The Essential Elements: Boxed Set

by Elle Middaugh

  I spun around and yanked open the driver’s side door, and Elise, Lilly, and Pax filed into the other seats. But, before I could climb in myself, the unthinkable happened.

  Holden crashed to his knees in agony and started yelling. Wind swirled around him like a cyclone. Tiny sparks of fire snapped around the funnel until the whole thing caught on fire in one of the most terrifying unnatural disasters I’d ever seen.

  Realization dawned on me instantaneously.

  I growled and screamed at the top of my lungs, loud enough for even Euphoria to hear. “FUCK YOU, NIK!”

  The God of Fire, king of all dicks, had apparently just chosen Holden as his champion.

  Looked like I wouldn’t be getting rid of him after all.

  I used my Fire to calm his down, and he quickly got his Wind side under control.

  Gritting my teeth, I jabbed a thumb toward the back seat.

  “Get in the goddamn truck.”

  29

  Cade

  I opened my eyes to the sound of silence—well, one of my eyes. The other was completely swollen shut.

  I had no idea where I was or what was going on, but I was acutely aware of the all-consuming pain pulsing through every inch of my body. It was fucking unbearable. My eyes watered involuntarily, and I squeezed them shut, willing unconsciousness to claim me once more.

  It didn’t.

  “There you are,” a female voice said.

  The scent of lilacs tickled my nose, making me think of Val. Lilacs were her favorite. I looked up, blinking to clear away the blur, and my gaze landed on Amelia, Valerie’s mom.

  Great. Just fucking great.

  She was probably half the reason I could barely move without vomiting.

  “I was instructed to inform my father immediately once you woke up,” she said lightly.

  My stomach lurched then and I gagged, heaving up nothing but a sticky string of spit. My whole body shook, and fear flooded through my veins in heated waves. I couldn’t remember why, but I had a very bad feeling about those words, even more so than usual.

  “It’s all right, kid,” she said, her voice softer than I was expecting. “I’m not going to call him just yet. I want to talk to you first.”

  Like I’d believe a single fucking word that came out of her mouth.

  I spit on the ground, ridding my mouth of the nasty taste of bile and blood, then turned to where she was sitting on the cave floor. “Why can’t I remember anything?”

  She held up her hand, in which a syringe was poised and waiting, filled to the brim with some sort of clear liquid.

  So they’re drugging me. Fantastic.

  I guess that explained why she wanted to talk—she knew I wouldn’t remember a damn word of what she said.

  “I heard you and my daughter are almighty gods now,” she mused, a hint of sarcasm tinting her tone.

  The thought of correcting her and saying we were merely demigods crossed my mind, but I really preferred not to. Let her think what she wanted. I didn’t owe an Elitist any explanations.

  “That makes this whole thing extra pathetic, doesn’t it? Even the gods aren’t stronger than us…”

  I gritted my teeth and immediately regretted it. My whole face ached. Everything was sore and swollen.

  Fuck you, Amelia. I wanted to say it out loud, but it felt wrong considering she was my fiancée’s mother—even if she was an epic bitch.

  “Do you know where the other demigods are?”

  Why do I feel like I’ve been asked that question before…?

  I sighed. “No.”

  She sighed, too, and nodded. “I believe you, for what it’s worth, but my father and the others don’t. They’re going to keep chipping away at you until you break.”

  Wonderful.

  Except, I was already broken, and I had no idea how much longer I could last. I’d technically died once before, and this felt eerily similar to that, albeit much slower.

  Amelia stared into the darkness of the cave. “She’s coming.”

  I couldn’t help it. Despite the bleakness consuming me, my chest pinched tight with hope. A bit of life breathed back into me, a bit of determination. If Val would be arriving soon, surely I could hold on a little longer, for her.

  “Why are you telling me any of this?” I asked, struggling to push myself up onto my hands and knees. By the time I made it into a sitting position, I was out of breath, sweating, and shaking like a leaf.

  Amelia watched me with curiosity and mild amusement. “Why not? You’re not going to remember any of it, anyway.”

  “Touché.” I leaned my head back against the cave wall and tried to catch my breath as my head spun.

  “My daughter loves you,” she said matter-of-factly.

  It didn’t sound like a question, but it also didn’t sound like the end of her thought. So, I stayed silent, waiting to hear the rest.

  “And I love her,” she said.

  Not at all what I was expecting to hear.

  She turned to me, baring her soul behind the pale blue gaze that so perfectly matched her daughter’s. In that moment, for some fucked-up reason, I believed her. It was hard to deny it when I could see it shining in her eyes. She really did love Val.

  Still, I said nothing.

  “I don’t know if she can win,” Amelia admitted in a whisper, turning away and shaking her head. “But if she does, I hope she’ll understand that I did all of this for her.”

  I chuckled, and pain rushed up my spine into my head, exploding into every corner. “You became evil, killed countless innocents, tortured her fiancé, and tried to kill her…because you love her?”

  Her eyes snapped back over to mine. “Fiancé?”

  I gave her a flat look. “I love her, too.”

  She closed her eyes and smiled, turning her face up to the sky that was hidden somewhere beyond the rocky ceiling of the cave. “Good.”

  Good? That was it? That was all she had to say for herself and her crimes?

  “When the time comes,” she continued, “I’ll prove to her it’s true.”

  I had no idea what that meant, but I figured I ought to try to use it to my advantage.

  “Why don’t you prove it to her by letting me go? I swear I’ll tell her the truth.”

  She smirked and lifted the syringe.

  Fuck.

  “That would be suicide, kid,” she said, smiling like a psycho. “I have to play my part just a little bit longer, and so do you.”

  She jabbed the needle into my neck but didn’t push the plunger right away.

  “Rest now. The next time you wake up, I’ll be gone…and Nicholai will be here.”

  Then everything went black.

  Chapter Thirty

  Stupid gods and their stupid games.

  I gripped the steering wheel so tight my knuckles were white. What the hell were they thinking, forcing us all together like this? I pushed the pedal to the metal and whipped into the passing lane, blowing past a little car on the highway like it was standing still.

  No one had the balls to complain about my driving.

  After a few nerve-racking hours of silence—well, other than the loud revving of the truck’s engine—we exited the interstate and hopped onto the winding, pothole-filled back roads of New York. Trees lined the road on both sides, and it reminded me of home. The familiarity kept me slightly grounded.

  There were no other vehicles in sight, and there hadn’t been for miles. I began worrying we weren’t going in the right direction, but then I reminded myself that Holden and Elise’s intel matched up, and of course Nicholai would choose a secluded place to set up camp.

  It’ll all be over soon.

  “Val, you need to slow down.” Holden poked his face forward between the headrests and gave me a grim, stern look. “I didn’t say anything on the highway, but these turns are sharp, and you’re driving like a bat out of hell.”

  “Shut up, Holden,” I growled, fighting the urge to punch him in the face.


  “Seriously, you’re gonna flip the truck if you don’t slow down.”

  “I said shut up!” I yelled as flaming blue ice spread out across the steering wheel.

  Lilly and Elise shared an uneasy glance. I could tell they agreed with Holden and wanted me to slow down, but they also valued their lives and didn’t want to get into an argument with me. I could only imagine the terrified look on Pax’s face. I glanced in the rearview mirror, and sure enough, he looked petrified.

  I sighed and reined my elements back in. Then I tightly pursed my lips and slowed the truck a bit.

  “Better?” I snapped.

  “Much,” Holden said, flopping into the back seat once more.

  I rolled my eyes and again fought against the urge to slug his dumb ass. As we rounded the next turn, I was suddenly glad I’d listened to him.

  A man stood in the middle of the road, a man I knew to be dead. So, maybe it was a ghost, not a man, but I didn’t want to risk hitting him—just in case.

  I slammed the breaks as hard as I could, and a loud screech ripped through the air along with the rancid scent of burning rubber. My seatbelt locked, and I braced my arms at the wheel.

  A few breathless seconds later, we stopped, surrounded by a cloud of white smoke.

  Chase’s electric blue eyes were open wide, but half of his mouth was curved into a guiltless grin.

  Holden’s face again popped up between the headrests.

  “Is that…?” he asked, as confused as I was.

  “Sure as hell looks like him.”

  “But, I thought he was…? Does that mean he’s not…?”

  I shook my head, still staring at Chase. “No, I killed him myself. I even saw him in the afterlife. I know he was dead.”

  “Well then what the fuck…” Holden muttered, his voice trailing off when Chase strolled over to my window and knocked.

  Like an idiot, I pushed the button and lowered the glass.

  “Hey, Val. Hey, Holden,” he said, grinning. Then his gaze fell on my cousin and he paled, swallowing hard like his throat had suddenly gone dry. “Elise…long time no see, beautiful.” She rolled her eyes and turned away, so Chase peered farther into the truck. “Who are your new friends?”

  I glanced over at Lilly and nodded so she knew it was safe to speak to him. I hadn’t forgotten that he was the one who’d nearly killed Cade with a fireball, but for some reason, I was just rolling with this. Maybe it was because of what he’d said in the afterlife? At least part of me believed his apology had been genuine.

  “Lilly Atwood,” she said, holding out her hand.

  He shook it. “Chase Theron. And you are?” He directed his gaze toward Pax.

  “Paxton Boggs, but you can call me Pax.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Chase said with a friendly smile, shaking his hand, too.

  All right, I thought to myself, Time to cut to the chase, Chase.

  “Why are you here? How are you here?”

  “Oh, about that,” he said, stepping back a few feet. He lit a flame in his right hand then grew a tree in the left before lighting the thing on fire. There was no smoke, no charcoaled branches, no ashes. The tree was aflame but completely alive. “Pretty sweet, huh?”

  Dear Jesus… Or I supposed the correct phrase would be Dear Eve. I pictured her up there in Euphoria with an innocent look on her face and a shrug in her shoulders. What? she’d say to the others. You told me to pick whatever Elemental I wanted to be my champion. I picked him. As if it were totally inconsequential that she’d chosen a dead guy.

  “How the hell is this possible?” Holden finally blurted out.

  Chase merely shrugged and withdrew his elements. “The gods can do whatever they want.”

  Clearly.

  I sighed and rubbed at my face in frustration. “So, did Eve fill you in on what’s going on, then?”

  “A bit. I’m supposed to try to kill Nicholai before the rest of you. Sounds simple enough.”

  “Like hell it will be,” Elise threatened.

  Chase bit his lip and stared at her, his eyes full of heat.

  There was something different about him. He seemed more genuine. He’d been a tricky little player in his former life, but now he appeared to be an easygoing guy without a care in the world.

  I wasn’t sure what grudge Elise might’ve been holding against the old him, but it was clear said grudge was still in full effect. Chase would have his work cut out for him if he was seriously thinking about pursuing her again.

  There was a single seat left in the truck’s cab, and it had Chase’s name on it. Then we’d only need to find Sienna and Xavier and rescue Cade before we could finally take Nicholai down once and for all.

  Easy peasy.

  “Get in,” I told him, and Holden opened the back door.

  Once Chase was settled, I threw the truck into drive and continued our quest to find the others.

  I looked to my right, at the girls in the front seat. Then I glanced up into the rearview mirror and peeked at the guys in the back. We were…an interesting group, full of strangers, ex-lovers, new friends, and ex-enemies, all given a second chance. I couldn’t even begin to guess why the gods had seen fit to make us the champions of the human realm, but I had to hope there was a damn good reason for it.

  “Whoa! What are these?” Chase asked, holding up one of the strange weapons Elise had brought.

  I’d been meaning to ask the exact same thing.

  “Put that down,” she ordered him sternly. “Those are Surge Protectors—very rare, very expensive weapons. I was only able to steal five of them, and they’re our only hope of defeating some of the stronger Elitists.”

  “Why’s that?” I asked as I maneuvered the truck along the winding roads.

  “Because we don’t want a giant target on our backs,” she explained. “When you kill an Elemental, you take their power into yourself. Some of those bastards have way more than their fair share. The Surge Protectors keep the power from going into you and channel it back out into the environment to be absorbed by the element it came from.”

  Lilly’s mouth was agape. “That’s amazing.”

  Elise smiled at her. “One is for Nicholai. One is for Amelia—sorry Val.”

  I shook my head and gripped the wheel tighter. “She’s not my mother, just an egg donor. She’s simply another tyrant.”

  “One is for Brad Rosenthorn,” Elise continued, ignoring the fact that he was the sperm donor who’d participated in creating her. Clearly, our family sucked. “One is for Erion Skyden, and one is for Draven Skyden. There are others who are almost as powerful, but those are the ones we need to focus on.”

  I nodded. “So, what happens to the Surge Protectors after we kill someone? Can we use them again?”

  “They shatter,” she said. “You can only use them once.”

  Holden leaned forward from the back seat. “What if we miss? Or have to stab someone else with it?”

  She shook her head. “Then you’ve wasted it. We only have one shot at this. If we can’t avert their powers, we’re going to have to take them into ourselves, and if we do that, we’re as good as dead. We’ll never be off the Shadow Sect’s radar. They’ll hunt us down until each and every one of us is dead and the balance of power is restored.”

  Pax let out a low whistle. “No offense, but I’m pretty damn glad the gods didn’t choose me.”

  Lilly turned around and glared at him. “Thanks, Pax, I’m sure that makes everyone feel loads better.”

  We rounded another bend in the road, and I quickly slowed the truck to a crawl.

  “Oh my god,” I muttered as I took in the scene before me.

  The forest ended abruptly, replaced by steaming craters, jagged mountains, and bits of splintered wood and charcoal. Chunks of stone stuck out sharply from the dirt piles, and the clouds overhead were a menacing, swirling gray. It looked like an atomic bomb had gone off, destroying everything in sight. I had no idea what this place had looked like before—more fores
t, a city, town, or whatever—but now it just looked like a wasteland.

  I put the truck in park in the middle of the road and climbed out.

  One structure remained intact, and I was fairly certain it had been erected after the destruction. It looked like a mud-brick bastion, complete with buttresses and bonfires.

  “An Elitist stronghold?” Holden muttered to anyone who dared to guess.

  “The Elitist stronghold,” I answered, feeling my insides twist and tighten.

  This was it.

  The final showdown.

  31

  Cade

  “Wake up.”

  I was roused by a swift kick to the ribs.

  Immediately, I gagged, spewing blood-red spittle onto the cave floor.

  Cave?

  I coughed as another wave of vomiting overwhelmed me.

  How the hell did I end up in a cave? Who’s here? And why do I feel like fucking death?

  There was a clicking sound, the sound of metal sliding past metal, and then another loud click. Suddenly, I was thrust into a sitting position and the cold barrel of a handgun was pressed into my left bicep.

  “Where are the other demigods?”

  Nicholai.

  Shit. shit. shit.

  “I don’t know.”

  Bang!

  The bullet tore through my flesh, multiplying the already excruciating pain in my body and brain. A cry escaped my lips as I fought like hell to contain the tears that had sprung into my vision.

  The barrel, much hotter now, was jabbed into my other arm.

  “I’ll ask you again. Where are the others?”

  “I don’t know!”

  Bang!

  I yelled as pain flared everywhere and tears flooded down my cheeks. I was too weak to hold them back. “Why the fuck are you doing this?”

  This was it. I was going to die. For some reason, the thought was almost comforting. At least the pain would be over then.

  Nicholai chuckled, and to my complete surprise and chagrin, he withdrew the weapon. Plopping down on the cave floor, he crossed his legs and smiled.