Elemental Shining (Paranormal Public Series) (36 page)

Lough led the way again. “Should we have light?” he asked me.

I shook my head. “That will only bring them faster. As of now they probably don’t know we’re here. Yet.”

“Are you dampening your trace?” Dobrov asked. “So that they take longer to figure out that the elemental is in the woods?”

“I’m trying,” I said. “But it’s not easy.”

“Nothing important usually is,” said Dobrov philosophically.

“Hey, save the life lessons for when we get out of here alive,” said Ulrik.

“For once we agree,” said Vanni, sighing as we reached the rock. She wrapped her arms around it like it was an old friend. “Now what?”

“Now,” said Lough, “we try to mask Charlotte as much as possible. After that we set up camp and wait.”

“The demons will come to us,” said Dobrov. “They search the woods. They have been all semester. Once we’ve camp set up we should try to enact the Power.”

Vanni was shaking so badly she had to sit down. Ulrik, still angry from Lough’s stranglehold, stalked to his pack, pulled out a blanket, and with surprising tenderness wrapped it around Vanni’s shoulders. She gave him a haunted smile and continued to rock back and forth.

“Alright, Charlotte,” said Lough. “Let’s get to work.”

Without another word, he and I sat down facing each other. For a long time we had talked about this and about what we would have to do to keep safe. We had even practiced it in the Long Building. Now we had to do it for real.

Lough took my hands and closed his eyes. Instantly I felt his power flow around him. He was going to create a dream state, in an effort to confuse the demons. If we thought we were somewhere else, say a beach somewhere warm, the demons might get mixed signals and think we were somewhere else as well.

For my part I had to try and dampen my magic. The only way to shield myself—without help—was by stopping my magic altogether. I now saw why the deans had ordered me not to use my magic this semester. They had tried to prepare me for this moment.

They had tried to prepare me for the moment my life would depend on how well I could hide in plain sight.

When I visited my brother I had senior mages with charms and powers cast around me, but here I had only what Lough and I could devise.

I sank deep into my power, channeling my energies through my ring. I could feel it blazing, but I didn’t care; I knew Dobrov would do what he could to shield the light. There was no reason to worry about what Lough was doing. My friend was a very competent dream giver.

Joining my magic always felt like coming home. My mother had told me it would be like that, and she had smiled when she said it. I was smiling now.

Inside me there was a bright pool of light. Unlike when I had first called to my magic, the lights now had different colored streaks in them, as all parts of my power as an elemental—earth, air, fire, and water—came together. At first I had just seen blue, but that was changing. Carefully, I dampened the brightness that was my power, using my ring to order it to retreat. My magic fought me. The last thing it wanted to do was lie dormant while I was in danger, but I knew that masking my power was the only way to handle this situation. I could still call it if necessary, but in the meantime a strong blaze of elemental power was sure to attract the demons. After a short time of adjustment, I felt sure that my powers had subsided and were no longer right on the surface. But they were near at hand, waiting for my ring to call.

It was as if I was looking down into the bottom of a volcano and I had ordered the lava back to its fiery pit. I knew it was still there, bubbling and bursting, and at some point it would rise up and overflow its container, but at the moment it was so deep down that all there was, was a dark and cavernous emptiness where my essence had been.

This better be worth it
.

I opened my eyes.

I had a pounding headache and I felt cold. The fire inside me acted as an internal heater, but I had had to turn it off, leaving nothing but skin, bones, and fear.

“Are you okay?” Lough rasped. He looked how I felt: terrible. Behind him I saw a spiral of lights as the air moved in dark patterns. Fear shot through me. Gasping, I tried to stand, but my legs were useless.

“It’s okay,” said Dobrov, his hands resting on my shoulders and holding me down. Through the corners of my eyes I could see his abused skin. Worse, I could smell rotting. I fought the urge to gag.

“What is that?” I managed to ask as my eyes started to water. I reached up to rub them and realized that my hands were covered in cold black dirt. I must have been digging my hands into the earth.

“It’s Lough’s dream,” Dobrov said. “It’s the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.” I thought that was stretching it a bit, but I was too cold and stiff to care. Someone, probably Dobrov, had covered me with a blanket.

“Lough, it’s amazing, and I’ll be fine. Just a little lightheaded.”

“That’s what happens when you empty your mind of power,” said Dobrov. “Have you not practiced this?”

I shook my head. “I didn’t want the senior paranormals to notice that I was messing with my signal since they told me not to. They just ordered me not to use magic and didn’t bother to explain anything. Besides, I like having my power on hand.”

Lough got up to examine his creation. He moved slowly, but at least he could move. I pulled the blanket more tightly around myself. I wasn’t sure I could withstand not having my power coursing through me much longer.

“I did pretty well, huh?” he said proudly, his nose so close to the bubble he had created over us that his hair was starting to stand on end.

“Now what do we do?” I asked. My voice echoed through the small clearing, reminding me how alone we were.

“Now we wait,” said Lough, “and hope they don’t find us.”

“Excellent plan,” said Ulrik dryly. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Do you have a better suggestion?” Lough demanded. Ulrik didn’t.

By now the wind had started to pick up, throwing the tree branches around violently. Lough came and crouched next to me, putting his arm across my shaking shoulders as I fought to stay warm. Neither of us said a word. We merely sat there and for once prayed for time to speed up. The minutes dragged into an hour and my eyes started to close.

I had never been one to stay up all night. I preferred to get my school work done during the day, and since parties at Public were strictly regulated, fun didn’t often get in the way of sleeping. Besides, not much could get past Mrs. Swan. I knew, because Lisabelle had tried; only Keller had occasionally managed it. So now, without any practice at staying awake through the night, I was having a hard time.

Vanni was huddled next to Ulrik. His giving her a blanket had totally endeared him to the frightened fallen angel.

Dobrov stood alone. His hands were in his pockets as he faced away from us and toward the woods, just close enough to Lough’s dream that it cast shadows over his shoulders and neck.

“Lough,” I whispered. “I’m tired.”

He nodded. His eyes were drooping. “I am too,” he said, yawning. “It must be all the stress of getting us out here.”

“Maybe we could just sleep for a few minutes,” I murmured. Already my head was resting on his shoulder, too heavy to lift.

“Don’t you DARE,” said Vanni, her eyes sparking.

“Oh, so you
are
alive,” said Dobrov dryly. “Who knew.”

“Listen Mr. I Just Decided To Talk Now That We’re Stuck in the Wilderness Together,” Vanni seethed. “Shut up.”

“Kind of childish,” said Dobrov, “but I’d rather have you not scared and talking than scared and not talking. Hard as that might be to believe.”

Vanni picked up a pebble and threw it at the vampire. He didn’t have to dodge, it missed by such a wide margin.

“Enough,” said Ulrik. “You want the demons to hear you?”

“Vanni’s not exactly strong enough to attract demon attention,” said Dobrov.

Since he was in the mood to talk for once, I decided to go for it. “What do you mean ‘strong enough’?”

Dobrov fixed me with an unreadable look. “It amazes me that you haven’t seen it before or that no one has told you before, although I would imagine that your friends must have noticed.”

“Noticed what?” Lough asked drowsily. He covered a yawn with the back of his hand.

“That she is strong,” said Dobrov, pointing to me.

I stared at him, huddling further into myself as the cold bit into my skin. “I don’t get it. I am not.”

Dobrov sighed gustily, like he was talking to idiots. “It isn’t JUST that you’re elemental. Yes, obviously that’s the basis of it. But they aren’t going after Keller, and he is head and shoulders more powerful than the other paranormals here.”

Dobrov paused to consider his words carefully, then continued. “But it isn’t just that. You are STRONG. That’s why they fear you. Other elementals they could have given up. They could have gone into hiding or run crying to their mommies and daddies and whoever else they thought would protect them. If they thought their lives were at risk they would run away.

“But then there’s you. Your life IS at risk. Not only that, but the deans charged with protecting you are doing a pretty terrible job. The best they can do is tell you not to use magic and then send you into the middle of a pack of demons? And yet, what do you do? You sit there and you glare and you wait for the demons. You sneak away whenever you get the chance to practice how to fight. You don’t want the battle, but if it wants you, you’ll make damn sure you win it. What is that other than strength?”

“That’s all very well and good,” I said, yawning. “But what does that have to do with anything?”

“What I’m saying is that the demons wouldn’t care so much if you had just submitted to fear. If they were dealing with an elemental who didn’t dare act against them, then, well, whoopie.” His voice lowered, grew more intense. “You, though, come to Public and spend your life studying and it’s for one purpose, to make them pay. Strong.”

His eyes were shining now, as he looked at me with satisfaction. It amazed me to know that they were shining because of me.

Too tired to sort it through very carefully, all I could say was, “Thanks Dobrov. I guess that’s a compliment. I am reckless with my own life and can’t think of anything better to do than kill. Awesome.”

“You don’t choose to kill,” Dobrov corrected. “You are forced into it.”

I nodded, too tired to say anything more, and a snore next to me drew my attention to Lough. “You’re sleeping?” I murmured, as if it weren’t obvious.

My head felt funny and heavy, like it was a great weight on top of my shoulders. I didn’t realize until it was too late that I, and obviously Lough, had been drugged. My head was already falling toward my chest; I was unable to hold it up any longer. I tried to cry out to Dobrov, to tell him to do something, but I my eyes were closed and I couldn’t stay awake anymore.

I heard more than saw Dobrov dart forward, letting out a panicked cry, as I fell into an unnatural sleep.

Clever demons.

The sun was shining in my eyes. Flinching away, I lifted my hand to shield myself from the glare, but the sun was too bright. Focusing on the light burned away the cobwebs in my mind, and suddenly there was my magic, greeting the light like an old friend. I felt for my ring and was relieved at the warm pulse under my fingertips.

Calm down
, I thought.
This won’t get us anywhere.