Elemental Earth (Paranormal Public) (26 page)

Keller covered her hand with his.
“I’ve missed you,” he said. “Thanks for asking us to dinner.”

“Oh, don’t thank us yet,” said
Mrs. Erikson, swirling away in front of us. “Wait until you see what Ezra has
prepared for you.”

Keller groaned but smiled.
“Ezra’s the best cook ever,” he explained to me as his mother linked her arm
through her son’s. “She’s probably made enough for ten people.”

“She’s made all your favorites,”
his mother insisted. “Just wait and see.”

“Where’s Dad?”

“Already in the dinning room,”
Mrs. Erikson said, leading us out of the study. I was left to trail behind as
Keller gave me an apologetic look. “He had some business to attend to.”

Mrs. Erikson started chatting to
Keller about their friends in Europe. They were all names I had never heard
before, so I stayed quiet and tried not to be offended. The dining hall was
behind the staircase. It turned out to be a glass porch that gave a view of the
garden beyond, and part of the barn, without being open to the cold night air.

The dining table was massive and
could probably seat thirty or forty people. The only time I had seen tables
that big before was at school. I breathed a sigh of relief when I noticed that
only one end was set. A white tablecloth, silver dishware, and candles were
placed at the end nearest to where we had entered, and a man who could only be
Keller’s father sat waiting for us.

I gulped, and so the evening
began.

It soon became clear to me that
Keller’s parents did not want me there. They viewed me as an annoyance, a
temporary dalliance of their son, or something, and they had obviously assumed
that we should have broken up by now. As I had feared for a long time, that was
the reason why we had never met. They had hoped that if they waited long
enough, they would never have to meet the last elemental who constantly
endangered their oldest child’s life.

Keller was busy talking about our
summer plans, as if there was nothing whatsoever to worry about in that room.
When he mentioned that we had considered a trek to Europe, to get away from the
threat of darkness before he started working, his father slammed his hand down
on the dinner table, causing the silverware to clatter. He had obviously
expended his stock of patience and wasn’t waiting any longer.

“Keller, it’s time for you to
stop all this nonsense. It’s your senior spring and you’re chaperoning a field
trip. We’ve talked to Oliva about it, and he has agreed. You are to leave the
field trip immediately. Your aunt, shockingly enough, tried to talk us out of
it by saying that you were happy where you were. But we just feel that it’s
time.”

Keller was staring at his parents
in shock.

“Mom, Dad, I’m sorry, but I’ve
made my position clear. I’m not leaving Public early.”

I was stunned to hear that they’d
had this argument before. No wonder Keller was upset. I had known there were
tensions, but I hadn’t realized just how much pressure his parents had been
putting on him.

“You’ll still graduate,
obviously,” said his father. It was strange to see an older version of Keller -
Mr. Erikson had broad shoulders and the same blue eyes as his son - and even
stranger to see so much resemblance wrapped in so much conflict.

“I don’t care about that,” Keller
cried. “You’re worried about the future of the Eriksons. I’m not. I’m worried
about Charlotte.”

“That, son, is exactly the
problem,” growled his father, clearly starting to lose his temper.

Keller’s hands were balled into
fists as he glared at his dad.

“Keller,” I whispered, unsure
even what I wanted to say.

Keller glanced at me, then looked
away. “I can’t, Charlotte. They don’t care about what I want.”

“That’s right,” said Mr. Erikson.
“It’s all to hurt you. Did it ever occur to you that the family is more
important? This must be for the good of the family.”

“Dad, we’re at war. The demons
and the paranormals are at war. Charlotte is in trouble, because all the other
elementals are gone. If she dies, the Power of Five can never be enacted again.
I help protect her. Don’t you think that’s important? There will be no future
for the House of Erikson if there are no paranormals.”

His father rubbed his temples.

“We are at war,” Keller said
desperately. “Mound says so. Professor Dacer says so. We can’t pretend like
it’s not happening.”

“Your aunt doesn’t think so,”
said his father. “Yes, there are bands of demons that roam the country and hurt
paranormals, and yes, that’s horrible, but that’s always been the case. With
the growth of the Paranormal Police Academy, all these difficulties will be
mitigated soon. They are not your burden to bear.”

“You know,” said Keller,
“Charlotte and I have been together for two years. It’s a wonderful
accomplishment, and she’s amazing. I’m happier with her now than I was when we
first got together. We’ve had our problems, but they’ve only made us stronger.
Only we will ever know what we’ve been through, but I told Charlotte you’d love
her. I couldn’t wait for you to meet her, especially after all this time. And
this is what I get.” He shook his head sadly and looked down at our entwined
hands. He had held onto my hand throughout the whole conversation.

When he looked up his jaw was
set. “We’re leaving,” he said. “Maybe next time you see me you’ll be more
hospitable.”

Keller’s mother, who had remained
silent until now, came forward. Unlike the resemblance between Keller and his
father, Mrs. Erikson and her sister, also Erikson, didn’t look anything alike.

I had asked Keller why they were
all named Erikson, and Keller had explained that since power usually
transferred through the mother (although obviously not always, and sometimes it
was both), the mother’s name was dominant in marriage. His father had taken
that name because the Eriksons were such a powerful family, and Keller’s
grandfather had had only daughters.

I had told Keller that it seemed
complicated and asked him if his name would then be Rollins. He laughed and
said that he would have to keep the name of the house of Erikson.

“Keller,” his mother said
desperately, “it’s time you stopped playing house and did your duty by your
family.”

“All I ever do is my duty by the
family,” Keller said, his voice rising in frustration. “The problem is that you
think, and have always thought for some reason, that my dating Charlotte means
I’m not doing my duty.”

“You need to marry a fallen
angel,” said his mother, “to ensure that the bloodline is clear. Besides,
Charlotte is in danger due to her elemental powers. Do you really want to risk
that for your own children?”

Keller was staring at his mother
as if he’d never seen her before. She looked back at him, her eyes filled with
pleading.

“How could you say that in front
of Charlotte?” he demanded, his voice going from hot to chilly. He was now very
angry.

“I’m only speaking the truth,”
his mother said desperately. “It’s not a life for a child. She grew up in
hiding. She didn’t believe that magic existed, and then her mother was murdered
for her betrayal.”

I felt like she had slapped me.
What was she talking about? What betrayal?

Keller glanced at me, knowing
that what his mother had said was a shock to me.

“What betrayal?” I interrupted,
finally finding my voice.

His mother looked at me for what
I was pretty sure was the first time since we had arrived.

“Your mother took you and hid,”
she said. “She should have given you over to the elementals who were still
left, and let them raise you as their own. You are one of the lucky few who has
powers through both your parents. Your mother didn’t care.”

“My mother was trying to save my
life,” I sputtered.

“Your mother went rogue, and she
died for it,” said Mrs. Erikson.

She stopped and clapped a hand
over her mouth. We were all looking at her, even her husband.

“That’s harsh,” said Keller’s
father, shaking his head. “She was young and she was alone.”

“So, do you know who my father
is?” I demanded. “Since you seem to know so much about my mother and what
happened to her, do you know who my dad is?”

“No,” said Mr. Erikson quickly,
before his wife had a chance to answer. “We do not. No one does. She refused to
tell even the elementals who demanded it. There are, in fact, several
possibilities. You wouldn’t think so, but it was right before the mass
slaughter of the last few, even the ones in hiding, and we believe there were
more in hiding than were known about at the time, because for most of your
life, and even most of your mother’s life, the elementals were non-existent.”

“You mean the killing had started
early enough that they’d already gone into hiding?”

“Yes,” said Mr. Erikson. “They
had. The demons took years to find all of them, and we believe it only happened
through a series of betrayals, but that is the way of the paranormals. Always
out for themselves.”

“You don’t say,” I said dryly.
Keller glanced sharply at me. His parents knew my meaning.

“This is getting us nowhere,”
said Mrs. Erikson. “Keller, she is not a suitable match for you.”

“I’m learning things I never knew
about my own family,” I said. “Are you saying that’s nowhere?”

“Your family is dead,” said Mrs.
Erikson. “That’s the problem.”

“Well,” I said, “I’ll just stop
being a problem for you.” Before she could say anything else I whirled around
and stomped toward the door.

Before I could get to it, though,
I saw the knob turn.

“I’m sorry, Keller,” I heard his
mother say, “but this is for the best.”

I staggered to a halt when I saw
who walked through the door.

Keller’s godmother, Cynthia
Malle.

I gasped and fell back, knocking
against Keller. Strong hands came around my upper arms and braced me, but I
still couldn’t breathe.

“You look like you’ve seen a
ghost,” said President Malle. She looked strange, and by that I mean she looked
almost human. The craggy form she had taken in my dreams was gone. In its place
was gray hair swept back and a face with lines around the mouth and eyes. She
had her hands tucked into the front of a black robe she wore as she came softly
into the room.

I reached my hand out, my ring
pulsing, ready for battle.

“No, no, how dare you threaten a
guest of ours?” Mrs. Erikson demanded.

I looked at Keller with wide
eyes. His face was hard as he said, “Mother, you know the paranormals are at
war with the Nocturns, don’t you? You know that Caid isn’t doing anything, and
we’ve been forced to create our own defenses? You know that Cynthia Malle put a
bounty on Charlotte’s head and that she’s been disavowed?”

“We know that there’s a lot of
confusion,” said Mrs. Erikson, coming forward. “We know that you’re young and
in love and probably not thinking clearly.”

I started to sputter, but Keller
shushed me. I glared up at him, demanding to know why he was keeping silent. I
honestly will never know how I kept my feet firmly planted on the ground in
that moment, when all I wanted to do was run.

Keller’s eyes were hard.
“Mother,” he said, “I might be young, but that doesn’t mean I’m stupid.”

I felt like my world was
collapsing in on itself.

“Hey,” Keller’s father barked,
“don’t you dare talk to your mother that way.”

My boyfriend didn’t even look at
his father. Instead he said, “We’re leaving. We will not stay under the same
roof as that traitor.” He didn’t even acknowledge Malle’s presence, but his
mother gasped at his harsh words.

“Keller,” she breathed, tears
making her eyes bright, “how could you say such things about your godmother?”

“She tried to kill my
girlfriend,” said Keller. “I think I’m entitled.”

Cynthia Malle spread her hands
wide, speaking for the first time. “I am sorry to have caused so much trouble.
I do know that there are . . . difficulties . . . between the Nocturns and the paranormals,
but the only way to resolve these issues is to work together, not separately.”

“Ah, so you’re advocating
collaboration? Your specialty?” I asked coldly. She really was mad. How could
she think she was welcome to just walk in here as if she hadn’t slaughtered
countless paranormals?

But of course she thought she
could, because she was. I looked at Keller’s parents. I’d been so excited to
meet them. I’d had high hopes for how the dinner would go, and instead, this
had happened, something far worse than my wildest imaginings.

“Let’s go,” Keller said, taking
my hand and squaring his shoulders.

“You aren’t going anywhere,” said
his mother shrilly. “You’ve gone off on your own for long enough. It is time
you do your duty by your family. We’ve invited Cynthia here to ensure that.”