“Demigods?” I repeated, my palms flat against the wall behind me. “I think you have the wrong people. We’re witches. Not demigods.”
“You’re either trying to trick me, or you truly don’t know.” Megan cackled, throwing her head back in amusement. “Well, let me enlighten you,” she said, sneering at me. “You’re a daughter of Aphrodite.” Then she turned to Garrett and snarled. “You’re a son of Hermes. But you…” she trailed, fixing her gaze on Kayla. “Are just an ordinary witch, and are therefore expendable. How unfortunate.”
Kayla stiffened, and I reached for her hand and squeezed it. No matter what happened, I wouldn’t let her get hurt. She was my best friend. I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to her—especially if it was because some crazy mythological monster was hunting me.
“What do you want with us?” I asked Megan, narrowing my eyes at her.
By now everyone in the club had gathered in a large circle around us, leaving us space to give them a show. Kayla yelled at them to help, but no one answered her or moved to do anything. They just stood there, watching.
What was wrong with them? Couldn’t they see that we needed help?
“I want the two of you to come with me,” Megan said, her lips curving into a twisted smile. “Or else the witch will die.” She stepped forward, lowering her neck so her face was level with mine. “This doesn’t have to be hard. If you and the boy come with me now, then your friend is free to leave.”
“And you expect us to trust you?” I asked, buying us time as I scanned the area for a way to escape.
Megan cocked her head to the side. “You don’t have another choice, do you?” She leaned in so close that I could feel her hot breath on my face. It smelled rotten. I wrinkled my nose and looked past her.
That was when I saw it—the bottle of champagne on the table behind her.
“How about you turn your ugly face around and leave us the hell alone?” Garrett said, standing straighter as he glared at her. “Because we’re not going anywhere with you. And even if you do take us, the Elders will realize we’re gone and come after you.”
Megan hissed at Garrett, and I dashed around her, grabbing the bottle of champagne and smashing it against the table. The liquid exploded out onto the floor. I examined the broken neck of the bottle, glad to see that the jagged edges made a perfect weapon.
I didn’t have much time to admire my handiwork, because Megan turned in my direction, her claw slashing through the air and grazing my cheek. It stung, and something warm dripped down my face—blood.
“Wrong choice,” Megan hissed, swiping her claw at me again. I jumped back, holding the bottle out toward her. She made an inhuman sound—a growl from deep in her throat—and my hands shook around the glass.
I’d never fought anyone in my life, let alone a fury. What had I gotten myself into?
But if we didn’t fight, we might not make it out of here alive. So I pushed aside my doubts and tightened my grip around the bottle, holding it in front of me and charging toward her.
The glass sank into her side, and she threw her head back, releasing a squawk so shrill that it pierced every crevice of my brain.
Garrett whooped, and I backed away from Megan, holding the bottle in front of me and keeping my gaze locked on hers. She pressed her talon to her side to slow the bleeding, but the injury must not have been bad, because she turned back toward me and laughed.
Then I remembered what I’d done in homeroom this morning with the bracelet. Maybe if I could turn the bottle into a better weapon, I would stand a chance in this fight. Sure, I hadn’t been able to transform anything else since, but it was worth a shot.
Right now it was our only shot, so it had to work.
I gathered red energy, focusing on the bottle and imagining a sharp kitchen knife in my mind. Then I directed the energy and the image towards the bottle.
It transformed immediately.
There were gasps from the people in the club, followed by clapping. Didn’t they realize that this wasn’t some flashy Vegas performance?
Humans would believe anything but the truth, no matter how far-fetched it was.
I raised the knife in the air, ready to slice. But Megan whipped her claw around and knocked the weapon out of my hand, sending it clattering to the ground. I dove down and grabbed it, and even though Megan was on me and her talons were buried in my hair, I jabbed the knife into her thigh.
She sqwuaked and stumbled back, her yellow eyes narrowed into slits.
This was our chance to escape. But Megan was in the way of the door, and Garrett and Kayla were backed up against the balcony… which only gave us one option.
“If we want to get out of here, we have to jump,” I said between breaths, hurrying to join them. Not waiting for them to respond, I placed my hand on the top of the railing and hurdled myself up and over it.
My stomach rose into my throat as I tumbled downward, holding my breath in preparation to crash into the water below.
Chapter Seven
Underwater, everything was muffled and still. It was like the world had been set on pause. I wanted to stay there and forget everything that had happened tonight—pretend that Kayla, Garrett, and I were still having fun in the club instead of fighting a mythological half-bird monster.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option.
So I rose above the surface, taking a sharp breath inward and blinking the water out of my eyes. My legs felt heavy—jumping into the water while wearing boots wasn’t the smartest idea—and I steadied my feet on the bottom of the pool to stand. The water came up to my shoulders.
Someone splashed behind me—Garrett. He rose from the water, his cheeks pink, his wet curls plastered to his forehead.
“Where’s Kayla?” I sputtered, frantically looking around for her. But she was nowhere to be seen.
Then Megan leaned over the balcony, her angled face twisted into a sneer, her scaly arm wrapped around Kayla’s neck. Kayla was screaming at Megan to let her go, her hands pulling at her arm in a futile attempt to escape.
“Your witch friend isn’t as fast as the two of you.” Megan cackled, tightening her grip around Kayla’s neck to suppress her screams. “Not like any of you can actually get away from me, since I can fly and all.”
With that, she swooped over the balcony, still holding onto Kayla, who flailed in her grasp. They landed on the ledge of the pool in front of us. Megan held Kayla closer, her eyes flashing yellow.
“What did I tell you would happen if you did things the hard way?” she hissed, her eyes shining in a twisted enjoyment.
My throat tightened, and I swallowed, unable to get the words out. I remembered what she’d said earlier—she’d called Kayla expendable.
But I couldn’t say it out loud. I wouldn’t.
I was too terrified that she believed it was true.
“No answer?” Megan cocked her head, smiling. “Then why don’t I show you? Maybe that will jog your memory.”
Before I could blink, she slashed a talon across Kayla’s neck. Blood spurted from the gash, and I screamed, horror washing over me as my best friend’s frightened eyes met mine. Then Megan loosened her grip around Kayla, and Kayla tumbled to the floor, into a puddle of her own blood.
I wanted to yell at the onlookers to get help—that this wasn’t a show—but the muscles in my throat had tightened so much that I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t even breathe.
I trudged through the water, pulled myself out of the pool, and collapsed next to Kayla, desperate to help her. Her mouth opened, a raspy sound escaping her lips as she tried to speak, and then Garrett was there, pressing his hands against the wound to stop the blood. But he couldn’t stop it. It was everywhere, gushing onto the floor in unstoppable bursts and streams.
I couldn’t move—I couldn’t think. All I could do was watch my best friend as the life drained from her body, powerless to save her.
“If you two hadn’t been so difficult, I would have let her go,”
Megan said in her shrill, inhuman voice. “But no. You just couldn’t cooperate, could you?”
I turned to face her, curling my fists as I stared up at her towering frame.
Her wings rose behind her, and she stepped toward me, cackling maniacally. She’d said earlier that she didn’t want to kill Garrett or me, but perhaps she’d changed her mind. After all, she was clearly insane. I didn’t know what she would do. And I didn’t know how I could stop her.
I lowered my gaze, looking down at my shoes.
And then I remembered what Kayla had said about them earlier.
You could kill with those things.
Well, Kayla, I thought, newfound determination rushing through my veins. Maybe I will.
I focused on the red energy surrounding me and called it into my body, feeling it roll into me like waves of heat entering my bloodstream. Once I had enough, I wrapped a hand around one of my stilettos and snapped the heel free. My eyes connected with Megan’s, and she snarled at me, the feathers on her wings sticking up and bristling.
Then she ran in my direction.
I raised the heel in the air, ramming the pointy end into her chest. It sunk beneath her skin, straight to where her heart should be. She stumbled backward, tilting her head back and letting out a long scream as she fell to the ground. Her wings were twisted and broken beneath her, her arms splayed out at her sides, and her dim eyes stared blankly at the ceiling.
I dropped my arms to my sides, taking a step back. I couldn’t tear my gaze away from her monstrous body. Was she dead? Had I killed her?
Then she flickered like a faulty projection, and was gone. The only thing left where she had been was my stiletto, covered in blood.
I stared at the place where Megan had been, unable to think, unable to move. What was I supposed to do now? How had my entire life just changed so drastically in such a short amount of time?
Then everyone in the club burst into applause, hooting and hollering in appreciation of whatever show they thought they’d seen. The cheering brought me back into focus, and I turned around, dreading what I was bound to see.
Kayla was sprawled on the floor in a puddle of her own blood. Her skin had paled so much that she looked like a ghost, her head lolled to the side like a broken doll. Garrett still pressed his hands against the gash in her neck, but from what I could see, there was nothing left to save.
Kayla was gone.
“Garrett,” I said, falling to my knees beside him. “I don’t think there’s anything more you can do.”
“I know.” His voice was hollow, and he stared at Kayla’s corpse, lifting his hands from her bloodied, wrangled neck. Her blood had stopped flowing now. He clenched his fingers, and then he raised his gaze to mine, his eyes hard with determination. “If that fury was right, and we’re demigods… then we can’t stay here,” he said. “We have to go. As far away from here as possible.”
“But this is our home.” I placed a hand on his arm, hoping to bring him back to his senses. “We can’t just leave.”
“You heard her—she was after us.” He pointed to where Megan had died, and then he lowered his arm, refocusing on me. “She was hunting us. Who knows what other creatures are after us too? We can’t let what happened to Kayla happen to more of our friends, or to our family. We can’t let more people die because of us.”
I swallowed down a lump in my throat at the thought of one of those creatures coming for my family. Of them dead because of me. Kayla was already dead because of me. How was I supposed to live with that guilt?
“You’re right,” I admitted, dropping my arms to my sides. “But where can we go? It won’t be long until people realize that this wasn’t a show. That Kayla…” I glanced down at her lifeless body, unable to say the words.
That she was dead.
Instead I looked back up at Garrett, keeping my eyes on his. “How are we supposed to get out of here?” I asked.
“I can teleport us,” he said. “Like I did with the bracelet.”
My breath caught at the suggestion. “It’ll work on people?” I asked. “Are you sure?”
“I’m not sure,” he said. “But I can try. Will you come with me?”
Tears filled my eyes at the thought of leaving behind my dad, my friends, my life. But Garrett was right. We needed to figure out who we were, and why that fury was after us. In the meantime, getting as far away as possible would ensure that no one else we loved would get caught in the crossfire again.
I nodded, my eyes locked on his, and he rested his hand on my arm.
Then the world disappeared around me, and we were gone.
If you enjoyed this short story from the Elementals universe, you can grab book one of the series, The Prophecy of Shadows, for FREE on www.michellemadow.com/elementals-free ☺
—ABOUT THE AUTHOR—
Michelle Madow writes fast-paced YA fiction that will leave you turning the pages wanting more!
She grew up in Maryland, and now lives in Florida, where she writes books for young adults. Some of her favorite things are: reading, traveling, pizza, time travel, Broadway musicals, and spending time with friends and family. Michelle went on a cross-country road trip from Florida to California and back to promote her books and to encourage high school students to embrace reading and writing. Someday, she hopes to travel the world for a year on a cruise ship.
SANCTUARY
Melle Amade
Chapter One
Not tonight. She wasn’t supposed to be home tonight. I checked her schedule like I always do; she should be teaching Therapeutic Yoga. The music in the bathroom must have been too loud so I didn’t hear her come in. I shoot Henry a dangerous look. He knows how important tonight is. I finally get to see Zan, maybe fix things with her, tell her the news. He should’ve come told me. His head ducks behind his book. Beauty and the Beast – what eight-year-old boy reads that? I glare through the cover, but he’s not about to make eye contact.
Mom’s in our faded green kitchen standing in front of the open fridge. The thick scent of her lavender, lemongrass, and clove essential oils fills the air. They’re supposed to calm her, but they don’t seem to be working tonight, instead they mingle badly with the odor wafting out of the fridge. Something’s rotten in there.
“I want to show the house this weekend,” she’s agro on the phone, her back tense. “I don’t care. It’s taking too long. Sell it as is! Someone will buy- urgh!”
Her body seizes, knuckles turn white. She hurls the phone through the air. I catch my breath and duck. It hits the wall, but ricochets towards my face. My hand shoots out and catches it.
Her eyes glance off me, before she turns back to the fridge. “I can’t believe how much we’re supposed to fix just to get a buyer,” she mutters, grabbing the jug of milk and drinking straight from the bottle.
Sometimes Mom apologizes, but, I guess tonight isn’t that night.
It’s ok. I know she didn’t mean to clobber me with the phone. I place it carefully on the green tiled countertop.
“No class?” I ask, my fingers tug down the hem of my pink skirt.
“I need to talk to your dad,” she says, her eyes drawn to the movement of my fingers. The only time she notices me is when she thinks I’m doing something wrong. “Where are you going? Not to your tree house, I’m guessing.”
I wish I’d never told her about the Sanctuary. She has no idea what it means. It’s more my home than this place. My fingers wrap around the weathered back of a wooden chair. I glare at a cobweb that stretches from the wall to the rifle that rests on top of the book shelf. The place is so cluttered I can barely breathe.
“I’m meeting Zan.” I try to make it sound casual, like it’s no big deal, but she knows.
“I thought you two weren’t speaking,” she says.
“How’s your stomach?” I nod towards the milk.
“She hasn’t been at the studio this summer.” Mom caps the milk and crams it back in the fridge. There’s nothing but the cracked tiles o
f the countertop between us now.
“She’s been at camp,” I swallow and fidget. I think that’s where she’s been. She hasn’t returned my texts all summer.
“Camp?”
“The one Aiden goes to.”
“In Europe?” Mom raises an eyebrow.
“I guess,” I press a polished fingernail into a deep crack in the counter and dig at some crud nestled there. If my nails weren’t so strong, they’d probably break. I dig harder at the grime, but it’s impossible to get completely out.
“Why didn’t you invite them over?” Mom asks.
“Seriously?” I scrape the black goop out from under my nail and wipe it on a stack of newspapers.
“Go read to your brother,” Mom mutters, her fingers clench the edge of the stained basin.
“We’re just hanging out at Zan’s house.” I say it like it’s the truth. Her eyes narrow. I look straight into them. People don’t think you’re lying if you look them in the eye.
“I want you home,” she says.
“Why?” My molars scrape against each other to help get the word out.
“Call her and say you’re not coming.” She leafs through a lopsided pile of mail to let me know the conversation is over.
“I’ve been waiting all summer to see Zan!” There’s no way I can wait another night. She doesn’t even know we’re moving. My pinky finger taps against a broken tile.
Mom glances up, her eyes cold. I stop my finger mid-tap. It’s hopeless. Why didn’t Henry tell me she was home? This so could have been avoided. Zan and I have spent our whole lives dodging Mom. I twist in my ballet slipper to make a quiet exit, but Mom’s not having it. “Call her,” she says. “Right now.”
I bite my lips and rake through my purse for my phone. This can’t be happening. I’ll burst if I don’t tell her about the move or about Aiden, how I feel about him. My temperature goes up just thinking about him. The gold necklace, as fragile as it is, lays heavy against my skin. I’ve never worn it, not in the whole year I’ve had it, but I had to tonight. If Aiden really did give it to me, it’s time he saw me wearing it. Who else would have left a gold necklace wrapped up in newspaper in the back of Dad’s truck on my birthday?
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