Five (Elemental Enmity Series Book I) (5 page)

Cassie turned her back to me. I had expected her to laugh, but her breath came in rapid gasps. I waited: No response. Abandoning my bed, she moved to a suitcase and sorted through the contents.

Maybe this was more serious than I thought? Maybe Cassie did know something? There was only one way to find out. “Aunt Grace told me I was in danger,” I said. “In my estimation that puts you in danger, too.”

She stopped folding her delicates into neat piles and faced me. Her pale blue eyes brimmed with unshed tears. The smooth angles of her face contorted into a horrible grimace. I cringed when I heard the horror in her voice. “I can’t talk about this.” She covered her eyes with both hands. Her body trembled from thunderous sobs.

I edged closer to her and placed my hand gently on her shoulder. She shrugged it away.

I gritted my teeth. “It isn’t like I wouldn’t believe you. First the trip here and then Aunt Grace’s call; I’m up for anything just about now.”

She thrust her arms violently to her sides. “You can’t possibly understand what it’s like.” She hesitated for a few seconds, her tone frigid with fear. “I spent five years in counseling to combat my hallucinations. I embraced them once, and it cost me. I won’t do it again!” Quicker than I could respond, she spun away from me.

She thought she was hallucinating? Could two people have the same delusion? I closed the distance between us. “I might understand if you were the only one that saw it. It was black and scary and that guy made me feel…so strange. I need you to tell me what you saw, Cassie.”

She offered a contemptuous look over her shoulder. “My eyes don’t work any differently than yours do.”

“Then you did see the pegasus?”

She huffed, shoving her hands into her hair. “I didn’t say that!”

I frowned at her. We weren’t kids anymore, and we weren’t playing make-believe. “I guess I imagined the whole thing. Stress got to me. Is that it?”

She wouldn’t look at me when I stood in front of her. “It could be.”

“I thought we didn’t have secrets. Going through counseling for that long had to be horrible. I can’t say I understand what it was like to have had hallucinations, but I saw it too. Don’t you understand that? I saw it, Cassie!” Her reaction only solidified Aunt Grace’s claim. If Cassie really had seen the pegasus, that could only mean there was some truth to what Aunt Grace told me. When she didn’t respond, I pressed forward. “What if there is more to this world than we know? What if you weren’t delusional all those years ago? Your stories—”

“We’re here for school, not to talk about imaginary people.” Cassie narrowed her eyes, sending me a frosty glare. Even with that attempt, she hadn’t covered the fear that lingered beneath the contempt. “I’ll go to Snow if you continue with this nonsense.”

I clenched my fists at my sides, trying my best to understand her. I couldn’t believe she’s never told me about this. “You would leave over a question?” I couldn’t lose this life before it even started.

St. Mary’s would be horrible without her. A horrible thought hit me. If she left, would her dad’s money go with her? I hated myself for even thinking about that.

“I hope I don’t have to.”

Her gaze chilled me more than her blunt words. I gaped at her. She had only been like this once before.

Her mother had taken her away for a seven-month sabbatical. She missed half of the sixth-grade. I hadn’t ever fit in with the kids at school. Without Cassie, my days had almost been unbearable.

When she finally came home, I expected vivid details about India. What I got was, “It was hot, but nice.” She refused to play our usual games after that trip. That was when her obsession with football began.

I never got the appeal. She loved the games more than my cousin Travis did. I didn’t think that was possible.

I missed our excursions into fantasy. Unfortunately, I had to make-believe on my own after that. It wasn’t the same, though. Something must have happened while she was away, but there was no way she was going to tell me about it right now. She had on her mask of stone. My tone fell flat when I answered her. “I’ll just have to figure things out without you.”

She thrust a finger at me before turning to her clothes again. “Grace is trying to teach you a lesson for lying to her. It isn’t anything more than that.” Despite her solid exterior, a shudder rippled along her back. “It can’t be.”

I didn’t want Cassie to leave, and I didn’t want to push her into talking about something buried so deep. When she was ready, she’d tell me. “I guess so.”

She pulled away when I tried to hug her. I never thought I would see a day when I would want some distance from Cassie. I was wrong.

I went for a run. The one thing that usually cleared my mind wasn’t working.

My thoughts cycled in a whirlwind of
why’s
. Cassie was definitely lying to me about something big, and I had come to the conclusion she had been lying to me for quite a while. I was pretty sure it had to do with when her mom took her away, but I couldn’t be sure. I wanted to think Aunt Grace was the deceitful one, but that didn’t feel right. Her words came back in a rush: ‘Fae lords will be coming for you.’

Considering such a thing went against the foundations of reality. Even if I had hallucinated the pegasus, the guy on the bike was more than an ordinary man. Something within him called to something within me. I didn’t understand it. The only thing I could really hope for now was that I would never see him again. I shuddered at the thought even though I had always wished something magical would to happen to me.

I hadn’t realized as a child how frightening being swept off my feet by a fairy prince would be in real life. What would that man have done with me if I had stopped the car? He hadn’t exactly been the prince charming I had conjured up as a kid, either. He was a far sight larger and an eternity scarier.

I just needed to keep telling myself that none of this was true; none of this was real. The logical part of my mind sure thought that. Cassie was right. Aunt Grace was probably playing a trick on me.

My feet flew over the pavement, making short work of campus. I should have been recuperating from our trip, but I couldn’t rest with so many unknowns parading through my brain.

I slowed, my lungs needing more air than I could currently give them at the pace I had set. My mono-vision blurred outward. Enormous pine trees surrounded the narrow path I stood on. Dizziness overwhelmed me when I looked up at the sprawling branches. What the heck? No buildings were in sight.

How had I gotten into the woods? The place looked more like the Redwood Forest than the Nature Area of campus. This was just great. It probably wasn’t the best idea for me to be out here alone.

Okay. No need to panic. The rush of water thundered somewhere near me. If I followed the river, I could find my way back to my dorm. I headed toward the sound, kicking myself for not paying attention to where I was going.

A fat drop of rain pelted my cheek and slid down my face. A couple more splattered on my scalp. What was going on? The sky had been clear moments before. I gaped at the voluminous clouds rolling toward me. They were the deep, dark gray of a turbulent, summer storm. The wind picked up, sending my hair whipping around my face; I pulled it into a makeshift bun to get it out of my eyes. I had to find shelter. If only I had a clue where I was. Why had I been this stupid?

The heavens dumped on me like a waterfall. I usually loved staying out in the rain—that was because I had never experienced a tempest like this. A small roofline caught my attention, barely visible through the trees. I cut into the bushes toward it. The bramble dug into my flesh, leaving a crosshatch of welts on my arms.

The door of the old shack hung open at an odd angle, only attached by one leather hinge. Most of the windows were broken. Even though this was the sort of place an ax-murderer would hang out, I raced inside. It wasn’t like I had a better option.

The second I entered the room the musk of wet earth and ancient wood surrounded me. I breathed in deeply, savoring the freshness. The world seemed newer somehow.

The intricacy of the hand-planed walls mesmerized me. Even with how small it was, it must have taken forever to build this place. I sat cross-legged on the rickety floorboards waiting for the clouds to break. I could probably sit here for hours without much of a problem even if it wasn’t raining.

The sounds of nature floated near—the song of a bird melded with the percussion of the rain in a timeless, soothing rhythm. I closed my eyes, my nerves calming with every revitalizing lungful of air.

I would figure this out. Whatever it was, I would deal with it. My plight couldn’t be as bad as Aunt Grace had implied.

I pulled out my phone, trying her number again. It was busy.
Of course
.

I called Cassie to smooth things over before I went back—the same. It didn’t even roll to voice-mail.

I hit every saved number I had. They wouldn’t go through.

I tried the customer service number. No luck.

Frustration bubbled up in me like an over-full pot. What was going on? Despite the trees and the rain, I had a clear signal.

I took some more calming breaths, squaring my shoulders. I would use Cassie’s phone to call home. Everything was going to be fine. It had to be.

A twig cracked near the back of the shack, startling me. My scar lit up like a skyscraper at midnight. I turned toward the broken window. Nothing was there, but a dark foreboding washed over me in thick waves. Was that the wind or a hungry growl?

Another crack.

I bolted out the door, bounding on the sodden ground. I ignored the branches pulling at my arms and hair like greedy fingers. The rain soaked through my sweatshirt and jeans as if they were nothing more than linen sacks. I had to get to my dorm. I needed the safety of people.

A person stepped onto the path up ahead, undoubtedly male by the bulking frame. I skidded to a stop, my arms flailing for balance.

Most of his face was shrouded by the hooded trench coat he wore. Despite that and the sheets of rain, the caress of his gaze traveled the length of me. Not a second later, he started toward me in determined strides.

Frantic to find an escape, I searched the landscape for a side trail. I was being ridiculous. He was just a man—probably a Notre Dame student caught in the rain, just like me.

I would glide past him calmly. I might even say hello just to cut the tension.

A niggling thought made its way to the surface of my mind: What if he won’t let you?

A new emotion hit me like a tsunami. Incessant need climbed into my pounding heart. My body ached to be near him…just like the man on the bike. Could it be him? Had he really followed me here?

I stepped forward timidly.

What was I doing?

One more step.

Oh, no.

Why were my legs moving without me telling them to?

A horrible impulse surged through me to rush to his side. I longed for him to fold me in his all-encompassing embrace.

I was insane.

I did not know this man.

So why his pull command me forward no matter how hard I fought? Maybe I was hallucinating again. But how could a hallucination make my heart ache like this?