Five (Elemental Enmity Series Book I) (27 page)

I took one last look at Cassie wondering when or if I would ever see her again. “Bye,” I said before walking out of the room.

I was wiping the tears from my cheeks when I spotted a familiar Celtic face coming toward me. I was preparing to do battle when I noticed the sadness in his tawny eyes
.

“How is she?” Finn asked softly.

“She’s going home with her mother.” I couldn’t stay mad at him long. He hadn’t come at me with the ‘you are for me’ speech the others had. In fact, now that I thought about it, he hadn’t pursued me like the others at all.

He held out a beautiful bouquet of red roses. The sultry scent filled the hallway, covering up the sterile odor. “Would you give these to her? Tell her I wish her a speedy recovery.” He hesitated. “Tell her I will make this right.”

I shot him a wary look. “How do you plan to do that?”

He folded his massive arms across his chest. “We are not allowed to harm humans. I will bring the one that did this to swift justice.”

I eyed him curiously. “Here’s a question for you. How exactly do you punish an immortal?”

He gave me a lopsided smile. “Perhaps there is more to you than I first thought. I cannot divulge that information, Rayla. It is forbidden.”

I tensed when he said my name, but it sounded normal coming from him. I didn’t feel a bit uncomfortable around him, either. He was still completely gorgeous, but I wasn’t fighting any unwanted urges. Could the lords turn off their sex appeal at any time?

He edged a little closer, holding the roses higher. “Please, give these to her.”

I looked him over. He almost seemed self conscious. I smiled at him, dumbfounded by what I was about to say. “Why don’t you do it yourself? I have a feeling she would like that.”

His countenance brightened. He was as devastatingly beautiful as the rest of them. “Do you think so? Has she said anything about me?”

“I—”

He frowned suddenly. “Never mind. I don’t want to know. It will only make this harder.”

I took hold of his arm before he could spin away. “Finn.”

He looked at my hand then clamped his eyes shut, inhaling sharply as though he was shaking off an unwanted thought. “I cannot do it.” He shoved the roses at me and stalked away.

I fumbled, trying not to drop them. A thorn stuck into my finger. I licked my wound watching him move briskly down the hallway, his long auburn braid swaying. Even at this angle, I could tell he was really upset.

How interesting: a fae lord that actually didn’t want me. The heavens were smiling on me.

I knocked on Cassie’s door. Her sallow features brightened when she saw the roses.

She sat up straighter. “You didn’t have to do that.”

I handed them to her. “I didn’t.”

She gave me a confused look. “Huh?” She brought the bundle to her nose, inhaling deeply.

I smiled, knowing how she would react to my revelation before I uttered the words. “They’re from Finn.”

Her head snapped up sharply, her eyes intent on mine. I could see the questions whirring through her mind.

Mrs. Lambert was suddenly at attention. “You never told me you had an admirer already, Cassie. Who is he? What’s he like? Does he come from a good family?”

I scowled at her last question. From her vantage point, I didn’t come from a good family. Did that make me less?

Cassie cuffed Mrs. Lambert’s arm. “Get over it already. I’ve only seen him once, Mom.” Cassie turned toward me with a wide grin. “Rayla, when you see Finn again, tell him thank you for me.”

I nodded. “Call me when you get home.”

Her mom started with more questions. Cassie grunted, yet from the look on her face, she secretly loved the attention.

Zach paced anxiously by his bike when I came through the door. “It took you long enough.”

He had a right to be worried. “Cassie had an unexpected visitor.”

He handed me the helmet. “Who was it?”

I wasn’t sure if I should tell him or not, but I needed him now more than ever. “Finn.”

His eyes flew wide. “Bloody hell.” He clenched his fists then pinched the bridge of his nose, breathing heavily. “I can’t even leave you for a…wait a minute. You said Cassie had a visitor.”

“Yep.” My cheeks hurt from the smile plastered to my face. “Isn’t it great?”

He shook his head. He was silent the entire ride back to the dorm.

Zach came up to my room. I hated thinking of it as that. I wanted Cassie back here as soon as possible.

He sat on the couch while I fiddled with the recorder that Adam had given me. I replayed a little of the static before I shut it off. I couldn’t imagine listening to the thing for hours, hoping to catch a voice that shouldn’t be heard.

“So let me get this straight. Finn, the lord of fire, brought roses to Cassie?” Zach asked. His expression was more than a little skeptical.

Finn’s statement to Cassie in the gift shop made total sense now. “I know it’s hard to believe, but he didn’t want anything to do with me.”

He shot me a wary look. “I wouldn’t trust him if I were you.”

How dumb did he think I was? “Like I was planning to. It was just nice to have one of them interested in someone else for a change.”

He smirked. “That can’t last long. They are here to claim you. One of them is bound to figure out a way to do it if we give him enough time.”

I sat next to him, taking his hand in mine. “You still haven’t told me how you know all of this.”

He glared. “Stop asking. It will be easier for both of us that way.”

I was just going to come out with it. I had to know. “Are you an Elemental, too?”

His eyes widened as though I had just asked him if he could fly. He barked out a laugh. His words were hard to understand between his exaggerated guffaws. “There are no male Elementals, Rayla.”

I frowned at him. “It was a logical question, so stop laughing at me.”

His lips quivered. He held a serious expression for a second. “Nope, can’t do it.” The thunderous amusement started again.

I had never seen him laugh this hard. It was a belly laugh, the kind that makes your insides tight with pain.

I giggled a little. “What’s so funny?”

He held up a finger, breathing in deeply through his nose. He looked away, clearly trying to compose himself. He finally spoke after a few minutes. “Plenty have tried to create a male Elemental, especially men that come from long lines of exclusively male children. It never works. Elementals only bear girls. I cannot tell you the why of it, but it has never happened. It likely never will.”

The thought brought more questions. “Women are the only ones with this power?” How did fae women feel about that? I couldn’t imagine any female thinking it was okay for men to hold more power than they did. Were lords the only fae that could bond with an elemental? I wanted to know now more than ever what exactly bonding was.

Zach donned a serious expression. “It is said to be a curse of sorts brought on by the first of your kind.”

I stood up and started pacing. I was so confused. It certainly felt like a curse to me. “What do you mean—brought on?”

He frowned. “Faine was the first human to ever have direct contact with the fae. They had been forbidden to have any physical interaction with the children of men. That was until a nineteen-year-old girl stumbled into the fae realm.”

I gasped. “How did she do that?”

“She was a seer. Fae glamour didn’t work on her. She followed a lord into the borderlands that house a few of the lesser fae.

“For some reason, the normal wards did not repel her. When the lord discovered her, he took her to the fae counsel. They petitioned for a meeting with the creator. He sent a messenger in his stead. You might have heard of him.” He smiled but didn’t go any further.

I was too impatient to wait for him to finish his guessing game. “Who was it?”

“Gabriel.”

I smirked. “The archangel?”

Zach leaned up against the door. “I know it’s a lot to handle, but you’re the one that asked. I can stop if you don’t believe me.”

I gave him a sheepish expression. “I’m sorry. Go on.”

He nodded. “Gabriel told the woman that she was never intended to see the fae. He instructed her to go back to the human realm. She protested, saying that there had to be an explanation for her vision. She reasoned that God must have had a higher purpose for her.”

I grunted. I couldn’t believe that a girl my age had started this hell all because of curiosity. When I got to heaven, I was going to have more than words with the stupid chick that did this to me. She should have left with the angel. She should never have gone where she shouldn’t have been. “She should have said thank you very much and got the heck out of there.”

He smiled gravely. “It would have saved heartache on both sides.”

I had never considered how a fae would feel about this whole situation. Did they even
like
Elementals? Could they love? Did they regret having to return an Elemental to the human realm when the bond fizzled out? Did they have the same emotions as humans? Had I judged them unfairly? “Grace mentioned the lords want me for my power.” I was suddenly feeling munchy, so I grabbed a handful of candy. I plopped a couple into my mouth. “Do you know how that works?”

Zach cleared his throat. I offered him a few.

His eyes widened. He spoke in a rush. “Where did you get these?”

“They’re Cassie’s.” It came out slurred. I swallowed a mouthful of sugary saliva preparing to say it again in case he hadn’t understood me. The candy went flying out of my hand. “Hey!”

He moved so fast I hardly had time to react. He started fishing what was left out of my mouth. I bit down.

“Ow,” he yelped. He inspected his damaged digit and glared at me.

“Serves you right.” I held up a finger. It wasn’t the one I really wanted to give him. “Never, ever get in between a girl and her candy.”

His face was ashen as he held his hand under my chin. “Spit it out.” His chest was rising and falling rapidly.

I did as commanded, but I didn’t like it. That candy was blissful. “You’d better start explaining, or get the heck out of here.” I said after a few moments of silence.

He grabbed the candy bowl and disappeared into the restroom. The toilet flushed. I raced to the door.

“Why did you do that?”

His eyes were hooded. “It’s fae.”

Okay, that didn’t sound so good, but…oh, who was I trying to kid. I was screwed. “So?”

“There are severe consequences for eating fae delicacies. The council will never agree to let you stay in the human realm now.”

“What are you talking about?”

He grabbed my shoulders, staring directly into my eyes. “Rayla, you’ve been fae-nipped.”

I groaned. “I’d love to say I know what that means, but I am sort of new to this.”

He shook his head. “Let’s just hope you haven’t digested enough of the bloody stuff to change you.”

I put my hands on my hips. “I refuse to live my life worrying about everything I put in my mouth.”

His gaze fell to my lips. His expression sent a bolt of heat through my body. I looked away when he smiled wolfishly.

“Tell me that you haven’t had any more of them,” he said.

I shrugged. He brought his face inches from mine.

“How many?”

I tried to pull away, but it did no good. “Only one.”

His grip tightened. “How long ago?”

“I think it was this morning.”

“You think!”

That was the problem. I couldn’t at the moment. My stomach growled like a pack of coyotes fighting for fresh meat. “Let’s talk about this later. I’m hungry.”

He sighed. The look he gave me was anything but comforting. “Okay, love. I know a great place for burgers.”

My mouth watered at the thought. “Sounds fantastic.” I smiled at him and grabbed my jacket. “I don’t think I have ever been this hungry before.”

His expression was grim. “I sincerely doubt it.”

“Huh?”

“Never mind. Let’s go.”

By the time we got to the diner, I was famished. It was one of those old-time drive-ins with carhops and speakers that look like the grille of a sports car. I ordered two cheeseburgers, fries, and a shake. I wanted to rip into my food the moment the waitress brought it to us, but Zach insisted that we go back to the dorm.