Blown (Elemental Series Book 2) (10 page)

Angela stomped
up to the corner again, angry enough not to care what she saw, and she spared only a fleeting glance to the blonde that had probably gone to her high school. The two had separated, if only barely, and the blonde was now resting on her haunches, smiling seductively up at him as her fake nails trailed along his pants leg. His jeans were still undone, and his hand was still loosely tangled in her hair.

“Eric!” Angela shouted, fists clenched at her sides, as she suddenly wished she’d been the one born with fire powers.

The two started, their heads whipping toward the entrance to the alley, and both of their eyes went wide as they realized they’d been caught.

“Angela,” Eric began, trying to quickly stuff himself back into his pants and zip them up, as if he could manage it before she realized what had been happening a moment ago. “It’s not—”

“Save it,” Angela snapped, her voice nearly a growl.
Then again, maybe it’s a good thing I don’t have an element of my own.

The blonde pushed to her feet, smiling now, and smoothed down her hair. “Whoops,” she cooed. She wiped her mouth as she turned her smile to Angela and added, “I’ll just leave you two alone.”

Angela glared at her as she passed, but she made no move to stop her. She felt only
slightly
better to learn that she really didn’t know the blonde woman. But then she returned her gaze to her flustered soon-to-be-ex boyfriend and that tiny bit of relief vanished. In fact, a stranger might even have been worse. She could feel her blunt nails digging into her palms as she ground out, “I can’t believe you. I’m so angry right now I actually want to punch you, so you’d better stay away from me.”

“Listen,” he cut in, holding his hands in a pacifying gesture as he took a tentative step forward. “It was nothing, I swear. I know I shouldn’t have done that, I really do, and I swear it won’t ever happen again. We can work past this.”

Angela took a half step backwards, keeping a healthy distance between them, and snapped, “Am I supposed to feel
better
because ‘it was nothing’? Or because ‘you knew better’? Really? Give me a break! With all the stupid drama in my life right now, I don’t need this! I need a
little
bit of stability! I need someone in my life that I can trust who isn’t—by some miracle—being targeted, too!”

“Angie, sweetie,” Eric tried, taking another step forward. “Let’s take a deep breath and talk about this, okay?”

“Do
not
call me that,” Angela hissed. “There is nothing for us to talk about. I’ve seen all I ever need to see. You’re a lying, disrespectful asshole, and there is no way I could ever trust you enough to let you back into my life. We’re beyond over, so lose my number.” She spun around, intending to walk away from him before he could say any more.

But his hand landed on her shoulder, holding her in place, and he said, “You know you don’t mean that right now, Angela. You’re just upset, and I deserve that, but this isn’t the end. Don’t walk away from me.”

For a second, she swore she saw red. Her heart ached, clenching and throbbing with the sting of his betrayal, and before she knew it she had spun around and smacked him across the face. “Keep your filthy hands off me! I mean every single word I’m saying and it
is
over!”

Eric took a step back, eyes wide, as he raised a hand to his stinging cheek. “You actually hit me,” he mumbled, disbelief evident in his voice.

Angela’s glare never wavered. “Apparently you’re under the impression that I’m some weak, ignorant little girl, so let me clear something up for you: I know enough to know that I don’t need to give a cheater like you a second chance. There are better men out there and I’ll find one. And until then, I’ll be fine on my own.”

His hand fell to his side and something flashed in his eyes. “I thought you needed a little stability?” he asked, paraphrasing words she’d used only a minute before. There was a detachment in his tone that was hauntingly unfamiliar to her.

She disregarded the tone, however, and snapped, “I do. But if that stability is me on my own, then that’s what it’ll be. They’re not mutually exclusive. Now I’m going to walk away, and with a little luck you’ll use this as a life lesson.” She spun on her heel once more, her body tensed in fear that he’d reach for her again.

Instead, the unexpected sound of his almost-echoing laughter followed after her. The laughter brought her up short, though she didn’t turn back around until he said, “Angela, Angela, you are so naïve. But I really don’t care. I hadn’t meant to get caught, but on the bright side, I don’t have to pretend to care about you anymore.”

A cold chill ran down her spine as she slowly turned to face him. His lips were twisted in a dark smirk, and suddenly there was a frighteningly foreboding air around him. Her stomach clenched as she breathed, “What?”

He narrowed his eyes on her slightly and rolled his shoulders, saying, “You heard me. The last year and a half has been a lie right from the start. The truth is, I
hate
you. You and your arrogant family.”

Her eyes widened and for a long second she forgot to breathe.
He … can’t be…

A dark chuckle rumbled up in his chest and Eric said, “I can see you’re finally realizing the truth.
Yes
, sweetie. I’m one of ‘the other elementals’ who’ve been hunting you. And, in case you’re curious, we’ve been hunting your family for a few generations now. My father and uncle are the ones responsible for your two dead uncles.”

Angela’s mouth was dry. It had never occurred to her—never would have occurred to her—that Eric could possibly be connected to their enemies. His reaction to her secret had seemed so genuine. “You … you’ve been spying on us,” she gasped, her eyes wide. “This whole time, you’ve been using me to get personal information on my family.”

Eric’s hands lifted and he applauded lightly. “That’s a gold star for you,” he mocked. His hands fell back to his sides, the slightest spark popping on the air as they pulled apart, and he added, “But everything’s about to change. You see, when I kill you, we’ll have won. Your brothers are just loose ends. Killing you is the key—because without you, your family line has no future.”

Her stomach fell to the ground at his words even as her blood ran cold. It was true. If she died their legacy would end. Never before that moment, had her role—her destiny—felt more significant. And never had she felt more frightened. She remembered admitting to Blake once, months ago, that she was worried she would have to live through the loss of one or more of her brothers. Like her mother had. She hadn’t considered it might be the opposite; that they might have to live through her death instead.

“Scared yet?” Eric taunted, his smirk broadening. He lifted one arm, slowly, and added, “If I were you, I’d start running. It’s a lot harder to hit a moving target, you know.” Nearly-invisible electric currents were curving around his arm now, sparking off his fingertips as he slowly began reaching for the sky. The air began to thicken as well.

Angela choked, half in fear and half from the sudden surge of electricity in the air, and she forced her body into motion. Like it or not, he was right. She had to run if she wanted to survive. So she commanded her legs to move, slamming one foot onto the pavement after the other and praying he would miss.

He did. But not by much. The lightning struck the ground only feet from her, and Angela cringed, tears leaking from her eyes. She was too close; the electrical discharge had reached her. But she had to keep running, had to keep putting distance between them. At least, that was what she thought until another bolt of lightning met the ground directly in front of her. On reflex, she threw herself backwards, trying to get away from the deadly energy. She still felt its sting, even over the pain of crashing onto her backside on the unforgiving cement.

“I guess this is it for you, Angie,” Eric declared casually from just behind her. “Give my regards to your ancestors.”

Angela tilted her head backwards, reflexively looking toward him as he spoke, tears streaming down her face now. “Please,” she begged thoughtlessly. “Please don’t do this.”

He glared at her, as if insulted and angered that she would dare ask for mercy, and his still-raised hand fisted tightly. The energy crackled around it, but before he could bring it down another hand was suddenly reaching out and latching onto the back of his shirt collar. Eric choked in surprise, his arm falling to his side, as he was roughly yanked backwards and slammed into the nearest wall.

Angela could only stare in amazement at the unexpectedly welcome sight of her newest neighbor, Vaughn Prescott, as he wrapped both hands in Eric’s collar and held him several inches from the ground. Vaughn’s back was tense, and even in his profile, the glare was obvious in his eyes.

“Is that how you solve all your problems?” Vaughn growled threateningly.

Eric struggled to offer a cocky smirk to the man in front of him and said, “Yes. You wanna see?”

No!
Angela screamed silently as Eric’s hand twitched. The last thing she wanted was for someone who was barely her friend to die trying to rescue her. “Run!” she choked, doing her best to push to her feet. It was an effort, and her vision swam briefly as her stomach churned, but she managed it.

“No,” Vaughn replied curtly. He took a step from the wall, taking Eric with him, removed one hand from Eric’s collar in order to bury that fist in his abdomen, and then slammed Eric’s head once again into the wall.

Eric grunted, spitting up a small trickle of blood, and his eyes rolled up in his head a moment before he went limp. When Vaughn stepped back, releasing him, Eric’s unconscious body crumpled to the ground in a heap. After a moment, Vaughn reached out again and hauled Eric up enough to drag him back into the alley, where he deposited him beside a wall and walked away.

Angela watched, dumbfounded, as her rescuer returned to her line of sight. She had one arm wrapped around her stomach, hoping to settle her nausea, and when their eyes met she did her best to offer him a smile. They might not know each other very well, but she had already decided he was her new best friend. “Vaughn,” she said, her voice quiet and weak, “tha—”

Chapter Eight

Madison had been on the fence about how best to react to everything that Nate had revealed to her, torn between amazement, curiosity, shock, and horror. But when his softly spoken words reached her ears, his gaze again averted to the grass, she realized she wasn’t torn at all. There were certainly aspects of each of those reactions within her, but not in a confusing way. So she shifted to her knees, crawled forward until she was definitely invading his personal space, and smiled into his slightly-widened blue eyes. Then she leaned in and pressed a lingering kiss to his lips before whispering, “Thank you for saving me.”

He swallowed, clenching his fists in his lap, and managed, “It was the least I could do.”

She sat back, not actually crawling away first, and opened her mouth to say something before she registered the odd lump in her pocket. “Oh! I still have your phone!” Quickly digging it out, and somewhat amazed that it hadn’t fallen out of her pocket, she held it out for him. “Here.”

Nate smiled now and accepted the device.

“Now,” Madison began immediately, her arm returning to her lap and a small smile lifting her lips, “you still owe me the ultimate view. What say we finish this hike?”

He turned surprised eyes toward her again. He had clearly assumed that, no matter her reaction to his secret, she would be over the scenic detour.

Madison used the remainder of their climb to try to absorb everything she had just learned about Nate Hawke. It wasn’t a small thing to wrap one’s mind around, but she managed not only to accomplish this feat, but to accomplish it while maintaining their semi-casual banter. She learned more things about him—like that he had a minor issue with claustrophobia, and felt too cooped up in a “real” car—and realized that a few other things she had noticed recently suddenly made sense. Most notably, of course, was the strange way the fog never crept in until late at night, and then always blew out early in the morning. And, by the time they reached the summit, she had decided it would only be fair of her to share something private with him in return.

“So, what do you think?” Nate asked as he spread one arm toward the ocean before them. “Worth the hike?”

Around them, the trees had almost entirely fallen away, and the grass was patchy and thin at best. Rocks littered the ground, most covered in moss, and the edge of the cliff looked suspiciously untrustworthy. But the view beyond it was incredible. The Pacific Ocean spread out before them endlessly, and she felt like she could practically see the curve of the Earth.

“Wow,” Madison breathed, taking a tentative step forward. She only took the one step, though, before adding, “I feel like I can see for miles. This is amazing.”

Nate chuckled softly and said, “Technically, you can.” He lifted his phone again and took another picture. As he lowered the phone, he added, “Stay where you are,” and then he turned and jogged several paces back. He called, “Now turn around and don’t forget to smile,” when he reached the ideal spot.

Madison obediently turned in place, a smile already on her lips, and settled her hands on her hips proudly. “Cheese,” she said with a laugh.

He clicked the picture, studied it briefly, and dropped the phone into his pocket. “So, do you wanna hang out up here for a bit or head back?”

Madison took a deep, cleansing breath, tilting her head toward the sky for a long moment, before looking back at him and saying, “Actually, let’s sit. It’s my turn to share.”

Arching an intrigued eyebrow, Nate obediently claimed a seat on the ground, disregarding the dirt that was bound to cling to him. “I’m all ears,” he assured her.

Madison smiled, this smile softer, and moved to perch on a fairly flat rock, facing him. “I figured since you had to share something kind of heavy with me, I ought to return the favor. But my story’s not nearly so … unique.”

“You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to,” Nate interrupted, the faintest of frowns tilting his lips.

She shook her head, saying, “It’s all right. I thought it over while we were walking, and I’m okay talking about it. It’s just that … there’s something you’ll probably want to know about me, if we’re really going to keep seeing each other.”

Nate accepter her words with a silent, encouraging nod.

Madison swallowed, pushing away the frustration that always built when she thought of the story she was about to tell, and launched into the memory. “I’ve only been in one serious relationship. In my sophomore year of high school I started dating a guy named Douglas Locke, and we pretty much stayed together for about four and a half years. We actually went to different colleges, but they were close enough together that we still saw each other regularly. And we got engaged a few days before Christmas in our first year of college.

“Then one day my last class was cancelled so I got home a couple of hours early. I didn’t actually expect him to be there. I thought he would be in class. Instead I found him with his pants around his ankles in the kitchen, and the woman I had considered my best friend wrapped around him. It’s possible I flipped out after that, but needless to say we broke up and I moved in with my mother for a while. I’ve only talked to my former friend two or three times since then.” She paused, swallowed, and took another breath. She only wished she were done.

“After that,” Madison continued, “I decided not to go back to school the following semester—so I only did two years. And about four months after we broke up Doug called, asking to try again and apologizing like crazy. I knew better, but I had had such strong feelings for him that I considered it anyway. I told him we could try again only if we started completely over, and we had barely gone on our first date when I got the call that he’d had too much to drink at a party and died before he made it to the hospital.”

Nate’s eyes widened as she finished her story. He could undoubtedly see the emotions playing across her face and shining in her eyes. The hurt and anger shone that still lingered when she reflected on everything that had happened between her and her ex-fiancé.

He pushed to his feet, moving toward her as he said, “I’m so sorry, Maddie. You should never have had to go through all of that.”

Madison looked away, self-consciously embarrassed, and pursed her lips as she mumbled, “Everyone has a story.” Her eyes widened in surprise when, a beat later, Nate’s arms wrapped around her from the side, one hand landing on her shoulder and the other settling over her hip.

“That’s no excuse,” Nate replied gently. After a moment, as Madison relaxed and let her head land on his shoulder, he added, “I won’t pretend to know where this is going, but I can promise you that I will never betray you like that. I realize it might be a lot to ask right now, but if you can trust me, you won’t regret it.”

His scent was invading her senses, and in the back of her mind she noted with amusement that he smelled fresh and just a bit like the ocean. And that smell, like the arms he’d wound around her, was doing a good job of distracting her from her memories. So her smile was easy as she said, “It’s okay. I wouldn’t even have said yes to this date if I wasn’t willing to give it a try. I think it’s time I let myself learn that not all men are Doug.”

Nate allowed his lips to curve up and teasingly asked, “Could Doug do this?” He tightened the arm he had around her waist as he spoke, and pulled her with him as he stood, until none of their feet were touching the ground.

Madison gasped as the wind circled around them and her feet found themselves dangling in the air. She shifted, her hands tightening in his shirt, and cried, “Nate! Don’t you dare drop me!”

He chuckled, the quiet, rumbling sound washing over her, and murmured, “I won’t.”

Despite her instinctive panic, Madison felt her muscles relaxing, and she slowly released his shirt to slide her arms up and around his shoulders. She pried her eyes open, and when she looked past him, the first thing she saw was the ocean. She turned her head slightly and saw the ground now several feet below. A strange thrill surged within her. Wonder filled her voice as she admitted, “I haven’t felt like this since I was a teenager at the state fair.”

Nate’s lips were beside her ear as he asked, “Want me to go higher?”

That sensual shiver was dancing down her spine again, and Madison smiled. “Definitely.” No sooner had the word left her lips than the air swirling around them increased, and she couldn’t decide if it felt like she was being pushed up or pulled up, but whatever it was, it was a very exciting feeling.

Then they were above the tree line, Nate’s arms now wrapped securely around her waist, and he was spinning slowly so that she could see their entire surroundings without craning her neck. And Madison knew that she had never seen a more breathtaking view in all her life. She could see the rolling waves of the ocean as they crashed against the rocky shoreline, and she could see the green tops of the trees as they cascaded along the mountain’s side.

“What do you think?” Nate asked quietly, his breath still tickling her ear.

A teasing smile curving her lips, Madison leaned back enough to look into his eyes and replied, “I think I’m going to kiss you.” She followed up her declaration by tangling one hand in his soft hair and pulling his head down to hers.

Their lips met again, hungrier this time, and Nate’s arms tightened around her. The wind whipped around them, holding them steady but tugging at her ponytail until the old hair tie she had used finally snapped, releasing her long tresses to tangle around them. Their tongues danced briefly before Madison took control of the kiss, exploring his mouth slowly. He made a sound of approval in the back of his throat as their tongues met again, and the fingers of one hand slipped beneath the hem of her shirt, meeting with her warm, bare skin.

Madison pulled back when she realized she was beginning to feel out of breath, smiling softly up at him. “By the way,” she whispered, her breathing still unstable, “I noticed you decided not to wait for permission before using the nickname.” Her lips curved into a grin even as his twitched, and she added, “I kind of like that.”

“Good to know,” Nate replied, his voice thicker than before.

She shifted again, her hand releasing his hair in order to absently massage his neck as her head landed on his shoulder. It was a long minute before she quietly said, “I suppose we should go back to the real world at some point, shouldn’t we?”

“I don’t know,” Nate said, his smooth fingers still rubbing along her hip beneath her shirt. “That sounds distinctly undesirable.”

Madison hummed her agreement, unsurprised to feel them gently descending. The swirling air slowly lessened as they lowered, until her feet were touching down once again on solid earth. No sooner had they stepped apart, their arms falling to their sides, than she decided that standing on solid ground was entirely overrated. But she only smiled, watching as he retrieved his backpack before joining his side for the hike down to her car.

They walked with their fingers laced together, continuing to make small talk, and Madison easily decided she could never have a better first date. She wasn’t even entirely sure she wanted to try.

****

“What happened?” Nate demanded as he barreled into his family home later that afternoon. He slid the sliding door shut and moved to the couch to sit beside Blake, noting the unfamiliar younger man sitting in his mother’s chair as well as the conspicuous absence of both his mother and his sister. His heart clenched tightly in his chest.

For a long moment, no one spoke. Nate registered the sounds of shuffling in the kitchen as his eyes again flicked to the unknown man. He looked to be about Angela’s age, so perhaps he was a friend of hers, but Nate knew he’d never seen him before.

Releasing a breath, Christopher sat upright and said, “Nate, this is Vaughn Prescott. His family bought the house on the corner recently.” He paused, letting the two nod silently at each other, before continuing. “Your sister’s upstairs. She’s still unconscious, but your mother thinks she’s just exhausted. She should be fine.”

Nate felt his throat go dry. Angela had been attacked again, and this time he hadn’t been around to help. It took a lot of effort to repeat his earlier question.

Before anyone could answer, however, Brooke emerged from the kitchen carrying a large tray with several steaming mugs of coffee. She set the tray down, handing one to each of them, before taking one for herself and re-claiming her seat on Blake’s other side. Only then did Christopher deem to answer Nate’s question.

“Vaughn’s the one who brought Angela home,” he began, his voice a study in faux-calm, “and he says she was attacked by Eric.” He paused, holding Nate’s gaze, and added pointedly, “He says he saw Eric throwing lightning at her.”

Nate’s coffee mug nearly slipped from suddenly numb fingers. He’d never been fond of the kid, but he’d always assumed that was based on the principle of the fact that Eric had been Angela’s first real boyfriend. “But,” he stuttered, “You just said…”

Christopher inclined his head. “I did. Fortunately, Eric missed. And then Vaughn ‘beat him unconscious.’”

Dean finally lifted his head as his father finished, looking over at Vaughn and saying, “You can stay, by the way.” The words were devoid of the humor he’d obviously been intending, but his meaning was just as obvious.

Nate found his voice again while his brother was speaking, and he asked, “Did you explain?”