Blown (Elemental Series Book 2) (11 page)

Again, Christopher nodded. “We did. It seemed necessary.”

Lillian descended the stairs a moment later, her face taut with stress, but otherwise she looked fine. She offered a small, relieved smile to Nate when she saw him and said, “Oh, good, you made it. I was starting to worry.”

Nate’s eyes fell to his feet. He suddenly felt like an idiot as he grumbled, “I was on a date.”

Lillian settled on the loveseat, smiling at her husband as he stood and crossed the room to join her, before returning her attention to her son and saying, “Don’t wear that face. You had no way of knowing what would happen today, and even if you’d been home, there wouldn’t have been anything you could have done.”

Nate sighed and set his mug down on the coffee table, in front of the tray, before he said, “I know.”

Silence returned for a moment before Lillian again shifted her attention, an honest, grateful smile on her lips as she looked at Vaughn and said, “Thank you very much for what you did today.”

Vaughn inclined his head, saying, “I’m just glad I could help.”

Christopher took a deep breath and clapped his hands together, letting his voice return to its normal volume as he declared, “All right, that’s enough of that. Everyone knows what’s going on now. We have to assume that Emma’s just as involved as Eric is, so obviously they’re not to be trusted. But I don’t want anyone trying to play the hero and going over there kicking down doors, got it?”

Blatantly frustrated, Dean asked, “And what are we supposed to do instead?”

“For now,” Lillian replied, her eyes slightly downcast but her voice steady, “we do nothing. We’ll talk to Angela once she wakes up and see what else she might be able to tell us, but otherwise we’re going to act as if nothing has changed.”

“Your mother’s right,” Christopher added immediately. “We need to play this smart. Keep staying in touch, try not to wander off by yourself, and we’ll get together to figure this all out as soon as we can.” He focused his eyes on Nate and added, “Also, you should talk to Kirk. Let him know the news.”

Nate nodded, understanding his father’s point, before something occurred to him and he cringed slightly. “Before we get going,” he began, “there’s something else you should all know.”

All eyes turned to him, clouded with concern and curiosity.

“I sort of had to tell Madison,” he admitted. Before he could get the lecture, he added, “The cliff edge crumbled under her feet and she fell over. If I hadn’t done anything she would have died. And she swears she won’t tell anyone—even her mother.”

His parents nodded in slow acceptance and Christopher said, “Then you’d better update her, too, just in case.”

Logan spoke up a beat later, his voice steady and low. “We shouldn’t assume Eric’s family won’t up the stakes now that they know we know who they are.”

“I think I’m their main target,” Angela declared, her voice still weaker than usual, as she trudged into the room. Everyone looked over at her and she managed a small, honest smile. She strode deliberately toward the couch, adding, “Scooch,” as she neared her brothers.

They shifted until there was just enough room between Nate and Logan, and as Angela dropped into the opening, Logan reached over and wrapped an arm around her. “How’re you feeling, Angie?” he asked quietly.

Angela let her head land on her brother’s shoulder and mumbled, “Like an idiot.”

“So it’s true, then?” Christopher asked carefully.

Her gaze flicked to Vaughn, who was watching silently, and she nodded. “Yes. He was using me to get close to us and keep an eye on us. And he said…” Her voice choked and she had to swallow as her eyes went back to her parents and settled on her mother. Quietly, she added, “He said that his father and uncle are responsible for what happened to Uncles Trevor, Nicholas, and Gregory.”

Lillian lifted a hand to her lips as Nate and the others processed Angela’s words. No one spoke.

“I’m sorry,” Angela finally choked, her voice watery. “I should have known … I should have figured it out. Maybe some of these things wouldn’t have happened.”

“How would you have figured it out, Angie?” Nate asked gently, his hand landing on her knee and squeezing reassuringly. “Did you see him use his powers before today? Did he ever suggest he thought they had good reason for attacking us?”

“No,” Angela admitted. “I just … I feel so stupid!” Her voice was raised as she finished, her tears slipping free. She lifted one hand and tried to wipe her tears away with the heel of her palm, continuing, “I just let him use me! And it’s
my
fault that all of this has been happening, because I let him in!
I
told him about Brooke.
I
pointed out that both Brooke and Madison work at the diner.
I
told him about Kirk when Kirk came back to town! It was all
me
!”

Eyes soft with sadness and understanding, Brooke said, “Emma knew I was at Georgia’s when my apartment burned down. Emma knew I would be going out the day I was kidnapped. That’s not on you.”

Nate spoke up next, quietly adding, “And Eric already knew Kirk. It was only a matter of time before he realized Kirk was back in town.”

Angela said nothing to their arguments, sniffling awkwardly, her eyes downcast.

Dean cursed and tightened his death grip on his coffee mug as he declared, “I say we give ‘em a taste of their own medicine. I could drive over right now and burn the house to the ground.”

“Absolutely not,” Lillian instructed firmly, her hands returning to her lap. “I understand the temptation, but we will not resort to their methods. We will not risk endangering anyone unnecessarily.”

“Whether we like it or not,” Blake began, “on that, we may not have a choice. If they corner us in public we have to fight back.”

“That would still be different,” Lillian amended.

Dean released a heavy breath, slumping back into the sofa, and said, “Fine, I won’t do it.”

“There’s nothing more we can do right now,” Christopher declared with a frown. “Why don’t we all regroup tomorrow, after we’ve had a couple of hours to unwind and wrap our heads around all of this, and then see what plan we can come up with?”

“Yeah, fine,” Dean grumbled. Beside him, Logan nodded silently. Angela was still leaning in to her brother’s side, wiping at her steadily falling tears, so she only sniffled and bobbled her head.

Lillian looked back to Vaughn and said, “Vaughn, thank you again. I think it would be best if you went home now, but please let us know if anything strange happens to or around you or your family.”

Vaughn inclined his head. “I will. And if there’s some way I can help in the future, I’d be happy to. Good luck.”

Angela tugged free of Logan’s arm as Vaughn stood. “Vaughn.” She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “Thank you.”

Eyes slightly widened, Vaughn awkwardly lifted his arms and returned the hug for a moment, saying, “Don’t mention it.” When she stepped back, arms hanging at her sides, he nodded again to her family and quietly let himself out.

Lillian stood and moved up to her daughter, pulling her into a tight embrace. “I’m so happy you’re all right.”

The brothers stood as well, gathering closer to them, and Blake let a hand drop on the back of Angela’s head as he said, “We all are.”

****

“I still can’t believe it,” Kirk declared, a shocked and slightly dazed expression still dominating his face. Nate and Logan had headed straight to Kirk’s apartment to tell him the news. Jacob—who they were now assuming was Eric’s older brother—had already made a move against Kirk once, and they’d been concerned he might be targeted again. And, as they’d expected, Kirk was suitably floored by the revelation.

“I think most of us are in that stage right now,” Nate admitted from his seat on the other end of Kirk’s couch. His elbows were resting on his knees, hands clasped tightly in front of him, eyes staring unseeingly at the long coffee table.

Kirk slumped back against the couch, his head falling back to stare at the ceiling, and he absently said, “I always knew I didn’t like that kid.”

A short, bitter chuckle rumbled past Logan’s lips, but he said nothing.

“So what are you going to do?” Kirk asked after a long moment, rolling his head forward to glance between the somber siblings.

“Right now,” Nate began quietly, “we don’t really know. Angela’s still too rattled to really go over everything that happened. We haven’t figured out how to react yet.”

Kirk nodded thoughtfully before saying, “Well, if I were you, I wouldn’t wait too long. Whether or not you have a better idea of who your enemies are now, they still know your habits better than you know theirs. Eric and Emma were acting, so the people you thought you knew probably don’t exist.”

“Yeah,” Nate agreed on a sigh, sitting up and dragging a hand through his hair. “That’s part of the prob—” His words were interrupted by the unexpected ringing of his phone, earning both Kirk’s and Logan’s attention. A frown dipped his lips as he pulled the device from his pocket, and it remained in place when he recognized Madison’s smiling face looking back at him on the Caller ID. “Hang on a sec,” he said as he dragged his thumb across the screen and put it to his ear. “Maddie?”

“Do you remember Mr. BMW?” Madison asked, her voice hushed and urgent. She didn’t actually wait for a response before she continued, “He’s outside my house right now. He came up and knocked on the door, and when I didn’t answer he knocked louder.”

Nate felt his heart lurch, his eyes snapping open wide, as he was suddenly bombarded by a mental image of Madison hunkered down in her bedroom closet with a baseball bat in her other hand. “Where are you?” he asked quickly, springing to his feet as he spoke.

“In my room,” Madison replied, voice quieter. “But I’m having diner flashbacks, and all of a sudden it hit me that my bedroom shares a wall with the kitchen. I really don’t want to blow up again.”

“You’re not going to blow up again,” Nate vowed, hoping he sounded more reassuring than he felt. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Logan push smoothly to his feet. “Try to stay out of sight. I’m on my way.” Logan strode past him as he spoke, keys already in his hand. Nate paused to offer a silent goodbye to Kirk, but his feet never fully stopped, and Kirk only waved his hands in a dismissive gesture.

“Okay,” Madison promised.

They disconnected and Nate dropped his phone into his pocket. He and Logan were both outside by now, and he glanced over to his brother, saying, “It’s the father. Meet me there.” Logan nodded as he swung into the truck, and Nate shoved off of the ground, not bothering to transform first. Kirk’s apartment wasn’t far enough from his house to justify the drain in power, especially when he figured he’d probably need the strength if he managed to get there before the elder Matthews ran off. It was dark out already, so Nate wasn’t too worried about being seen, but the truth was that he didn’t particularly care if someone saw him, anyway.

He flew as fast as he could, his gut clenching tighter with each passing second.
If anything happens to her…
He couldn’t even finish the thought. He’d been sick enough at the idea of the injuries she’d sustained from the attack on the diner, but for her to be hurt again, now, would be so much worse.
I have to fly faster.

Chapter Nine

Madison was ducked behind the foot of her bed, since her bed backed up to the window. From her angle she could see out the bedroom door without moving, and she had barely to lift her head and turn it to glimpse the window. Her curtains were still parted, as she only closed them when she was turning in for the night, and since the light was off she could see beyond the glass. Not that there was anything to be seen. The knocking had stopped while she’d been on the phone with Nate, and now heavy silence was the only sound ringing in her ears.
Did he leave?

She pulled one hand from her cell phone and wiped her sweaty palm against her jeans. A part of her wanted desperately to go investigate, but she would have been lying to claim she wasn’t also somewhat terrified. From what Nate had told her, it was incredibly likely that this was the man responsible for the destruction of Earl’s Diner. And if he was willing to do that to an occupied building full of innocent bystanders and potential witnesses, she didn’t want to think about what he might be willing to do now. On the other hand, if he had left, she could call Nate and tell him not to rush. But there was no way for her to know if he’d gone unless she abandoned her poor hiding place and looked around.
Okay,
she decided, switching hands and wiping her other palm across her jeans.
I can do this.

No sooner had the thought flitted through her mind than the window above her bed shattered unexpectedly.

Madison cried out, throwing herself away on reflex and nearly dropping her phone. Before she knew it she was on her feet, her back against the far wall, breathing heavy and clinging to her phone as she stared at the window. A large rock rested on her bed and an even larger hole now dominated her window. But there was nothing else to be seen.
Is he trying to herd me somewhere?
More importantly, if he was, then where was he trying to chase her to? And how could she make sure not to go there?

A flutter of movement, too dark and fast to be clear, brushed past her now-useless window, startling her. Madison reacted without thought, turning and bolting from the room before pulling the door shut behind her. And then, with her back to the door, she found herself wondering what she should do next. Her first thought was to go to the kitchen and find a weapon—she had a frighteningly sharp butcher knife beside the fridge—but then she remembered what had happened the last time she’d been in a kitchen with him around, and she vetoed that idea. She was scared, yes, but she wasn’t stupid.

Her living room window went next. She watched in horror as another rock from the cliff-side went flying through the glass, tearing down one of the curtains in the process. And this time, as the glass fell to the floor and scattered across the couch, her eyes locked onto the dark, sinister eyes of Mr. BMW. It was too dark for her to see him clearly, but she recognized that glare. It was a darker version of the one he’d given her before.

All at once indignant anger surged past her fear and Madison stomped several paces forward, demanding, “What the hell do you want with me?”

He looked almost amused at her question and he replied, “Every action has a consequence, Ms. Price. The further you involve yourself with the Hawke family, the heavier your consequence becomes.”

“So, what, are you just here to threaten me? Are you just trying to scare me?” Madison pushed, standing in the center of her living room now. She glared at her vaguely amused tormentor and snapped, “That’s pathetic! And from what I’ve heard, pathetic might just be the perfect word. All you do is try to scare your enemies, but then what? You back off and go and hide like a coward for a week or two. Why should I be afraid of someone like that?”

His amusement seemed to fade at her words, and his thin lips curved into a severe frown. “Little girl,” he began, “you know not what you involve yourself in. Yes, I want to scare them before I kill them, but rest assured. I
will
kill them—all of them—and very soon.”

“You talk like a B-movie mob boss,” Madison returned. “You know, that old guy in the chair with the ridiculous cigar who’s half in shadow. The one nobody takes seriously.”

One eyebrow arched high on his forehead and he replied, “You think I can’t take action? You fool.” White-gold light sparked off him as he spoke, lighting his eyes and offering flickering illumination of his features. The energy traveled up his arms and circled his shoulders, crackling audibly.

Crap,
Madison cursed silently.
Maybe insulting the lightning-throwing bad guy wasn’t my most brilliant idea.
Could she dodge lightning? She had a sneaking suspicion she was about to find out.

He rolled his neck, as if deliberately stalling to draw out her fear, and then the energy gathered and coiled down his right arm. Almost as if casually pointing to something of interest, he raised his arm and held his palm toward her. The crackling light allowed her to see his slowly curving smirk as he held her gaze, wanting to see her reaction. But then her remaining curtain began whipping around in a fierce wind and his arm relaxed slightly as he redirected his gaze up, toward something beyond her vantage point.

Nate!
Madison thought in the heartbeat before her adrenaline kicked in and she surged forward, using her opponent’s distraction to her advantage. The rock he’d thrown through her window had rolled slightly beyond the trail of glass, so she hefted it up with surprisingly little effort and cried, “Hey!” She waited only until his widened eyes snapped back to her, and then she hurled the rock forward with every ounce of power she could muster.
Finally, high school baseball pays off!

Mr. BMW pointed his arm toward the oncoming rock, the almost-faded energy sparking to life again and arching forward before flying from his fingertips. Madison threw herself back and to the side as the lightning collided with its target and the rock exploded. She landed half-behind her chair and rolled until she was entirely behind it, using it as a shield.

It was a moment before she realized that she could hear something going on outside.

****

Nate landed in time to see a flash of lightning arcing into Madison’s living room and his heart tripped. “
Madison
!” he cried automatically, her name tearing from his lips without thought.

The man before him, the one they knew only as Jacob’s father, turned slowly and offered a small smirk. “Such a lovely evening, isn’t it, Nate?” he asked with an eerie nonchalance.

Nate could feel the air around them changing drastically. The temperature was dropping and clouds were suddenly swirling overhead. But this time he was prepared. So he threw one arm out and up violently, directing a powerful gale straight up before expanding it in all directions. The gathering clouds scattered with the force of the wind.

“Ah, yes,” the older man began, “such a pesky ability. Do you suppose I should commend you for thinking of that trick?”

“I suppose you should leave Madison and my family the hell alone,” Nate returned harshly.

The man pulled in a long, suffering breath, released it heavily, and said, “And do you also suppose I should forgive the injuries done to my son this afternoon, too?”

“Asks the murderer,” Nate spat, fists clenching at his sides. “What’s to stop me from throwing you over the cliff and calling it a night?”

A dark look shone in his eyes and the man who had just confirmed himself as Eric’s father replied, “I think that would draw a bit of attention to you when the authorities found a man’s crippled body beneath the cliff beyond your private property.”

“Only if you didn’t wash away with the tide,” Nate said pointedly. “And, honestly, the more I think about it the more I think it’s a good idea.” The wind around them kicked up again, swirling around the pair in a tight circle.

Eric’s father arched an eyebrow at him and lifted one hand to shoulder height. Clouds began regathering overhead and his hand sparked, crackling audibly as thin streams of lightning coiled around his hand. “You underestimate me, boy,” he said coldly.

“Nate!” Madison cried as she suddenly ran around the corner of the house. Her eyes were wide with concern, and she came up short when she realized their enemy was still standing nearby.

Nate’s eyes snapped to her, and relief poured through him when he realized she wasn’t hurt. Whatever the old man had thrown that lightning at, it hadn’t hit her. But his relief was short lived when he realized the old man was apparently trying to rectify that. “Run!” Nate shouted as he watched his enemy lift his crackling palm toward Madison. Even as he called out the command, however, he knew she wouldn’t be able to run fast enough. So he lurched forward, redirecting the air around them to propel her toward him, and he caught her in his arms just as the lighting ripped free of its wielder’s palm. He shot them sideways and up as fast and hard as he dared, his arms tight around Madison’s body.

The lightning crashed into the ground just beyond where she’d been standing, igniting the grass in front of the house.

“Are you all right?” Nate asked as he held them aloft. Madison’s hair was whipping his face from the force of his wind, but he didn’t care.

“Yes,” she gasped into his shoulder. She clutched tightly to his shirt, her body tense.

“Impressive reflexes,” Eric’s father called up to them. “But how many times can you dodge my lightning before the ambient electricity starts to affect you?”

Nate’s arms tightened subconsciously around her.
One more time would be plenty if I cut it that close again.
He had no intentions of revealing that, however, so he only replied, “That’s hardly gonna matter; why don’t you give up?”

“Surrender is unforgivable,” the older man declared, a cold determination in his voice.

Before Nate could decide on a safe place to land, or Eric’s father could release another bolt of deadly electricity, a solid ring of earth tore free from the ground and clamped around the older man’s torso, trapping his arms against his sides. The ground rolled, then, and a layer of dirt landed on the steadily spreading flames, smothering them.

“You’re outmatched,” Logan declared evenly as he walked up, stopping several paces back from their enemy.

Nate released a breath and directed himself and Madison to the ground just behind his brother. “Try to stay back,” he whispered, holding Madison’s gaze for a long moment. It was clear she didn’t like the request, but it was also clear she understood, so she nodded and stepped back several paces.

“How cute,” Eric’s father said, sounding less than worried about his predicament. “You think I’m cornered because there are two of you. Did you forget that the two elementals I’ve already erased from existence were
your
predecessors?”

“No,” Logan assured him unwaveringly. “We also know they were ambushed. To their dying moments they probably never realized they were actually being targeted.”

“Very true,” the older man agreed. “But that changes nothing.” His eyes sparked and a bolt of lightning struck the rock holding him in place, shattering it. “And now for you,” he added, throwing an arm forward as the lightning again coiled toward his palm.

Nate leapt past Logan, throwing his own arms forward and sending a harsh rush of air directly into their opponent. Logan took the opportunity to simultaneously pull up a thick wall of dirt and rock, protecting them from the attack. The newly-built wall exploded outward a heartbeat later, and though the residual electricity caused a wave of nausea to roll both brothers’ stomachs, neither stumbled.

“I can do this all night,” Eric’s father declared, climbing to his feet before spreading his arms out and offering them a deceptive smile. “Can you?”

“Let’s find out,” Logan challenged. His fists clenched and the ground lurched in response, dislodging his opponent’s footing.

“Let’s,” the older man agreed as thunder boomed loudly overhead.

Nate took a deep breath, prepared to blow out the storm once again, and Logan braced his feet as he drew on his own power. But neither expected what happened next.

There was a hiss of air and suddenly white foam was blasting toward their opponent. It quickly covered him, building upon itself relentlessly. Three pairs of widened eyes turned to see Madison wielding a fire extinguisher, an angry glare in her eyes and a determined set to her jaw. She held the nozzle steady until she had emptied the entire container onto him, and then she hurled the metal object at him for good measure.

“I like her,” Logan declared as they watched the can collide with their shell-shocked opponent.

“Get in line,” Nate replied in a similarly flabbergasted tone.

Madison turned her attention toward them, oblivious to their exchange, and said, “I think we should go now.”

Her words jerked them back into motion and Nate held his hand out for her as Logan said, “My truck’s up front. It’ll hold all of us.” Madison took Nate’s hand and together the trio turned, moving quickly toward their getaway vehicle. None of them expected the fire extinguisher to stall their opponent for long, and continuing the fight wasn’t high on the list of things they wanted to do at the moment.

Logan didn’t miss a beat as his truck came into sight, quickly beeping it unlocked and jogging around to the driver’s side. He’d parked just a few feet behind the BMW, which was parked in front of Nate’s front porch. But Nate and Madison paused when their eyes landed on the BMW. An unnaturally large boulder had been magically dropped onto the center of the vehicle, smashing the roof and rendering it utterly inoperable. Even the tires had been flattened from the force of it.