
I shook my head. “I don’t believe you. It doesn’t make sense.”
Cade let out a frustrated sigh.
“Val, why else would I be here? You think I give a shit about partying?”
It took a few moments of silence to let the truth of that statement sink in. He was right; he wouldn’t be there if Nicholai wasn’t close. He’d made hunting my grandfather his new life’s work, after all.
But then if that was the case…what was Nicholai doing there? And who was he meeting up with behind that door?
My eyes finally absorbed enough light that I could make out Cade’s shadowy profile. His hands were shaking slightly as he applied the minty salve to his skin. I tried to ignore the guilt threatening to overcome me.
I swallowed. “Who do you think he’s meeting up with?”
The responding chuckle I got was humorless.
“I might’ve known by now if someone hadn’t nearly blown my cover.” He pocketed the tiny jar of salve and turned his head in my direction. “Stay here, keep quiet, and for the love of God, don’t use your fire again.”
He tiptoed over to the door to eavesdrop, and damned if I wasn’t right on his heels. I didn’t take orders from anyone, least of all someone who treated me like a bratty child. I needed to know what my grandfather was up to, probably even more than Cade did. When he shot me a deadly glare, I merely raised a defiant brow.
The conversation behind the door was muffled, but I pieced together as much of the discussion as I could. Nicholai’s part was easy to figure out; I had no clue who the other person was.
“…need to keep them separated, looks too bad for the campaign…”
“I understand.”
“At this point it’s not necessary to have…on my side, but there at least needs to be some…”
“Shouldn’t be too difficult with the current schedule.”
“Make sure it’s not.”
“I will.”
“Also, make sure…are not at the same place at the same time. They’ll meet, but now’s not the…”
“Of course. Do you need me there?”
“Only if…doesn’t go as planned.” There was a skidding sound, like that of a chair moving.
“Is that all?” Another chair slid out.
“For now. Unless you have more to report?”
“No, I…”
I glanced fearfully at Cade. I’d been so busy trying to read between the lines of what they were saying, it had barely registered that they were about to open the door at any moment, and it seemed he’d made the same mistake. He grabbed my arm and pulled me into another aisle while I searched frantically for someplace to hide. There wasn’t one. You could see right through most of the shelves, and the only way to go unnoticed would be if they simply didn’t look.
Then Cade gestured to a hole he’d created in the ground and whispered for me to get in. He was clearly insane for suggesting something so horrifying. My mouth instantly went dry.
“I can’t.” My head shook violently. I was fairly sure I’d have rather just faced Nicholai.
He practically shoved me into the pit and clambered down after me, loosely pinning my body to the ground as the surface was replaced with a concrete slab. It was like a foxhole. There was air, but I still felt like I couldn’t breathe. The harder I fought to get a lungful, the faster my body burned through the oxygen. My heart was pounding and I realized I was hyperventilating.
Why was I so terrified? As suspicious as it was—Cade throwing me in a hole and sealing the top—I didn’t actually think he was going to hurt me. With our newly created hiding spot, I wasn’t even that worried about Nicholai anymore. So, what the hell?
Sweat prickled along my forehead and immediately froze into crystals. Cade’s breath was warm against my face. If it hadn’t been so dark, I’d bet I could have seen it. I was freezing us out.
“Valerie, are you…” He stopped, maybe to rephrase what he wanted to say. “Are you claustrophobic?”
“Not that I know of. I mean, I never was before.” Then again, I couldn’t actually recall a time when I’d been forced into a tiny, enclosed space.
Cade’s body shivered involuntarily and he sniffed.
“Hey Val, it’s okay. I can control the earth, remember?” His voice was hopeful and surprisingly warm, unlike our environment. He stuttered a breat
h. “I won’t let anything happen to you down here, I p-promise, but you have to stop the ice. I’m f-freezing.”
Oh my god!
My fear and anxiety levels rocketed off the charts, and the temperature in the pit nosedived. Knowing how quickly my ice could get out of control only made me more fearful, which in turn fueled the power of my water element even further.
If I didn’t get my shit together as quickly as possible, Cade could be dead, and it would be entirely my fault. The irony was nauseating. All this time, I’d worried he had died in the incident, and when I finally found him alive, I’d nearly end up killing him myself.
“Val, p-please. You can d-do this…” His pleas were getting softer, his body slowly sagging limply on top of me.
Damn it! I screamed as shrilly as possible within my mind because I sure as hell couldn’t let it out right there. I was so terrified. Hot tears welled in my eyes and spilled down my cheeks into the dirt. Quiet sobbing mixed almost fluidly with the already present hyperventilation.
Cade had passed out. His heart rate slowed, pulsing out a tiny little beat into my chest.
Thump…thump…
I froze, all fear momentarily put on pause as I focused my concentration on that promising sound. Thump…thump…thump…thump. It was a cadence I could use to re-center myself and hopefully undo the damage. Usually, if I could find a rhythm, I could calm the anxiety and control the Elemental mutiny.
I took a deep breath and slowly began reeling in the water. With every fragment I collected, the easier it became to keep pulling in more. I started picking up speed and confidence. I could do this; I could keep him from dying.
By that point, I figured Nicholai was long gone, so I risked creating a small fire in my palm to reheat the pit faster. Minutes passed. Sweat beaded on my forehead again, but this time it stayed fluid, sliding back into my hairline. I let out a cagey breath. Come on, Cade.
He eventually stirred, slowly opening his beautiful emerald eyes. The sheer happiness I felt was so overwhelming that it sent me into another round of ugly sobbing. Keeping my fiery hand out of reach, I wrapped my arm tightly around his rib cage and squeezed with all my might. I clung to him like my body was crumbling apart and falling away and he was the only thing left to hang on to.
The Essential Elements: Boxed Set Page 36
