Elemental Hunger

by Elana Johnson

  “Yeah, about Adam.” Hanai’s answer carried exhaustion. “Well, as much as I hate to say it, I was wrong about him.”

  I waited for more.

  “His plan actually worked. And while I would’ve gone about it a different way, he did ensure our safety.”

  Clouds gathered in my soul. “Safety?” was all I could choke out.

  “He took Cat and Isaiah to Tarpulin—to Alex. He claimed that you had escaped from Felix, and he needed to leave right away to help him find you. So yes, he invited his brother to the ceremony, he went to Tarpulin to turn in Cat and Isaiah, but he bought you some time.” Hanai wiped the sweat off his forehead.

  “Time?” I asked, obviously incapable of more than one word questions.

  “He almost made it.” The way Hanai spoke in defense of Adam turned the clouds into thunderheads.

  “He was supposed to meet you and Felix at that house. Adam had planned to be there first, so Felix wouldn’t…well, you know. So he wouldn’t hurt you.”

  I reached for Hanai’s hand and found comfort in his gentle touch.

  “He was delayed in Tarpulin. And I was starving.”

  “Were you following us?”

  Hanai focused on our hands, which rested in his lap. “Yes. But when I arrived in Cornish, I had to eat. I stole something from the market and lost you. I had to search for your spirit, but it was buried.” Tears splashed his face. “I tried to hurry.”

  The storm inside blew itself out. I squeezed his hand to let him know I didn’t blame him.

  He gathered me into an embrace and pressed his face against my neck. “I’m glad I made it in time. Sort of.”

  I wanted him to hold me forever. To tell me that everything would be okay, that we’d find Cat and Isaiah. But we let the silence say everything.

  “So anyway.” Hanai cleared his throat. “Adam left Felix in the basement while we searched for you. He took you to the healer’s house, and the three of us worked on your wounds. Then he collected his brother and took him back to Tarpulin. With Felix shot and bloody, he thinks that will convince Alex of whatever story he invents.” He squeezed my hand. “Adam’s coming back to get us. He should be able to see this smoke from miles away.”

  “I have to go to Tarpulin,” I said. “So Adam didn’t buy me anything.”

  “We know about Davison’s mission for you. Adam can read minds, remember?” Hanai spoke gently, but the reminder that nothing with Adam had been—or ever would be—private only served to ignite my anger.

  “Don’t be mad,” he said. “I’m still not sure of everything my Spiritual Element can do, but I can feel emotions. And Adam is truly remorseful about what he felt he had to do. He needed the chartering to ensure his position on your Council, but he also needed to placate Felix and Alex.”

  I didn’t know how to answer, how to feel. I didn’t trust Adam, but I felt I really could rely on Hanai. “I guess…. But why did he have to do anything for Felix or Alex? He left Tarpulin a long time ago.”

  “To save himself,” Hanai said. “He told them he was tracking down the Elemental abnormalities and couldn’t report in because of it.”

  “How do we know he wasn’t tracking me down?”

  Hanai caught my gaze, and he looked apologetic. “He wasn’t,” he said. “I’ve known him for a while, and the only person I ever saw him track was Felix. He was trying to make sure he didn’t ruin the Elemental schools. But, you know, Gabby, Adam had to tell them something.”

  I closed my eyes and sighed. “I guess,” I said again.

  “He would’ve been killed on-sight otherwise,” Hanai said.

  I opened my eyes and squinted into the sky. “All right. I have to believe you.”

  “I can’t make you, and Adam said he’ll do whatever he can to convince you.” Hanai stared into the horizon. “But I believed him. I let go of my disbelief and relied on my Element, and I could only feel the truth of his words.”

  I remembered the gentle pulling of the chartering magic. It had felt clean and pure. The five of us were a Council. I felt closer to Hanai than ever as he waited for me to respond.

  “That will have to be enough for me for right now.” I hugged my knees to my chest. “I’m scared to go to Tarpulin, Hanai. Alex will kill me as soon as she sees me.”

  Hanai cupped my face in his hands. I breathed in his comfort, his tranquility. The soothing feelings didn’t mesh with my pounding heart. “I…feel…strange….”

  “My Element,” he breathed. “I can feel and control emotions.”

  I blinked at his new power. But he wasn’t controlling how I felt about him. Only the anxiety rocketing from my thoughts of dying.

  “Hanai, I—I should’ve picked you.” I reached up and lightly ran my fingers over his face.

  He dipped his head, and I opened my mouth to receive his. The golden sunshine from Hanai’s Element melded with the blinding heat of mine.

  Hanai slept, his arms wrapped securely around me. I stared at the wall of flames, thinking, remembering.

  A beep filled the void. A voice—Adam’s voice—tinny and far away spoke. “Felix! Stop it! You hurt her, and I’ll kill you!”

  That’s what he’d said. Adam had tried to stop Felix.

  I inhaled, not bothering to heat the icy air before it met my lungs. He’d played both sides flawlessly. Alex and Felix thought he was on their side. Hanai thought he was on ours.

  I didn’t know what to think, who to believe. I thought back, trying to remember if Adam had ever lied directly to me.

  Hot blazes, I couldn’t remember a single time he had. Even when I thought he’d left, he hadn’t. When I believed he’d lied, he hadn’t.

  Maybe I could trust him. Maybe it would just take time. Not sure I have a lot of that, I thought before falling asleep.

  Dawn brought with it the promise of long hours spent behind a fiery barrier. To pass the time, we traced letters in the charred dirt. When the afternoon started to relinquish into evening, a growl rumbled beyond the barrier. Several more joined in, creating a chorus of throaty warnings.

  I peered through the flames. The wolves lay flattened on the ground, lips drawn back over raunchy teeth, staring south.

  “What do you think—?”

  “Adam,” Hanai interrupted. He pointed. “There.”

  I couldn’t see anything. The landscape repeated endlessly. Then a wisp of dirt crept into the sky. As it came closer, I recognized the steam from the sentry vehicle condensing in the chilly air.

  The wolves scattered as the buzz barreled toward them. Adam skidded to a stop inside the ring of flames. He flung open the door and strode the few feet to where Hanai and I stood huddled together.

  “Gabby.” Adam said my name like it would heal a wound deep in his soul. He pulled me into a tight embrace. “You’re okay, you’re okay.” He whispered it again and again, as if to reassure himself that it was true. I looked over his shoulder at Hanai, who wore a frown.

  I stood stiffly in Adam’s arms until he released me. He brushed the long hair away from my eyes. “Hey, beautiful. I’m so sorry. I came as fast as I could. Now…and then.” Leaning down, he pressed his lips to mine, softly, lovingly.

  I didn’t know if I should kiss him back or punch him. I pulled away from Adam, wiping my mouth and looking anywhere but at him. I stepped toward Hanai and finally met Adam’s eyes.

  His emotions were carefully hidden behind a mask of stone. “Let’s get out of here. Smart thing, building that fire. I could see the smoke from miles away.”

  Hanai moved toward the vehicle, which hummed and hovered a few inches off the ground. It was flat and perfectly round, made with a shiny, silver metal I’d never seen before. “It was necessary, not smart.” He lifted the door and climbed into the vehicle. From the long bench seat, he offered his hand to help me up. I paused, still unsure that Adam wouldn’t simply deliver me to my death in this metallic trap.

  Adam stood behind me, waiting for me to get in the vehicle before him. “Come o
n, Gabby,” he said. “I’m pretty sure you can’t drive.”

  “Hanai?” I asked a multitude of questions with that one word. He said he could read feelings, and that he trusted Adam. But I didn’t know who to trust, who was on my side. With the two of them here together, I didn’t know whose name should’ve been written on that charter, no matter how temporary.

  I looked back and forth between them, my thoughts racing.

  “Whoa,” Hanai said just as Adam complained, “Can’t—breathe….”

  “I need some answers before I get in this vehicle with you,” I said, folding my arms across my chest.

  “You just let him kiss you,” Hanai said, his voice poisoned. “Getting in the car comes way before that, don’t you think?”

  I glanced at Adam. Beautiful, sexy Adam, who casually raked his curls off his forehead.

  “You’re the reason I left Alex,” he whispered.

  “Me?”

  “Yes, you. When I found out she was a woman, she told me she knew there were others like her. Every time one of them popped up, she made a new educational restriction, visited another school that wasn’t following the ‘rules,’ and eliminated the threat. She’s killed everyone who threatens her—people like you.”

  Before I could respond, he continued, “Not everyone believes the way she does. Why do you think she burned Newton? Or Crylon? Just look at Davison’s rebellion.” He swept his hand across the plains, indicating the vastness of the uprising. “You’ll fit into society better than you think. Especially if you defeat her.”

  I let his words sink in. “Defeat her? You mean I’ll….” I didn’t know how to finish that thought.

  “She won’t allow you to live.” He moved into my personal space. “It’s you or her.”

  I blinked and stepped back, bumping into the vehicle. I remembered him saying the same thing when we fled toward the Outcast settlement. I hadn’t believed it then. I did now.

  “Alex thinks you shot Felix and escaped—which technically, you did.” Adam grinned, but it was short-lived. “I’ve been commissioned to find and kill you, but we all know that’s not going to happen.”

  “We do?” I asked, still unsure of his loyalty despite Hanai’s assurances.

  Adam looked over my shoulder at Hanai. “I thought you said you were going to talk to her.”

  “I did. I told her about my Element and what I can do—and what I thought about you. She can believe what she wants.” Hanai touched the seat next to him. “Come on, Gabby. Get in.”

  I needed to believe in someone. Hanai had always been the most trustworthy. If he said Adam was genuine, I had to believe him. No, I’m choosing to believe him—and to believe in Adam. I turned to climb in the vehicle, but Adam caught my hand.

  “I said I was yours.” His words held an accusation.

  “I know,” I murmured. “And I’m working on believing it.”

  His eyes filled with sadness so deep I couldn’t ignore it as I settled next to Hanai. Adam got in, sandwiching me between the two of them, and nosed the vehicle south. Suddenly, he did something to make us lurch forward.

  The hum of the vehicle vibrated in the seat as it assaulted my ears. The interior smelled like sweat and grease. And Adam’s usual ash and lemons. And Hanai’s earth and sunshine. My heart rate rocketed as the usual feelings of claustrophobia engulfed me.

  I could reach out and touch a panel of blinking lights. It extended across the entire width of the interior, with a handhold for Adam to steer the vehicle. The top half of the craft was glass, allowing me to see forward, left, right, and up. I almost felt like I was riding on one of Adam’s pillows of air.

  “I can feel something wrong in the earth,” Hanai finally said as we sped over the land, unconcerned about the low brush and rocks as the vehicle hovered about ten feet off the ground when it was moving. “It’s coming from Tarpulin. I think it has something to do with the Supremist.”

  “She will stop at nothing to achieve her desires,” Adam said. “No doubt that she’s used every resource she has. What is it you feel?”

  Hanai remained quiet for a few minutes, his eyes closed like he was listening to the earth. “I don’t know,” he finally said. “But something’s not right.”

  I didn’t know much about the Spiritual Element, but I knew Hanai had gifts simply from his Spirit-speaker blood. If he said something was wrong, something was wrong. “What’s our plan?” I asked.

  “We’ll make camp on the plains,” Adam said. “Lure her out to us.”

  “Where’s Davison?” I asked. “He said he had legions of sentries already here.”

  “He does,” Hanai said. “They’re hiding, waiting for Alex to leave her highly protected city. With our enhanced Elements, we should be able to protect you until Davison comes with his Council and the other Councilmen.”

  “Your Councilman rescued Davison,” Adam said, his voice soft. “He recaptured the building, driving out all the Tarpulin sentries Felix had brought.”

  “Councilman Ferguson has immense firepower,” I said.

  “Had,” Adam corrected in a whisper. “He died freeing Davison and re-establishing the security of their stronghold.”

  I closed my eyes, wondering how many more people would die before this rebellion ended. Too many, I was sure.

  “We’ll be fine,” Adam said. “We won’t let anyone hurt you.”

  “The Supremist has plenty of her own talents,” I argued.

  “Don’t be so sure of that,” he said.

  “What does that mean?” I asked.

  Adam looked at me. His eyes glided toward Hanai, and a flicker of anger flashed in his eyes. “That day—I was late because I couldn’t use my air to get to Cornish. I felt—empty.”

  Hanai’s breathing quickened. “Really?” He and Adam exchanged a glance.

  “Really.”

  Hanai folded his arms and stared out the wide window. “I told you, Adam. Alex is not a Firemaker.”

  “What do you mean, Alex is not a Firemaker?” My voice came out strangled.

  “Exactly what I said. She’s not a Firemaker.”

  “Yes, she is,” I argued. “I felt her firemaking Element when we barely escaped from your village. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten the blazing fire she had spewing from her hands.”

  Hanai’s jaw twitched. “I haven’t forgotten. How did you feel when she did that? And how was Isaiah affected?”

  I frowned at the edge in his voice. “I felt…” empty, I wanted to say, but couldn’t. And Isaiah had to be summoned before he woke up.

  “Explain,” Adam said.

  “Alex isn’t a Firemaker,” I answered for Hanai. “She’s stealing our Elements. Right? Did she steal my power? And Isaiah’s? How—? Well, how does she do that?”

  “I don’t know,” Hanai said. “But it explains a lot.”

  I waited for what, exactly, it explained. Adam shifted next to me, clearly expecting a better explanation as well. Hanai remained silent.

  “Like what?” I burst out.

  Hanai took his time responding. When he did, his words were controlled, spoken in a voice barely louder than the buzzing of the vehicle. “Like why this winter won’t end. Somehow she’s using the heat from the earth, robbing the spring from blossoming.”

  “Holy tornadoes,” Adam said. “When I left, she used the wind to slam the door behind me. I fell to my knees, weak and sweaty. Maybe she stole my Element, and that’s why I couldn’t use it?”

  “Hmm,” Hanai said. “Maybe. Maybe not.” He spoke to himself more than to either of us.

  Hanai slept, his head resting on my shoulder. Adam didn’t strike up a conversation, and like I was going to. He’d always been the chatterbox in our relationship.

  I squirmed, and Hanai’s head slipped to my chest. I adjusted so he would be more comfortable, which meant I had to lean into Adam. “Sorry, is this okay?”

  “It’s fine,” he said, but he didn’t sound fine.

  “Are you okay?”
<
br />   Adam hesitated for a fraction of a second. “I’m fine.”

  “That’s the second time you’ve said ‘fine.’”

  “So?”

  “Which means everything is not fine.”

  When he didn’t answer, I wished I could read minds. I concentrated really hard, hoping to hear a whisper of what he had going on inside his head. I heard nothing.

  He chuckled. “You’re funny.”

  I didn’t find anything amusing. I wanted to know what he was thinking.

  Adam gripped the steering column until his knuckles turned white. “Okay, I’m thinking that I wish I could find a way to tell you how sorry I am. I’m wishing I had the words that would make you feel clean again. Something that would convince you that I’m your Airmaster—that I’ll always be your Airmaster—and anything else you want me to be.”

  I swallowed hard. Felix said that once Adam put his mind to something, he followed through. I just wished I knew what he’d decided first—to be my Airmaster or to be Alex’s sentry.

  Adam stiffened, and he sighed.

  But I couldn’t take back the thought. He didn’t offer an assurance, so I stared out the windshield with confusion swirling in my mind.

  Finally, darkness swallowed the sky. I fell into it, welcoming the unthinking realms of sleep.

  A lull in movement woke me. We’d stopped. I opened my eyes to a navy blue blanket of chilly air.

  Adam’s voice: Frantic.

  Hanai: Chanting.

  The call of fire sang to me, but it faded quickly. I jumped from the vehicle and ran to where Adam and Hanai were kneeling over someone. More than someone—a Firemaker. And this fire felt like home.

  “Holy blazes,” I whispered, arriving on-scene. “Jarvis.”

  He burned, the flames licking his black clothes, dancing in his dark hair. His eyes were closed, but fluttered open when I touched his forehead. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Fire sparked from his fingertips like flaming droplets of rain. His irises blazed red before he closed his eyes again.