The Essential Elements: Boxed Set

by Elle Middaugh

  “You were almost captured,” he said softly. “We have to be more careful, one hundred times more vigilant. Losing you is not an option.”

  “No, it isn’t,” Sienna agreed, shaking her head. “In fact, it might even be worth having an extra Fire and Water added to the entourage…”

  Kale and Xavier.

  She must’ve really been worried if she was willing to inconvenience herself so severely. I wasn’t really sure we needed to take it quite that far, but I wasn’t about to argue against a chance of getting them back together.

  “We’ll see,” I said, hoping to table the discussion for the time being.

  “No,” Cade argued, crossing his arms. “We will add them. I’ll tell Kale and Xavier as soon as we get back home, and we’ll travel everywhere as a team.”

  Sienna glared into the woods in thought. “I think we should call them now. Better safe than sorry. Better sooner than later.”

  “That’s not necessary,” I said, not wanting to feel like a total invalid. “I’m the strongest Fire and Water around. I can handle life without them for a few more hours, I’m sure.”

  We then looked to Cade for the tiebreaker vote. His eyes widened when he realized what he had to do.

  Uncrossing his arms, he slipped his hands into his pockets. “At this point, I think Sienna’s right. Better safe than sorry.”

  I shook my head. “Unbelievable.”

  Cade smiled sympathetically. “Everywhere as a team.”

  Great. How the hell was I supposed to meet up with Madam Lucia alone if I was now stuck traveling with everyone as a team?

  We made our way back to Cade’s parked truck while Sienna called the boys and made sure they’d meet us there.

  It was an interesting predicament. On the one hand, I knew how incredibly awesome it was to have such loyal friends supporting me and my campaign. On the other, it was difficult to constantly feel like a childish burden. I understood that they wanted to protect me. God knows I didn’t want to end up dead or in the custody of the Shadow Sect either, but there had to be a better way of going about it.

  Xavier and Kale showed up a few minutes later, and we were soon speeding down the winding roads that led the way back home.

  When we arrived at the house, I entered first, tiptoeing around because Dad and Kendrick were probably already asleep. I flicked the kitchen light on and our five-Elemental team found seats at the table. Leftover pizza sat in the middle, wrapped in foil.

  “Yes! I forgot we had pizza left,” Xavier said, rubbing his six-pack abs. “I’m starving.”

  Cade rolled his eyes at his brother. “You always think you’re starving.”

  I smiled and made my way to the fridge. “Kale, you’re more than welcome to have some pizza, too. Does anyone want a drink?”

  I passed out a few sodas—one of the only manmade treats I’d indulged in since Cade had moved in—and retook my seat at the table.

  Then an idea came to me. “Do we have any maps I could look at?”

  Cade shot me a curious glance, as did the other three. “I’m sure your dad has some in the study. Why?”

  “Because Holden gave me a half-assed location,” I said. “I need a map to figure out what the hell he’s actually talking about.”

  “What did he say?” Cade asked, keeping his voice carefully neutral.

  “He said, ‘Wellsfield. Parker Center. One week.’”

  Kale ran his thumb across his chin. “Isn’t Wellsfield close to the Pennsylvania-New York border?”

  I shrugged. “I have no idea.”

  Cade nodded. “Well it looks like we’re going to have to find out. The Elitists have stayed quiet since the bombing of Center Allegheny, but now that they’re creeping back out of the woodwork, we’ll have to stop them at all costs. If we can win, I bet more people will join the Revolutionist cause.”

  He was right; I was sure of it. This was going to be a huge make-or-break moment for us.

  “Anyway, here’s the thing,” Sienna said, getting the meeting back on its original track. “We need to be with Valerie always. You guys saw for yourselves how the Shadow Sect is gunning for her. We need to make damn sure they don’t so much as touch her, let alone take her.”

  All heads nodded in agreement.

  “You feel like moving in, Kale?” she asked, drawing a frown from Xavier. “Everyone else is already one room away in case of an emergency. You might as well be, too.”

  Kale glanced between the two of them, probably torn between the practicality of the idea and the fear of violating some bro code.

  Before he could answer, I put up a finger. “Can I just have one more day of freedom before being surrounded by bodyguards all the time?”

  “No,” everyone said at once, though Sienna’s voice stuck out the loudest.

  Cade frowned at me. “What’s so important that you need to do it alone, Val?”

  His voice was quiet…too quiet. This was a very precarious ledge we were now standing on. Our relationship was being tested in a way I couldn’t fully understand, but I knew in my heart I couldn’t afford to lie. If I lied now, he’d never be able to fully trust me, and we would eventually crumble and fall right off that ledge into the nothingness below.

  “I don’t want to lie to you,” I whispered, feeling the sharp pang of tears stabbing me behind the eyes. “Can you just trust me?”

  He swallowed and his jaw ticked. “Val, I’m trying really hard here, but this is your life we’re talking about. I don’t know why you’d keep anything from me, but we can’t afford to let you out of our sight, not anymore. I’m…I’m sorry.”

  I shook my head. “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be keeping things from you”—I glanced around the kitchen table—“any of you, but I have to.”

  Kale pursed his lips in thought. “Is there any way we can meet you in the middle? A compromise of sorts?”

  I considered his words before sighing. “Maybe… How about I let you guys follow me around and play bodyguard, but you don’t question anything about where we are or what we’re doing?”

  “What the fuck, Val?” Sienna said, but it sounded more like a questioning plea.

  “I’m sorry,” I said with a guilty smile. “I love you too much to let you stop me.”

  “Stop you from what?” Xavier asked, mouth full of pizza.

  I shook my head at him then turned to Cade. Confusion, suspicion, and probably a little bit of hurt twisted in his emerald eyes.

  “Please,” I said, my voice barely a whisper as I took his hand and squeezed. “This is the best I can do. Just…trust me.”

  Cade nodded, but he didn’t look happy. “When are we leaving?”

  Hope flooded through me. “Seriously? You’re willing to go along with this?”

  He smirked and shook his head. “Will you always be amazed at the shit I’m willing to do for you?”

  “Probably,” I said, barely able to believe I’d heard him right.

  He squeezed my hand and kissed it. “Well, get used to it, baby girl. I can’t think of anything I wouldn’t do for you. If that means following you around with no clue about where I’m going just to keep you safe, so be it.”

  I took a deep breath and tried to ignore the swelling and fluttering of my heart.

  I loved him. I loved him so freaking much it hurt.

  “We’ll leave tomorrow after training, then,” I said with no further elaboration.

  The sooner I talked to Madam Lucia, the sooner I could heal my best friend’s heart. Then I could get to Northland and find Aunt Marge another book, one that would hopefully be of more use than the others had been. Once I did all that, we could focus on stopping Nicholai and the Elitists from destroying the world, one human city at a time.

  And best of all? We had less than one week to do it in.

  No big deal, right?

  Chapter Seven

  Training was particularly grueling the next day.

  I’d chosen to go with the Waters since I’d gone wit
h the Fires the previous day, but they were on parkour, and that took a lot of physical energy. I was hoping I’d be able to chat with Xavier a bit about Sienna, but I could barely breathe between diving, climbing, jumping, rolling, and running. My body, toned as it had become, was aching by the end.

  I draped my arms over my head to open up my lungs and breathed deeply as I walked over to where Xavier was sitting on a bench.

  “How’s it going?” I asked.

  He was red-faced and huffing. “Peachy. You?”

  I let out a breathless chuckle. “Same, but I meant with Sienna. How are things going there?”

  He hung his head, shook it, then gazed up at me. “Things in that area are virtually nonexistent. I know I’m a bit thickheaded at times, but I’m starting to think she might actually want nothing to do with me.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t believe that. Just give her some more time.”

  He smiled, but it was full of painful sadness that ate at my heart. “It’s been months, Val. I think it’s finally time to just move on. She seems like she’s interested in Kale now, anyway.”

  “Because she asked him to move in? Okay, I know that sounds bad, but I honestly think it was just for my exorbitant amount of overprotection.”

  His smile faded. “Either way, it’s over. I’m just going to have to come to grips with that.”

  “Please don’t,” I practically begged. “Just give it a few more weeks.”

  He shook his head, and I tried even harder.

  “A few more days?”

  Eventually, he sighed. “We’ll see, Val.”

  Dear god, I hoped Madam Lucia had some concrete information for me on communicating with the dead. Helping Sienna get over her self-destructive cycle of failed relationships was the whole reason for doing this in the first place. If Xavier moved on before I could help fix her, the whole mission would almost be for naught. I would go dark for nothing.

  Sienna and Kale walked over from separate directions, and the group fell into an uneasy silence.

  “What?” she asked, glancing around and sensing the tension.

  I shook my head. “Nothing.”

  Thankfully Cade and Kendrick came over a moment later. My brother had a black bandana tied around his forehead and black sweatbands on his forearms. It was pretty cute on his tiny kid frame.

  Cade, on the other hand…dear Jesus. His arms were pumped up, making them look even bigger than normal, and a thin layer of salty sweat clung to his skin, making the ridges of his muscles even more pronounced. His hair was messy in an extremely sexy kind of way, and I imagined that was what he might look like if I could ever get us past second base. It sent a ripple of pleasure skittering through my veins.

  Cade took in my wide-eyed admiration, if you will, with a cheeky smirk. “You ready to go? I figure we can all grab showers real quick then head out.”

  Kendrick frowned. “Where are you guys going?”

  Cade shrugged. “No idea. It’s Val’s secret, not mine.”

  “Can I come too?” he asked me hopefully.

  I bent down and shook my head. “Sorry, buddy. You’re gonna have to stay here with my dad until we get back.”

  “Why? I promise I’ll be good. You won’t even notice me, I’ll be so quiet.”

  “Nope,” I said, a bit more firmly. “It’s not a mission suitable for kids. Sorry.”

  “Man…” he whined, frowning for a second before his mood brightened. “The last time I stayed with Jameson, he took me out back and threw footballs with me. Maybe he’ll do that again?”

  I nodded excitedly. “Oh, yes. He loves sports of any shape or form. I’m sure he’ll be glad to play some ball with you.”

  “Awesome!”

  After we all showered, Dad came home and took Kendrick out back to play catch, and I gathered my team of bodyguards and led the way to Radford. Of course, no one else knew that was where we were going, at least until we got there.

  Cade crossed his arms at the edge of the forest and stared ahead at the Welcome to Radford sign.

  I could tell he was dying to ask why we were there. His jaw ticked with the itch to ask questions every other minute, but his lips stayed sealed tightly shut. Sienna was having an equally difficult time. Her lips were pursed and her nose was scrunched with a look of disapproval plastered onto her face, and I could tell she regretted ever having agreed to anything so stupid. Kale was too new to the group to comfortably start any sort of conversation, and Xavier was being quiet, too, for some reason—possibly because his revelation from earlier was officially getting him down.

  I took a deep breath and reassured myself that what I was doing was the right thing. Helping my friend out of the darkest time in her life had to count for something good, even if it did somehow make me a bad person.

  Reaching into my pocket, I checked my cell’s GPS.

  Madam Lucia’s shop was only a few hundred yards down Canary Avenue then a hard left turn onto Snap Alley, and it was supposedly the third building on the right.

  I looked over my shoulder at my little entourage. “Almost there.”

  They nodded.

  “The Earth feels secure,” Cade said.

  “As does the Wind,” Sienna added.

  Damn, they took their jobs as bodyguards seriously.

  Xavier’s eyes went wide. “Yeah, uh, there was a pond back there in the woods, and it was definitely clear.”

  Kale nodded vigorously. “And we’re in town, so there are obviously heat signatures, but I don’t think they’re…evil.”

  I grinned and shook my head. The three of us likely would have been fine without the two newest additions, but it was nice to have their goofy asses along for the ride. It kept things from feeling so heavy all the time.

  When we finally stood outside the door to the shop, Cade crossed his arms and stared up at the sign. “Madam Lucia’s Fortunes and Forecasts,” he muttered aloud, almost in disbelief.

  I ignored his statement, because that was part of the deal—I didn’t have to explain myself.

  “You guys wait out here,” I said. “Keep guard and stay sharp. I don’t know how long this will take.”

  Cade put his hands against the brick storefront, effectively caging me in.

  “No. The deal was we’d tag along and protect you with no questions about where we were or what we were doing. I can’t protect you if I’m waiting outside like a puppy on a leash.”

  Sienna put a hand on her hip. “He’s right, Val. This is bullshit.”

  I ducked under Cade’s arm and hugged my best friend. “Trust me, Sienna. I need to talk to her alone. I’ll be out as soon as I can.”

  Cade growled and stormed down the alley, Kale’s mouth hung open like he didn’t know what to say or do, and Sienna and Xavier exchanged a strange look.

  Whatever. This was my only chance to get in there on my own. I opened the door and quickly shut it behind me, twisting the lock as I went.

  The inside was dark except for the natural light filtering in through the storefront window. Since it was dusk, it wasn’t very bright. Every piece of furniture looked handcrafted from solid wood, and all the trinkets and decorations were both odd as well as expensive. There were more dragon statues, because apparently dragons were an element of the fantastical world no matter where you went. Medieval-looking cuckoo clocks adorned the shadowy walls with gargoyles popping out instead of birdies, and the clawfoot armchairs seemed to really have genuine claws at the bottom. Heads of griffons, unicorns, and manticores were mounted on the walls, making me wonder if somehow, somewhere, someone had actually shot one of these mythological creatures as game.

  “Who seeks the guidance of Madam Lucia this evening?” a deep voice asked from the back of the room. It wasn’t deep like a man’s, but deep like that of a woman who’d been smoking cigarettes for most of her life.

  I cocked my head and stepped closer, reaching out with my Fire senses to make sure we were alone. Only one heat signature came into view, so I quickly r
eleased the power.

  “I’m surprised you didn’t already know,” I said, a bit mockingly. “Is that not what your crystal ball is for?”

  She chuckled, and it came out more as a deep-throated cackle.

  “Magic is not so specific, little girl.” She paused, and a plume of smoke rose up from a darkened corner. “My crystal gives me fleeting images, clues to figure out and piece together. Elemental power, though—now that gets more specific. The Wind is telling me you’re a very powerful one, indeed. Not as powerful as our leader, but just as handsome.”

  As I moved closer, I was able to see the bright orange tip of the cigarette clasped between her fingers and the glow of her crystal ball reflecting in her eyes.

  Another puff of smoke permeated the air above her head, and she opened her lips into a toothy grin.

  “You must be Valerie, the traitorous granddaughter.”

  My heart hammered in my chest. If this woman was an Elitist, as it now seemed, would she turn me in? Kill me where I stood? Would she even help me if she didn’t do either of the first two things?

  I approached her table, and she gestured for me to sit in the beastly clawed chair before her. I did, perching at the very edge, ready to flea if necessary.

  “And…do you know why I’m here?” I asked, voice strong and secure despite my hesitation.

  She squinted, but her smile never faltered. “I’m not sure. It looked like you were trying to perform an act of darkness. I saw uttering, closed eyes, blood, smoke, and a backdrop of heavy forest. I saw ghosts, blinding magic, and fear.” She took another drag on her cigarette and contemplated me before exhaling slowly. “Are you sure the course you’re on is the best one?”

  I pursed my lips and tried to appear brave and unconcerned.

  Seriously though—blood? Ghosts? Fear? That shit was absolutely not anything I wanted to be dabbling in. But, if it would help Sienna…

  “I need your help,” I told her eventually.

  She cackled again. “My help isn’t free, little girl. Are you prepared to pay the price?”

  “Money isn’t an object.”

  Dad would probably kill me later, but considering we were on the verge of the apocalypse, I figured it really wouldn’t matter much in the grand scheme of things.