Elemental Light (Paranormal Public Book 9) (4 page)

The conversation moved on to more pressing matters, like Lisabelle, but before we could carry it too far we needed more sustenance. Sip poured us tea and got a fresh plate of cookies, and I bit into one gratefully.

Then Ricky wandered in. He had been asleep for a while, but once he woke up he wanted company, and now he curled up in a chair to listen to us talk. I didn’t object; I knew he had a lot of questions.

“It’s strange not seeing the three of you together,” said Lanca. She was used to us at Public, where we were attached at the hip.

“Lisabelle was taken under false pretenses in exchange for the Nocturns’ releasing Sip,” Lough explained. “How can the Nocturns trust her motives if they know she was forced to be there? It’s like if I was told I could graduate from Public if I played Tactical. My teammates would know I didn’t actually want to play Tactical.”

“Who wants to play a game that nearly kills all of us anyway?” Sip asked.

“Exactly,” I said.

“Lisabelle,” said Lough.

“What’s Tactical?” Ricky piped up. “Why is Lisabelle with the bad paranormals?”

It was strange to hear Ricky was the term “paranormals.” I still wasn’t used to him being in on the secret. I had tried to fill my brother in on what had been happening since I went off to college three and a half years ago, but the more we talked the more I realized that there was still endless information that I had yet to share with him. It was just a very long story with a lot of complications.

“Tactical is a game we play at Public,” said Lough. “I use the term ‘game’ loosely.”

“Lisabelle made a trade,” said Sip, returning to the story. “We were betrayed and I was captured by the demons. Lisabelle tried to save me, but she couldn’t. The Nocturns told her that if she traded herself for me they’d let me live, then they still tried to kill me.

“Can’t Lisabelle just break free?” Ricky asked.

“A deal’s a deal,” said Sip sadly. “They made her wear the
Black Ring. It binds her to darkness.”

“But it’s an incredibly powerful ring,” I said. “She has a stunning amount of power now.”

“As opposed to before when she was a wallflower,” said Lough dryly.

We all chuckled a bit at that, as we did every time anyone managed to mention Lisabelle and flowers in the same breath.

“I don’t think they question her loyalty, because in their minds she’s where she should always have wanted to be,” Sip mused. “Paranormals have a remarkably hard time acknowledging other beings as others . . . they aren’t paying attention or thinking about them as having their own feelings and desires. Besides, even if reports said Lisabelle was close to us, I can’t imagine they really knew how loyal she was. And is.”

“I agree,” said Lough. “Besides, if she wears the
Black Ring and they think that bond isn’t breakable, then they must trust her completely now.”

“She knows who the Darkness Premier is,” I said, remembering a dream I had had about her when she had first gone over to darkness.

“I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing,” said Sip. “I’ve always assumed that eventually we would know who the Premier was as well.”

“Can’t wait,” said Lough.

Chapter
Three

We were leaving that night for Vampire Locke. Vital was going with us, while Lough would stay behind with Ricky and Queen Lanca. She didn’t trust any of her fellow Rapier vampires except Vital and a couple of others, and we all felt better with Lough staying behind. Sip and I needed Vital to go with us because he knew Vampire Locke like the back of his hand. He explained that when he had first been assigned to guard Lanca, he would spend any time when she was busy either training or wandering around the mountain, familiarizing himself with every nook, cranny, and secret passage. He was helped by King Daemon’s implicit trust. The previous king, Lanca’s father, had taken the time to show the new bodyguard around, so he also knew of Lanca’s father’s secret study. The king had hidden the Fang First there, and he had also shown the place to Vital.

“Let’s get ready,” I said, turning away from the window. There was no point in staring. Soon enough I’d get a chance to look at Vampire Locke up close, when we snuck in right under darkness’s nose.

I just hoped Lisabelle wouldn’t be around when we got there, but I had a feeling she’d know when we snuck into Locke. I hated to surprise her, but if anyone could keep her cool it was Lisabelle.

It was just a question of whether we could keep ours.

Ricky wasn’t happy with me. My crazy little brother wanted to come with us to Vampire Locke.

“He’s a kid,” said Sip. “He doesn’t understand.”

“My brother just thinks I keep leaving him behind. Somehow he thinks he can protect me,” I said.

We were standing outside in the middle of the night. With most of the windows dark, the castle looked peaceful, but I could see a slight curl of smoke coming from one of the chimneys. Trees and shrubs dotted the massive front yard. There wasn’t really a courtyard, just an expanse of stone-covered driveway, an entrance that led to the road that would take us to Vampire Locke. Except that we weren’t going by the road.

“Are you both ready?” Vital asked, coming out of the castle door with Lanca following and Lough behind her. Lanca’s very pale arms, neck, and head looked as if they were floating on her body, which was covered in a black dress. Lough looked serious and a little tired. He wasn’t much of a one for stealth, so he didn’t mind being left behind.

Really, he only minded when it was Lisabelle who left him behind. I knew her disappearance wore on him, but he fought against it as best he could, quietly, day after day.

Vital looked ready for battle, dressed in leather and pulling on leather gloves as he walked. His blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and strapped to his chest were what looked like about ten knives. I could only imagine how many knives he had hidden on the rest of his person.

“I feel under-armed,” said Sip. “If that’s a thing.”

Vital grinned. “It’s a thing now.”

In a rare show of semi-public affection, Lanca wrapped her arm around Vital’s waist and he slung his over her shoulder. She started whispering in his ear while Sip and I busied ourselves checking our packs. We were riding black horses, at least part of the way. They were vampire trained and bred and knew the terrain, and they could traveler faster than we could have on foot. On these horses, we could also be harder to spot than if we had ridden brooms.

I knew I should have stuck with my horseback riding lessons as a child. Now I could better understand my mother’s insistence that I try it out. I wasn’t much of a rider, but I could at least stay on a horse’s back, and Vital would be riding with us.

“We need a horse whisperer,” said Sip. “Is that a thing?”

“Is your new thing to ask if that’s a thing?” Lough asked quietly, patting the closest horse on the head. The big black animal bent its head, a good sign. Like hellhounds, these horses had black eyes and were pretty terrifying, like something out of my childhood nightmares. Unfortunately, in the last three years most of my nightmares could be said to have come true.

“I don’t like horses,” said Sip, eyeing the things. There were only two, because Sip planned to travel in werewolf form.

The horse cocked its head.

“Do you have to make everything mad?” Lough teased. “Just be nice.”

Lough helped me attach my bags to the saddle of Razor, my horse, then helped me mount. Razor stood very still.

“He must know I’m terrified,” I said through gritted teeth.

“Vampires, Nocturns, and Darkness Premiers are all fine, but a horse slays you,” said Vital. He and Lanca had broken apart, but he still held her hand. The queen smiled.

“It just takes getting used to,” she said.

“No offense, but it’s not something I really want to get used to,” I said, staring at the horse’s neck and willing myself to calm down. I hated heights, and this wasn’t even very high, but there was just something about having so much uncontrolled power under me that was terrifying.

“Thanks for doing this,” said Lanca, meeting each of our eyes. “We need more information, and they know when any Rapiers are coming.”

“Won’t they know about Vital?” Lough asked.

“Vital on his own can hide his signature,” Lanca explained, “and we’ve put strong cloaking charms on all of them. It should be enough for a quick trip.”

“Don’t worry,” said Sip. “We’ll be back.”

“We’ll only get into a couple of fights along the way,” I said.

Lanca looked at Vital, who knew enough not to say anything of the sort in front of his girlfriend.

“I’ll keep them safe,” he assured her.

“I know,” she said, “but who will keep you safe?”

“We’ll be fine,” Sip assured her. “The sooner we leave the sooner we can return.”

With that she changed into her werewolf form and trotted down the driveway, and Lanca and Lough stood side by side and watched us leave. I felt a cold weight settle in my stomach as I turned Razor and followed Vital. Somehow this didn’t feel like it would be a simple reconnaissance mission. It didn’t feel simple at all.

Sip kept a slow pace, allowing the horses to keep up. We didn’t stay on the road for long, since Vital soon pushed back some brush to reveal a secret path. We knew that woods and fields alternated all the way to Vampire Locke, and we had spent hours going over our entrance and exit plans. At Lanca’s insistence, we had also put in place several contingency plans for what we would do if we got separated.

Luckily, having the queen’s support was invaluable for sneaking into her own domain. There were secret codes that opened secret doors and hallways only the royal family knew about, and even if the demons had discovered them, there was no way they’d be expecting us to use them now.

Lanca had warned us not to get separated. Lough had agreed with her, and I couldn’t help but remember when Keller and I had been trapped in the bowls of Vampire Locke. It had not been a fun experience, and I was pretty sure I wouldn’t have survived without him.

Now, with Lanca’s ancestral home in the hands on of the Nocturns, the last thing I wanted was to be caught there alone.

We rode for several hours, not moving quickly. Sip never tired in werewolf form, though we did stop twice for water. Vital insisted that we had to stay alert and hydrated. We couldn’t afford any mistakes.

We didn’t talk as we rode, except for the occasional question about direction. Since we had arrived at Dunne ai Dorn, there had already been several meals that had turned into hours of conversation. Vital had asked about Lisabelle and Sip and I had decided not to mention the fact that our friend was still on our side. We had merely shrugged and looked sad. It wasn’t hard. I trusted Vital and I trusted Lanca; no part of me thought they were on the side of darkness, despite their vampire pull. But when Lisabelle’s life hung in the balance I couldn’t take any chances. For all we knew, Lanca had enemy spies in her midst who were listening in during secret meetings and conversations. I would never forgive myself if something happened to Lisabelle because of me.

At one point while we rode, I got lost in the memory of our last conversation, basically an overview of where everyone we cared about - either out of love or fear - was.

Keller was with Malle, but we weren’t sure where they had gone. I wasn’t sure of his motives anymore. I still wondered what I would do if I saw him, but without any communication in months I had reached the conclusion that he just didn’t care.

Then there were Faci, Daisy, Camilla, and Dobrov.

Lanca had heard that Camilla had gone home to her family and possibly met up with Cale. My old friend and crush worked for the Paranormal Police. I had heard that he was already in line to command. Of course he was, I thought; it fit him. I was glad he had found something that suited him, but I wondered where he had been when Ricky was nearly murdered. It was
certainly tempting to suspect that his longstanding and complicated relationship with Camilla had something to do with it.

Daisy and Faci were a mystery. They had left Public for winter break and joined the ranks there. I had to assume that Faci’s father was also there. Or as Queen Lanca called him, “the gutter whipper who deserved to die.”

Dobrov and the Key of Light were still on my mind as well, if only because I needed the Key to open my mom’s box. Of course, now a demon army stood between me and my heritage, but no matter. I still wanted to know: where was Dobrov? He hadn’t handed the Key over to darkness or we’d know about it one way or another, and that made me think he was still on our side. But with Daisy as his sister, how long could that last? How many small resistances could he manage before he lost in the only fight that ever mattered?

I wished I knew where he was.

I wished I could talk to him.

I wished a lot of things.

Chapter
Four

I was so lost in my thoughts that I nearly missed Sip coming to a quick stop. Luckily, Razor noticed and halted. I tried in vain to get the animal moving again before I realized that Vital had also come to a halt and had motioned for me to do the same.