Earth (36 page)

“Thanks,” I said, rolling my eyes and getting
out of the car after parking in front of Jodi’s house. She had made
sure, as the guest of honor, that there would be a front row
parking spot saved for me. I grabbed my hat from the back seat and
pulled it on, adjusting it in the reflection of the car window
before taking Steven’s arm.

The house was packed to capacity with so many
bodies and faces that I really didn’t think there was anyway that I
could possibly know everyone here, even though they all seemed to
know me. Jodi hugged me tightly, wishing me a happy birthday. She
was dressed as a witch too, her simple black dress accessorized
with red and white stripped tights in contrast to my orange and
black ones.

“Oh, you have to meet my cousin Miguel!”
Steven said excitedly and reached behind him and grabbed a boy and
swung him around to face me. “Miguel, this is my other best friend,
Shayna.”

“Hi, nice to meet you,” he smiled and held
out his right hand. As I reached to take his hand, a jolt of
electricity jumped between us, strong enough that everyone saw the
spark. We both jumped, startled, and Miguel laughed

“Nice to meet you….” I said carefully, the
spark making me look at him more closely than I had before. A
strange feeling came over me and I turned to look over my shoulder,
keeping a tight grip on Miguel’s hand. I spotted Tracy across the
room and waved her over with my free hand. “You need to meet
someone,” I told Miguel. Tracy made it over to us, careful not to
snag anyone’s costume, and smiled up at me. “Tracy, this is
Steven’s cousin, Miguel.” I let go of Miguel and watched his face
go slack with shock. He blinked stupidly at Tracy, who in turn
giggled at him.

“Oh my god…” I heard Jodi whisper just before
she grabbed my arm and turned me towards her. “Are you kidding
me?”

“Nope,” I said, trying not to laugh. “It’s
been two weeks, a much more standard amount of time for a spell to
work, don’t you think?”

“Wait, what’s happening?” Steven asked,
confusion looking strange on his devilishly made up face.

“Come on, we’ll get drinks and I’ll explain
it,” Jodi said, pulling him away.

I watched them go, taking my sense of safety
with them. There were too many bodies here, I tried to be grateful
they weren’t touching me, but it still felt like they were. I
squeezed through the crowd into the front hall until I was back at
the front door again and slipped outside. There was a bench off to
the side on the front porch and I sat. I wasn’t altogether
surprised to see Jensen standing on the sidewalk, hands in his
pockets. I expected to feel angry or annoyed, but I felt
nothing.

He nodded at me, keeping his chin down,
looking appropriately cowed. I crossed my right leg over my left,
settling my hands in my lap. The freezing temperatures had
disappeared with the demon after we banished it. I was glad I
didn’t have to hunch against the cold air; it would’ve taken what
little dignity I had left.

“There is one thing I still don’t
understand,” I said just loud enough for him to hear. “I don’t get
why he took Michelle that night, in Malibu.”

“I found where he was keeping Tracy and
managed to get her out. When he couldn’t find us, he went after
Michelle,” Jensen said, his face lit with strange shadows under the
street light.

“So she was just a replacement?”

“Yeah. Just someone else you knew.”

“Someone he thought I’d rescue.” I said
quietly. “So I take it he eventually found you?”

“Yeah, that thing,” Jensen paused and closed
his eyes, gathering himself. “That animal thing.”

“The hell hound,” I offered and he
nodded.

“He sent that thing to find us.”

“But Tracy… Shouldn’t that have upset her
more than she is?”

“I think maybe Tracy has learned to block out
unpleasant things.”

“You’re probably right,” I said sadly. Jensen
scuffed his toe on the sidewalk, still not looking at me. “So it
was because of your brother that you learned to put up those
shields, right?”

“Yep,” he said casually, glancing up. “That’s
why it took him so long to find me and Tracy once I got her away.
He tried to compel me to come back, but with these shields I could
fight it.”

“Compel you?” I asked, tilting my head to the
side.

“A spell,” he sighed, “another goddamn spell.
He tried it on you but it didn’t work. I told him it wouldn’t.”

“Actually,” I said slowly, thinking of the
night I’d taken my pentagram off. I had the urge to get out of the
house and go somewhere, anywhere. To Ian apparently.

“Actually what?” he prompted.

“It almost worked. There was a day where I
felt something pulling at me. I just didn’t know what it was.” I
don’t know why I didn’t tell him about my pentagram, but for some
reason I felt like keeping that a secret.

“Thank God,” he said quietly.

“There’s just one more thing.” Since he was
in a sharing mood I decided to press my luck. “If it was you
interrupting the rituals all those times, why didn’t you just go to
the police?”

“I couldn’t.”

“Why? Because he’s you’re brother?” I asked
sarcastically.

“No, I mean I actually couldn’t. Since I had
started that first spell with him he had me bound, but because we
didn’t finish it he didn’t have complete control over me.” He
paused, but I could tell he wasn’t finished. “He is my brother. I
was trying to get through to him. But then he figured out what you
were, at least he thought he did and that’s when we got into that
fight.”

“Not much of a fight.” I muttered.

“Well, he was stronger than me, the whole
possessed by a demon thing.”

“True. I still don’t understand why you
didn’t just go to the police.”

“I thought I could get through to him before
he kidnapped Tracy. I don’t know why I didn’t go to the police
then. I just went after them. Instincts I guess. Then when I found
her he had that hell hound thing after us, we had to hide.”

“Yeah, I think I understand.” But I didn’t
understand how he could’ve helped Ian that very first night of the
animal sacrifice. Even if he did change his mind when Ian killed
the first goat. What the hell did he think Ian was planning on
doing with the goats? I closed my eyes and shook my head. It had
been a hard couple of days and I just didn’t have anything left in
me. I didn’t want to ask anymore questions.

“Can I sit with you?” he asked in a quiet
voice. I stared at him a moment. We didn’t come across too many
people with natural abilities in our small town. Did I really want
to alienate him? But could I trust him? I just wasn’t ready yet. I
flared my shields and pushed him away. He sighed before turning and
getting back into his car.

I had called Deb earlier that evening and
told her that I needed to start working with her on a regular basis
to get better control of my growing powers. I’m meeting with her
for the first time tomorrow. All three of us have more powers now
than we had just a week ago, but they had faded from what they were
just yesterday. I couldn’t call fire to my hand like I did last
night and I couldn’t call a vortex like I had, but the three of us
were still connected more strongly now than we ever have been. I
worry about our growing abilities, mine more than theirs, but I’ll
deal with it as it comes. I just hope the rest of the school year
will be less eventful than the last month has been.

First and foremost I have to thank my
husband, John, who has to live with my crazy. His unwavering faith
and support in me has been invaluable.

Thanks to my mom who was my first fan. I’m
not sure how many times you had to read this book, but for every
dreadful draft I shoved in your face, I will always appreciate
it.

To Cassie Robertson, in who I found an
amazing critique partner and insane editor, thank you. Thanks to
you my work is better than I could have ever made it on my own. You
will never know just how awesome your help and support has
been.

And to my friends and family who don’t
understand what I do but think it’s pretty cool, thank you for your
support and curiosity and keeping me honest.

Shauna Granger lives in Southern California
with her husband and goofy dog. Loving to cook and entertain she
finds it odd taking comfort in the mundane while her imagination
runs wild with thoughts of magic. Thanks to her addiction to overly
sugared and creamed coffee Shauna is hard at work on the next
Elemental Book: Air.