elemental 08 - elements of war (10 page)

CHAPTER NINE

AIDEN STARED AT THE CEILING of the room that held him, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists. Apart from meals, he had no way of knowing how long he had been imprisoned; even then, he thought, his sense of time felt weirdly distorted by the emanations of the water-aligned materials holding him on lockdown. If it weren’t for the fact that he could faintly feel the pulse of Aira’s presence, he would have lost all hope. 

The last time he had seen her was in the car on the way to Seraphina’s and Annaliese’s safe house; they had both been bundled up in nets that suppressed their abilities—Aiden’s made of silver, Aira’s made of lead. Aira had fallen unconscious, her energies nearly exhausted even before Seraphina had ambushed her, her body twitching slightly in the pain caused by the earth-aligned material that bound her. She had awakened at one point in the long journey away from the mountain—but they were being watched by a pair of elementals while Seraphina drove. It was impossible for them to do anything about their situation while they were wrapped in the nets, while their preternatural abilities were suppressed and they were under surveillance. They couldn’t even plan any method of escape—though Aiden could feel Aira’s presence, she couldn’t project her thoughts to him. He’d seen that they’d bound her even more than they had him; before they’d loaded her into the van, someone had managed to put iron shackles on her wrists and ankles, further driving down her immense abilities. 

Aiden wished he could even get up and pace the small length of the floor in his room; the water-aligned materials that sapped at his abilities bore down on his essential strength, leaving him lethargic and too weak to do more than sit up, walk to the toilet, stand in the shower. He was trapped as thoroughly as any prisoner ever could be. In the early hours of their imprisonment, Aiden had struggled against the insidious, constant grip of the water-energy surrounding him to try to pry the door open, to find something to dig through the wall. If he could chisel out the stones that warded the room, he might be able to break through. But the washing gush of water energy depleted every bit of his strength.

He knew that it was probably even worse for Aira; he had no illusions that they’d hold back in fear of reprisals. Aira might be subject to regular torture—though not anything that would kill her, or even leave a physical injury. They’d be forcing her to drink water laced with colloidal silver or nothing at all, tying her to the bed with emerald-studded chains, feeding her rhubarb to suppress the intense energy that flowed through her and to heighten her pain. Anything that they could get away with, Aiden thought, they would do. 

He knew that he and Aira were ransom; Seraphina had told him on the second or third day that their intention was to hold Aiden and Aira hostage until the elders agreed to release the other members of their group, including Oriel. Aiden did not have high hopes for what would happen if and when Seraphina and Annaliese accomplished their hopes. It was not difficult to imagine that they would kill Aira outright; it was the only thing that Aiden could imagine hurting more than his long stay in this dark, cold, watery room.

There was a shuffling, scuffing, scratching sound at the door. Aiden barely had the energy to turn his head and direct his gaze towards the sound; it was probably Annaliese, coming to collect him for another session of “conversation” with Seraphina. He and the other fire elemental had something of a history together; though she had bounced around from potential mate to potential mate, she had wanted him at one point—wanted him passionately, wanted him for the increase in power that his essence would provide. There was no false modesty in his thought that part of why Seraphina had come down so hard against Aira had to do with her disappointment that she had never managed to snare Aiden in the way that Aira had.

Instead of Annaliese, Aiden watched as a short, pale, not-quite-fit man came into the room, looking over his shoulder nervously. He glanced at Aiden and smiled as he closed the door behind him. 

“We haven’t met before,” the man said. “And under normal circumstances, I would never in a million years help you.”

“I don’t exactly see you helping me right now.” 

The man sighed, moving to the sole chair in the room and sitting down.

“I am though,” he said, glancing nervously at the door once again. “I owe someone a debt. Because of that, I’m going to help you break out of here.”

“Really?” Aiden looked at the man once more; there was nothing in his demeanor, in his body, or the pale sickly green of his eyes that suggested he was even remotely capable of helping Aiden break out of the prison he had been locked in. “What about Aira?” 

The man shrugged. “Someone else is helping her. Look, we don’t have very much time. I owe Leigh, so I’m helping you.”

“Leigh? You’re … Leigh sent you?” 

“I don’t have time to explain. Just listen and pay attention. I’ve brought you some materials and a potion that will help you break out of here on your own. Someone else is giving Aira something similar. There’s a note in this bag explaining it—and what the plan is. Once I leave this room you’ll have an hour.”

“How the hell am I going to know when an hour is up?” Aiden gestured to the clock-less, window-less walls. 

“You’ll know, okay? Dylan and Leigh will both be waiting for you outside.”

“Who even are you?” Aiden watched as the man nervously pulled a small sack out of his pocket.

“That’s not important. I’m an ally of Leigh’s; she sent me here. It took me a week to infiltrate the group, and I can’t stay in here for long or they’ll start getting suspicious. Just do what the note says and try not to blast me when you break out.” 

The man stood quickly. Aiden watched in bemusement as the man walked towards the door and let out a bizarre mimicry of a mocking laugh, loud enough to be heard through the thick walls of the room. 

“That’s what you get! Traitor to your own kin, aren’t you?” The man opened the door and strode through it without a backwards glance.

Aiden reached down and picked up the sack from where the mysterious man had left it on the floor next to the bed. The moment his fingers came in contact with the material, Aiden began to feel better, the ache in his bones receding, the fogginess of his mind beginning to abate. That was definitely promising. He sat up in the bed and opened the pouch, peering inside to examine the contents. There was a watch—digital, a cheap thing, but presumably set to the right time; at least it was enough that he would know when an hour had passed. There was a pair of brass bracelets, embedded with tiger’s eye stones. It was easy to understand how they would help to counter the influence of the water-aligned materials in the room. There was also a potion, a gold necklace with a ruby pendant, and a note—Aiden’s glance told him in an instant that it was Dylan’s handwriting. 

The potion will reach its fullest potency in your body within fifteen minutes of you drinking it,
the note read.
Put on the jewelry first, take the potion after the effects of the room start to diminish. You won’t be 100% until you’re out, but you’ll be able to get out. Leigh and I will be waiting, hidden, outside. Get Aira and we’ll finish this whole stupid mess.
Dylan had scrawled his signature at the bottom, in case Aiden had had any doubt of who had sent him the care package.

He wondered if whoever Leigh and Dylan had gotten in to help Aira had managed; if he should try and find her once he escaped. He could feel Aira’s presence in the building with him, but he wasn’t certain he knew where she was—he didn’t even really know where he was. Aiden put the bracelets on his wrists and the necklace around his neck and lay back on the bed. He groaned out as he felt the materials begin to take effect, obliterating the miasma of fatigue and weakness that the water-aligned materials in the room had inspired in him. It was almost—not quite—as good a feeling as sex with Aira, feeling his power coming back to him.

Aiden checked the watch every few moments, waiting for the time to finish his preparations. He eyed the potion; that was certainly Dylan’s handiwork. The jewelry, he thought, had probably been Leigh—the earth elementals were hoarders when it came to fine metals and gemstones, even ones not aligned with their element, though they were careful when it came to water or air-aligned gems. 

Again and again while he waited, Aiden wondered what was happening with Aira; he thought to himself that he could feel her energy more strongly—but whether that was because of his own recovery or because Aira was regaining her power, he had no idea. Surely, he thought, someone had gotten to Aira. It would have to be someone with a much greater rating from the elementals in charge, but Dylan would have specified if he thought Aiden would need to take care of getting Aira out of her prison—which meant that they’d planned to help her bust out too.

Fifteen minutes before the hour mark, Aiden uncorked the bottle of potion and took a deep breath. He knocked it back, barely even letting himself taste it, draining the contents in a few fast gulps. The aftertaste wasn’t as horrible as some of the potions he had consumed in his life—he could detect basil, cinnamon, tangerine, and clove—but it certainly wasn’t the kind of thing that he would want to sip. As the last fifteen minutes dragged past, Aiden felt his vitality not only returning but growing. Heat coursed through him, crackling like fire along his nerves, through his veins. His hands glowed, his body was on fire in a way he hadn’t experienced since the power surges that came along with reaching his full inheritance into his elemental abilities.

Finally—finally, it was time. Aiden smiled to himself, imagining the surprise on the faces of the people set to watch him at what he had planned to do. The water-aligned materials wouldn’t succumb to his attack—but the door itself would. Aiden focused his energies, pouring some of the heat that flowed through him into his hands, slowly but surely shaping and creating a fireball. He threw it at the door, and then sent another to accompany it. He could feel the strength growing and growing inside of him. The fire caught—racing up the lines of the frame, engulfing the door.

Aiden kicked at the burning door, his enhanced strength giving him the ability to shatter the weakened wood in two sharp shocks. Striding through it, Aiden called out, “Seraphina! Annaliese! How does it feel to be surprised?” he strode through the hall, following an instinct to find the way out, to regroup with his brother, his wife, and Leigh. 

Shrieks met him as he strode into the common area of the safe house. Aiden smirked. The earth elementals couldn’t do much to him on their own; the fire elementals could do nothing at all. He launched several more fireballs as he made his way towards the door, using them not to attack individuals, but to distract everyone—lighting the floor and the furniture on fire as he passed through. Aira would be able to get through behind him, if she hadn’t already started her escape. The dozen or so elementals descended into frenzied panic, running around; those with a fire alignment struggling to recapture the fire that Aiden set as quickly as he threw it, the earth elementals trying to figure out how to contribute.

He walked past the guards at the door, pressing his fiery hands against the frame and giving them more to worry about than an escaped kidnap victim. “Aira!” he called out. “Dylan! Leigh! Let’s finish this!” The wind began to howl, and Aiden staggered as he made his way across the patio and towards the ramparts that guarded the safe house, the ground suddenly moving under his feet. But he managed to stay upright, dodging a crumbling edifice of rock and dirt, shooting fireballs over his shoulder without really looking to see where they landed. 

All at once, the ramparts came down decisively, and there Aiden saw Aira, standing to the side next to Dylan and Leigh; it was unquestionable that his brother had found his mate, and Aiden spared himself a moment to be happy for his younger brother. 

“Finally sealed the deal, eh?” Aiden asked as he took up his position next to the woman he loved.

“Couldn’t have saved your ass otherwise,” Dylan pointed out. 

Aiden turned to face the safe house holding the last two masterminds of the elemental revolt, along with their minions. Confusion reigned; Aiden watched as people rushed out, intent on getting him and Aira back, distracted by the shifting ground and then the rushing rain, the howling wind. 

“Let’s give them a storm they won’t forget,” Aiden suggested, looking from his brother and his brother’s mate to Aira. 

Aira smiled slowly. “You know what happens with earth and water, right?” 

Aiden nodded, his grin growing on his face. Everything briefly became a blur as the elementals who had captured him and the woman he loved decided to turn their attention entirely on the four elementals in front of them. Bolts of fire raced towards them and Aiden deflected, captured, sent them back; Dylan sent torrents of water, Leigh grabbed at the ground and made it tremble underneath their attackers, Aira sent howling gusts of gale-force wind to careen anyone preparing to attack. 

“Okay,” Aira said, and Aiden looked up. “This is it—they’re losing, they’re desperate. Last bit.” She reached out and Aiden grabbed at her hand. He poured his energy into her, feeling her shaping and molding it; next to him, Dylan took Leigh’s hand, and he watched the peculiar bond between the other two elementals come to life as well—the temperature dropped rapidly around them. In an instant, the house and all of the elementals in it were subjected to a storm of lightning and hail, thunder tearing the air around them, sonic booms knocking them to their feet, balls of ice the size of oranges raining down on them. In a matter of moments, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind as to who would win the battle. 

Aiden watched as each and every one of the elementals who had caused them so much trouble tumbled to the ground, unable to move, lashed by electricity and ice. He laughed, watching the safe house itself fall to a shambles. It was, finally, over. And in a day or two, he would be alone with his mate, his wife, the woman he loved, confident that he wouldn’t have to worry about his brother.