The Essential Elements: Boxed Set

by Elle Middaugh

  When Cade’s hand touched the small of my back, I finally started walking. He moved closer, slipping his fingers around to the side of my hip where the dress slit open.

  We entered the majestic dining room through a plush curtain. Elementals and humans alike filled the space with very few breaks in between. Waiters bustled about, distributing wine and champagne. Some guests sat talking at rounded tables that would comfortably fit ten. Others wandered about, bumping into friends and strangers alike, chitchatting it up.

  “I can’t decide how badly I hate Sienna right now,” Cade said, whispering in my ear. “Is this dress supposed to please me or torture me?”

  I purred low. “Hopefully both.”

  He groaned just loud enough for me to hear. Then he snagged a glass of champagne and chugged it. He pulled at his collar like it might release steam.

  “I need to use the restroom real quick,” he said, putting his empty glass down on a different waiter’s tray.

  I smiled smugly. “Don’t take too long.”

  “Oh, I won’t.”

  He kissed me softly, leaving the sweet taste of peaches on my tongue. Then he wandered off toward the men’s room, looking casual and confident as ever.

  I immediately grabbed a drink of my own.

  With the threat of the bombing finally off of my shoulders, I had more time than necessary to fantasize about my new boyfriend, but I was going overboard. I needed to get my shit together.

  Sienna leaned in and said, “One hundred bucks says you two are fucking in the bathroom by the end of the night.”

  I shoved her but couldn’t contain my wide, surprised smile. “Sienna! God, you’re so vulgar!”

  She shrugged and eyed Xavier like a predator. “That’s my plan, anyway.”

  “Well, good luck with that.”

  “Why thank you!” She grinned and took a solid sip of her wine. “So where are we sitting? My date is jonesing for some food.”

  “So am I,” I admitted, looking around.

  Where were we supposed to sit? I wandered over to a table and lifted a card with elegant cursive writing: Dr. Lira O’Connor. There were tags designating assigned seats, at least in the VIP section.

  “Come on,” I said, waving Sienna and Xavier along. “Our table must be around here somewhere.”

  The lights were low and cozy, complementing the elegance. Money practically dripped from the walls. Jewels and gemstones glittered off of every party dress. Bowties and cufflinks topped off every tux. I felt like I was in a movie.

  Then I laid eyes on someone very ordinary: Avenelle Winters. She was waving me over to her table.

  First off, how the hell did she merit an invitation to the VIP section? Secondly, why the hell was she waving me over? Did Elementals not instill the fear of God into her?

  As I got closer and saw more place cards, I figured it out. Directly across the table from Avvie and her boyfriend Benjamin was my name. To the right of mine, Holden Michaels.

  Jesus, Mary and Joseph. It was gonna be a rough night. I took a healthy gulp of my champagne.

  “Valerie!” Avvie said flatly, despite the allusion to excitement. “It’s been forever since I’ve seen you! How are you doing now that the gig is up?”

  I nearly sprayed my drink. “Excuse me?”

  “I knew there was a reason you and Holden were so damn perfect. I didn’t realize it was because you weren’t actually human. What’s that like, anyway?”

  I lowered gracefully into my seat and laced my fingers. “A little messed up, actually.”

  Benjamin chuckled and turned away. He never had been one for talking. How he’d ended up dating the biggest gossip queen this side of the mountain, I’d never know.

  “Sienna!” she said, dragging out the uh sound at the end. “Of course you’d be an Elemental, gorgeous bitch—and, oh my god! Is that Xavier Landston? Please tell me Cade will be here too. He was always the hottest guy in our class—no offense, Benjamin.”

  “None taken.”

  She flung her hand carelessly. “I mean, he was a legit asshole—not like Holden, who was definitely an asshole, but in a socially acceptable way, you know what I mean?”

  “Yes, I know,” I said, a grin tugging at my lips.

  She smiled slyly. “So who are you here with?”

  “Cade,” I said hesitantly.

  “I knew it!” she all but shouted. It was the most excitement I’d ever seen out of her.

  Sienna leaned away in mock terror.

  “Damn, I am so jealous,” Avvie continued. “I saw your name by Holden’s, but then I saw you walk in with Cade, and I just about lost my shit trying to figure it out. Then again, there are definite rumors going around that you’re actually Holden’s date.”

  I nodded, taking a deep breath. “It was a last-minute change.”

  “How last minute?” Avvie asked, leaning farther across the table. “Like, does he even know?”

  I bit my lip. “I don’t think so.”

  I should have told him. I wished I could have, but I hadn’t had the time or a phone. I hoped he would understand, but there was no easy way to swallow it. He would probably be angry, and rightfully so.

  Avvie’s eyes lit up. Her drama fire had just been stoked high.

  “Shit’s about to get real interesting, then…” she muttered.

  A warm hand touched my shoulder, and I spun around reflexively.

  “Valerie!” Holden said, nearly breathless. “You look amazing!”

  I stood awkwardly and smoothed my dress. “Thank you, Sienna picked it out.”

  He pulled me into a tight embrace and kissed me, just under the ear, causing a nervous shiver to skitter down my bare arm. Then he let me go and smiled at Sienna.

  “Dearest cousin,” he said, coaxing her out of her chair.

  They hugged, and she peered around his shoulder before sitting back down. “Have you even seen all the girls checking you out tonight? There’s like twenty of them right now! You look so good.”

  It was true, all of the above.

  Holden turned around then turned back, grinning. “No, I hadn’t realized. I was too busy looking for Valerie.” To me, he added, “I’ve been trying to call you all day. When you missed dinner last night, I got so worried. Where have you been?”

  Ha! Where have I been…

  “I’m so sorry about that. I lost my cellphone,” I said, only partially answering the question.

  He’d gotten distracted, though. His brown eyes were homed in on the arm draped around his cousin’s chair. When he saw the face the appendage belonged to, he nearly choked.

  “Xavier Landston? What are you doing here?”

  “Oh, just waiting on the food. This is a restaurant, right?”

  Sienna giggled—as did Avvie—and put her hand on his chest. “He’s my date, Holden. Be nice.”

  “What?” he asked, eyes wide. “Are you serious?”

  “Would I have my hands all over him otherwise?” She shook her head dismissively. “Never mind, bad analogy—but yes, I’m serious. He’s my date, so chill out.”

  Holden pinched the bridge of his nose. “I think we should wait to eat until our table is full, but if you’re hungry you can peruse the hors d’oeuvres.”

  “Sweet! You want anything?” Xavier asked Sienna.

  “Sure. Surprise me.”

  To my surprise, he leaned in and kissed her cheek. Then he disappeared into the crowd, heading for the snacks.

  Holden glared at his cousin. “I don’t like this one little bit.”

  She glared right back. “You don’t have to.”

  Avvie leaned in again, soaking up the drama like a bone-dry sponge.

  “You know how Traditionalists feel about humans,” Holden whispered low. “They’re almost as bad as Elitists. I can’t believe you brought one to an event like this.”

  “She’s not the only one,” Cade said from out of nowhere.

  I thought Avvie might’ve whimpered. Benjamin rolled his eyes, com
pletely unfazed by her fangirling.

  I closed my eyes and prepared for the awful encounter that was about to ensue. When I reopened them, Holden’s glare was fierce as a tornado.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” he asked Cade.

  Sienna finished off her drink in one big gulp and said, “I’m gonna see what’s keeping Xavier…” then scurried off, even though he’d only just left.

  “I was invited,” Cade said nonchalantly.

  His hand moved to the bottom of my elbow, trailing down my forearm until his fingers laced with mine. My skin burned where he touched.

  “What’s going on, Val?” Holden asked. Confusion momentarily masked his irritation as he eyed our entwined fingers.

  I braced myself and sat back down. The guys carefully followed suit. A drop of sweat could have caused a tidal wave with how still we all were.

  I glanced at Avvie. She wouldn’t help me. She was probably hoping I’d flounder just so she could watch it happen. It could’ve pissed me off, but I knew that was just how Avvie was.

  “I’m very sorry, Holden,” I said, mouth suddenly dry. I reached for my glass and lowered my voice. “I wanted to tell you sooner, but, like I said, I lost my cellphone.” I took a sip, but the intensity of my nerves had made me sick to my stomach. “Cade and I are together now. I didn’t mean for him to replace you tonight, though. It just sort of happened that way.”

  Pink spread into his cheeks, and it looked like I’d physically slapped him. I wasn’t sure if it was due to embarrassment or anger.

  I dumped the champagne down my throat and prayed I didn’t have to say any more.

  “Is that so?” he asked.

  “It is,” Cade answered, eyeing Holden aggressively. “And you’d better not give her any shit about it, either.”

  “Oh my god,” Avvie moaned from across the table. “Bad boys are so hot.” She glanced at Benjamin with mild interest. “Say something bad, baby.”

  Benjamin merely blinked. “Something bad.”

  “I’d never harass her about anything,” Holden said. “But you, on the other hand…I guess we need another locker room talk to straighten this shit out.”

  Cade cocked his head. “You want another bloody lip?”

  “You want another black eye?”

  I cut in. “I never saw any black eyes last time.”

  “He’s an Earth,” Holden practically spat. “He healed it.”

  I glanced at Cade. He shrugged indifferently. “I’ll take a few hits if I can get a few in.”

  “You know what?” I said, smiling wide and fake. “Let’s just talk about something else.”

  “I know!” Avvie blurted out, getting our attention. “We can play a newer version of ‘I Heard.’ It’s called ‘Have You Yet.’”

  Cade raised a brow. He hadn’t been in our chemistry class last fall so the ‘I Heard’ game was unfamiliar to him. ‘Have You Yet’ was new to even me, but knowing Avvie, it wouldn’t be hard to figure out. She’d probably never move beyond her immature games.

  She smiled wickedly at Cade. “Have you and Valerie made out yet?”

  Holden growled and gripped the table. “Avenelle…”

  Cade shot him a crooked grin. “I think I like this game. Yes, we have.”

  Avvie clapped sadistically. “Have you met each other’s parents yet?”

  Holden immediately burst out laughing, doubling over so hard his face hit the table.

  Of course I’d met Cade’s parents—they’d tried to kill me.

  Cade’s eyes narrowed into slits. “No, I have not officially met her parents.”

  Avvie carried on, unfazed. “Have you told her you love her yet?”

  He glanced at me. “Sort of.”

  “Seriously?” Holden complained, all laughter instantly gone. “You’re such a douchebag.”

  “Have you gotten to third base yet?”

  “Nope.”

  Holden’s exhale was almost palpable.

  “Second base?”

  When Cade licked his lips, Avvie licked hers.

  “Maybe earlier today,” he said. “It was kind of a blur of adrenaline.”

  “Okay!” I shouted. “Game over.” I was done with feeling like we were back in high school.

  Avvie leaned back in her chair with an elated look plastered to her face. She’d certainly gotten her fix. Stupid gossip junkie.

  Sienna, Xavier, and the waiter all showed up at once.

  “Thank God,” I muttered.

  Holden smiled warmly. I supposed he had to keep up with his image. “Shall we order? Ladies first. Avenelle?”

  Suddenly the floor vibrated and shook. It didn’t matter that we’d diffused one and the Modernists leaders had diffused the others, my mind immediately jumped to bombs. I whipped my gaze to Cade, who looked equally as panicked.

  No one else seemed to think much of it, if they noticed it at all.

  “Yes,” Avvie said, “I’ll have the grilled tilapia with virgin lemon, please.”

  Another vibration rattled under our feet, this time accompanied by a muffled boom that sounded like thunder.

  Cade and I jumped up at once.

  “I have to get to the bottom,” he said quickly. “I’ll try to keep the integrity of the structure intact.”

  I nodded. “I’ll trace the heat signatures to the detonation sites. Maybe I can contain the fire before it spreads very far.”

  We tore off in different directions.

  I had no idea where he’d made it to when the third bomb struck, but I’d barely gotten halfway across the dining hall. It shook the building with enough force to knock people over. Dishes rattled to the floor and shattered.

  Chaos immediately ensued. People were yelling and screaming and scattering like mice, knocking into tables, chairs, and each other.

  The sound of shattering glass suddenly echoed above the bedlam—bombs were being thrown into the restaurant from outside, at least six of them. One landed not five feet from me, ticking in slow motion as time threatened to stop completely.

  Five…four…three…two…

  One.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  I had just enough time to take one shallow breath before the explosion hit. One split second to react. One chance to see if my Elemental reflexes were as sharp as they needed to be.

  It was what my final lesson had been at the safe house: containing chaos that wasn’t my own.

  This would be more difficult than that, though. I needed to stop it way before the whole thing lit on fire—before hundreds of people died.

  The scene slowed into mere fractions of time. What ensued happened within the blink of an eye, but it felt like solid minutes.

  I felt the spark that triggered the detonator. Heat and fire built up pressure, ready to blow. My right hand contorted into a painful arthritic arch as I pulled harder than ever on the fire.

  The three bombs nearest to me shut down instantly, but the ones farther away were harder to get to. It took too long to contain the fire.

  Shrapnel started flying, which was metal, which meant…I couldn’t control it at all.

  Or could I?

  The aquamarine crystals turned vibrant blue as an icy blast erupted from my hand. If I was fast enough, I could freeze the metal, or at least block its path.

  Two bombs froze over. Icy fingers reached out from all sorts of directions, resembling frozen fireworks and catching the shrapnel in midair.

  One bomb, though—the last one—was beyond my power. It had detonated just before I reeled in the flames. The shrapnel had exploded just before I could get there with the ice.

  Suddenly, the scene sped back up.

  A deafening explosion boomed. Dust, concrete, wood, flesh, and blood all flew through the air. Screams tore out of terrified throats. People rushed to help. People rushed to escape.

  It was a nightmare.

  I did the only thing I knew to do, what had been done to me when I’d suffered a lethal wound—cauterize it with fi
re.

  I ran to the nearest victim and prepared to stem the bleeding. She was a pretty woman, human, maybe a few years older than me. Her eyes were wide with shock; mine were hopefully only sympathetic and calm.

  I half-smiled.

  “Ma’am? I’m here to help.” She was shivering uncontrollably. “You’ve been hit with debris from a bomb. I need to stop the bleeding.”

  She lowered her eyes to her blue party dress. It was blackened with thick, sticky blood. Tears slid from her eyes and she shook even harder.

  I wasn’t particularly looking forward to it either.

  “It’s okay. It’ll all be okay in just a minute…”

  At that, I quickly slipped my white-hot fingers into the flesh of her abdomen. Her blood boiled and hissed. The air was stained with the putrid smell of burning flesh, but the screaming was the worst. Her shrieks of anguish cut through my brain like talons. I couldn’t think straight. I squeezed my eyes shut against the paralyzing sound.

  Through it all, I was somehow able to tell when the bleeding had stopped. It was like the fire knew the wound had been sealed. Thank God.

  I let out a shaky breath.

  “You’ll be fine now, okay? You’re not bleeding anymore. Just try to stay calm until the medics start arriving.”

  I couldn’t linger. There were many others in her same sinking boat.

  I scanned the room, trying to sort the injured from the dying, and locked eyes with Kale—the Fire who had saved me from my bullet wounds. He was helping, too. Hovering over an older man, he had a look of devastation in his eyes. I knew what that meant. Instead of dwelling, I spun around and found another screaming victim.

  This one was younger than me, with an apparently low threshold of pain. She was squealing and thrashing worse than any of the others I’d seen.

  “Hey there,” I said, discretely grabbing her face to physically calm her down. “I’m here to help you.”

  “My back!” she screamed like she hadn’t even heard me. “It feels like it’s on fire!”

  Quickly but carefully, I rolled her over. A puddle of blood coated the floor where she had lain, and a dozen chunks of metal stuck out through her dress.

  I turned my head and took a deep breath. The air suddenly felt heavy, my stomach, light.