Air: The Elementals: Book One

by Jennifer Lush

  That thought made Marcus happy. He had spent an entire year longing to know how it felt to be near her, to touch her. He could wait for as long as it takes for them to become one. When she started to worry about how long he was taking, Marcus made his way back.

  He entered the cave holding up the water bucket and smiling at her. Leena knew it was the one she dropped. She didn’t know how he had found it when she wouldn’t have been able to find it herself. She knew there was much more to this chance encounter than purely luck, but something told her he could be trusted. She hoped to one day find out the truth, but it wouldn’t weigh on her mind for long.

  She watched the light bronze skinned man who saved her life stoke the fire and prepare her water. Leena knew she would be eternally grateful to him. It would take a lifetime for her to repay him. Somehow she also knew he would gladly spend his lifetime with her for her to do so. As she thought this, she could see him smile from across the cave where he was preparing a makeshift bed of leaves to sleep on.

  In the morning, Marcus opened his eyes and immediately turned to her. She was sitting by the fire. She must have woke some time before and brought the fire back to life. He sat up and looked around. They would need more wood. He rose and dusted off his garments. She smiled at him and lifted something toward him. He motioned to her to wait, and he left the cave.

  Marcus gathered what firewood he could nearby as quickly as possible and carried it back to the cave. He stacked it along one wall and brought a couple pieces over to add to the fire. Leena smiled at him and held up her offering again.

  It was pemmican. This had been his staple for months during last winter. He took it from Leena and sat down near her to eat. It tasted considerably better than what he had managed to make. They stayed there for a while both enjoying the nearness of the other and the warmth of the fire. They would occasionally steal glances or smile. Marcus kept reading the signs from her to know what to do next. He knew theirs would be a blissful love story, and he would spend all of his time following her lead to get it to play out.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Lilah sat on her bed and pressed the home button on her phone. There was a text from Everleigh asking her to let her know when she got home. She checked the time stamp on it. It must have been sent while she was still at Jackson’s house.

  “Home,” she sent back.

  The dots appeared so fast Lilah thought Everleigh must have been staring at their message thread waiting for a response. She wondered if Everleigh actually had more news of the Return to share.

  “Can you leave again?”

  Lilah wasn’t sure. She knew her family would not argue with it as they wanted information, but she also knew there was no way she would get away with blocking them again if she left. She had been pressing her luck enough the last several days. She replied and told Everleigh she didn’t think she could.

  Whatever was going on, Everleigh wanted to talk to her in person. She asked Lilah to sneak out. She practically begged her to.

  That was something Lilah could do easily. After texting instructions to her house to Everleigh, she left as quickly as she could. She closed her bedroom door to keep the cool air from blowing out into the hall as much as possible, opened the window, and in minutes was on the roof of the back porch trying to inch the window shut from the outside. Soon she was running alongside the drive down to the road. She didn’t have to wait long until headlights were blinding her. Everleigh only lived a few minutes away.

  Lilah opened the door.

  “You live here?” Everleigh asked, looking through the trees toward the house on the hill.

  “Yeah, it belongs to my uncle,” she said, climbing in the front seat of the car and buckling her seat belt.

  Everleigh didn’t wait. She had already made a U-turn and was speeding back toward town before the lock clicked.

  Neither said a word the entire drive. Lilah was curious about the way Everleigh asked about the farmhouse. There had been something in her tone that made Lilah suspicious that once again, Everleigh knew something she didn’t. This wasn’t the right time to ask.

  Lilah stayed quiet and held on tight. Everleigh was already driving too fast, and she didn’t want to distract her by asking questions. They approached the street where she should have turned to go to her house, but she didn’t. Still Lilah didn’t say anything. When Everleigh made the turn that would take them straight to Jackson’s house, Lilah’s interest piqued. She wondered why they would be going there. She had thought Everleigh wanted to talk to her about the Return or something to do with the Elementals, but that couldn’t be the case if they were going to see Jackson.

  Everleigh squealed to a stop out front. Lilah could tell something was really bothering her. Her hand was shaking when she lifted it off the wheel.

  “What’re we doing here?”

  “I’ll explain everything inside.”

  “I thought what you wanted to see me about had something to do with the Return.”

  Everleigh looked at her with sheer fright in her eyes, “It does.”

  “Then why are we here? We can’t discuss this in front of Jackson.”

  The look on Everleigh’s face slowly changed from fear to a completely blank stare. “I knew your family was secretive, but…” She didn’t finish her thought. She grabbed her phone and started typing a message.

  “But what?”

  Lilah grew impatient waiting on Everleigh to finish typing. “Sorry, had to let my grandma know where I was or else she’d worry.”

  “But what?” Lilah repeated with a harshness to her tone. She might not be able to read Everleigh, but she could tell she had lied about the text she sent. She just didn’t know why.

  “But I didn’t realize how secretive they were. Jackson’s your match. You haven’t talked him about anything yet?”

  “No,” Lilah answered. She felt like she was being put on the defensive. Her decision not to tell him had more to do with wanting them to get to know each as individuals first then it did anything else.

  “Well, I do,” Everleigh announced. “I tell him almost everything. That’s why we’re here. He knows about the Elements and the Return.”

  Lilah gasped. She couldn’t imagine sharing that information with just anyone. They had always moved so much that it made creating strong friendships difficult, but it never crossed her mind to tell even the closest friends she had ever had.

  “Yeah, I thought it might freak you out a bit.”

  “Did you tell him about me?”

  “No, I didn’t,” Everleigh answered checking her phone, and Lilah could tell she was being honest. “There he is. Let’s go.”

  Lilah saw him standing just inside the front door waiting for them to come up. They got out and made their way through the slush of the melting snow. She was starting to feel more comfortable with the idea of discussing this with him. It would make it easier when she decided to let him know about her heritage and tell him that he was her match.

  He swung the door open when they reached the porch and held it wide for them. They walked inside and took off their coats. He greeted them both, but he wrapped his arm around Lilah’s waist and kissed her on the cheek when he said hello.

  Everleigh rolled her eyes and made a retching sound, “Get a room.”

  “If you insist,” Jackson told her taking Lilah’s hand and pulling her toward the stairs.

  He stopped before going up, and they all laughed. They followed him into the kitchen where he had a pot of coffee brewing. Lilah had never been more thankful for small miracles like caffeine. “I thought we might need some help if this takes a while,” he said, pulling mugs from the cabinet.

  “If what takes a while?” Lilah asked.

  Everleigh glanced at Jackson, but he still had his back turned.

  Lilah was frustrated. She hated being kept in the dark. It’s all she had known her whole life. Secrets kept from her. Secrets that she had to keep. She was growing tired of the shroud of mystery that se
emed to overcast her life every second of every day. “Someone please tell me what’s going on,” she said angrily.

  “You are going to get a crash course in spelling tonight,” Everleigh said while poking her head into the dining room. “Now help me get started before Meredith and Luke arrive.”

  Lilah followed her through the downstairs. It appeared as though Everleigh were looking for something, but she didn’t know what it could be.

  “This will have to do,” Everleigh said, looking at the living room.

  She instructed Lilah to help her rearrange the room. They moved the coffee table and rug exposing a bare hardwood floor underneath. The couch wasn’t easy. They tried to lift it, but they weren’t going to get far. It was too heavy. They lifted one end at a time shuffling the rug underneath the legs to prevent scratching the floor. Then it was dragged back until it was practically in the dining room. It’s a good thing there’s an open floor plan here she thought, but she was doubtful the two of them could have lifted it through a doorway.

  Lilah had asked her about the spell they were going to perform. It was a locater spell meant to find Fire. That is why Meredith was coming. With vampire blood running through her veins, she was the only known witch who could successfully try to find him.

  Jackson had walked in once to set down three mugs of coffee and barely took notice of the work they were doing. He had obviously been well informed of plans unlike Lilah. He quickly dashed back into the kitchen. Lilah followed him with her eyes until Everleigh snapped her fingers to get her attention.

  “None of that goo-goo eyed puppy love stuff now. We have to get moving. Come with me.”

  They went into the kitchen where Jackson was searching for something in the pantry. “We got this,” Everleigh told him. “Be a dear and move the rest of it, will you? The couch wore me out.”

  He stood up straight like he was taking orders with a haphazard salute and marched out of the room. Everleigh rolled her eyes behind him. “Okay, where are the candles? Candles…candles…” she repeated, turning around in a circle trying to think of where to look.

  “Here!” Lilah blurted and turned to a drawer near the closet. She opened it, and there was a box of long white taper candles in a drawer filled with flashlights and cords.

  “These will do,” Everleigh said from behind her and reached in to grab the box. “Now can you find the candle holders?”

  Lilah closed her eyes and concentrated. “There’s some in the top drawer of the hutch in the dining room. How many do you need?”

  “Nine,” Everleigh answered as she left the room. She returned quickly with her hands full. There were four identical taper candle holders and two pillar plates. She handed the four to Lilah to get ready while she melted some wax on the pillar plates to hold the candles in place.

  “It’s not pretty, but it will do.”

  “Is this enough?” Lilah asked.

  Everleigh retrieved her bag she dropped by the front door and pulled out a large book. She flipped through until she found the page she was looking for. Lilah walked closer trying to peek. “It’s a grimoire. It’s ancient. It belonged to an ancestor of mine.”

  Lilah looked at the page filled with drawings, chants and ingredients. “May I?”

  Everleigh nodded. She flipped a few pages at a time stopping to glance. It didn’t make much sense to her. One of the pages had feathers pressed in the bend and another had herbs in some old wax like paper. “It’s like a scrapbook.”

  “In a way,” Everleigh agreed. “It’s a scrapbook of spells. Sometimes we do keep little bits in the pages. It could be remnants of the spell cast, or if it’s a hard to come by ingredient, a witch may store some here.”

  She closed the book and slid it toward her bag. “But look, don’t tell my aunt I let you do that. I’m modern in every way, but the older witches take their grimoires quite seriously.”

  Lilah reached out and touched her arm. “Wait. Is that the Star of David?” she asked pointing to the cover.

  “Now it’s the Star of David,” Everleigh stressed. “It wasn’t always the main symbol of the Jewish religion. There’s many old Christian churches, paintings and you name it that use it too.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  “It’s true, and when this grimoire was created, it wasn’t known as the Star of David. There are alchemy symbols that make up the six point star.” Everleigh ran her fingers over the image naming each one.

  “We are inversed,” she told Lilah. “Air is a triangle with the tip at the top and a line. Earth has the tip and line at the bottom. There’s Fire, Water, and one more. Balance.”

  “And since witches call on all the elements for their spells, it makes sense for a grimoire to embrace that.” Lilah thought out loud.

  “Exactly,” Everleigh was happy that Lilah understood. “Anyway, back to business,” she said, tucking the book away.

  “Where were we?” Everleigh looked at Lilah.

  “Candle holders. How many do you need?”

  “Ideally, we need nine, but six is…,” Everleigh let out a long exhale. “Meredith will insist on nine. She might have some with her.”

  “She usually just walks around with candle holders on her?”

  Everleigh gave Lilah a look that asked if she was joking and told her, “Don’t let that vampire blood fool you. She is a witch. She’s always prepared. If she meets you on the street, she could easily help you get pregnant or give you bunions depending on how you treat her.”

  A slow grin spread on Lilah’s face as she tried to stay collected.

  “You think I’m joking?” Everleigh crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows.

  “Nah,” Lilah drew her lower lip between her teeth to hold in her laughter. “I was just thinking the pregnancy thing could work if you made her mad too.”

  It took a second for it to register, but then Everleigh leaned back and clapped her hands. She walked a feet away shaking her head and placed both hands on her hips. “You’re right. Either way, you’re going to have a baby aren’t you?”

  They both started laughing. Jackson walked in and announced, “You might want to get it under control. They’re here.”

  Lilah picked up the candle box and holders near her and hurried into the living room with Everleigh close behind. The living room was practically bare except for the television on the wall and a plant in the corner. Jackson had drawn a large circle on the floor with a five point star in the middle.

  “Chalk?” Lilah asked.

  “You know we don’t have to have a star, right? That’s just movie effects.”

  “You said you needed the five points, and yes, its chalk. I have to clean all this up before my dad gets home,” Jackson answered them both.

  “I said we needed room for the five points.”

  There was a knock at the door, and Jackson hurried to answer it. Luke walked it with Meredith at his heels already unwrapping her scarf. They wasted no time. They threw their coats on the floor, and Meredith immediately started barking out instructions to everyone in the room including Lilah, but she was too distracted by the two strangers that had followed them inside the house.

  Everleigh saw her stare, and introduced them. Matt and Rita had just arrived from the south and not a moment too soon either as Meredith could use them tonight. “Rita is one of the witches from Mississippi I told you about, and Matt is…”

  “A wolf,” Lilah finished without taking her eyes off of them.

  “I prefer lycan, but if you must,” his expression hardened.

  She had never see a wolf before. Hell, she didn’t know they were real until a few days ago. She knew she needed to stop staring. She tried to will herself to look away. She couldn’t break her gaze away no matter how hard she tried.

  “You have to forgive her. Lilah is an, um, well she’s new here and getting a crash course in our history,” Everleigh caught herself before spilling the information Lilah didn’t want Jackson to hear.

  That snapped Li
lah out of it. The almost slip up gave her a momentary scare as she flashed Everleigh a look of fear. If she hadn’t been so focused on what Everleigh almost said, she might have caught what Jackson mouthed to him.

  “We’ve heard,” Matt walked over to Lilah. He took her in from head to toe. It made her nervous because she was afraid he would be able to sense what she was or at the very least that she was different and say something. He didn’t. After checking her out, he extended his hand to her and said, “Pleasure to meet you, Lilah.”

  They finished setting up the area for the spell with Lilah following orders and doing as she was told. Meredith pulled so much out of the large tote she carried as a purse that Lilah wondered if the room inside was spelled to be endless. She had several very large rolled maps, more candles, and vial after vial containing who knows what, and she was still reaching in for more. The three witches worked together to set up the floor. Candles were placed along the circle, and a map was laid out. A vial of ash was used as an indicator.

  Lilah didn’t know she would be a part of it. Meredith needed an Air, so when she told Lilah to stand at a point, her heart sank. She quickly covered it by placing a feather in Lilah’s hands and telling her to close her eyes and imagine a cool breeze blowing to create the effect once she was ready to begin. Jackson was needed too. He stood on the point for Fire holding a vial containing Luke’s blood.

  Having her eyes closed, Lilah missed a lot. She didn’t see the secretive telling glances between those gathered. Mostly, she didn’t see it when her Uncle Todd appear briefly. He snuck in from the back of the house where he had been hiding since Jackson opened the door for him while the girls were moving the couch. He stood silently with Luke, Matt, and Rita while Meredith cast the spell. Once the answer was visible, he was gone heading back home to meet with the family.

  When it was over, Lilah opened her eyes at the map spread out on the floor over the five point star. A dark line ran over it from New York to somewhere in the middle of the states. She had to walk around to the other side to see it better. Everyone was looking at it. Everyone except Todd who had disappeared out the back as quickly as he had come. The seven people left in the room looked at the map without saying a word. They could all see where it led, but no one wanted to be the one to speak it out loud.