Crest (Ondine Quartet Book 3) (59 page)

His phone rang and he hurried outside to handle the call.

The previous Chief Counsel had been Rhian's right hand prior to Jeeves. According to her, he'd even checked up on my family after we went Rogue.

A middle-aged man with light hair and soft, indistinct features stared back at me. Something about the shape of his eyes seemed familiar.

"Aub, can you look up Lyondale Hospital's first Chief of Staff? He was a Rogue demillir —"

"Yep." Clicking of the keyboard. "Name of Dr. Beau Savion."

"He also built the elemental wing," I murmured.

What was it about those eyes?

"Are there any photos of Dr. Savion online?"

"Here."

She tilted the laptop to show a photo from an old newspaper article.

Fear slid down my spine.

"Their eyes." Helene's eyes flickered between Vittorio's photo in the registry and Dr. Savion's photo on the screen.

Aubrey swore. "They're the same."

Heart thudded against my ribs. Dr. Savion became Chief of Staff and built the elemental wing fifty years ago. Vittorio became Rhian's Chief Counsel thirty years ago.

I flipped further back in the registry.

I'd seen those eyes somewhere else, but I couldn't place it.

Another one. Sixty-four years ago, a demillir named Mirage Trouvé had the same eyes. He'd worked for the Governor before Rhian.

"It's him." The sheer magnitude of the realization made my body ice cold. "It's the Shadow."

He'd been here in Haverleau all these years, interacting at the highest level of elemental government. Subtly guiding our policies, shifting us into position, manipulating us to do what he wanted.

He'd known the
sondaleur
would be born to an Irisavie. And once Rhian was Governor, he'd become her Chief Counsel and strongest adviser.

He'd advised her to place my mother in the hospital he created.

We'd thought the airtight facility was locked down to keep Aquidae out.

It was to keep us in.

He'd spied on us through cameras over the years. Knew exactly what happened with my mother.

Aubrey trembled. "God, Kendra."

I squeezed the book so hard my hands hurt. "We need to find out what he looks like now."

My mother. Miriam. Everything always came back to one place.

"The Shadow turned Miriam at the hospital." My voice sounded distant. "It's the one place we know he went to."

Aubrey shook her head. "I checked all the security footage. I couldn't find anyone with Miriam other than Daniel."

"Did you check the camera in Daniel's office?"

"What?"

I'd forgotten Helene was still in the room.

She zoomed in on a video on her phone and pointed to the the upper corner of the ceiling, behind the filing cabinet. "There's another camera here that looks out on to the office."

I'd completely forgotten about it.

The camera provided footage to the monitor in the connecting underground corridor. Elementals used it to ensure the coast was clear before returning to the main hospital.

Aubrey was already at work. "It's running on an entirely different system from the other cameras so I didn't catch it."

The iris petals in my room. My car.

"Got it."

More clacking.

Yahaira was never in Haverleau. She couldn't have left the flowers here.

A crocodile lies hidden in your world. One that has waited for more years than you can imagine.

Illusion is the art of showing what someone wishes to see.

I'd thought the Manhattan Lieutenant referred to the traitor.

I was wrong.

The greatest predator had been here all along.

Blood thundered in my ears.

The Shadow was in Haverleau right now.

Typing stopped. Silence screamed.

Aubrey stared at the screen, her face white.

I stared over her shoulder at the paused video footage.

The still frame showed a figure looking directly at the camera. With a smile.

The last piece slid into place.

A war erupting from a love hardened to hate. An obsession born of a passion that could not let go.

Shifting light showed what had been hidden in plain sight, exposing a truth contained in familiar eyes and features.

The face of the Shadow.

IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS.

THE STUNNING FINALE OF THE ONDINE QUARTET

Coming in 2014

Want an email notification when Emma's next book is released?

Sign Up Here

***

If you enjoyed
Crest,
please leave a short review online so others can find Emma's books.

You can also share Emma's books by:
 

Lending it:
This e-book is lending-enabled, so you can share it with a friend.

Recommending it:
Help other readers find this series by recommending it to friends, reader groups, and discussion boards.

Liking / Tweeting / Adding / Blogging/ Pinning/ etc.
: Share this book with your friends and followers on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, GoodReads, Pinterest, and other online social sites.
 

COMING SOON

ONDINE (Free Series Prequel: #0.5)

This
free short novella
will be available in late fall 2013 on all retail sites as well as on Emma's website.
 

ÁIMONI:
LITERAL SELKIE TRANSLATION IS "Place of Harmony". An open spaced pavilion used for gardinel training in their kingdom.

Aquidae
: Demons formed from the black blood of the Shadow. Supernaturally fast and strong, they have no soul. Their mission is to destroy the balance of the Elemental world, turning everything into darkness, violence, and chaos.

Armicant:
The weapons maker for elementals. Resides in the Selkie Kingdom and is responsible for constructing every
kouperet
blade. Also chooses the
pedaillon
stone for each gardinel and marks it with the elemental brand. It is a creature composed of the Four Elements: Water, Earth, Air, and Fire. It's blood is Essence.

Chevalier
: The knights of the water elemental world. Comprised of demillirs, the chevalier corps patrols for Aquidae, taking out any cells they find. Besides protection and patrol, their duties center around the justice system, thus making their function similar to human police officers. Chevaliers also act as a back-up and support group to the work of the gardinels.

Demillirs
: Half-human, half-ondine males with no Virtue or elemental magic (the only known exceptions so far being Jeeves and Julian). Most non-Redavi demillirs serve as chevaliers because they possess extra-human speed and strength. Demillirs can either be born (a male born of an ondine and demillir) or created. When a fully human male mates with an ondine, the bonding process infuses him with ondine magic, turning him into a demillir.

Dessondine
: Ancestors of the ondines and one of the oldest and powerful water elemental races (like the selkies). They live immortally underwater, and Jourdain, their High Priestess, is credited as being the Mother who created the ondine race.

Elemental Magic
: All ondines, who are not Redavi first borns, possess this type of water magic. It gives them control over the creation, movement, and transformation of water in all its forms.

Elemental Brand:
A diamond brand the Armicant sears onto the right foreflipper of selkies when they're inducted into the gardinels. The brand infuses a part of the selkie's seal form with Essence, allowing them to fight underwater. The color of the brand is the same color as a selkie's
pedaillon
stone and is determined by the Armicant.

Essence
: A particularly pure brand of energy and magic resulting from the combination of ondine, dessondine, demillir, and selkie blood.

Four Elementals:
The Four Elements that work together to protect and maintain the balance of the Earth: Fire, Earth, Water, Air. Each elemental world has many races and complex societies that support it.

Gardinel
: A selkie warrior, trained to protect dessondines and ondines both on land and in water. They work protective and military duty, much like the military and secret service.

Kahliev
: Taken from an ancient legend based on the sacrifice of the first selkie son of the first selkie family. It means a connection that transcends time and space, a bond forged from shared experiences and growth. Selkie's use this term often to greet each other. It embodies the spirit of their kingdom.

Kouperet
: Silver blade infused with Essence. The only known weapon effective in killing Aquidae.

Marquis
: Official title of a Redavi demillir

Marquisa
: Official title of a Redavi ondine

Nix
: Originally dark shape-shifters that preyed on humans, this race eventually began living on land and mating with humans. Known for their shady business practices and adeptness with information and technology, nixes maintain a dark reputation and are known Aquidae accomplices. They can no longer shape-shift, but their blood contains latent dark magic. They share similar traits with the selkies, including self-healing and the ability to spot an ondine's aura.

Origin scar
: Distinguishing mark of the Aquidae. It is the one vulnerable spot through which they can be killed with a
kouperet
. It is the location where they are first turned, when their mortal blood is replaced with the black demonic ichor of the Shadow.

Pedaillon
: The pendant that contains a selkie's seal skin while in human form.

Redavi
: Equivalent to ondine nobility. Descendants of the first eight families of the ondine race, the Redavi were gifted with the magic of Virtue. Their magical bloodlines are the strongest within the ondine race.

Rogue
: Ondines or demillirs who have left water elemental communities to live among humans in the regular world. Once Rogue, they do not have to abide by the laws and customs of elementals, and they are also without protection from gardinels or chevaliers.

Selkies
: Shape-shifting warrior race that makes up one-fourth of the quadrangle of power that governs the water elemental world. Their physical strength and speed, combined with their ability to shape-shift between human and seal forms, allow them to protect and fight both on land and in water.

The
Shadow
: The legendary leader and creator of the Aquidae. Originally meant to be the dark that balanced Jourdain's light, his roots are the same as dark creatures like nixes. He takes mortal form to manage the structure and day to day dealings of running the Aquidae. He's of unknowable strength and power.

Sondaleur
: From the phrase "
le son de la fleur
", it means the sound of the flower. A chosen ondine prophesied to finally defeat the Shadow and end the war with the Aquidae.

Virtue
: A particularly strong gift of magic possessed by first born Redavi ondines. The only two known exceptions are Jeeves and Julian. There are eight Virtues: Clairvoyance, Kinesis, Projection, Healing, Cloaking, Empath, Teleportation, and Transmutation.

Warden Pairs
: A strong ondine and demillir couple who enforce the magical wards surrounding an ondine community. There are always four Warden Pairs for each community, one for each point on the compass. The magic wards are tied to the bond between the couple, as well as the life force of the ondine.

THIS BOOK WOULD NOT EXIST without my husband's humor, love, endless patience, and understanding.
 

Thank you to my mother for providing the kind of selfless encouragement only a mother could provide. To my brother who is, and always will be, my
kahliev
.

Thank you to IA, JA, BT, FD for your endless patience and cheerleading. Cathy, Javi, Blake, Sasha, and Sam for your feedback, wisdom, and encouragement not just for this book, but throughout the years. I would not be sharing my stories were it not for your encouragement.