“So, what’s it going to be, Olivia?” Hayden asks. “Sit around sleeping through class and eventually failing out, or snap out of it and let me help you get through this?”
I bite my lip. The pain sparks a thought that just might help.
“Before I answer, you should know something about what happened between me and Mason.”
“The guy you like?”
I nod.
He doesn’t look happy about it, but Hayden says, “Fine.”
“Mason hurt me, yes, but it wasn’t intentional and we’ve patched things up.” I don’t like lying to Hayden, but since telling him the whole truth is out of the question, I fall back on the military family story I told him earlier when he thought someone was beating me up.
“Mason has decided to join the military like his parents when he turns eighteen in a few weeks. He’s very intelligent and he has special skills that will make him valuable to the military. I won’t see him for several years.” I take a deep breath, hoping this sounds somewhat believable. “If I don’t go with him, it may be the end of our relationship. Needless to say, I’m not handling the situation very well, not on top of everything that has been going on.”
Hayden shakes his head. He looks like someone just told him the sky is pink. “Wait, did you say you might go with him?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“How? How would that even… I mean, you couldn’t,” he splutters. Taking a deep breath, Hayden closes his eyes for a moment before reopening them and staring at me in utter confusion. “You won’t even be done with high school. How could you go with him?”
I want to kick myself, suddenly, because I have no idea what the regulations are for joining the military and what exceptions they might be willing to make. “It’s nothing for sure, but Mason’s parents are trying to arrange it.”
“And your parents are okay with this?” he demands.
“They’re considering it.”
Hayden drags his hands down his face, clearly upset.
“Hayden, I’m sorry.”
He pushes away from the wall still looking agitated, but he says, “No, it’s okay. I’m glad you told me. I’d rather know now than have it sprung on me at the last second, or just find out you’re gone one day.”
Looking at Hayden, I feel terrible for causing him so much heartache, but I would have felt even worse leading him on.
“Listen, I understand if you want to bail on the whole help me not fall apart thing. I promise I’ll step up my game so you don’t have to worry about me so much.” I start to turn away, but Hayden grabs my shoulder and stops me from taking more than one step.
“Olivia, I’m not bailing on anything.”
Honestly confused, I blink a few times before answering. “What? Why not? I just told you I’m planning to leave with another guy in a few weeks. Why would you want to stick around?”
“You haven’t left yet, have you?” he demands.
“Well, no, but …”
“You don’t even know if you’ll be able to go,” Hayden pushes.
I sigh. “Not exactly, but …”
“Olivia, I like you, a lot. I know you’re hung up on Mason, but he’s not here. He’s choosing to leave you behind.”
“That’s not exactly true …”
“I’m not giving up,” Hayden says firmly.
I don’t even know what to do with that! “Hayden, I’m not in love with you. I don’t want to be cruel, but I’m going to go with Mason if I can. Nothing is going to change my mind. I’m sorry.”
“You say that now, but a few weeks is a long time.”
“It’s not long enough,” I say.
Hayden shrugs. “I guess we’ll both just have to wait and see.”
I sigh, knowing he will be disappointed in the end, but feeling powerless to dissuade him. I turn and head for the library. “Just don’t say I didn’t warn you, okay?”
“I’ve been warned,” Hayden agrees. The familiar bounce in his step returns and he lopes after me. “Oh, by the way, I found something for you the other day.”
He lets his backpack fall from his shoulder enough to reach into the main pocket. When he tugs out a book and hands it to me, I’m a little confused. “What is this?”
“You and Robin were talking about mythology about air the other day at lunch for some research project. It seemed like you were having a hard time finding what you needed. I remembered seeing this in my dad’s book case at home so I grabbed it for you.”
“What is it?” I ask. The title says Māori Mythology, but I have never heard of the Māori before.
“It’s a Polynesian language of an ethnic group in New Zealand. My dad did a year of international study there when he was in college and he brought this back with him.” Hayden grabs the book back and turns to a page about Tāwhirimātea, the Māori god of weather. “This tells about Tāwhirimātea and the story of his parents being separated by his brothers and then him having to send his children away and fight his brothers.”
“Really?” I snatch the book back out of Hayden’s hands and start devouring the words.
I am instantly captivated as I read about how Tāwhirimātea’s brothers separated their parents. He disagreed with this and decided to fight his brothers. He sent his children into the world while he stayed with his father in the sky. The first four children he sent away where sent to the four cardinal directions the winds blew from. He had many other children that had more to do with the different elements of weather. The story tells how he tried to defeat each of his brothers, but he couldn’t defeat Tūmatauenga, god of the people, and that was why the battle between men and weather still goes on today.
My mind is running a million different directions as I read, trying to pick out the pieces of this story that might belong to the Aerling history, and which parts are likely embellished or made up. It’s impossible to know for sure, but reading about a kind of separation in the sky that sparked a battle causing the god of weather to send his children away seems too close to the Aerlings to be coincidence.
“Can I borrow this?” I ask, nearly demanding.
“Sure.” Hayden laughs at my weirdness. “That’s why I brought it.”
I hug the book close to my chest. “Thanks.”
He shakes his head at me. “Glad to see you’re interested in doing some kind of school work.”
“I guess I just needed someone to snap me out it,” I say, hoping he won’t ask what class this supposed research project is for. I’m thankful when he doesn’t.
“Any time,” Hayden says as he slings an arm over my shoulder.
Chapter 10
Elemental
(Mason)
Forcing myself to leave behind a dream of lying on the couch with Olivia isn’t easy. In fact, it makes me downright irritated. I blink quickly and look out into the darkness surrounding the Britton’s sedan when it comes to a halt. I stare out the window at some random drop off point in the middle of nowhere. I grumble under my breath and carefully nudge Molly awake.
“Are we there?” she asks while rubbing her eyes and yawning.
“Nope, just switching cars.”
Molly’s bottom lip pops out in a pout. “Oh. Okay.”
I laugh when she closes her eyes again and drops back onto my lap. Two seconds later she is back asleep. Apparently, I’m going to carry her. I scoop her into my arms easily and wait for Mr. Britton to open my door. He only does so after checking the empty stretch of desert for anyone who might be watching us.
Finally, he opens the door and I wriggle out without disturbing Molly. I turn and face the Brittons. Both stare nervously back at me, but Mr. Britton is the first to make a move. He holds his hand out to me. I have to shift Molly so I can take the offered hand, but when I do, he shakes it firmly.
“Mason, stay safe.”
“I will, Mr. Britton.”
He nods briskly and turns to look at his wife. She peers at the bit of Molly’s cheek peeking out from between her large woolen ha
t and scarf. “Take care of her,” she says.
“I will. I promise.”
She looks up at me, then. “Take care of yourself, too. It’s important that you make it home. They need you there.”
Frowning, I start to ask her what she means by that, but she turns away and all but dashes back to the car. Mr. Britton doesn’t seem surprised by his wife’s behavior. He claps a hand on my shoulder and says, “Better get to it then.”
Mr. Britton turns me to face the black SUV waiting not far away. As if they had been waiting for permission until just that moment, the doors open nearly simultaneously. A middle aged couple approaches us with the same air of cautiousness I see in the Brittons, but with a bouncier step that matches their smiles.
“You must be Mason,” the woman says. “We’re the Parkers, and we’re so excited to have you.”
“Uh, thanks. It’s nice to meet you, too.”
Mr. Parker steps closer and peers down at Molly, who is nearly buried under her coat, hat, and scarf. “And who’s this?”
The Parkers peer up at Mr. Britton curiously. I’m a little surprised to realize they didn’t know Molly was coming with me, but I suppose getting in touch with other Caretakers probably isn’t as easy as calling them up on the phone.
Mr. Britton clears his throat. “Uh, there’s been a small change of plans. Our Aerling, Molly, will be coming with Mason.”
The Parkers seem rather taken aback by that news. “But why?” Mrs. Parker asks.
“Well, Molly has already begun training Mason, and given what happened last time an Aerling of Mason’s pedigree was sent here, everyone thought it best that Mason should limit his interaction with trainers.”
Neither of the Parkers seems pleased with this explanation, but I don’t think their reasoning has anything to do with Molly. Mr. Parker squares his shoulders. “Yes, well, that does sound logical.”
It might just be me, but there seemed to have been a bit of attitude on the word logical. Mr. Britton clears his throat again. He takes a step back and folds his arms over his chest, all without looking away from Mr. Parker. Maybe it wasn’t just me that heard it. The standoff holds for a few more seconds before Mrs. Parker breaks in with her cheery voice.
“Well, why don’t we get these two in the car then. It’s too cold to be standing out here all night.” She turns to look at Mr. Britton. “Do they have any luggage?”
“Yes, of course,” Mr. Britton says before marching off to the trunk. A few seconds later he reappears with two rolling suitcases and a pair of mismatched backpacks. My worn out old canvas backpack looks oddly masculine next to Molly’s My Little Pony backpack.
Mr. Parker takes the luggage and starts to head for the tailgate of his SUV, but stops and turns back around quickly. “About Molly, she’s to continue on with Mason until he returns home?”
“Yes,” Mr. Britton says.
“And then what?”
The twitch of Mr. Britton’s fingers reveals little, but his response shows he hasn’t a clue. “Once Mason is gone, she’ll… I’m sure my wife will be able to get it all arranged.”
“Of course,” Mrs. Parker says kindly. The tightness in her smile says otherwise.
Mr. Britton, though, seems to consider everything settled. He stalks back toward his car and climbs in without another word. The engine turns over and they are driving away only moments later. I barely have a second to take in the fact that I am no longer under the iron care of the Brittons when the SUV Mr. Parker is stuffing our belongings into bursts open and a whole passel of children pours out.
The tallest one, a teenage boy a few years younger than me stretches and watches the retreating sedan. He shakes his head. “Thank goodness they’re gone.”
“Conner …” Mrs. Parker says with a warning tone.
“What? They weird me out.”
“It’s not your place to judge,” she says. “Why don’t you introduce yourself?”
He laughs and shakes his head, but steps up to me with a casual wave. “I’m Conner, obviously. Anyway, welcome, and all that. We’re not nearly as weird as the Britton’s.”
“What are you talking about? We’re totally weird, just not crazy,” another boy, this one about ten years old, says. He sticks his hand out confidently. “I’m Shane, Aerling numero dos.”
“Mason,” I say, enjoying this family already. “Who’s numero uno?”
Shane hitches his thumb back behind him to point at Conner.
“Oh, I didn’t realize you were an Aerling, too.”
The boys look at each other with raised eyebrows. Conner turns back to stare at me, eyes narrowed. “What, have you been living in a cave all your life? How do you not know how to recognize other Aerlings?”
“He didn’t live in a cave, stupid,” Molly says defensively as she rubs her eyes. “He lived with Olivia.”
Switching my grip so I can lower Molly to her feet, I stop halfway and whisper a warning in Molly’s ear about bringing up Olivia. She rolls her eyes at me, yet still takes my hand. “It’s okay, Mason. You can trust the Parkers, even if Shane is a big stupid dork. I’ve known them for-ev-er.”
“It’s nice to see you, too, Mol.” Shane yanks Molly’s hat off her head and rubs a gloved hand through her already tangled hair. She screeches at him and tries to grab her hat back without letting go of me.
Feigning annoyance while trying to hide a smile, Conner snatches the hat out of Shane’s hand and plops it back on Molly’s head. “Enough, you two. Let Mason meet the rest of the family before you scare him away.”
Molly and Shane glare at each other, but they stop fighting. Seeing that as their cue, four other children crowd in around me. Conner takes the lead in introducing each of them. “These are the Parker’s biological kids, not that we’re treated any different than they are. I consider them my siblings… most of the time.”
“Hey!” says a preteen blonde girl whose nose has turned red from the cold.
“Pipe down,” Conner teases. “This loud one is Amber. The quiet one next to her is Sasha. The two crazy little boys over there are Jack and Danny.”
Conner looks ready to explain a little more about the people he considers his family, but Mr. Parker begins ushering everyone into the car. The two youngest boys, who look to be about five and seven, are strapped into the front bench seat where they immediately begin poking each other. Soon, everyone is buckled in and we’re moving.
“So,” Conner says, “who’s Olivia.”
“She’s …” I look down at Molly, still not entirely sure about trusting the Parkers. They are Caretakers, after all. She sighs and nods her head. Looking back at Conner, I say, “She’s my girlfriend.”
Shane’s eyes pop open. “Dude! You live with your girlfriend? How’d you manage that?”
Conner tries to maintain a cool level of disinterest, unlike Shane, but it’s pretty obvious that he is dying to know the answer as well. I almost feel bad letting them down, but I tell them the truth.
“It’s not as cool as it sounds. Olivia’s family raised me. I’ve lived with them for the past twelve and a half years.”
“You’re dating a Caretaker?” Conner asks, fully hooked now.
I shake my head slowly. “No.” The entire car goes silent as I explain about Olivia, my Caretakers, and how I ended up here.
“Whoa,” Conner says when I finish. He sits back in his seat and shakes his head.
“No wonder we’re hiding you,” Shane mumbles.
“What do you mean?” I ask. I mean, I know now why the Sentinels are so intent on killing me, but I had to work awfully hard for that information. Shane acts like it’s obvious.
“Dude, if the Sentinels killed your whole Caretaker family, it means you’re way more than just some ruling Aerling. You’re a top tier Aerling god, right? I mean, nothing else would drive them to killing Caretakers.”
Molly nods enthusiastically. “Mason killed a Sentinel.”
“What? No way!” Conner exclaims. “Really?”
>
Feeling a little awkward, I don’t look at either of them. “I had to. He was going to kill Olivia and her sister.”
“I wish I could do that,” Shane says. His mouth turns down in a frown as he wallows. As if to comfort himself, a puff of white-ish swirling air gathers in his palm. Methodical fingers movements make it swirl mesmerizingly.
“I wish I could do that,” I say, pointing at his ball of air.
This pulls both Shane and Conner out of their slumps. “You can’t do that?” Conner asks.
I shake my head. “Downside of not being raised by Caretakers. I just started learning how to use my powers. Molly has been teaching me.”
The boys share a worried look, and I can guess the reason behind it. The Parkers seem very unlike the other Caretakers I have met. Clearly, they don’t keep secrets from their Aerling children. They understand how much pressure I’m under. Instead of shying away, the Parker kids all start jabbering out instructions to me.
“Guys, wait,” I say. “I don’t want anyone else getting hurt if I fail at this. I know Conner and Shane won’t be punished, but I can’t let anyone else help me.”
Amber stares at me with a sour look on her face. “That’s really dumb, Mason. How is Molly supposed to teach you everything? She’s only seven. She doesn’t know everything.”
“Despite what she thinks,” Shane throws in.
“Anyway …” Amber says with a glare at Shane. “You’re going to need Mom and Dad to help you. There’s stuff they haven’t even taught Conner yet. You can’t just rely on other Aerlings.”
“But, if I can’t learn it in time, you’ll all be hurt,” I argue.
“Then we better make sure you learn it all in time,” Sasha says. She looks back toward her parents and says, “Right?”
It’s hard to explain how happy it makes me to see the nods and smiles of approval on Mr. and Mrs. Parkers’ faces. It’s not just that they’re willing to help me despite the risks. A huge weight lifts off my chest knowing that there are good, kind Caretaker families.
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