Elemental Air (Paranormal Public Series) (7 page)

This was my first time in the
main cottage, and the inside was as stunning as the outside. The kitchen was
all white, with a white countertop and stainless steel kitchenware. There were
blue accents in the tile, and all the pots and pans were a dark blue. The
cabinets were a light brown, perfect for a summer home.

Caid’s place was beautiful. Why
would he risk it by conspiring with the darkness?

Dacer made eye contact and gave
me a questioning look. It was frustrating that he could always tell when
something was wrong. I just shook my head slightly, because as soon as I saw
him I knew I couldn’t tell him what I had seen and heard that morning. My fears
were further confirmed when I watched Caid give his old friend a hug. Once the
two had finished their greetings, Dacer looked around again, smiling at all of
us.

“Where’d you find that?” I asked,
pointing at his kitchen outfit.

Dacer beamed. “It was something
I’ve needed for years,” he said, happily plucking at one of the strings.

“What do you get for the man who
doesn’t cook? An apron?” Lisabelle asked.

The museum curator looked down
his long pale nose at my friend. “You, young lady, lack a certain amount of
imagination.”

“You lack cooking skills,” said
Lisabelle, “which is why we can’t figure out why you’re wearing that.”

“This shirt is silk,” said Dacer,
aghast, as if it wasn’t obvious. “It was designed by Lain Macantire himself.”

“Who is that?” Lough whispered to
me.

I shook my head. “I have no
idea.” Dacer had said the name before, but I hadn’t been paying attention.

Offended, Dacer puffed out his
chest. “He is only the foremost designer of paranormal fashion, a god among
us.”

Joining the conversation, Caid
said, “Yes, and his designs cost an arm and a leg.”

Dacer shrugged. “I have no
children of my own. My clothes are my children, and someone must support Lain
and his genius. It might as well be me.”

“Some would say that playing with
cloth doesn’t take genius,” said Lisabelle, folding her arms over her chest.

“Some would also say that they
shouldn’t speak about what they don’t understand,” said Dacer. “But who is to
judge what ‘some’ should say?” He gave Lisabelle a hard glare, which she
brushed off, and returned to his supervising.

Despite Dacer’s best efforts, the
kitchen was in chaos. Caid had chefs at his disposal, I wasn’t sure from where,
but even so, Sip was still put to work stirring cake batter. They tried to
enlist Lisabelle, but she flat out refused. Dacer stuck his head up to say that
they would get more done without her, and my darkness friend said that she was
going to go back to our cabin “to read,” which I knew really meant practice
spells that were far beyond the rest of us. Lough, as a “strong young man,” was
put to work carrying things, which was fine with him. If he had gone back to
the cabin with Lisabelle, he’d probably have had to deal with Bartholem.

I was told to get some ice from
the shed, which Caid said was one large freezer. The shed wasn’t attached to
the house; it was a small wooden structure approach by means of a short path
out the back door. As I left the kitchen I waved to Caid and Dacer, who were
now lost in some conversation about the viability of lightmares in cold
climates.

“Before you all go, I have an
announcement,” said Dacer, calling our attention once more with a raised hand
and stopping Lisabelle and me in our tracks. “I have just been informed that
Queen Lanca, of the Rapier vampires, will be joining us tonight. In an effort to
travel quietly, she has brought only a small guard.”

My heart soared, and I exchanged
grins with Sip and Lisabelle. Like my friends, I desperately missed Lanca. We
hadn’t seen her since her coronation, and even though we all wrote letters back
and forth when we could, it wasn’t the same. Nodding my thanks to Dacer, I made
my way out of the bustle of the kitchen.

As I left the house I passed a
guard, realizing that there was one at every entrance. They were dressed
plainly, in white shirts and black pants, and of course Caid was the president,
but I still felt strange, almost like I was a prisoner more than a guest. The
guards were large and strong. I wasn’t sure what paranormal types they were,
because they didn’t wear rings. Lisabelle had explained to me that that was a
precaution; paranormals were harder to fight if you didn’t know what they were.
It gave Caid’s guards, trained at the Police Academy, an element of surprise.

Lisabelle had said this in front
of Vital, who had just laughed. He was obviously a vampire, and didn’t care to
hide it. He didn’t agree with the tactic, believing that fights should be won
fair and square. Lisabelle had said that was all well and good for the best
fighter in the world, but the rest of us couldn’t be so picky.

By now it was almost noontime,
and there was a steady stream of paranormals on the paths around the house.
Just on my way to the shed I ran into Oliva and Dove, both of whom nodded to
me. Also present were Professor Erikson, the Van Rothsons, and many others. I even
saw the Butters, whose daughter Betsy had nearly died last semester. I wondered
how Caid’s house would fit everyone, but since he owned most of the land around
the lake I guessed it wasn’t a big problem.

The shed was a small structure, and
I could feel the cold seeping out of it as I got closer. I kept one eye out for
Lanca and Vital, but I didn’t see them yet. There were only a handful of
vampires already there, including Dove and Dacer. I wasn’t sure how many would
be coming, given the ongoing feud between the vampire houses, as well as the
problems the Validification children were causing. For that matter, I assumed
that Daisy and Dobrov would be there, but I had no real idea. Dobrov, whom I
had once considered a friend, had fallen off the face of the earth after his
mother was revealed to be a puppet of the Nocturns. What would happen to her,
and to Public in the wake of another presidential scandal, was anyone’s guess.

I looked around, but from this
spot in front of the shed I couldn’t see the road or any of the houses. It was
as if I was alone in the wilderness and about to enter a cave. I felt my
elemental magic throb to greet the cold, which was in such deep contrast to the
warming day. I put my hand on the metal handle and pulled, quickly releasing it
before my fingers turned red and numb. The door was heavy, probably reinforced
wood, and I felt the blast of cold as it started to open.

I took a deep breath and
immediately regretted it as icy air filled my lungs.

The shed was dim, the only light
coming from the now open door and a couple of cracks in the walls. I decided it
must be spelled to keep the cold in even with the cracks. The shed was bigger
than it looked from the outside, and it appeared to have been dug partially
into the ground to make more space. Looking around curiously, all I saw were
stacks of ice. In the middle of the shed was a winding staircase that went
downward, to what I assumed must be a second floor below ground.

I headed in and past the
staircase, quickly glancing down the passage it made as I went. The ice was
neatly stacked along the back wall, and I headed there and started to pick up
some of the bags. Just as I did, the light wavered. With a frown I glanced back
at the door, but there was no one there. I decided that the wind must have
blown the door enough to cut off some of the light.

I grabbed as much ice as I could
hold, then turned and headed quickly for the entrance. I knew I wouldn’t be
able to hold the ice for long, because the cold started seeping through my
clothing instantly.

As I neared the door I felt a
blast of warm air, but I never had time to get back outside, because just as I
reached the exit the door closed with a slam.

I growled. This was no time for
the wind to act up, especially with an elemental mage. Carefully, I set the ice
down. Dacer would have my head if I ruined any of it. I tried the door and was
dismayed to find that the handle was even colder from the inside. By now there
was just a sort of dark blue light filtering in, and I started to get worried.
I tugged and pulled at the door, but no matter how hard I tried it didn’t
budge. Frowning, I looked around for another exit. There clearly wasn’t one on
this floor, so quickly, knowing that as a last resort I could always blast a wall
down, I headed for the staircase.

My breath puffed out in front of
me, a wispy gray that slowly disappeared into the air. This time I didn’t put
my hands on the banister, because they were already cold. Unfortunately, I had
taken off my fleece from that morning before I came out to the shed, so I was
wearing nothing but shorts and a t-shirt. The staircase was slippery under my
feet, so I treaded down carefully into the dark.

There was no way I was going to
find another way out there. I had hoped that there might be some sort of tunnel
leading out of the lower level, but there was nothing. I glanced at my ring,
ready to call for more light.

But my ring was dark.

I frowned, calling to the magic
again. Still nothing. I breathed out. I was getting colder. It was like walking
outside in the middle of winter when it was snowing. I wasn’t dressed for it. I
called to my magic again. I felt a start of something, but it seemed to be frozen
in place somewhere deep inside me.

Fear started to creep down my
spine and I clenched my jaw, determined not to panic. I didn’t have a Contact
Stone with me, so calling for help from my friends was out. I hurried back
upstairs, where there was more light and it was a little warmer, or at least a
little less cold. I threw my shoulder against the door and bounced off.
Stumbling backward, I glared. The door wasn’t stuck, and it wasn’t as if it had
accidentally shut. Air wouldn’t do that to an elemental.

I blinked several times, then
covered a yawn. It was so cold I was losing focus, and I knew that it was
unlikely, in all the chaos going on at the house, that Dacer would wonder where
I was. He was all for letting us take care of ourselves, and today he was very
busy running Caid’s party. As he had excitedly told me about a week ago, there
would be faeries at this party, which was a big deal. Faeries were hard to come
by and refused to attend Paranormal Public, or indeed any other paranormal
school, but Caid was on acceptable terms with the King of the Faeries and his
wife, and they had agreed to attend this evening.

I yawned again.

I had to get out of the shed, but
as I looked around I started to despair. I tried my magic again, this time
pressing my hand flat against the cold wood of the wall near the door. I felt
no heat. My magic didn’t stir. I moved my hand over the rough wood until I
reached one of the cracks that was projecting a bit of light, but still
nothing. My magic didn’t work. Maybe it was the cold or maybe it was the spells
that kept the ice box at a low temperature, but either way, my magic was
useless.

I started to bang my fists on the
door in desperation, hoping someone, anyone, would hear me. I slammed my right
hand against the door until it started to hurt. Then I tried my left hand.
Blisters formed on my fingertips, but I just kept hammering away. Surely
someone would hear me; after all, I had a party to attend that night.

By that time I was desperate, and
starting to envision worst case outcomes. What, I wondered, would Ricky say if
I didn’t come home? My little brother needed me.

My hands numb, my strength spent,
my mind fogging with the cold, I slid slowly down the wall until I landed in a
heap on the floor. My fingers tingled a little, and as I looked at my battered
and bruised appendages I saw red blood trickling down my arm. I’d hit the door
so many times that my fingers had bled, but they were so numb from the cold
that I had barely noticed.

I cradled my hands in my lap,
wanting to cry, but the tears wouldn’t come. I was too tired for tears. Leaning
my head against the wall I told myself I’d only close my eyes for half a
minute, then I’d try again. There had to be something else I could do against
the locked door. To remind myself to wake up, I placed my right hand against
the wall, flinching a little as I saw the damage I had done to myself.

Then I closed my eyes. My
breathing slowed, along with my heart rate. This should help, I thought. Then I
could get up with all sorts of energy and get out of there. Having my eyes
closed felt good. It meant that I couldn’t look around and see where I was, or
rather where I wasn’t, which was in the warm sunshine, or even better, walking
back to the house with the ice that Dacer wanted.

Dacer!

I was disappointing my mentor. He
had asked me to bring him ice, and now I had hurt my hands. If only I could
sleep.

A burning heat near my face sent
me yelling awake. I sat up in shock as my hand grew hot. I looked around wildly
at my ring. It was glowing, but the color was one I had ever seen before, a mix
of brown, blue, white, and red, the deep colors of the elementals. I had always
wondered who my ring had belonged to, since it had lived in the glass case in
the Astra ballroom with the Mirror Arcane before I came along, but I had never
bothered to find out. Apparently, though, it didn’t actually need my magic, or
warm air, or even my awareness, to work. It had melted the lock on the door and
forced it to spring open. With a sigh of relief I crawled through, squinting
into the warm sunshine.