by Quinn Loftis
“Elias, talk to me,” Tara encouraged as she squeezed his hand.
“I don’t like the idea of you being with other elementalists I don’t know. I can’t protect you if you’re not with me.”
“What do you need to protect me from?”
He opened his eyes. Tara sucked in a breath when she saw them swirl with power and emotion. “Nothing and everything. I know it’s not rational, but I can’t stand being away from you.”
She frowned. “You haven’t had a problem with it these last five days.”
“What are you talking about?” he asked, his frown deepening.
“I’m talking about every night that you dropped me off at my door. You’d kiss me, and tell me good night, and walk away. You seemed fine.”
He chuckled, but she could tell it wasn’t because he thought anything she’d said was funny. “Princess, I slept right outside of your door.”
Her mouth dropped open as her eyes widened. The drunk butterflies in her stomach began to flutter even more. “Every night?”
“Every night,” he confirmed.
“But…” she started but didn’t know what to say.
“I was trying to make it easier for you,” he told her. “I knew you were having a hard time. I could feel it here.” He pressed his hand to his chest. “Every step I took away from your door made it harder to breathe. So, as soon as you were in your room, I just came back and sat on the floor and slept there. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have slept at all.”
“I didn’t know,” she said, feeling stupid that she hadn’t paid attention to the weird bond between them. They couldn’t hear each other's thoughts, at least not unless they were doing the whole “sharing their magic and touching stuff,” and, wow, that sounded dirty. But it was something close to that. When she paid attention, Tara could get a good idea of what he was thinking. But when her emotions were all over the place, it was hard for her to pay attention to him. “I thought you were fine. I was a freaking wreck, and it seemed like you were having no trouble at all.”
“Why didn’t you talk to me about it?” he asked.
“Because I didn’t want to be that girl.”
“What girl?”
“That girl,” she huffed. “You know, the one who clings to her guy like a baby monkey on its mom’s back and screams when he walks away.”
He grinned. “That’s quite the description.”
She hit his arm. “Shut up.”
“Promise me you’ll talk to me. Don’t make assumptions about me or yourself. Okay?”
She nodded. “Okay.”
“Elias,” Zuri called out. Tara could tell Zuri was done waiting.
“I’ll be okay,” Tara tried to reassure him although she was nervous about being around any elementalists other than the three guys she’d been around for a week.
“If at any point you are uncomfortable, you let Zuri know.” His grin was gone and his eyes were narrowed, still swirling with his inner storm.
“I will.”
He took her face in his hands and, without hesitation, pressed his lips to hers. Tara figured it would be a quick kiss, but Elias had other plans. He kissed her so thoroughly that she completely forgot they had an audience. Her arms rose of their own accord and wrapped around his neck so she could pull him closer. Tara heard a soft groan from him and nearly smiled, but then he moved his hand to grip her hair, and all thoughts of smiling left.
“Is he trying to eat her face?” a voice Tara didn’t recognize asked.
She pulled away with a gasp as heat rushed to her face.
“You just had to open your mouth,” Liam said, sounding like a child who’d just dropped his ice cream.
“What?” the other voice asked. “You like watching that?”
“It’s better if you don’t ask questions you really don’t want the answers to,” Aston spoke up.
“Tara, let’s go. Now,” Zuri practically growled.
She backed out of Elias’s arms and gave him a reassuring smile as she walked toward Zuri. “Have fun,” Tara said to him and then looked at Aston. “Take care of him, yeah?”
Aston nodded. “I got him.”
“Don’t I get a kiss?” Liam called out. She heard a grunt and knew Elias had probably slugged his water elementalist friend.
“Liam has a death wish,” Zuri muttered.
“Pretty much,” she agreed.
“We’re not doing this to punish you two or torture you,” Zuri told her.
“I know,” Tara said.
“It’s not just that we think you need to learn how to work with others besides the three stooges. We need to see how you both respond to being apart as well. We need to know how far apart you can be before things get too intense for one or both of you.”
Tara didn’t say anything because she didn’t know what to say. She understood the professors were trying to learn more about the soul bonding because, apparently, what they had known was gone, thanks to some demon and meddling witches.
“These students we’re putting you with are a good group. You’ll like them,” Zuri said, changing the subject.
“Who are the professors?” Tara asked.
“I’ll be your earth elementalist professor.”
Tara let out a sigh of relief. Zuri may be a hard ass, but she was also a badass, and Tara had been hoping she’d be able to learn from her.
“I’ll introduce you to the professors with the rest of your group.”
When they reached the other students, Tara glanced over her shoulder to see how far away she was from Elias’s group. They had gone across to the far side of the field. Elias didn’t look happy.
“All right.” Zuri’s voice caused Tara to turn back around. “Let’s do introductions and then we will put some space between us and the rest so we have room to work.” Three professors were standing shoulder to shoulder next to Zuri while the students formed a semicircle next to Tara.
“This is Tara,” Zuri said as she pointed to her. “She’s new to our world. This is her first week at the academy.”
“Why is she out here then?” A girl with striking red hair in pigtails that were streaked with orange and blonde asked, though she didn’t sound rude. Just curious. She was dressed in ripped jeans, a crop top, and combat boots. Her eyes had the wild look of someone who was a sliver past crazy. The only thing missing was a baseball bat, and she’d be Harley Quinn’s redheaded stepsister. “Professor Jax said they chose the top students, no offense,” she said as she glanced at Tara. “But if she’s new, then she doesn’t know anything.”
“None taken,” Tara assured her. The girl had a valid point.
“And that’s Gabby,” Zuri said as she motioned to the redheaded girl. “She’s a fire elementalist, third year.”
“‘Hiya,” Gabby said with a waive of her fingers. Yep, she was crazy as a clown with a red balloon.
“To answer your question, Tara’s circumstances are unique. I’ll let her be the one to decide how much to tell, as it’s her business.”
Gabby held up her hands. “I’m cool. Just curious.” She looked over at Tara. “Welcome to our club.”
“Thanks,” Tara said and smiled at her.
“Okay, moving on,” Zuri said. “That’s Ender.” She pointed to a large male, built like a tree. He had brown hair that was long enough to brush his shoulders, and his eyes were such a light blue that they almost seemed white. “He’s a water elementalist.” Ender nodded at them but didn’t speak.
“And that’s Colt.” The other male in the group was a little shorter than Ender, putting him at around five foot ten. His hair was the opposite of Enders, blond and cut close to his head. His hazel eyes kept moving, scanning the area as if he were waiting on someone to jump out and attack them. “He’s an air elementalist,” Zuri continued. “The professors other than myself are, Professor Wyatt Briggs, water elementalist, Professor Eddison King, air elementalist, and Professor Audrey Frost, fire elementalist.”
Colt, Ender, and Tara a
ll looked at Professor Frost.
She grinned. “Yes. I’m a fire elementalist and my last name is Frost. The universe has a sense of humor.”
Tara liked her immediately.
“Tara, I’m not sure how much Elias and the others have told you, but something that might help identify what academies professors are aligned with is the clothing. Water elementalists profs wear blue, air wears white, fire wears red, and earth wears black.”
“Why black?” Gabby asked. “Why not green or brown?”
“Because I was the one who got to choose, and I like black,” Zuri said as she glanced at a clipboard in her hand.
“Well, okay then,” Gabby said as she looked across at Tara. There was a smirk on the redhead’s face that made Tara grin. She was going to like Gabby, too. She felt a pinch in her chest as she pictured Shelly, unconscious, being tossed through a portal. Damn, she missed her BFFF.
“First things first.” Professor Briggs stepped forward. “You all need to change clothes. You will be wearing the same uniform as the professors. The only difference is that you have the word ‘student’ written on the back.”
Professor Frost picked up a bag from the ground. “Heads up,” she said as she tossed it to Ender. He caught it effortlessly. The fire elementalist professor tossed them each a bag, and then Zuri pointed toward a door Tara knew led into a corridor containing bathrooms.
“Go get changed and then come right back out here,” she said.
Ender and Colt headed off without a word. Gabby came over to Tara, and they walked together.
“How are you holding up?” Gabby asked her as she swung her bag back and forth as if she were a child with a toy.
Tara blew out a breath. “Well, it’s been interesting.”
Gabby laughed. “Pretty sure you are downplaying the hell out of everything.”
Tara glanced at the girl out of the corner of her eye.
Gabby must have noticed Tara’s surprised look because she laughed. “You’re giving me the ‘you’re looney as a toon’ look.”
Tara smirked and nodded. “Maybe.”
Gabby shook her head and pulled something out of her pocket. Tara watched the girl peel the wrapper off a sucker and pop it in her mouth. “I’m not looney. I’m batshit crazy. I own it. Might as well. I mean, I’m basically a pyromaniac. How could I not be crazy?”
Tara’s eyes widened and her heart hurt. “You and my best friend would get along great.”
“Oh yeah? She’s a twisted freak, too?” Gabby rolled the sucker around in her mouth and continued to swing her bag of clothes.
“Just a little bit,” Tara said, holding her hand up with her forefinger and thumb separated a bit.
“I assume she’s an earth elementalist like you.” Gabby pulled the door open and motioned for Tara to go in first.
“No, just a regular human, as far as I know.” The girl must have sensed the sadness in Tara’s voice.
“Where is she?”
Tara walked inside. “I’m not sure how much I’m allowed to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything. Especially if you will get into trouble, but I’m a steel vault if you need to talk. Just an FYI. You tell me something that you don’t want anyone else to know, and there’s nothing anyone could do to get the info out of me.”
Tara eyed the fire elementalist and saw the confidence in her eyes. “For some reason, I believe you.”
Gabby grinned. “I like you. And I don’t say that to just anyone. In fact, I think most people need a good ass-kicking at least once in their lives.”
It was Tara’s turn to laugh. “Don’t I know it.”
They entered the bathroom and quickly changed their clothes. As Tara looked at her black cargo pants and shirt that identified her as a student, she suddenly felt as if she belonged here. And not just as Elias’s soul bonded, but as a student because she really was an earth elementalist.
“You look badass,” Gabby said. “I wish black had been our color.”
Tara looked at Gabby and her eyes widened. The redhead was short, but she was curvy in all the right places. Also, she’d altered her uniform, which only made her look even better. Her pants were ripped, and she’d somehow cut the shirt so that it was baring her belly button. She’d also cut out the collar so that the shirt hung off one shoulder. “How’d you get your pants like that?”
Gabby reached into one of the pockets on the side of her pants and pulled out a knife. She flicked it so the blade whipped out. “I like sharp things.”
“Good to know. And what are you talking about? You look great.”
“Red clashes with my hair,” she said, pointing to the beautiful streaked strands. Her hair was just a little past her shoulders in pigtails, which meant it probably hung to the middle of her back when it was down.
“You kind of have an innocent look if you ignore the slashed-up and torn clothes,” Tara said. “The pigtails and freckles make you seem safe.”
Still sucking on the sucker, Gabby smirked. “I like to be underestimated. And I’ve never been considered safe, not even when I was merely a regular human.”
Tara noticed the bathroom had lockers and showers, which made sense considering it was near the training fields. She picked a locker and put up her bag. Gabby did the same. Then, with one last look in the mirror to make sure everything was where it should be, they headed back outside.
Tara felt him just as they stepped outside. She looked over and saw Elias walking toward her. The black clothing gave his already lethal edge an even darker feel. He was yummy, but she was not about to admit that she might need to wipe away some drool. That would be unacceptable.
“Who’s that?” Gabby asked. “I hope you know him because the fire in those eyes is about to burn your clothes off.”
Tara’s lips quirked. “He’s an acquaintance.”
Elias heard her, and his eyes narrowed in challenge.
“I want an acquaintance who looks at me like that,” Gabby purred.
Tara was about to respond, but Elias was suddenly there, pushing her back against the door, taking her lips with his.
“Yep,” she heard Gabby say. “I need one of those acquaintances.”
When Elias pulled back enough that their lips were barely touching, Tara was breathing hard. “Miss me?” she asked with a laugh.
“Nah,” Elias said. “We’re just acquaintances, remember? I just felt like kissing you.”
“You go around kissing all your acquaintances?” Tara asked.
“If you do, I’m Gabby, you’re whoever the heck you are, and now we’re acquainted. Just saying.”
Elias looked at the redhead and then back to Tara. Tara bit her lip to keep from laughing at his annoyed look. “Who’s the stray?”
“Be nice,” Tara growled.
“I don’t have to be nice to anyone who gets to be around you when I don’t.”
Tara pushed at his chest, and he stepped back, not because she was strong enough to make him but because he was humoring her. “Gabby, this is Elias.” She pointed at her soul bonded. “Elias, this is Gabby. She’s my new friend, and you need to be nice to her.”
“And by nice, she means you can kiss me like that.” She pointed to the door he’d just had Tara pressed against.
Tara coughed at Elias’s glare. “Sorry,” he growled. “Only Tara gets that.”
Gabby looked at Tara and narrowed her eyes. “Did I just hit on your boyfriend?”
Tara nodded.
“And you’re not jealous? Dude, I’d cut a chick for saying what I just did.” Gabby looked completely serious.
Tara could feel Elias’s desire for her. When he’d kissed her, it had set Tara’s insides on fire and burned up all her drunk butterflies. She hadn’t felt the need to be jealous. Tara knew exactly how Elias felt about her because of the strange bond between them. He only had eyes for her. She shook her head at Gabby. “I know he’s mine.”
She felt Elias’s hand grab onto her ponytail and tug. She batt
ed it away and looked back at him. “You holding up?”
He shrugged a shoulder, but his eyes said he wanted to throw her over his shoulder and carry her off to a remote location. Tara took a few steps back toward the training field, deciding it would be best if they were where the professors could see them, just in case he decided to act on what she could see in his eyes. She heard Elias and Gabby follow her.
“Tara.” Elias’s voice caused her to stop and turn back to him. “How are you?”
It was on the tip of her lips to tell him that she wanted him to force Zuri to put them back together. But she bit her tongue. She knew it was their magical bond influencing her. For whatever reason, the bond did not like it when they were separated. Instead, she forced her mouth into a smile and said, “I’m fine.”
He stared at her for several heartbeats before finally nodding and then turning to go in the opposite direction.
“Whoa,” Gabby said as Tara turned back to her and they began walking again. “That dude is intense. He could be a fire elementalist.”
Tara frowned. “What do you mean? Does personality have anything to do with what elemental magic a person ends up with?”
Gabby did some sort of skipping thing and then started to shuffle sideways while still walking forward. It was weird. Just like the redhead.
“No, but I’m a third year, so I’ve been around a bit, and I’ve met a lot of elementalists, young and old, and I’ve noticed some things.”
“Like?” Tara prompted when the weird girl didn’t continue.
“You know how they say when couples are married for a long time, they start to look alike?”
Tara nodded. “I’ve heard that.”
“Well, I have a theory that it’s kind of the same with elemental magic. Whatever magic you are given, you begin to take on qualities that could be attributed to that element or used to describe that element. Fire is intense. It’s hot. It’s unpredictable. Fire takes no prisoners because it burns everything in its path. Elias has some of those qualities, and they’re magnified enough that I would have mistaken him for a fire elementalist.”
Tara thought about Gabby’s words, but by the time she was ready to ask more questions, they’d already reached their group again.