Elemental Fire (3 page)

“They should have,” said Lough.
“But I don’t know. I don’t keep tabs on pixies,” he sniffed.

“That’s interesting,” said
Lisabelle. “Of all the paranormals we should keep tabs on, pixies are probably
at the top of the list.”

“What about Trafton and the
others who weren’t at Locke?” I said. Lough, it turned out, loved gossip. Even
if he hated someone as much as he hated Trafton, he knew where that someone
was.

“I’m sorry, who?” Lough pretended
not to know the only other dream giver who attended Paranormal Public, because
Trafton was always hitting on Lisabelle.

“It’s entirely possible there are
still others, like Keller and Dobrov, who haven’t gotten back yet,” I said.
“Maybe they can help us or get us in. Maybe we don’t have to sneak in.”

“You think Dobrov is going to
help us get in?” Lisabelle asked, incredulous. “They hate Dobrov. He’s a
hybrid.”

“Lough, what about Kair? Would
she know anything?” Kair was Lough’s sister, whom I had met at Locke. She had
graduated several years ago and now worked for the paranormal government.

“She’s busy, I guess,” said
Lough, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’ve called her a couple of times and
gotten no answer. Maybe she’s making out.” He gave a goofy grin. We had only
just discovered that Kair’s secret new boyfriend was one of Sip’s five
brothers. Besides being delighted with the news that his sister was happy, Lough
was equally delighted by the fact that he now had something new to tease his
sister about.

“Anyway,” said Lisabelle
impatiently, “we should get some rest. I have a feeling that whatever Sip is
planning, sleep will not be involved.”

I wanted to argue. It was midday
and I just wasn’t tired. My body hummed with nerves at being so close to Public
and yet so far away. I had tried to contact Mrs. Swan twice: once when we left
Locke and again after Dove slammed the doors in our faces. But there was a
shroud around her Contact Stone, as if it had been switched off, except that as
far as I knew it wasn’t possible to turn Contact Stones off.

“She’s probably busy boarding up
the place for the semester,” Lisabelle had said. “It’s not like she can answer
all your calls.”

“I’m her ONLY charge,” I returned
hotly. “It’s not like she’s taking care of a bunch of difficult paranormals
like the ones who live in Airlee.”

With that my energy for arguing
was gone, and I tried to take Lisabelle’s advice and get some rest. Once I lay
down, I found that sleep came easily enough. Part of me wished that it hadn’t.

My arms tangle around Keller’s
torso and I can’t help but smile. The heat of his gaze, the smell of clean
clothes and man is intoxicating to my senses. I run my fingers lightly up his
back and he gives a pleased sigh. We’re in Astra, in the attic, one of the
first places we had a moment alone together - cleaning. Okay, so not the most
romantic thing, but let’s face it, romance is in the details of daily life, not
the grand gestures. Romance is in trust and the joy and wonder of getting to
touch this amazing fallen angel.

I feel a tug on my shoulder and I
hold tighter to Keller. His eyes deepen a shade, the blue becoming more intense
and focused, hotter as I’m pulled away. He wraps his arms around my waist,
lacing his fingers hard together while still holding me lightly, warmly. I find
myself breaking into an involuntary smile when I look at him.

I bury my face in his shoulder as
he murmurs in my hear. I think he calls me heart sweet and I feel my face heat
with pleasure.

I hate the hand that pulls us
apart. I curse it with every fiber of my being and wish the greatest ills on
its skin and soul.

“Charlotte, wake up!!” That was
definitely Sip’s voice yelling in my ear. “Since when did this girl become such
a heavy sleeper?”

“It’s the only time she gets to
see her ex-boyfriend,” said Lisabelle, not unkindly. “See that silly smile on
her face? That’s a Keller silly smile.”

“Why am I always the last to wake
up?” I demanded, sitting up in my sleeping bag. Sip, Lough, and Lisabelle sat
around me. Sip was dressed all in loosely fitting black clothes. I wanted to
ask where they had come from, because she usually liked to dress in colors, but
I didn’t bother. Her ring was dull on her hand, but I could feel power surging
through her. With the slightest command she could transform to werewolf. “Why
can’t you two just leave me in peace?”

“Wouldn’t want you to miss all
the fun,” said Sip.

I looked around at my friends.
Lough’s expression was pinched, his face whiter than usual under his blush.
Sip’s eyes held worry while Lisabelle’s lips were pressed into a thin line.

“What’s wrong?” I said, a fist
squeezing around my heart. “What’s happened?”

“We aren’t sure,” said Sip
quietly, looking at Lough.

“While you were sleeping I talked
to Dobrov,” he explained. “Then I dreamed.”

“Dreamed? What did Dobrov say?” I
asked. Dobrov Validification was a friend of sorts. I wanted to trust him, an
at the coronation, when he had helped us get to Lanca, I really thought I did.
Then he had gone off with his crazy twin sister, who was most definitely part
of the Nocturns, and my trust had crumbled a bit. Dobrov and Daisy were
hybrids, which meant that they had a vampire father and a darkness mage mother.
Some combinations of paranormals work out just fine, with one side dominating
while the other lies dormant, but there are just some combinations, like the
Validifications, that for whatever reason go horribly wrong. Theirs really
shouldn’t have, because darkness calls to darkness, but it had. Now Dobrov
tried to help our side, even if he was about as socially capable as a rock,
while Daisy helped the Nocturns. But somehow they were still on speaking terms
with each other. For now.

“So,” said Lough. “The reports
aren’t confirmed. Everything is such a mess at the moment I’m not sure if
they’re going to be, but, basically, Dobrov says that all the paranormal
students are at Public.”

I stared at him for a heartbeat,
not sure if he was tired from sleep or just pulling my leg.

“Obviously they’re not,” I said.
“Dove wouldn’t let us in because Public is closed for the semester. That’s what
he said.”

“That isn’t the story the senior
paranormals are hearing,” said Lisabelle, her eyes steely. “I guess Saferous
talked to the Committee and was told that everything is fine.”

“So, Dove lied to us?” I said
quietly, feeling cold.

“Dove lied to someone,” said Sip.
All the while we spoke Sip was packing up a black case, her hands never
stopping in their movement. “We aren’t sure who.”

“Wait, what? Isn’t it pretty
obvious that Dove lied to get us out here in the open and that he’s a Nocturn?”
I asked. “We’ve been sitting here all day. There are probably demons
everywhere. My protections are low. . . .”

“Dacer took care of your
protections with the help of my parents and Saferous, so you should be pretty
well guarded. As well as any of us, at least,” said Sip.

“Why would Dove lie to keep us
out if the demons weren’t coming?” I said, my eyes intent on my friends.
Nothing was making sense. My head felt like it was in a complicated fog. All I
wanted to do was go to sleep in my own bed in Astra, but it looked like that
was not to be.

“We don’t know anything yet,”
said Lisabelle. “We’re on a fact-finding mission into Public. Once we see
what’s going on with our own eyes we’ll know more. Then we can tell Dacer.”

“Fact-finding missions are my
favorite kind,” said Sip, her purple eyes bright with amusement. “Maybe they
don’t want to let us in because they’re stringing Camilla up by those perfect
strands of blond hair that she glories in, and they don’t want to get caught.”

“Yeah,” Lisabelle drawled.
“That’s one possibility.”

Sip gave her a rueful smile. “Not
very likely, huh?”

“Nope,” said Lisabelle. “And
besides, when Camilla gets strung up, don’t you want to be there to witness
it?”

“Naw,” said Sip, moving on to
another black bag and more stuff. “I’d really just be happy if it happened.”

“The simple pleasures in life,”
Lough confirmed. “Really, it’s all we can hope for at this point. Right,
Lisabelle?”

“Whatever,” said Lisabelle
reproachfully. “Pleasure is a waste of time. Once we accept that life is nasty
and hard and get on with it we’ll all be a lot better off.”

“Life is nasty and hard, which is
why we still have to have fun,” said Lough determinedly.

“Sip, what’s your plan?” I asked.
“Can we still pull it off if all the students are there?” I now desperately
wanted to get into Public. I needed to know what was happening to my school.

I didn’t want to say that I
couldn’t believe all the students were really there. That made no sense. Then
again, we knew that they had headed for Public after the events at Vampire
Locke, and I had seen no evidence that they had left the campus. Could it be
possible? Were Dove and the other committee members holding my fellow students
captive? If they were, why hadn’t they let Sip, Lisabelle, Lough, and me walk
right in and join them? It all was too much to think about. Sip was right, we
had to see it with our own eyes.

“My plan is this,” said Sip. “The
woods are the weakest point of entry. I don’t think we could accomplish this at
all without Charlotte, but since she’s the paranormal who strengthened the
elemental strand on the protective barrier, she should be able to weaken it
enough for us to sneak through.”

“How sure are you about that?”
Lough said, sounding skeptical.

“Not sure at all,” said Sip,
ruefully.

“It’s what I like to call wishful
thinking,” said Lisabelle. “But Sip is rarely wrong about these things, so I’m
telling myself to be optimistic.”

“Do you listen when you tell
yourself things?” Lough asked curiously.

“No better person to trust,” said
Lisabelle, grinning.

“Thank you Lisabelle, your dank
and nasty nature is so kind,” said Sip.

“Any time,” said Lisabelle.

“Now,” said Sip. “Once we’re
through the barrier it should be easy. We just have to make sure we’re not
seen. We’re headed for the Long Building. If we use that to travel out of
sight, we should be able to get much closer to the heart of campus without
risking running into any other paranormals. We’re going to take the catacombs.”

Fear shot down my spine and I
stared at Sip. I hadn’t had any idea that that’s what it would take to get into
Public. “We can’t go in there. When I was in there last semester I nearly
died.”

“I know something attacked you,”
said Sip kindly. “We never figured out what it was, but there’s no other way.
Dove will probably be watching the grounds with who knows what kinds of
protections. The best way to travel is underground, and the Long Building has
been ignored for so many years they’d never expect us to travel that way.”

“A Slime Dweller attacked me!” I
said. “Crazy thing with red eyes. If the Shadow hadn’t come along. . . .” My
friends were staring at me like I was crazy. I decided to calm down.

“How can we even do it?” I demanded.
“I don’t know my way around the catacombs. I just know where the Museum is.”

“That’s another thing,” said
Lisabelle, tapping her index finger against her chin thoughtfully. “We should
get a couple of masks from the Museum. Who knows how they might come in handy.”

“Yes, why not, let’s just add
stealing to the list of rules we’re going to break,” said Sip, throwing up her
hands.

“Exactly what I’m proposing,”
said Lisabelle. “I’m glad we agree.”

“Oh, we agree alright,” Sip
muttered. She tossed one of the black bags at Lisabelle, who caught it easily.
I had just enough warning to catch the bag Sip tossed my way.

“Ready?” Sip asked.

“No,” I said quietly. Another
adventure, and so soon. I sighed, but I didn’t have a choice. I had decided I
wanted to be brave, and here was my chance.

“Yes, I’m ready,” I said grimly.
“Let’s go home.”

“So, the bottom line is that we
know something is wrong,” said Sip quietly. “When we go into Public we need to
be careful.”

“It’s pretty safe to blame it on
Dove,” I said icily. “Or maybe Professor Erikson.”

“Is there any other paranormal we
can contact before we go in?” Sip asked. “I just don’t like going in blind.”

“We could try Dacer, or even
Oliva, you know the usual, but I’d hate to tip them off to what we’re doing,” I
said, glancing at the dark and silent walls of Public. It was now almost fully
dark and I felt the weight of our decision heavy on my shoulders. I told myself
that this was just a fact-finding mission. Besides, I was supposed to keep the
Mirror Arcane safe, and that would be hard to do if I wasn’t there. Not to
mention that I was starting to worry about Mrs. Swan and my other friends.
Maybe I didn’t get along with the pixies, but I liked the paranormals in the
other dorms and I didn’t want to see them come to harm.