Earth: The Elementals Book Two

by Jennifer Lush

  “I’m on it,” Luke answered.

  “Good. Eloise, what about Irving?” He asked loud enough for all to hear.

  “He’s waiting for us to pick him up.”

  “I’ve got a stop to make. The rest of you pick up Irving and meet me at the meat locker in 20 minutes.”

  Tires could be heard squealing down the street when Todd opened the door to leave. Jackson ran inside a couple minutes later rushing to Lilah’s side, but Luke quickly pulled him off into a different part of the house to fill him in on what happened. Jackson quickly returned to the couch that still sat awkwardly cutting between rooms.

  “You’re bleeding,” Lilah noticed, pointing to the sleeve of his shirt where blood was soaking through the fabric.

  “It’s nothing. Looks worse than it is.”

  “What happened?”

  “When Luke called me, I ran out of the house so fast, I fell down the steps. Scraped my arm. That’s all,” he assured her.

  It looked a lot worse than a scrape, but there was too much activity around her that made her head spin. The cut was forgotten almost immediately.

  Meredith spoke to the younger witches explaining that there would still be spell work for them to partake in later. For now, she needed them to help pack their elders for the trip. Meredith and Eloise would soon be departing with Everleigh to recruit other covens. “Listen to her,” she said, pointing to Everleigh. “She will inform you what to gather.”

  Within minutes, the only ones left in the house with Jackson and Lilah were the witches. They were hurriedly set to work on tasks including Everleigh who had her own packing to do. Once Lilah showed some improvement, the two friends loaded into Jackson’s truck and drove to the farmhouse where they waited for the others to return. They waited to learn of Fire’s fate.

  Arriving at the farmhouse, the mood was light for the first time since outside Elementals started gathering in Fairview. For a few brief minutes, the fate of their worlds was forgotten while Abby showed Everleigh how they can manipulate the temperature around them. Sometime from now, she would look back and remember laughing with Abby as they stayed warm while spinning circles in the yard watching the snow fall around them. It would be the last time any of them smiled and laughed so carefree for months.

  Everything changed once the distress call came in from Todd. No one knew what happened, and worse, no one knew who needed emergency help until Matt carried Rita’s lifeless body into the house.

  Everleigh sank to her knees in front of them sobbing uncontrollably. Somewhere deep down she had to have known there was a risk involved in what they were undertaking. Anyone strong and organized enough to detain Fire would have to be a powerful enemy to go up against. It had never crossed her mind that one of them might not make it back.

  “Is she…?” Jackson asked.

  The room was silent save for scattered sounds of crying. No one answered him.

  “Not yet,” Matt finally spoke.

  Everleigh’s eyes shot open, and she took a closer look. Rita’s jacket was covered in blood. A gaping hole in her neck was proof the attack came from a member of Fire or Water. They were the only ones to savagely attack like animals. She wanted to scream, “Save her! Why isn’t anyone doing anything?”

  ‘Where was Luke? Why wasn’t he offering his blood to heal her?’ She spotted Luke holding Meredith in his arms right by where Matt sat, and was about to demand he save Rita.

  “Not completely,” Matt continued. “Soon she will awaken and have to make the choice.”

  Everleigh gasped, and she looked at everyone in turn. They all seemed to know already. Even Jackson didn’t appear surprised to hear it. ‘How does he know? Maybe Lilah. Telepathically, of course.’

  “Where’s Todd?” Luke asked. “He should be here by now. He left right after us.”

  “He’s almost here,” Abby sighed with tears in her eyes. “Taking his time because…well, you know why.”

  “Yeah, to make sure we weren’t followed,” Luke thought out loud.

  “That, and to bring Irving his car. He’s going to put the locker under surveillance tonight hoping for some activity that might give us useful information. He needs to be mobile just in case.”

  “You alright?” Jackson asked her.

  She nodded. It was a lie. She wasn’t alright. Nothing was right about this whole situation.

  “I’m going to check on Lilah then,” Jackson told her, before walking out the front door.

  “I’m coming with you,” Abby said, following him out.

  Everleigh fell back off her knees and sat in front of the couch. Her eyes were open wide, but she saw nothing. ‘This can’t be happening.’

  “Hey,” her aunt called to her, gently rubbing her shoulder. “You sure you’re alright.”

  “No,” Everleigh sputtered loudly, crying again.

  Aunt Meredith squatted next to her and put her arm around her. “It’s a lot. I know. Once the others get here, we’ll find a chance to talk more, but first I want to make sure everyone is safe. Love you.”

  “I love you too,” she said between choked sobs.

  Everleigh stared at the floor wondering what she would do. The war of the Elementals had barely begun, and already they had their first potential casualty. If she had to choose between dying and transitioning into a vampire, would she choose death? It’s what her grandma would expect her to choose. She didn’t think she could. Only created vampires were actually dead with no pulse to speak of, so she couldn’t really say it would still be a life. Still, it’s better than no existence at all.

  There was a sharp intake of breath, and Everleigh lifted her head to look at Rita as hard as it was to bring herself to do. The blood remained, but her neck appeared flawless having healed completely. Rita’s eyes fluttered open, and Matt smiled at her through his tears.

  Privacy wasn’t an option in a home where so many were staying. Even so, most had wandered off to other parts of the house. The ones who lingered had the good sense to stick to the shadows in the corners giving some semblance of leaving the couple alone. It was what she should do as well.

  Everleigh opened the front door of the farmhouse to an even more frightening sight. Directly in front of her, Grandma Eloise and the others were approaching the house. Lilah was at the top of the steps, bent over in agonizing pain, but from what? Her mom and another woman were holding her up on her feet. She wanted to ask what happened, but when she looked to Abby, she saw Lilah’s mom was distracted by something else.

  She followed Abby’s gaze across the porch where something was in the midst of changing form. Air might be used to it. Both shape shifting themselves and watching their kind change. Everleigh was not. The grotesque half animal, half humanoid form was straight from a slasher movie. Everleigh ran to the far side of the porch from it and vomited over the rail.

  As she straightened herself and wiped her mouth on her sleeve, she heard two voices behind her. One she recognized and one she didn’t. Both saying the same name, “Leena.”

  Marcus’ match. ‘Could it be?’ Everleigh wondered. She turned and gazed upon the man opposite the porch from her who was draped in robes that had to be centuries old. ‘An Element? Here? In front of me.’ The thought made her heart rate quicken, and she grabbed the rail for support.

  “Lilah,” Todd said gravely.

  Everleigh looked to see her friend reaching for the face of a wolf. Reaching to touch her boyfriend Jackson. With Matt inside, Jackson was the only known wolf there, but even Everleigh wouldn’t recognize him now if it weren’t for his slightly torn clothes.

  It was the first time she’d seen him like this. He’d transitioned many times over the years. Judd would take him on so-called camping trips to allow him the freedom to explore his true identity. There had been pictures. Not of Jackson, but of others. It couldn’t prepare her for seeing her friend masked under the guise of a wolf.

  His hands and feet were longer, distorted too somehow. Jackson’s entire body was more
filled out. He had been muscular as it was, but now everything seemed more pronounced. Larger. Hairier too, but it wasn’t fur like she expected. But his face. It scared her yet she couldn’t look away. His ears were larger and pointed. His mouth and nose protruded as you would expect a muzzle to look. Jackson’s mouth was closed. The teeth couldn’t be seen, but Everleigh knew they could tear the strongest man to shreds with little effort. Nothing on his face was human anymore. It was that of a nightmare induced beast, and her friend was staring lovingly into its eyes.

  “Lilah!” Todd yelled, just before her hand could reach his face.

  It broke through to her this time, and Lilah looked confused to see him. Moments later she passed out with Jackson’s abnormally construed hands catching her before she hit the floor.

  “So,” a voice in the darkness said, clapping his hands. “What did I miss?”

  Everleigh couldn’t get a good look at the man on the steps between Todd and her grandma before everyone piled in gathering around Lilah. The time for gawking would come later. There was only one person it could be, and that was Fire. More important was how none of them appeared to be afraid of the beast gently lifting Lilah and carrying her to the swing. Jackson had been her best friend for as long as she could remember, and she was fighting hard against the urge to run away.

  “Are you going to drink that?” Meredith asked.

  Eloise smiled with a twinkle in her eye. “I already have,” she said, looking down at the vial in her hand.

  Little by little, the wrinkles on Eloise’s face began to soften. The gray in her hair darkened slowly at first, then finished the change almost at once.

  Marcus walked over to her and gripped both of her shoulders with his hands. “You will soon have the face of Anya I remember from our first meeting.”

  “Do we keep up the pretense?” Meredith asked. “Or shall I call you grandma now?”

  The years were slowly rewinding on her grandma’s face right before her eyes. Everleigh couldn’t look away. Her mouth fell open wide as she realized while she was looking at the woman she’d always known as grandma, she was looking at the woman known to her kind as Mother Earth.

  Fire

  The Elementals: Book Three

  Available August 2020

  These people were crazy. It was beyond his comprehension why Water wanted to go on this quest of exploring earth in the flesh. There was no reason or logic to the maddening way they constructed their society. Across the water, starving people were killed for hunting in the King’s forest. If you could not afford to pay and were caught, the punishment was public mutilation and murder. And for what? A wild hare?

  The vicious acts were well known before any of them came to this land. Whether or not any of them agreed with what was happening wasn’t their place to say. Still knowing how these miserable creatures went about their lives couldn’t prepare him for being there to see it. It’s not the same when you are watching from worlds away. Only the big picture can be seen from beyond the veil, not the details. The small bits are what makes the acts so vile.

  Public executions are not for the purposes of punishment at all. That’s only a guise to make right their actions. It’s for sport! These heathens gather and cheer on the executioners. No manner of crime received a proper sentence. Stealing a loaf to feed your family could land you with your entrails wrapped around your neck while your fellow countrymen shout and throw rotten food your way. The very people who were your friends and neighbors would be there in the crowds hollering in delight as the sword cuts through your flesh.

  The one he witnessed soon after arriving cut the deepest. Not witnessed so much as heard, but by the time he found the poor young girl he was too late. For almost an hour, he searched through the woods trying to follow the sound of her cries. The echoing from the rock walls of the caves bouncing off the trees made it hard for him to pinpoint her location. If only he had the heightened sense capabilities as he had in spirit form, he could have discovered her in time.

  When he found her, she lay dirty and bloody in a heap on the ground. Minutes sluggishly ticked by before he could be certain she had lived through her horrible attack. The soldiers laughed and told stories near the fire with their drink as though nothing out of sorts had been carried on by one of them that night, much less by all of them in turn.

  Fire waited and pondered how to make a move. Anger was the prevalent emotion fueling him since arriving, and it burned to new heights throughout his body watching the men in their revelry. It didn’t take long for one man to step just inside the tree line to relieve himself. This was his chance. Fire jumped from where he’d been crouching in the shadows and took the dagger from the soldier’s side, stabbing him through the neck.

  The soldier fell to his knees, urinating on himself in the process. Both hands clawed at his neck trying in vain to remove whatever invisible force that was choking him. The dagger dripped with blood, and Fire stared at it mesmerized by the dark, sweet smelling liquid that covered the blade. Lifting it slowly to his mouth, he licked the side of the dagger savoring the metallic flavor unable to tell if it was the steel of the weapon or the iron in the blood that overwhelmed his taste buds.

  The soldier’s eyes filled with terror watching his murderer relish in the added torment of enjoying his blood as the life drained out of his body. The last thing the soldier saw before his death was the strange man in the woods smile in delight watching the spark of life leave his eyes while his own blood dripped from the corner of the stranger’s mouth.

  About the Author

  Jennifer Lush is a mother of three from central Illinois where she has lived her entire life. Aside from spending time with her children and grandchild, writing and traveling are her two main consuming passions. Luckily, they are mutually beneficial.

  Writing has always been in her blood even if it took her longer than planned to do it. One of her earliest memories of longing to be an author happened in kindergarten when she told her parents what she wanted to be when she grew up. It took close to four decades, but she has finally made that childhood dream come true.

  Jennifer is an entertainer at heart who is always making those around her laugh. She can turn any mundane event into a story worth repeating with flair. Inspiration for her fictional worlds comes from everywhere. There are more ideas floating through her mind than she has time to write, but she is determined to finish as many as possible.