Elemental Air (Paranormal Public Series) (24 page)

I stared at the mask. Sigil had a
neat little trick of turning his hands solid enough to hold something when
necessary, but he usually couldn’t do it for a long period of time.

“I had no idea it was that old,”
I breathed. “Why is it green? I thought that was predominantly the pixies’
color.”

“I don’t know,” Sigil murmured,
“but these designs are very unusual, and I’m thinking that the mask was
probably built in cooperation with the pixies. Let me see what our books will
tell us.”

He had taken to calling the books
in the Astra library “ours.” I liked that. Somehow, if Sigil thought Astra was
mine, then in a funny sense it must be.

I nodded and left, happy to have
Sigil’s help in unlocking yet another elemental mystery, no matter how small. I
was feeling the weight of the paranormal world on me, and it was a relief to
have some help, even if it was from a ghost that almost no one knew existed.
There seemed to be too many old artifacts to keep track of, from the six
objects on the Wheel, to elemental heirlooms like my ring, plus maybe my
mother’s locket, and now this mask.

I sighed and headed for class. I
needed the fresh air, just like all the other students who were getting sick of
being cooped up in their dorm rooms all the time.

I was no longer a welcome visitor
in Airlee, and even Dacer had ordered me not to shirk the rules.

“You can’t just go around doing
whatever you want,” he had scolded me. “You have to listen to Oliva.”

“I don’t go around doing whatever
I want,” I argued back.

Dacer had just shaken his head at
me. “It’s for your own safety, so stop arguing with me,” he said sternly. I
glared at my mentor. Oliva was standing nearby and I could tell the president
of Public was listening to every word.

“How can you say such things to
me?” I asked desperately. Was even Dacer going to put on a show for Oliva? Was
he in that much trouble as the supposed leader of the Sign of Six that he would
throw me to the wolves, or in this case the pixies, to remove suspicion from
himself? I felt betrayed on every level.

Oliva, appearing satisfied, moved
away, while I stared hard at the floor, unable even to look at my mentor. Anger
boiled through my veins and clouded my vision. If I couldn’t trust Dacer to be
on my side, I really couldn’t trust anyone. It was a lonely feeling.

Then, leaning down to whisper in
my ear so that only I could hear, he said, “Do you still have the mask I gave
you?”

I smiled a little.

“Of course,” I whispered back. I
watched Oliva’s back, but the pixie was still walking away. Returning my
attention to Dacer I said, “Why?”

“Just making sure my gift is
being . . . appreciated,” he said, and winked at me before he disappeared.

The very next thing I did was
find Sigil.

“Sigil?” I yelled, racing up the
stairs to the top of Astra and dashing into the library. “Sigil?”

“Ah, there you are,” he said.
“What’s taken you so long?”

“Sorry,” I said. “Classes.”

“Well, I know what’s so special
about this mask,” he said, handing it to me. It looked exactly the same as when
I’d given it to him.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Put it on and you’ll see,” he
said, smiling. He walked over to one of the windows, which was covered by a
heavy drape. He pushed back the drape and threw the window wide. It was nearly
dusk, and the cold air of early winter flowed into my face.

Dacer had told me not to unless I
had to, but I needed to know. I put the mask on. I trusted Sigil, and I had
grown tired not trusting other paranormals. Sometimes trust was a choice, and
in this case they had both earned it.

The instant Alixar touched my
skin I felt air flow around my face and body, pouring through the now-open
window and rushing around me. I heard the rustle of books and smelled the dust
kicked up in the room as the mask tightened its hold, molding to my face. I
found myself smiling as I stretched my arms out wide. Now I too knew what the
mask could do. Carefully I opened my eyes. The world looked the same, and yet
entirely different. I could
see
the wind.

Moreover, I now knew there was
something else I could do because of the mask. Sigil watched the realization
dawning, clasped his hands, and nodded gleefully as I walked to the window. I
looked down, but for the very first time I wasn’t afraid of heights. Of course,
I had long trusted that Keller could hold me up as we flew, because I had
complete confidence in his strength, ability, and good heart. Now, I also had
complete confidence that when I was wearing this mask, I could fly.

I stepped onto the window ledge,
took a deep breath, and launched myself.

Unfortunately, I hadn’t really
thought about exactly how to do it.

Cold air rushed into my face as I
tumbled downward. My mouth opened in a soundless scream.

I felt like a rock hurtling
toward Earth, and I flailed my arms uselessly as I rushed to splatter on the
ground. But right before I had reached the moment of my death, I felt a surge
of wind catch me. With my upper body I redirected myself upward until I was
nearly in a standing position. My fall slowed and finally halted. I was still
about five feet off the ground as I took in a great big breath of relief.

Then the wind took me again.

I soared high overhead, through
the evening sky and up to the clouds. I wanted to whoop and yell with pleasure,
but I didn’t dare. Instead, I just grabbed the winds and flew. It was like I
had totally forgotten that I was wearing the mask. I didn’t even feel it, I
only felt the wonderment of a time when elementals and pixies worked so closely
together that they could create something as mesmerizing as my mask.

Deciding I should show Sip and
Lisabelle, I headed for the bright lights of Airlee. I had never come to their
room from the sky before, not even with Keller, so it took me a minute to
figure out which window was theirs.

Sip probably wasn’t even there, I
told myself as I got nearer. We had barely seen her as the gala approached,
because she was always in this or that meeting. Once, Lisabelle had gotten to
the point where she couldn’t take it anymore. She had marched right up to the
werewolf and demanded that she take a night off. Sip had blinked at her,
shocked, and then continued her planning with hardly a pause.

There had also been no demon
attacks since Oliva had restricted us all to our dorms. It worried me. We all
agreed that it might prove that a student was the one letting demons onto
campus, and not Dacer, but I still felt as if the professors were looking at
Dacer as the likely culprit behind the Sign of Six.

Now, with less than a week to go
before the gala, and Public no closer to finding any of the perpetrators of the
attacks, I was starting to worry again. All those issues seeped away from my
thoughts as I flew up to Lisabelle’s window and tapped.

I couldn’t see the darkness mage,
because as usual she had drawn black curtains over the window. At my tap,
though, the curtain went flying back as if it was on fire and Lisabelle stepped
up to the window, looking barely surprised. She met my eyes, glanced down, and
met my eyes again. I pointed to the window latch and she nodded, but she took
her time opening the window.

“Was that really necessary?” I
said, once the window was open and she had reached out and helped me in.

“It was amusing,” she said,
shrugging. “Thanks.”

She eyed me up and down, not
saying anything.

Growing self-conscious I said,
“What?”

She grinned. “I love Public.”

“Ms. Rollins, Professor Erikson
would like to see you.”

It was three days before the
gala, and of all the summonses I might have expected, that was one of the last
on the list. I had barely seen Professor Erikson all semester and now didn’t
seem like a good time.

I had also noticed that when I
spent the night with Keller I had fewer dreams, which meant that I had also not
seen Malle in months.

I would have thought I would be
grateful for that, but I wasn’t.

The quiet made me nervous.

I knew Malle wasn’t sitting idly
while the world turned, especially after the conversation I had overheard her
having with Caid. For all I knew she was having regular meetings with
paranormals who were part of, or behind, the Sign of Six.

But I left class quickly and
headed for the Long Building. It wouldn’t do to ignore Professor Erikson’s
wishes.

She had just finished a meeting
with Dacer, and in her message she had proposed that we walk. I thought to
myself that she was probably going to walk me into the forest and let the
demons devour me, and the thought nearly made me smile. But I felt sure that if
it hadn’t been for my relationship with Keller, Professor Erikson would have
been far less tolerant of me.

I could see her waiting for me as
I approached. She dressed all in white robes, which made her easy to spot. Now
she stood alone outside the doors of the Museum of Masks, her hands clasped in
front of her and her lips pursed.

“Charlotte,” she said, nodding to
me. “How are you?”

Well, Public is on
lockdown. Dacer is a suspect, my mom was murdered by my dad’s side of the
family, and I’m expected to attend a gala in less than a week and be pleasant
to President Caid when he is collaborating with the Nocturns. So actually, I’ve
been better.

“I’m good,” I said out loud. “The
semester is almost over, so I’ll be able to go visit my little brother.”

“Ah, yes, Ricky is his name? How
is he doing? Has he shown any signs of magical powers?”

I was sure that if he had, Professor
Erikson would have heard of it before me, but I just shook my head. “Not that I
know of.”

“Well, there’s still plenty of
time. When you showed signs, you didn’t believe your mother, is that correct?”

“I was skeptical,” I admitted.

Okay, I had thought she was
crazy. Part of that was because we had lived only among humans, and I had never
had the slightest contact with the paranormal world. Now I knew my mother had
had good reasons for that: paranormals had wanted her dead. At the time,
though, I had just thought she was a fruitcake. Not a day went by now that I
didn’t feel sad about that.

“Well, anyway,” said Professor
Erikson, clearly signaling an end to that topic.

I waited curiously for what she
would say next; obviously she hadn’t called me out here to talk about my
feelings upon finding out that magic was real. She herself had grown up as a
fallen angel, so to her it had always been real.

“I’ve wanted to discuss something
with you for quite some time,” said Professor Erikson. Her hands were now clasped
behind her back and we were walking very slowly. I was relieved, and a little
amused at myself that I was, to be walking away from the forest and toward the
houses that edged most of campus.

“Okay,” I said, bracing myself.
She was probably going to try yet again to convince me to stop dating Keller.
Well, I wouldn’t do it. If he could withstand his family’s pressure to date a
fallen angel in good standing, then I should certainly be able to stand up to
his aunt.

“I wanted to discuss your plans
for the future,” she said.

“If you mean when am I going to
break up with Keller, I’m not,” I said, exasperated.

Professor Erikson sighed, and a
small smile touched her lips.

“I don’t mean that at all. I
thought you might not have thought about it, given your lack of parental
influence at this point. And of course Dacer is a dear, but he has rather a lot
on his plate at the moment.”

“So, what do you mean?” Now I was
totally confused.

“What are your plans upon
graduation?” she pressed.

“I, um, don’t really have plans,”
I stammered. My mind worked hard to come up with a better answer, but the truth
was I hadn’t thought about it at all. There was really no life for me outside
Public, and given how many times Malle had tried to have me killed, I had never
really envisioned growing old, except when I thought about this woman’s nephew.
I knew better than to say that, though. She wouldn’t have appreciated it.

“No plans?” Professor Erikson
sounded aghast, like she had expected any number of responses, but not that
one; it was just too horrible.

“Is that bad?” I said in a small
voice.

“My dear girl,” she said, “you
are the only elemental. Granted, no one thinks you’re going to compete with the
greats of your type, but we work with what we can. You can do any number of things.
Consulting on the use of the Power of Five, traveling the world getting paid
handsomely for your skills, teaching, the list goes on.” I listened
attentively, trying to take it all in.

“I really hadn’t thought about
it,” I repeated. “I guess I assumed I might have work to do fighting demons, or
President Caid would want my help with something. . . .” But that sounded too
vague even to my own ears, and Professor Erikson immediately shot down the
suggestion.