She clasped her hands together. “I’d recently become an Elitist. I knew Ida’s Gift was latent in my blood and that my child would be powerful, but I didn’t realize your father was an Elemental.” She shook her head. “I don’t know how I could’ve missed it.
“In order to help further the Elitist agenda, I needed an Elemental heir or heiress, someone who would actively possess the Gift. Thinking your father couldn’t offer me that, I cut ties and remarried.”
My eyes bulged. “You what!?”
Her smile was almost sad. “Don’t worry, it didn’t last. I was never in love with Calvin—that part of my heart had been filled and sealed off long ago—but we did produce an Elemental child, your half-brother, Kendrick.”
I shook my head, denial captaining my movements. My first thought was, Do I seriously have a little brother? followed quickly by a spike in anger which led to, That kid is absolutely not my brother!
“He’s a sweet boy,” my mother continued, as if I wasn’t suffering a life crisis right in front of her. “He’s only six, but he already has an affinity to water, Calvin’s element.” And, ironically, my dad’s element. “I knew I needed a Fire child to pass my genes on to. We tried again, but we were never able to have another. We couldn’t figure it out. It didn’t make sense, unless, we got to thinking, perhaps one of us had somehow sired a previous Elemental child.
“With no child-bearing potential between us, we separated. Calvin moved on, married a Wind named Ashlynn, and now they have a beautiful little girl with raven-colored ringlets.
“My point is,” she said, wringing her hands. “Calvin was able to have a second child with her, but not me, and that could only mean one thing: that it was me who’d sired an Elemental child previously, and I’d only had one—you.”
She peered out around me and smiled at the smoldering carnage. “There is no doubt that you are my precious Fire child, Valerie Elaine. I’m so happy to have you back in my life.”
I nearly choked on my own tongue.
“Are you insane?” I shouted. “You’re just another sadistic Elitist with an agenda. You popped out two kids in the name of politics, for fuck’s sake! You don’t have me back in your life. I actually kinda feel bad for Kendrick that you’re still in his.”
Her thin-lipped smiled didn’t come close to touching her eyes. “I wasn’t always an Elitist, Valerie. I didn’t marry your father for politics. I didn’t mother you for them, either. In fact, I used to hate my father for his extremist beliefs and terrible deeds. Margerie and I both swore to never have children because of him.”
“Then what the hell?” I said, throwing my hands up in frustration.
She sighed and her features became more genuine. “Obviously, things change.”
“Obviously,” I agreed, my tone rife with sarcasm. “Look, I don’t have time for this shit. Where’s Xavier?”
I moved to push past her, but her fingers tightened around my wounded shoulder. A pained hiss escaped my lips, and without thought, a small dome of ice exploded out around me. It knocked my mother back by about five feet before evaporating into thin air.
My blood rushed. That had never happened before. It was sort of like my fire explosions, but with ice, and on a much smaller scale. Mom hadn’t been hurt by the burst, just pushed away.
Shock hardened her once soft eyes. Then realization set in. “You’ve killed people,” she said. “Your power has increased, and distorted slightly.”
Great. Just…great.
I glanced back into the cave, hoping to catch sight of Xavier. There was nothing, just the warm flicker of a torch and the deep silhouette of shadows. Then, there was more—a set of eyes in the stone wall of the cave…a face…a bodily outline. A pointer finger moved up to soft, supple lips—shhh.
Cade.
He was sneaking back to break Xavier out.
I needed to keep my mother busy, which, I supposed, wouldn’t be too difficult considering the vast well of anger that swam through my veins. We had plenty of shit to discuss, but first, there was the matter of the wildfire…
I glanced back at her. “Come on, Amelia. I have a fire to put out. Then we’re going to sit down and have a nice little chat.”
She smiled and nodded her consent. “I see you have my fire opal. It should help you greatly in this task.”
I’d have taken it off and thrown it at her if I didn’t think I needed it so badly.
She must’ve sensed how much I distrusted her, because she took the lead and steered us away from the cave.
The fire raged mercilessly, crushing any attempt to hinder it with an iron fist. It swallowed trees whole and shit out the ashes. The smoke didn’t burn my eyes, and the heat didn’t singe my skin. I wasn’t fighting to breathe or see, but there were Elementals clawing and scraping along the ground who had obviously been affected.
I needed to act quickly if I wanted to avoid killing more people. My stride lengthened.
“Wait here,” I said to my mother at the edge of the blaze. I didn’t want her watching me, studying or scrutinizing my technique. When I was sure she had stayed behind, I ran to the center of the chaos.
The flames were vicious as rabid wolves, snapping and snarling, even at me. I planted my feet firmly on the ground and spread out my arms. Brows narrowed like an angry parent, I said, “Enough! Come to me now.” Some obeyed immediately, others rebelled. I pulled harder. “You will listen to me.” More flames conceded, but not all.
The sky was no longer completely obscured by the inferno. Darkness had set in, the moon almost full. Steam rolled off the remaining tree trunks in gusts. Only a handful of pines were still lit up.
Irritated by the fire’s defiance, I pulled as hard as I could and squashed each flame out, one by one.
“Beautiful job, darling,” Nicholai said from out of nowhere.
I spun around.
Then everything went black.
When I awoke, my head was throbbing. The ground I lay on was made of smooth stone, and dirt and tiny rocks rolled under my palms as I pushed myself up. I was in a cage of some sort, and I was in a cave.
I quickly scanned the cavern and saw Xavier on the other side, also caged. He was sitting with his back against the wall, sleeping. My stomach twisted; he looked so much like Cade.
“Xavier,” I whispered. He didn’t stir. I picked up a pebble and threw it. “Xavier!” The pebble never left my cage. It had gotten just between the bars and immediately disintegrated.
What the…? How the hell had that happened?
I created a snowball and threw it—poof! Gone. Ice ball, fireball—same result: disintegration. Angrily, I punched the bars, half expecting my hand to vanish or at least bounce back as if I’d hit a force field. Instead, my knuckles smashed into them. With a yelp that finally woke Xavier, I hunched over and cradled my throbbing fist. I had to have broken a bone.
“It’s no use,” he said tiredly. “It’s element-proof.”
“Huh?” I said through clenched teeth.
“Earth, fire, water, wind…they don’t work against the cage, but as you’ve found out, normal things do.” He stood up and moved closer, squeezing the bars as he looked at me. “Valerie?”
“Yep,” I said as I looked the cage over. I reached out and slid my damaged hand through—no sense wasting the good one—but nothing happened. Hmm. I moved closer, this time reaching around to touch the padlock. Again, nothing. I glanced at Xavier. “Have you tried to pick it?”
“No…” he said skeptically. “Why would I know how to do something like that? I’m not a criminal. Are you?”
“No.” It made me wish I’d had a more wily childhood, or at least a more useful one. I sighed and looked around the cave. “Have you seen Cade?”
Xavier contemplated. I figured he didn’t know if he should trust me.
“Yeah, he was around,” he finally said. “When he realized the cage was element-proof, he left to find a key. He hasn’t come back yet.”
That last sentence
was laced with an underlying worry; Xavier seemed to think Cade should have been back by now. Worry crept into the pit of my stomach, too.
“It’s all right,” I said, maybe more for myself than him. “He’ll be here any minute.”
Xavier nodded. Silence stretched out for a few odd minutes. Our blue eyes met. “Thank you,” he said out of nowhere. “For saving me all those months ago.”
I scoffed. “Don’t thank me for that.”
My grandfather had been trying to teach Cade and Xavier’s father, Henrie, a lesson in Elemental power. He was demonstrating how an Earth couldn’t kill another Earth, and the accompanying lesson, of course, was that an Earth could kill any of the other Elementals, if he was strong enough. Xavier was the only one who wasn’t an Earth; he was a Water, so he got to be the lucky victim.
Aside from the fact that murder was morally wrong, sitting back and allowing it to happen was almost equally as criminal, plus I’d known Cade would never forgive me for letting his brother die. For all those reasons, I had saved him, but I didn’t need thanked for it. It was what any decent, able-bodied person would have done.
A slight scraping noise drew our eyes to the back of the cave, but there was nothing there, not even a small rodent that could have made the sound. Then there was more scraping, slow and heavy, like rock on rock. I began searching the cave floor, ceiling, and walls for the source. With one last long scrape, a hole appeared in the wall and Cade stepped through from the shadows.
“The damn keys are nowhere to be found,” he huffed. Then he saw me. “Oh shit, Valerie, what happened? I thought you’d be safe with your mother.”
Xavier’s eyes bulged. “Your mother? I thought she was dead.”
“So did I,” I said spitefully as Cade moved to Xavier’s cell. “But she’s alive, and she’s an Elitist, just like my grandfather.”
“Ah, she’s the one who looks like you,” Xavier said. “Amelia…why the hell didn’t I recognize her right away?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter. I doubt she’s the one who caged me. Judging by my last visual image and the sore-ass knot on my head, I’d say Nicholai was the one who knocked me out. He was probably also the one who put me here.”
“Why on earth,” Cade said, his back to me, “would Nicholai knock you out? He wants you on his team. That doesn’t make any sense.”
I watched him curiously, unable to actually see what he was doing. Then I thought about it. “Are…Are you picking the lock?”
He glanced at me over his shoulder, a sexy smirk on his lips. “Of course. With no keys, how else would I get you guys out?”
“Why do you know how to do that?” Xavier asked, half astounded, half ashamed.
Cade merely chuckled. “Just be glad I do, or your ass would be stuck in here.”
With a click, the lock opened. The next second, Xavier was out, and Cade had him in a bear hug.
It brought a smile to my face that ran the whole way down to my heart. I knew how desperately the Landstons had been searching for him. Cade, especially, had felt his brother’s absence like a knife to the gut. After not knowing if he was dead or alive, finally finding him and setting him free…it was awesome to witness.
“Don’t ever disappear like that again,” Cade said, playfully scolding.
Xavier pushed him and laughed. “Don’t forget who’s older, baby bro. You take your orders from me, not the other way around.”
“Ha! You gave up giving me orders when you stuck me with your forfeited title.”
A hush fell over us and the room suddenly felt colder. I was sure Cade had meant it as a joke, but the painful squeeze of Xavier’s brows indicated that it had hurt.
“Cade, I…” Xavier’s lips pursed sorrowfully. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine, honestly. I’ll be a kickass leader someday. I’m sorry I brought it up.”
“No, I’m the one who should be sorry. I dreaded the idea of responsibility, but pawning it off on you…that was the most selfish thing I could have done.”
“Xavier,” Cade said, thumping a hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay, really, it is.” Then he finally moved over to my cage. “Your turn, Val.”
He worked quickly, fingers adjusting the two metal pins with a finesse I never expected, but it wasn’t quick enough. Footsteps sounded at the mouth of the cave. For a panicked second, our eyes locked and froze.
“Go!” I said when I’d finally found my wits. “Get him out of here!”
Cade backed away, eyes darting between the footsteps and my face.
“Go,” I hissed fervently.
With a heavy swallow, he nodded. Xavier had already disappeared into the hole in the wall. A second later, so did Cade. The rock moved back into place just as the person making the footsteps rounded the corner—my mother.
She glanced at Xavier’s empty cage then over to me, completely disregarding his absence. “Hello, my darling daughter. Sleep well?”
I raised a brow and blinked slowly. “Why yes, I did. Give my thanks to your father for the much appreciated nap.” She wasn’t the only bitch who could be sarcastic.
She smiled. “Will do. How are you feeling?”
“Wonderful.”
“Good, because we have business to attend to. I’d like to offer you a deal, extend an olive branch, if you will.”
I walked over and squeezed the cell bars. “Is that so?”
Ignoring my question, she said, “You’ll become the new face of the Elitist party. You’re beautiful, intelligent, and powerful—exactly what we need to attract a larger following. You’ll make television appearances, participate in interviews, and attend political and social events. You’ll meet and connect with Elemental youths. You’ll sweet-talk patronage out of the older Elementals. You will make us look good and further the Elitist agenda.”
“And why the hell would I do that?” This woman was seriously delusional. To think I remembered her with fondness all those years…
“Because,” she said with a sweet smile, “it’s the only way you’re getting out of that cage, and with what we have planned for the Sun and Moon, you’re going to wish you’d said yes.”
I scoffed. It was almost a laugh. “No.”
Her eyes narrowed, but her smile remained. “You’ll think on it. If you refuse to cooperate, then there’s really no use for you at all. Understand?” She spun around and marched away. Her footsteps echoed, fainter and fainter until all was quiet again.
I snarled.
“She’s crazy, isn’t she?” Cade said, startling the hell out of me. I gasped and gripped the bars tighter, thankful, for once, that the cage was element-proof. I really didn’t want to make a habit out of hurting him.
Before I could respond, he continued talking, picking the lock as he went. “So they want you to be the Holden Michaels of the Elitists, huh? An admirable goal, I suppose. A little too flashy for my taste, but that’s just me.”
I glanced at him, regarding his skill and efficiency. Some of my irritation wore away. “Not my taste, either,” I mumbled.
He looked at me, our faces separated by mere inches between the bars. I was suddenly aware of my heart drumming in my chest, a cadence of longing and desire. My blood danced to the beat, tingling in my limbs.
With one last, nearly inaudible click, the lock fell open. Cade opened the door and backed away, our eyes never parting.
For his sake, it was a wise decision to avoid temptation. For mine, it was counterproductive and frustrating.
He sighed and looked away. “We better get outta here. Sun and Moon is the equivalent of Sol and Lune. From what we gathered at the camp, I think it’s safe to assume what they’re planning.”
Yeah, but I didn’t want to think about it. The Elitist campers were vile. Somewhere between their talk of blowing buildings up, framing the human race, and Holden’s face melting off, I’d gotten sick to my stomach.
My grandfather was going to destroy Sol and Lune, and to add salt to the wound,
he would do it on the night of its christening. Hundreds would die.
“We have to stop him,” I said to Cade.
He nodded. “Then we will.”
“Oh no you won’t,” Loren disagreed from out of nowhere. Malevolence practically dripped off her perfect teeth.
My eyes narrowed into slits. Where had she come from? I turned to glare at her and my breath caught. Adrenaline surged through my bloodstream and ice immediately spread across my fingers.
Earth, fire, water, and wind—at least three of every element. They completely barricaded the cave entrance.
Loren had brought some minions, and we were grossly outnumbered.
Chapter Sixteen
Cade snarled. “What are you doing here, Loren?”
Her return smile was so genuine it actually touched her eyes as she twirled a shock of brown hair around her finger. “Hello, Cade. I’ve missed you.”
Jealousy swelled like a balloon in my chest. “What are you doing here?” I repeated through clenched teeth.
Her smile fell as she brought her attention to me. “After Xavier’s little disappearing act, did you really think Nicholai would leave you here unguarded?”
So he had sent her. Great.
Where had all these Elitists come from, anyway? Just a few months before, they were a thing of the past, an extremist organization that had disbanded as quickly as it had failed. Now they were creeping out of the woodwork from every angle.
I glanced at Cade. There was no way we could take on all these Elementals and escape. He shot a quick look at the hole in the cave wall then soundlessly mouthed, “We need to run.”
Head barely moving, I nodded to show my understanding.
We had to catch Loren off guard, though. She needed to be distracted, and I was pretty sure I could take care of that. Our dispute over a certain guy was usually enough to get her fired up.
“Did you know Cade would come for me?” I asked smugly. “Does it drive you crazy that he keeps choosing me over you?”
She laughed, a fake and sarcastic thing. “Sweetheart, it doesn’t matter who he chooses. He belongs to me.”
The Essential Elements: Boxed Set Page 44
