Five (Elemental Enmity Series Book I) (42 page)

“Great company you’re keeping these days.”

I shook my head. “As if I had a choice.”

“If I were you, I would stay here. Home hasn’t been a blast, either.”

I hadn’t expected that. “What happened?”

Her eyes held a suppressed pain that had never been there before. “Too much to explain now. Let’s just say that Roger Wayne has his grubby hands in a lot of things. They’re all gone, Rayla.”

“Who?”

She grimaced. “Your whole family. Castlerock has been deserted. It was the pig farm.”

“What?” I didn’t understand a thing she was saying.

“They were hiding hundreds of Elementals in the pig farm.”

“Why?”

“Exactly,” she whispered.

Tabitha had stopped berating Finn. She tapped my shoulder. I inhaled deeply, trying to control my temper.

I had to remember not to do that here. My head swam again.

Then again…I breathed in as much as I could. If I was unconscious, she couldn’t make me bond with Jafan.

“Think again, little girl,” Tabatha said, taking my arm and yanking me over to where Jafan stood.

He smirked at me. I kicked his shin. I’d forgotten I was wearing flimsy slippers. I gritted my teeth. I wasn’t about to let him see I had hurt myself far worse than him.

“Luthais, Ammon, come,” called Tabitha.

Luke and Zach stood in front of me. Neither one of them would look me in the eye. Were they really going to let this woman decide which of them could have me? Why weren’t they fighting her?

Tabitha shot me a warning look. She grabbed my hand again and reached out for Zach. As soon as his fingers touched hers, my insides exploded with pain. Tabitha laughed wildly. Was she enjoying this?

Luke was next. The same thing happened. I would die if she tested our compatibility again, which was exactly what she looked like she was about to do.

“Stop,” I pleaded. “I can’t take anymore.”

Tabitha let go of Luke and put her hands on my shoulders. “Do you have a preference, child?”

“I…” I looked between Zach and Luke feeling twenty shades of conflicted. “I need more time,” I said softly.

“We don’t have that to give you.” Tabitha’s back stiffened. “You will bond with Jafan of Eldrea.”

“No!” I screamed, backing away from everyone. The sky was the only thing behind me.

“Seize her,” screamed Ainessa. “You have not yet tested my connection to the Elemental!”

Where had she come from? I had forgotten I had to worry about her too. I glanced over the edge and back at the eager people in front of me. I shook my head. There were no good options.

I wasn’t about to let some wild woman decide who I was going to be bound to for the next few centuries. I wouldn’t.

Finding Cassie in the crowd, I gave her a look of goodbye. Finn would take care of her.

“What are you doing?” shouted Zach, racing toward me.

“Rayla!” cried Luke.

“I’m sorry,” I said. Zach was a finger’s breadth away from me.

Tears trickled down my cheeks. I smiled at him.

Then I jumped.

My heart thudded wildly. I hoped I was right, and I wasn’t actually plummeting to my death. I called the elements to my aid. A gust of wind shot up at me then sputtered out.

I fell faster. I called water to me. The only thing that accomplished was completely drenching myself as I still went whirling toward the wispy mist below. Why wasn’t I better at this? Fire wouldn’t help. Earth would just end my life sooner. What was I going to do?

I thought of a whirlwind, trying to visualize it lifting me out of this place. It was working. I kept my eyes closed. A gust cycloned around me. I could do it. I just had to…

“What kind of stupid trick was that?” came an unrecognizable voice.

I opened a lid. Ageless obsidian eyes gazed into mine. I screamed, but Styx was still circling me.

“What is your problem, Elemental? Have I ever harmed you?”

Was a pegasus
really
speaking to me? His lips hadn’t moved.

Styx grunted out a puff of purple smoke before he whirled around me again. “Open your legs wider.”

I snorted. “Like that’s going to happen.”

The irritation was hard to miss in his tone. “Just do it.”

A second later, I straddled the beast. Heat billowed off him in thick waves.

I hugged his broad neck. “I thought I was dead for sure.” Why was I finding it so hard to say thank you?

A rich laugh rang out. Could he read my mind too? Great.

He grunted. “You would have figured it out in time, but Ammon would never forgive me if I let you test your powers any longer. I couldn’t take any more of his idle threats.”

He banked left. Holy crap, I was flying. My heart sped up. The wind raged into me. I gripped his mane tighter, trying not to fall off. It was soft, but not quite as billowy as his feathers. They tickled my legs every time he beat his wings. I giggled even though I was still terrified.

“You are a strange one,” said Styx. “Imagine the wind flowing around you.”

Look who was talking.
I closed my eyes, seeing the stream part. It wasn’t as bad now.

I glanced behind me. The castle was a bright spot in the distance. Why wasn’t anyone following us? I thought Tabitha would send the royal guard to chase me down once she knew I hadn’t bit it back there. “Where are you taking me?”

“The borderlands.”

I shivered. I’d had enough of those horrible creatures the other day or whenever it was. Zach and Luke hadn’t exactly been forthcoming about how long I was actually out.

“It is a treacherous place, but I doubt that it’s any less dangerous for you than anywhere else. We cannot be detected there. They will have to search on foot if they want to find you. Tabitha is more likely to let the lords figure it out themselves now.”

I didn’t want Styx reading my thoughts. There was a reason thoughts are private.

He chuckled. “It’s one of the many gifts granted to flying demons from hell.”

I felt embarrassed for thinking about him that way, but he was freaky.

“Thanks.”

He sounded so human. “Would you stop listening to my thoughts?”

“I wish I could.”

Oh
.

The land was amazing from this height. The entire planet glowed with an inner light. The patchwork quilt of plant life covered Mother Earth. Finger Lakes gleamed in the distance. Where were we anyway?

The sun was setting, bringing a chill to the air. If it weren’t for the blessed heat coming from Styx, I would have frozen to death. Why was the human realm so different?

“Do you really want to know the answer to that question, or was it rhetorical?”

I nodded, as if he could see me. Oh yeah, he didn’t have to.

“It is part of being mortal. There are many things you do not see.”

That was comforting.

“You asked.”

My first impressions of this beast were wrong. He was being rather pleasant and kind of funny. “I thought you hated me?”

“Far from it, Elemental. I have been waiting for you for millennia. I used to enjoy living here. Not so much anymore.”

“Why not?”

The beast’s muscles coiled underneath me. Anger radiated from him. “They have captured my herd.”

“Who has?”

Styx slowed to a hover. He searched the ground. Was he looking for those creatures?

“There are worse things than hellhounds in this place.”

Wonderful news.
I really didn’t need to know that.

He descended. Great puffs of dust whirled out with every flap of his wings. I coughed, shielding my face in his mane.

He touched down softly and stood still. Was I supposed to get off now?

“Up to you. You don’t weigh that much.”

“Are you going to finish what you were saying?”

He trotted over to a stream. I bounced on his back, sure I was going to fall off. I tried to tighten my thighs, but he was so wide.

He snorted.

“I wasn’t calling you fat, okay?”

Silence
. Had I hurt his feelings?

His head reared back as he whinnied. He pawed at the ground then lowered his muzzle to the stream. I hopped down. Hitting the ground hard, I fell to my knees. Styx paid no attention to me as he guzzled the water.

“I’d like to see how you’d manage if you had to fly that distance?”

“I wasn’t trying to insult you. This telepathy thing is weird. How can you stand it? I’d hate having to listen to everyone’s inner chatter.”

He gave me a nod. That was it.

I cupped my hand and brought some water to my lips. It was icy cold and made my head hurt worse, but I gulped it down. I hadn’t realized how thirsty I was.

Styx wandered over to a grassy area under the glimmering branches of a gnarled oak tree. I finished another handful of water and ran after him. The sun was almost gone now, and I didn’t know how I was supposed to stay in this place knowing what was out there. Or, worse yet, knowing that even more horrible creatures could be lurking in the darkness.

As if on cue, one of the shadows detached from a tree fifty feet away from me. My breath hitched. I readied myself to call the elements.

The beautiful beast of a man strode forward, every bit as lethal as anything else I could come across in this place. The expression on his face was unyielding.

I backed into Styx who nudged me forward. I searched for an escape, knowing there was none. I would never be free of this man, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to be.

Zach smiled, sauntering toward me as though he had all the time in the world. “A bit rash back there, don’t you think?”

“I—”

He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. You’re safe.”

If that were true, why did I feel like a little bunny trying to outwit a circling hawk?

Styx snorted. He was laughing at me.

I turned and glared at him. A purple-black flame roared from his mouth.

I somersaulted then staggered to my feet. I glared back at him. “Traitor.”

Zach laughed. “He has known me quite a bit longer than you.”

I looked at Zach, trying to keep my expression from belying how much I wanted him to take me in his arms. How much I craved his kiss. I couldn’t let that happen right now. I knew what his kiss could mean for me. “So, what now?”

Zach shrugged, inching closer to me. He stood directly in front of me.

There was no point in running. Where would I go that they wouldn’t find me? I knew better than to try to traverse this place alone. Besides, if I was really going to fight fate, I had to know more about what I was dealing with.

“It’s good to know you’ve found some sense,” he said, tracing a finger along my hairline.

I shivered. “You didn’t answer my question, as usual.”

He smirked. “Give me a minute. I was just trying to decide what I should do to you.”

“Don’t you mean with me?”

“If you insist.” He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close.

I had thought it hard to breathe before he claimed my mouth. Breathing is overrated. I shouldn’t have participated, but I needed his strength, his reassurance. I had to learn how to find the will to resist him if I was going to ever get control over my life.

Someone cleared his throat. Luke. I could feel him behind me. What was he doing here?

Instead of pulling back, Zach deepened his kiss. I pushed away from him feeling more than a little awkward.

Zach sighed hugely before turning to Luke. “You have great timing.”

Luke shrugged, leveling a self-satisfied expression at Zach. “What’s the plan?”

“Finn will be here shortly. We have to deal with the Order before we can come to any sort of agreement where Rayla is concerned. The compact has been broken. Wayne’s house was full of Elemental research. The data I gathered is current.”

Luke nodded. “I was going to check on an island in the pacific before we started the hunt. The place disappeared from our radar three years ago. It reappeared last week.”

So that was what Zach had been up to at Roger’s. “How will we get there?” I interrupted.

Both men shot me an irritated scowl. Even Styx seemed to be conspiring against me.

Zach raised a brow. “After a stunt like that, you are not coming. And if you think either one of us is going to give you a say in this decision, you are deluding yourself.”