Elemental Air (Paranormal Public Series) (5 page)

“What’s wrong?” I asked,
frowning. “I thought you liked Caid.”

Lough shrugged, looking troubled.

“It’s just been odd here,” he
said. “I don’t know. I honestly don’t know anything,” he added hurriedly, as I
continued to glare at him. “It’s just a bad feeling I’ve had.”

“We’ve had so many bad feelings
it’s hard to keep track,” I said dryly. “I was sort of hoping for a quiet
semester.”

“That’s just silly,” said Lough,
his eyes dancing. “Never going to happen. You’re the only elemental.”

“You’re one of two dream givers,”
I pointed out.

“I like to pretend I’m the only
one,” said Lough forlornly.

I grinned. The other dream giver
was a transfer into our year. His name was Trafton, and he also had a thing for
Lisabelle. I wasn’t sure how serious Trafton was about it, but Lisabelle was
very serious that both of them were to leave her alone. Well, actually just
Trafton. She had never given any sign of noticing how Lough felt, even though
it was as obvious as the sun shining at midday.

We were halfway around the lake
and I was listening to Lough tell stories from his summer of trying to plow
fields when we heard voices. Somehow, we both instinctively hid.

Lough grabbed my arm and tugged
me quickly behind one of the huge old pine trees stationed around the lake.

“Where are they coming from?” I
asked, looking around. One of the voices had definitely been male, but at least
one other was female. I wasn’t sure how many of them there were.

Lough didn’t say anything. He
just pointed, and I followed his slightly shaking finger. Right by the water
was another patio, set in perfectly circular stone, with several chairs facing
the perfect view of the lake. Sitting in one of the chairs was Caid. I
recognized another head as Saferous, because he was older and more
distinguished than most of the other fallen angels I’d come in contact with.

The voice of the female took my
breath away. Sitting there across from President Caid, for all the world as if
it was any normal day, was Cynthia Malle, president of the Nocturns.

I gasped and started forward, but
Lough tightened his grip on my arm until it felt like a vice.

“I’m going down there and
demanding -” I sputtered angrily, but I was cut off when Lough used his other
hand to cover my mouth. He gently shook his head.

I struggled in vain against my
friend, but he held firm. It was one of the few times I had ever seen his eyes
so serious.

Very quickly I realized why.

The air hadn’t been cold just
because it was the start of fall. The air was cold because the black clouds
overhead had started to block out the sun. I realized now that the air was also
oddly still, as if even it was afraid to move. I looked around. Now that the
sun was gone, the forest was one big shadow, much darker than it should be at
this time of day, even with clouds overhead.

Lough leaned forward until I
smelled the fresh scent of his soap and his early morning snack of banana. He
was hardly breathing.

“She can’t possibly be alone,” he
said, so close that his lips brushed the tip of my ear. I shivered. He was
right. There had to be demons or hellhounds or both nearby. She might be by
herself when she met me in dreams, but not here. The real question was what on
earth was she doing talking to Saferous and Caid. When had Saferous arrived,
and why wasn’t he in one of the fallen angel eyries?

A shiver ran down my spine as I
looked at the spindly head and patches of gray that were all that was left of
Malle’s hair.

She was sitting so close to me I
could almost hear her breathing, yet I couldn’t confront her. Fury ripped
through my chest and anger made my temples throb as I saw how easily she sat
there, relaxed, for all the world as if she hadn’t murdered hundreds of
paranormals and ruined all kinds of lives.

It was a good thing Lough kept a
firm grip on my arm, because left to myself I would have raced down and flung
myself on Malle, and that would have been disastrous. As it was I had to
content myself with glaring down at her and clutching my fists so tightly that
my fingers throbbed.

“Get down,” Lough hissed. “You
don’t know where the demons are. What if she has a Demon of Knight with her?”

Those were the nastiest kind of
demons, faster, smarter, and more powerful than the other kinds. Sip,
Lisabelle, and I had been with Sip’s parents on our way to Lanca’s coronation
when we had had the unfortunate experience of running into one, or rather being
led into one by a corrupt paranormal, and almost dying.

“We can’t hear if we aren’t
closer,” I hissed.

“We can’t hear if we’re dead,
either,” said Lough, still keeping a firm grip on my arm.

I glared at my friend. I had to
get closer, and Lough, realizing I wouldn’t be deterred, finally let go of my
arm. With a shake of his head he crouched closer to the trunk of the tree,
trying to keep out of sight.

I moved as silently as I could
toward the group by the water. All the time I had spent with Sip helped,
because it hadn’t taken me long to notice how quietly my friend walked. It was
the werewolf in her. She padded silently everywhere she went, and I had picked
up the habit. Of course, Lisabelle had always moved silently too, so she was
another model. With her it seemed to be something about how much she enjoyed
the frightened cries of her friends when she came up and surprised them.

Now I snuck forward, keeping low
to the ground and avoiding anything that would crunch under my feet. Behind me
I heard Lough praying to the dream giver god for safety and protection from
insane friends.

My eyes moved everywhere, checking
under my feet before I stepped and making sure that none of the three senior
paranormals sitting in front of me was about to turn around and check behind
them. I also had to make sure that none of the many guards that Caid kept
around the place were anywhere to be seen. He seemed to be out there without
any protection.

But why?

Finally I reached a vast tree
trunk, a spot where I thought their voices would carry more clearly while I
still maintained a safe distance from the little group. Since they were right
on the water, their voices echoed over the open space.

“So, it’s a deal, then?” That was
Malle’s voice, raspy and thick, as if she didn’t use it often. She probably
didn’t if she spent most of her time with hellhounds.

“Yes,” said Caid, sounding for
all the world as relaxed as he did when he talked to Dacer. I bristled. If Caid
was on the side of the Nocturns, what chance did the good paranormals stand?
Caid had been elected because as a fallen angel he was supposed to be almost
incorruptible. I could have seen it if it had been Zervos, and as it happened I
was pretty sure Zervos was corrupt anyway. But the thought of Caid secretly
working against the paranormals broke my heart.

Saferous, too, was a mystery. He
sat silently watching the proceedings, and I had yet to see his lips move or
his head so much as nod. He seemed to be there as a witness only.

“When will it be done?” Malle
asked. I could see her head turn slowly, rotating from side to side. I flinched
as I watched her neck try to move. Her skin was almost falling off, and I could
almost hear the creak of muscle and the crack of bone from where I was hidden.

Caid’s heavy shoulders shrugged.
I desperately wished I could see his face, but he was turned toward the water
like a king surveying his lands. Somehow, the early morning gloom that had now
come over Lake Timarity forced me to see Caid in a different light. Instead of
a beacon of hope for the paranormals, I saw his large form and easy smile as
something else, sinister and dark, and I didn’t like it one bit.

“These things can’t be rushed,”
he explained, his voice carrying a lot more easily than Malle’s had. He wasn’t
looking at the president of darkness, but rather at the calm water. I wanted
him to get up and shout, to wave his eyes and fight. Here he was with a chance
to battle the head of all the evil forces that were fighting to destroy
paranormals, and instead he sat calmly opposite her, for all the world as if he
was talking to an old friend.

I couldn’t hear what Malle said
after that, even though I was twisting myself so far around the tree that I was
almost falling over. My arms strained and my feet slid a little on the hard
ground; it wasn’t a position I could hold for long. Quickly I looked around,
making sure there were no Demons of Knight floating toward me, and even though
I didn’t see anything, just then something sharp hit my shoulder and skidded
away. I glanced at it, but I couldn’t see what the projectile had been.

Suddenly there was Lisabelle
standing with Lough, and next to her was Sip. Both my friends had faces like
thunder clouds ready to burst. I could see the little werewolf’s arm arch back,
as if she was all ready to throw more stones in my direction.

The second Lisabelle caught my
eye she motioned for me to come. I vehemently shook my head, but it was no use;
she was insistent. I would rather have fought Lisabelle than Malle, but it was
a close call, so I pursed my lips and made my way carefully back to my friends.
Lough was still there, but he was crouched even further into the tree. Sip and
Lisabelle, both safely out of view of the waterfront patio, made way for me to
get behind the tree with the three of them. Sip had her hands on her hips, a
move she normally reserved for dealing with Lisabelle, and she looked as mad as
a cat who actually had to work for breakfast.

“I’m a dreamer, not a fighter,”
Lough said plaintively at me. “We can’t let ourselves be seen.”

“What do you think you’re doing?”
Sip demanded. “Are you trying to get us killed?”

“I had to know what they were
saying,” I argued in as loud a whisper as I dared. “And I didn’t ask you to
come. Stay sleeping.”

“Speak for yourself,” said
Lisabelle, her dark eyes unreadable.

“What?” Sip asked, looking at
Lisabelle for the first time since she had drawn my attention.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m
not going to get killed.”

“Too stubborn to die,” said Sip.
“Wonderful.”

“Where did you get such a hard
throw, by the way?” I asked, rubbing my shoulder. “I think you drew blood.”

“She didn’t,” said Lisabelle,
shaking her head. “I’d know.”

I didn’t want to ask how she’d
know.

“Can we get out of here?” Lough
asked. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Why?” Lisabelle asked. She
cracked her knuckles together. “I haven’t fought a demon all summer.”

“What are we supposed to do?” Sip
said. “Give you a prize for restraint?”

“If you’re offering,” said
Lisabelle. “I like prizes. Not sure I’ll have room with all my other ones,
though. I guess we can take some of your stuff out of our room.”

“We’re moving,” said Lough,
ignoring the incessant banter of our friends. He quickly stood up and grabbed
me by the arm.

“Why are you manhandling me?” I
demanded. “They’re the ones bickering and taking the risk of drawing attention
to us,” I added, pointing at Sip and Lisabelle.

“Because you’re the one who
started the trouble. Lisabelle scares me, but she can draw attention to herself
if she wants, because even demons know better than to mess with her. You aren’t
so lucky. All the demons want to do is kill you.”

“I sincerely hope not,” said Lisabelle
wistfully. “I’d be so bored.”

Despite her casual words,
Lisabelle was very careful. The four of us knew how to hide from demons; we’d
been doing it ever since we were Starters at Public.

“Why did you come out here
without us?” Sip demanded.

We were all walking away from the
patio by know, and Sip was behind me. Lough led the way and Lisabelle brought
up the rear. I didn’t bother to turn around, because I knew I’d just be looking
at a furious pair of purple eyes.

“You were sleeping,” I said,
hoping she’d drop it.

“Right,” drawled Lisabelle.
“We’re just impossible to wake up.”

“You do sleep soundly,” said Sip.
“And Bartholem left without waking us too.”

“Speaking of that thing,” said
Lough, “what’s he doing hanging around all the time?”

“He likes us,” said Lisabelle.

“Yeah, exactly, doesn’t that make
you question his mental state?” said Sip. “At least the fact that he likes
you.”

“He’s looking after me because I
hang out with werewolves, who are always getting into trouble.”

“Near as I can see, you just hang
out with one. When you get it right the first time you don’t have to keep
trying,” said Sip.

We were almost to the main house,
and I had no idea what I was going to tell Dacer, if I was even going to tell
him anything. When my friends showed up, I had lost my chance to think alone
about what Malle and Caid were saying. I wasn’t sure what to make of it, and I
wanted to run it by my friends before I carried it any further. It seemed like
there was a good chance that Dacer wouldn’t even believe me. Caid was his
longtime friend, after all, and no matter what double game Caid was playing,
there was no way I could believe that Dacer knew anything about it.