Playing with Magic (Elemental Trilogy Book 2) (8 page)

BOOK: Playing with Magic (Elemental Trilogy Book 2)
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“Oh, poor mom,” Autumn said, shaking her head as she continued to flip pages and scan. Her eyes stopped. “Yuck! Yep, mine says the same thing.”

“In the light of tragedy there will be a happy communion. The bonding of two elements in blissful matrimony. The bonding would be Air and Earth,” Aarawn read out loud.

“Ick,” she said. “It’s incest.”

“Maybe, but people married cousins back in the old days,” he said, making a sick face and then clarity hit him. “That makes sense now about some of the families here.”

“I care,” she looked at him. “We are cousins.”

He nodded. “I am sure it was a mistake.”

“Are the stars ever wrong?”

He shrugged. “Not to my knowledge. But the elders go out of their way to make things happen, even if no one notices. I have though.”

 

****

Pyrus got out of the van and yawned. Bane sat on the steps of the house. “Where is your Aarawn?”

Bane ran away, not answering. “He’s with Autumn,” Adair said from the window.

“Where are they?”

His eyes flicked over to the trees closest to the house. “I don’t know.”

Her eyes went white, and she stood in place. She reached out, looking for her grandchildren. At first she couldn’t feel their essence. It was as if they were in a cave.
A cave!
Her mind screamed. She had known for some time Aarawn had been looking for the vault.  If they have found it, the elders will be very angry with them all. She had been taking the brunt of the elder’s anger, but soon, she knew she wouldn’t be able to hide it from the four.

“Where do you want the silk tree?” Mabon asked, holding up the sapling from the back of the van.

“Wherever. I have something to do.” She ran off.

“I’ve never seen an old lady run so fast,” Mabon joked. “Wonder what’s up?”

“You don’t want to know,” Adair said.

“Now I do,” he said, eyebrows furrowed, looking at the monkey.

“Trust me. You don’t want to know.”

“My brother and your sister are troublemakers,” Anatha said. She crossed her arms over her chest. “I am so mad they couldn’t wait for me!”

Davies walked up. “Hey there. How’s everything? Need any help?” He scanned the new plants and trees being piled in the yard.

Anatha loved looking at him. He had the best chest she had ever seen.
Ever
. Where was he when Jaime came into her world?

Stupid!
How could you even think anything along those lines?

But his chest.

No. Stop staring!
Her brain snapped at her.
But if I question my relationship, does that mean I don’t love Jaime?
She bit the inside of her cheek as the thought rolled around.

“Nah, we don’t need help,” Mabon said. Davies just didn’t feel right to him. He came across good enough, but something about him just didn’t sit well with Mabon.

 

****

Autumn giggled. “Anatha already had her cross with nakedness. She ran into River back in our first year at the mall. He was naked.”

They had finally made their way to the back of the books. “Look at this,” Aarawn pointed out the bottom half of the page. “It’s our battle against Arawen. It says we are going to be successful. Hold on. It gets sort of blurry.” He pulled the book closer to his eyes and started reading. “The Elements will shed their human bodies and join Akasha.” He looked up as Pyrus ran in, wild-eyed and out of breath.

“You two are
  
” but she didn’t finish because of the look on their faces. She knew, and her heart sank into the pit of her stomach. How she wanted to change their stars, how she had tried. But it all was coming true … every bit of it.

“It’s not right,” Autumn said in a troubled voice. Everything that had been written in the book so far had come to pass, even the stupid magic zombie virus.

Pyrus looked at her grandchildren. “I didn’t want to tell you.”

“Are the stars ever wrong?” Autumn asked, thinking of Rowan, River, and her friends.

The old lady closed her eyes. “No.”

“There has to be a way around it,” Aarawn said, throwing down the book. “We don’t want to die.”

“Only your human form will die,” she whispered.

“No. There has to be a way. What if we call Akasha?” Autumn said, looking at their book. She thought of Regan’s book. “Aunt Regan had hers changed.” Autumn flipped through the book’s earlier pages. She looked, not reading the words, but the ink. She held up the book, looking at the spine.

Pyrus looked around franticly. “Never call out Akasha’s name. To bring Akasha is to bring the full destruction of the Earth. No one can harness that much energy; it is above us all. Let’s go before we get caught.”

“But Autumn is right. How did my mother’s get changed?”

“I have too much to look forward to,” Autumn said as her eyes ran over the ink and the transition of the years, “I
have
a life.”

“You read your book, and you know you’re not destined to be with anyone but
  
” Pyrus’s eyes went to Aarawn, and she frowned.

“The town is full of perverts. We are cousins,” Aarawn said.

“Stars are stars. We never question what the elders write at our births,” she said.

“They’re wrong,” Autumn said, getting up. “I’m questioning, because it’s not right. It’s not right at all. And whatever I have to do, I will to change mine. I’m not leaving without a fight.” She looked at her cousin.

I found something.

What?
He gave her a quick glance. Trying not to attract Pyrus’s attention.

Later.

“You can’t change them,” Pyrus said. “Because the elders will not let you.”

“Screw them,” Aarawn said. “I’m with Autumn. I am tired of this stupid town trying to control me and my life.”

“Hush, and don’t tell the others yet.”

“Grandmother, were you there when my mother changed the stars?” Autumn asked, her hand on her hip.

“I was. It took a lot of magic. I’m not sure we can get that much magic when the whole damn town is against you.” She turned to her grandkids. “I have tried all my life to keep my bloodline in line. There is more going on here than you think. And when we get back to the house, none of this happened. Okay?”

Autumn and Aarawn nodded. “We aren’t even going to consider dating though,” he murmured.

“Right. Gross,” Autumn replied.

“Really, where did you think they pulled that from? Some nasty daydream one had about their own cousin?” Pyrus said, lightening the mood as they made their way back to the bed and breakfast.

 

****

“Here they come,” Mabon said, motioning with his head. They could feel the anger and sadness that seeped from Autumn and Aarawn.

“Yep, there they are.” Anatha watched Autumn. She knew her brother was her brother, but she was still closer to her cousin. They had been together long before they even knew they had brothers. “What’s wrong with them?”

“Caught getting into some trouble. Which means now we might get a visit from elders.”

“Lots of visits from elders?”

“You have no idea,” Mabon’s shoulders slumped as he followed the others into the house.

 

****

“Mississippi looks nice in the spring,” Envy said.

“How do you know when it looks nice? You’ve never been here before,” Ivy Lee replied, handing her baby to Linden. He looked at the crying infant, unsure what to do with it. He might have helped create it, but his fathering skills were lacking. Unlike Drake and Rowan, who both reek with daddy mojo.

“Give me a fucking break,” he finally said angrily, standing up.

“Should we pull over?” Drake asked from the front.

“Yes,” River and Rowan said together. They might have been on the road for about a week, but to them it felt like a year. It felt like months with the babies crying and everyone stuck together, bitching.

Drake pulled over. River pulled out a small revolver and opened the door cautiously. He looked around and jumped out, pointing the gun around wildly. When he was satisfied he was in no danger, he shoved the gun in his pants.

“Hey, I know this place,” he said. “My daddy brought me here when I was younger.” Drake had pulled off beside the Mississippi river, which ran through a nice little park.

“I thought you were born in Tennessee?” Envy asked.

He shrugged. “Dad liked to take me places when I was a boy. This park was on the way to New Orleans. Dad liked to go there a lot.”

Drake stretched, yawning. “Someone else has to drive. I’m beat.”

Envy hugged him, planting a sloppy kiss on his mouth. River and Rowan both turned away, making grossed out faces. River went over to the water. His dark blue eyes scanned the rock bed and found a fairly flat stone. He picked it up and skimmed it across the river’s surface.

“Yo, kid. I’d be careful by that water,” a deep voice said to his left.

He jumped, pulling out the revolver and pointing it at the man. “What do you want?”

The man had a cigarette dangling from his lips. He took it out of his mouth, blew the smoke from his nose, and flicked it in the river. The water instantly caught fire; the orange-yellow flames spread out over the surface. With the gun still pointed at the stranger, River’s mouth fell open.

“I’ve been waiting to do that for two years.”

“Why did you do that?”

The man shrugged. “I felt like it.”

Rowan and Drake ran over. “River,” they started to say but stopped when they saw the man. He was dressed all in black. Black jeans, black shirt, black leather riding jacket, black boots, and black sunglasses. His hair matched the darkness.

“The devil does live in Georgia,” Drake couldn’t stop himself.

The man let out a good-natured laugh. “Not really. I believe Florida, now. So, where are you heading? And let me add, I plan on doing you no harm.” He motioned to the revolver still pointed at him.

“Oh, yeah,” River said and put the gun back in his pants.

“See that,” he said and motioned to the flames dancing on the water. “Happened three years ago or so. Some crazy people blew the refinery. Oil and gas poured into the Mississippi.” He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and shook one out. He put it in his mouth and lit it with a silver Zippo. He put it all back in his pocket. The cigarette drooped on his lip as he relaxed against the tree once more, looking out over the fire.

“So, who are you, mister?” River asked, still in awe over the river of fire.

“Just call me Pops,” he said, staring out over the water. “I’m wandering around killing the infected left roaming. Luckily there aren’t as many as there used to be, but there are cults to worry about now. Bunch of crazy people swarmed through the south, either to supply them with the fresh blood they needed, and some are too crazy, even for me. Shit, I ran across a town of cannibals in Texas.”

“So did we,” Rowan said, rolling his eyes at River.

“You just kill the infected?” Drake wondered.

“Sure do. Well, that, and try to find a door back home.”

The guys stared at this man. He stood five eight and appeared almost normal. 
Almost
. “Door?” Rowan said, looking at the man as if he were crazy, and then exchanged looks with River.

The man chuckled. “This world isn’t exactly what it seems.”

“Yeah,” River said. “Plagues, cannibals, and witches.” He gave everyone a small smile and looked out at the fire.

“You’ve met witches?”

“Actually dating one.”

“Is she here?” he asked, pushing away from the tree and looking the way the guys had come.

Rowan shook his head. “No. They’re back in California.”

Pops nodded. “Witches might work,” he said to himself. “So, are you guys heading to California now?”

“No. We’re going to Florida,” Drake said.

“I have plans in Florida too. Heard about another cult following somewhere down there.” He bent his head, listening to something no one else heard. “I got to go. You’re all planning to head back to California after Florida, right?”

Drake nodded. “Yeah,” River and Rowan said together.

“Maybe I could catch a ride back with you?  I’d love to talk to the witches. I miss home and my daughter. No matter how much Aditsan might be looking after her, I know he’s getting her in trouble.”

“Then why don’t you just go home?” River asked.

The man gave him a knowledgeable smile, his eyes sad. “It’s harder than I thought it was going to be.” He moved away, flipping the butt of the cigarette into the river. “Got to run, but I’ll catch you all around.” He walked off and disappeared behind a bush. They heard the growl of a motorcycle start up.

“I wonder if Autumn and the others are having as much of an interesting time as we are?” River asked aloud.

BOOK: Playing with Magic (Elemental Trilogy Book 2)
8.18Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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