The Steward (37 page)

Gavin opened the door of the Maserati in a flash as the first rain started to fall. In nothing less than a blur, he shot up the path quicker than I’d ever seen him move. I moved to the driver’s seat and put the key in the ignition, but I sat there for a few moments battling with my emotions. I’d just kissed him, and I’d felt sparks, and weirdness, but it was the lingering taste of his lips that dominated my thoughts. At the same time, I was also scared for him, and only somewhat comforted by what he’d said about being more powerful than Chalen.

Each raindrop made a
ting
sound when it hit the roof of the car, and they came with increased frequency. Large drops obscured the windshield, and beyond it, the dark clouds hanging in the sky grew darker yet.

The engine rumbled to life and I fumbled for the wipers. Just as I started down the driveway, the rain came furiously as several lightning bolts cracked on top of the hill. They were fighting, I thought. Without thinking I slammed on the brakes, feeling the tires drop into the ditch as the car slid to an abrupt halt. Shifting into reverse, I let off the clutch and pressed the accelerator—the tires only spun. I tried first gear with the same result. Embarrassed eyes stared at me from the rearview mirror.
Crap, you damaged his car, idiot.

The cold raindrops pounded my head and face when I stepped out, and quickly soaked through my shirt. The car was just off the gravel in the soft earth, but didn’t look damaged. It was, however, completely stuck.

Lightning scorched across the sky, and I felt the tingle of static electricity across my body before the bolts hit nearby. Rising above the howl of the wind, the booming thunder made me shudder. For a moment I thought about running down the hill to the cottage, like Gavin had asked, but instead, I ran to him. I didn’t even bother to run back up the drive, cutting instead through the woods, climbing over logs, and pushing through undergrowth to get to the abandoned road to Chalen’s cottage.

I felt each little cut as briars caught my bare legs and arms, but I didn’t stop. When I reached the old road, I was completely soaked through. The rain pounded my face to the point I could barely see. Reaching out with my mind, I sensed only two Fae—they were just ahead, but my heart raced when I felt the energy they both channeled. It occurred to me, when the next bolt of lightning struck, just how stupid I was to run through the woods in a lightning storm. But I needed to be there. Something was terribly wrong about this—I knew it in my gut.

Why did Chalen show up at the Fire trial? Why did he provoke Gavin in the meadow? Aunt May once told me that Water aligned Fae, like Chalen, don’t act on anything quickly. They plan methodically. My gut told me that Gavin was in danger.

The top of the hill lay just ahead. The back of the old greenhouse lit up each time lightning flashed in the sky—one of them flashing so brightly that I couldn’t see for a moment. Moving like a toddler on the uneven surface, I stumbled and fell to my knees on a rock … or something. Almost instantly there was a new flash, and I felt the residual charge of electricity in the air.

Futilely, I wiped the water out of my eyes as I forged ahead, slogging through the stream that now rushed down the old road. My feet were soaked and my sneakers felt ten pounds heavier. They slowed me down and I felt more desperate, more scared.

A torrential sheet of rain hit me—I’d never seen it come down this hard. The drops turned in mid-air and shot up the hill. Chalen directed it—I could feel his presence in the drops. I also felt Gavin’s when a thick bolt of lightning smashed into something on the other side of the greenhouse. When the blinding light subsided, I saw panes of glass falling from the mullions. I ran harder. They were both just ahead.

Catching my breath, I paused behind the broken greenhouse. The energy in the air was so thick I could feel it—if my hair weren’t soaked it would be standing on end. As I stood there, trying to see through the grimy glass, I felt two Fae descending on us. They came down the hill, from the side nearest the highway and behind the Fae to my right. When I looked around the corner I saw that it was Gavin. He was in physical form, and that terrified me. He was vulnerable! Why? He looked at me and I saw fear cross his face. I knew immediately that his fear was for me.

“Come to play!” Chalen’s voice shrieked at me from across the fountain—he was in physical form too, leering at me like he always did. A flash of lightning streaked toward him, but struck a wall of water, the electrical current dissipating just short of finding its mark.

Water from the fountain coursed up in front of me, forming a whirling tube that grew toward the place where I stood. It looked like a cobra coming out of a basket. Without thinking, I felt the edge of it with my mind and blocked its advance. It crashed against the shield of air, struggling to get past, moving left and right in search of an opening. The weight of the water pressing against my shield gained strength, exerting more force. I was physically braced against it, with my feet dug into the mud, but it pushed much harder—it was too strong.

Another bolt of lightning flashed toward Chalen and for a moment, while he shielded himself against it, I felt the pressure against me ease up and I smashed the water funnel to the ground.

The other Fae, in orb form, were behind Gavin and moving closer. He turned and flicked two fireballs at each of them. They shot away just before the fiery projectiles made contact.

“I’m not trying to hurt you, Chalen, not yet!” Gavin yelled, “This doesn’t have to get out of hand!”

“IT’S ALREADY OUT OF HAND!” Chalen screamed.

Three whirling tubes of water reformed around Gavin, and I felt the earth shake. A chasm opened beneath him, but he didn’t fall in. As the earth disappeared beneath his feet, he smiled, hovering in place. The tubes of water shot toward him, and I felt a strong wind pick up as well. Limbs and other things streaked toward Gavin like missiles. Earth and Air, I thought to myself as I scanned the area where I sensed the other Unseelie. They’d taken physical form and Gavin was in the crossfire.

I felt the objects in the air with my mind and forced them to the ground before they reached Gavin. I couldn’t stop the water though. I tried to catch it too, to move it, but something blocked me. The other Fae underestimated me at first, but they were much more powerful. The enormous pipes of water crashed into Gavin and I screamed. Projectiles shot toward me as he disappeared under the torrent of water and hail stones from above. I screamed to him.

Without thinking I blocked the rocks and limbs that hurled toward me, forcing them into the ground with only a few feet to spare. Each sank deep into the mud.

The rain seemed to get even more intense. No, it wasn’t the rain, I realized, it was the wind around me. It spun me and pushed so hard I became disoriented. I could feel it, but I couldn’t stop it. It pushed me downward. I stumbled, a split second later, when the earth rumbled underneath my feet. I felt my balance falter and though I tried to avoid it, I slammed into the ground hard on my back. The air rushed out of my lungs and the back of my head felt as if it were torn open. Struggling for breath, I couldn’t see anything at first. I only felt pressure from the invisible force pushing me into the mud so hard I thought it would crush me.

Air, that’s all I wanted, just to fill my lungs, but I couldn’t breathe. My lungs burned as I reached out with my mind to stop the wind, but it was no use. All I could do was block the enormous hailstones that snapped branches and broke the glass in the greenhouse. Still gasping for air, I caught a glimpse of a bright flash where Gavin had been. In a massive fountain of steam, the water sizzled and evaporated. It wasn’t Gavin like I’d ever seen him—he was standing in a ball of flame that whirled around him, his clothes burned away. The flames raged so hot I could feel them a hundred feet away. Never before had I seen him bare-chested, let alone bare everything. Only partially obscured by the fire, he was more beautiful than I could have imagined.

He shot a fiery glance back at the other Fae, and half a dozen bolts of lightning converged on the places they stood. Both must have sensed it coming, because they shifted to their natural form and disappeared into the earth just as the bolts sliced through trees, sheering them off in black sizzling shards, and dug several feet into the ground. Rock and mud spit into the air in giant plumes. The ground rocked from the thunderclap. Gavin was furious and clearly through playing around.

The quaking beneath my feet stopped and the wind pushing me down died away. Struggling to fill my lungs, I coughed and gasped for breath at the same time. I managed to sit up, but I was dizzy and fought to keep my eyes open. The back of my head throbbed and an intense wave of pain shot through my body when I touched it. I nearly passed out. My hand was covered in hair and blood when I pulled it back—it was bad. Gavin looked at me, still ablaze, before quickly closing the distance between himself and Chalen.

I wasn’t frozen, but I was unable to move—I just didn’t know what to do because I was too weak to stand. Ahead of Gavin, glowing molten arms raced forward, reaching for Chalen. The rain sizzled and evaporated on contact. Chalen’s face contorted in fear as he tried to block them with torrents of water and ice. I saw him losing ground, and I knew it was only moments before the flames would consume him.

Just as they reached his body, he started to transform. He was translucent for a moment, but the flames flickered out and weakly receded back to Gavin’s hands. He stopped and looked behind me. So did Chalen, as the water in the fountain stopped roiling. In an instant the entire area grew calm, and the rain fell no heavier than a light shower. Groggy, I felt the presence and spun my head around, nearly blacking out from the pain. Several Fae had joined us. I didn’t notice them before.

They were in human form. The Council. I’d never
seen
them before. They wore sleek, shimmering silver robes and looked as regal as I had expected. In a moment, three Fae in similar robes joined us all from the opposite direction. Chalen rushed to them, taking a wide path around Gavin—they were Unseelie. Excruciating pain filled my pounding head, nauseating me, but I fought to listen.

A tall, slender woman with fiery red hair and pale porcelain skin spoke first. I recognized the musical voice. It belonged to Ozara.

“This cannot be permitted to happen, Zarkus.”

“I agree,” rumbled the low baritone voice of the majestic, white-haired Fae who stood in the middle of the Unseelie.

“Ozara, Zarkus, my apologies for this,” Gavin said. Gavin told them that Chalen had compelled me and that he’d done so while I was in the cottage. He accused Chalen of murdering Aunt May and attacking Rhonda and Candace, and demanded that Chalen be banished.

“If any action is warranted, the Council will take it, not you,” Ozara said, before turning to Chalen. “Is this true?” Ozara asked softly, the tension in the air betraying her real mood.

“It is, all of it, except I did not harm May O’Shea, but I think you’ll agree with me that my actions were necessary.”

Gavin shot Chalen a fierce look, his chiseled body tense again.

“Go on,” Ozara said, focusing her blazing amber eyes on Chalen.

“Our most important law has been broken—a forbidden relationship exists between the
Treoraí and the Steward. I
have done only what I thought necessary to protect the Weald, to protect us all.”

“That is not true!” I tried to protest.

I felt myself losing consciousness as I spoke, the pain searing in my head, and I couldn’t see for a moment. I knew they were arguing with one another, but I couldn’t hear any sound except the ringing in my ears. It was all a blur.

I slipped back into the mud, the scalding pain returning as my head made contact. I vomited and fought for air, choking on the bile. They continued to argue, but because of the shrill noise in my ears, I couldn’t make out the words. When I concentrated and forced my eyes open, I saw Gavin staring at me, his chocolate eyes locked onto mine—he was smiling. I fought to keep looking but my eyes closed. When I managed to open them again, a green bolt of lightning, larger and more powerful than any I’d ever seen, seared the spot on the ground where Gavin had been standing. I heard myself screaming when the blackness took me.

TWENTY
-
FOUR

BOOGEY MAN

Sizzling brightly against the twilight sky, fire consumed each tiny drop around me. I had no idea how long I’d been sitting there or how long it had been raining—an hour, maybe two. I wasn’t wet and neither was anything within ten feet of me, even though I sat on the beach in the middle of a deluge. Well, that wasn’t completely true—I’d cried so much my face was soaked, but the rain hadn’t reached me. I’d never seen it happen before, and I suppose I was doing it subconsciously—clearly my connection to Fire was stronger than I’d first thought. Every raindrop that got close burst into little fiery droplets that evaporated into steam and disappeared as they fell.

“Gavin!” I screamed again.

My heaving chest hurt and my throat ached. The crying started shortly after I had left everyone to escape to the beach. I awoke after Sherman healed me at the greenhouse. The wound would have been fatal, he told me, had it not been for his immediate intervention. Now, though, I didn’t even have a bump on my head. Sherman had been there the entire time. He and Victoria were on the Council—a fact I didn’t know until tonight.

I didn’t cry because Gavin was dead—I cried because he soon would be. Ozara and the Council believed Chalen and ordered the only punishment mandated for violating The Edict. Despite my attempts to shoulder the blame, and my adamant assurance that Gavin didn’t love me, Sherman said the Council would take no more evidence. It was decided.

Gavin had barely escaped—narrowly avoiding the green lightning I’d seen. With an apologetic look on his face, Sherman pleaded with me to forget about Gavin, as death would surely find him if he ever ventured close to me.