Hungry Earth (Elemental Book 2)

by Oxford, Rain

  Henry looked around before letting me go and entering the room. I followed and found Clara unconscious and bound spread-eagle on the bed. She was still wearing pants, but her red blouse was torn open with a silver cross strapped to her chest and her skin was burned where the metal was pressed against her flesh. Henry’s hand shifted partially into some creepy mixture of a human hand and a feline’s paw. He sliced the rope easily and peeled the cross from her skin.

  “Grab her and let’s go,” Astrid said.

  “One, down, three to go. At least we made some progress,” I said as I stepped over the dead woman. “Are you going to clean that up?”

  “I’ll call the cleaners when we get on the road.”

  “I believe you are becoming very accustomed to the paranormal community,” Henry told me as he picked Clara up. “Or in our terms; the real world. In fact, my parents would consider not eating your kill to be an insult.”

  “Where are they from?”

  “Brazil. While I spent much of my life in the U.K., I was born in Arizona,” he said. I nodded and started getting in the car. “At a wildlife reserve,” he added. By the time I could turn to him, he was already in the driver’s seat.

  Henry drove back to the castle at a perfectly calculated speed. We were going ten over on the highway, but everyone else was as well. When a yellow sports car blew past us, Henry waved and said, “Thank you for your sacrifice. Those people are the reason we can speed and not get caught,” he explained to us.

  Five minutes later, we saw the car on the side of the road with a cop behind him. “April and Clara need driving lessons from you,” I said.

  * * *

  The trip home seemed to take forever. Clara woke for a short while, but she was very disorientated. When we tried to ask her if she saw anything, she didn’t seem to understand the question. Her mind was just as muddled as before.

  “What if they’re tracking her?”

  “You believe they knew we would find them in some random motel room and they left one of their people there to die just so they could track us back to the castle?” Henry asked.

  No, I didn’t, but I couldn’t help thinking about my dream of the vampire under attack. This seemed too much like a perfect setup.

  When we pulled into the driveway of the castle, Hunt and Flagstone were waiting. I woke Astrid and gently pushed her out of the way so Flagstone could get Clara and disappear with her into the castle. I figured he was taking the unconscious vampire to Dr. Martin. Astrid leaned her head on my shoulder and I put my arm around her.

  “Did you find out anything?” Hunt asked.

  “We know there is more than one killer and that they’re human. Astrid killed one of them. From what I’ve seen, there are three more.”

  “But they’re human; they don’t stand a chance against us,” Astrid said.

  “They know how to be human, while I highly doubt you know how to fight without your speed, strength, and fangs,” I argued. “With an amulet that takes away your power, they’re not leveling the playing field.”

  “What happened with Jackson and the kid?” Henry asked.

  “Jake has gone to stay at the children’s school. Jackson is back here, for now. He said he was attacked inside the school grounds, but that is very unlikely.”

  “How come?” I asked.

  “I have guards in place all over this school. It sounds like you have had a long day,” Hunt said, hinting. “I suggest you all go to your rooms and get some sleep. The underground floor has been searched and cleared and the vampires have moved back to their own rooms. Astrid, you can stay in Clara’s room while she is recovering. After Clara was taken, Stephen decided to handle the murders himself.”

  Henry looked at me for instructions. Henry and I both knew I wasn’t going to let it go just because the vampire king wanted to avenge his daughter, and I suspected Hunt knew it as well. “Where is Amelia?” I asked Hunt.

  He sighed. “She is safe.” He walked off without another word.

  Astrid and Henry both waited for me to tell them what to do, so I considered our next step. “We can’t do anything to them until we get the amulet, but there is still the shadow mystery. If Hunt doesn’t want us to work on this, we’ll have to be more secretive about it. Let’s go to bed and we’ll get a fresh start on it tomorrow.”

  Henry and I went back to our room, where Darwin was asleep.

  “How did you and Hunt get to the house so fast?” I asked once we were both in our beds.

  “We went through the shadows. We walked into the darkest part of Hunt’s office and the shadows enveloped us. Then we walked out of a linen closet at the house.”

  “Did you see anything in the shadows?”

  “Yes. I saw Heather, but I had no time to ask any questions.”

  * * *

  Heather and I were walking in the hall just like the time she took me to see Ashcraft. “Where are we going?”

  “To the library.”

  “Why?”

  “I thought you wanted to know who I am.”

  “A bibliophile?”

  She laughed. “That I am. Too bad my father doesn’t understand. He thinks you’re not ready, but he doesn’t realize that you’re not safe.”

  “He doesn’t think I’m ready for what?”

  “You must find the key before Logan and Vincent do.”

  “Why?”

  “You saw the tower, remember? The wizards want to destroy it.”

  “What did that note say?”

  “It said the fourth–”

  * * *

  I woke to a sharp hiss, which was followed immediately by furious cursing in another language. “Kill that cat!” Darwin yelled. I opened my eyes in time to see Darwin tossing one of his manga books at Ghost, who was on his desk. The cat had scattered Darwin’s stuff everywhere.

  Henry jumped out of bed at the same time the cat vanished. “What was he doing?” he asked.

  Darwin leapt from his bed as well. “He was after Baldauf’s journal.”

  “What did you find in the journal?” I asked. He removed a panel from his bookshelf to reveal a hidden compartment, from which he retrieved the book.

  “It sounds like I would learn more from the published books he wrote, but I was able to figure out that Baldauf was one seriously messed up dude,” he said. “The man may have once been an innocent victim, but when he wrote this journal, he was heavily into summoning dark beings. He makes references to several legitimate grimoires and more sinister works.”

  “So Baldauf was a bad guy?”

  “He wasn’t a good guy, but I think ‘bad’ is subjective. However, I don’t think we want Ghost getting this book. Whatever someone wants this book for, it’s not good. It makes me wonder why Heather had it.”

  “Maybe she was trying to keep it from Hunt and Vincent. Does it say anything about a key?”

  “Yeah, actually, it does. There is mention of a key, but there are apparently four doors. He also made reference to a tower. Unfortunately, he gets pretty ridiculous in that part. He would rant for pages about the constructions workers not building fast enough or about the traps. I get the feeling he wanted to find this tower and keep it to himself.”

  “Well, I get the feeling we want to find it.”

  “Can your instincts lead you to it?”

  “If it was that easy, others would have found it. We need to go back to the libraries and keep looking for that history book. If we learn the name of the Englishman, maybe we can find some more books.”

  A hard knocking on the door interrupted us. “Henry, I need to talk to you,” Addison said through the door. Darwin and I rolled our eyes.

  “I don’t know what you see in her,” Darwin said.

  “She’s not Holli.”

  “Is your fiancé so bad?” I asked.

  “My parents picked her out. From what you’ve told us about Regina, they could be sisters. When I told her I would never marry her, she just laughed and told me to stop being stupid.
If Addison can put up with me only wanting her for thirty-six days a year, I consider her perfect.”

  “Really? I’m perfect?” Addison opened the door. Her awed expression was almost saddening.

  Henry glared at her. “The full moon starts on the fourth, not today; get out of my room.”

  “That’s not how you keep the perfect girl, bro,” Darwin scolded.

  Henry frowned. “Well, what am I supposed to do?”

  “Go get some cucumbers and you two can sit by the lake and feed the kappa,” I suggested.

  “How would that help?” He was honestly clueless. Addie rolled her eyes, grabbed his arm, and pulled him out of the room.

  * * *

  Darwin and I spent the entire day searching the libraries for more information on Baldauf and found nothing. I caught him up on everything that happened since I left with Hunt, minus the fact that Henry was a thief. I trusted Darwin, but it was Henry’s secret to tell.

  At dinner, Astrid sat beside Henry. “Logan has me babysitting the other vampires until Clara is better,” she said.

  “Clara isn’t better? Darwin, this is Astrid.”

  “She has blood poisoning. She’ll be fine, but it will take a few days for her to recover.”

  “You the chica who ate his dad?” Darwin asked her. “Das bad manners, lass.”

  Astrid frowned at me and I wondered how many cultures my young roommate just insulted. “Sorry, he talks that way with strangers,” I said. “Just watch over the vampires because we don’t want anyone else walking out like Jackson did.”

  Henry put his fork down and started sniffing at Astrid. She scooted a few inches away from him, but he leaned closer to her. “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “Are you early this month?” Darwin asked him. “Is your biological clock off?”

  Henry snarled at him, then fisted his hand in Astrid’s green satin shirt and pulled her against him. She tried to push him away as he pressed his face against her throat. Darwin opened his mouth to say something, but I held up my hand to stop it. This wasn’t how Henry normally acted, even under the full moon. “Astrid, hold still. Henry, what do you smell?”

  He snarled and let her go. “Nothing.”

  “Then I hope you have an explanation, or Astrid is going to break your nose.” She was furious, but apparently willing to wait for my permission.

  “The shadows have done something to her scent.” He stood and walked off, leaving us staring after him in confusion. A few minutes later, he returned with Zhang Wei in his tiger form. Astrid let the tiger sniff her. When he roared, Astrid raised her fists to defend herself if he attacked.

  Seeing how everything could go wrong, I jumped between the tiger and the vampire. “Stand down, Zhang Wei,” I said, as calmly as I could. The tiger looked from me to Astrid and took one hesitant step back.

  He tried to connect with my mind and I allowed it. Confusion and worry invaded my mind.

  “I know. It’s okay, we’re figuring it out,” I said.

  The tiger shifted back. “There is death on her, Devon,” he warned me.

  “That’s a little vague. Are you saying she’s been around death or that–”

  He interrupted me in Chinese. After a moment, Darwin responded, also in Chinese. They spoke for a few minutes before Darwin turned to me. “Death has marked her,” he said. “I think the shadows have marked her as the next to die.”

  I sure as hell wasn’t going to let them take her.

  * * *

  I decided that, rather than blindly searching for the tower, I would try to find out more about it. As far as I knew, it could have been a doorway into Hell. Thus, Henry, Darwin, Astrid, and I spent every free minute looking for any book on the history of the school or Baldauf. Henry kept bringing Darwin books he found, such as The Magus by Francis Barrett, which I thought was a sort of peace offering. Despite the fact that he wasn’t a wizard and couldn’t even do fae magic, Darwin loved magic books.

  Darwin couldn’t find joy in the books because he was worried about Amelia. Henry, Zhang Wei, and Li Na searched the entire castle, including the top floor of the underground level. They concluded that Amelia was missing. I tried to get a moment to ask Hunt, but he was gone most of the time, so I figured he was looking for the key.

  On Wednesday, Henry suggested we get a little more aggressive about the search. He volunteered to break into the headmaster’s office and look for anything in there. Seeing as how the wizard could walk through shadows, I told Henry not to. The fact that he so easily offered to break into the headmaster’s office when he was so unwilling to shift told me how dangerous his jaguar was.

  Langril was missing all week, including for our weekly elemental training. On Friday, my roommates and I skipped Kale’s class and went to the top floor of the dorms, where Henry was able to sniff out the professor’s room. Of course, the door was locked, but that didn’t slow the expert thief for a second. He pulled a professional-grade lock picking kit out of his school bag and went to work on the deadbolt.

  He had it open in seconds.

  “Damn, you should help me break into the–” Darwin started.

  “I do not enjoy this work,” Henry interrupted. “If you have a legitimate cause, I will be happy to help. However, I will not feed your penchant for trouble.”

  “Buzz kill.”

  I sighed and Henry pushed the door open.

  Professor Langril’s room was actually too tidy and normal for the eccentric professor. There was a standard twin-sized bed with dark blue blankets, a work-desk with nothing on it, a reading chair in the corner, and a bookshelf next to the chair.

  “Darwin, check the bookshelf, Henry, check the desk drawers,” I said. They immediately got to work while I searched the wood floor for any loose boards that could have hidden a secret compartment. Ten minutes later, I found nothing, but I felt like I was missing something.

  My instincts weren’t helping, so I stopped in the middle of the room, sat down, and focused.

  “Bro, it’s not nap–”

  “Shut up and let him work,” Henry interrupted.

  I focused on Heather. I had never connected with her mind, so I pictured the last time I had seen her alive. She was taking me to see Mrs. Ashcraft. I focused on her bright smile, the sound of her voice, and the scent of her. I felt something; not a mind but something more obscure.

  “What are you looking for?” It was her voice in my mind.

  “A book,” I said.

  “Where would you find a book?”

  “In the library, but we already searched the libraries,” I told her. She sighed right before I got it. I opened my eyes and broke the connection. I wasn’t a complete idiot. I stood up and searched the bookshelf, but found nothing more than Darwin had.

  I pulled out books like The Occult by Wilson, Compendium of Magic and Occultism, Tarot for Fun and Profit, Astrology for Fun and Profit, and Coffee Table Book of Spells and Magic. “What the hell is this shit?” Darwin asked. “I thought he was a wizard. These books are for wannabes.”

  “So why are you taking them down?” Henry asked as I piled the books on the desk. Without waiting for my answer, he started helping me.

  “Where would you find a book?” I asked.

  “In the library,” Darwin answered.

  “Right, so where do you find a secret book?”

  “In the… secret library. I get it.”

  None of the books were triggers, so Henry and I moved the bookshelf. There was a rust-colored stain outlining the wall where the shelf had been. “Oh, well, I guess we should just give up, then,” I said sarcastically. Like I had done when Ghost showed me the secret passage, I pressed my hand firmly against the wall. The section inside the stain gave about a half inch, then slid open to the side, revealing an eight-by-ten secret library. I pulled out my penlight and clicked it, only to remember I had killed it.

  “Got a light?” Darwin asked, grabbing a candle Henry had found in the desk. I pulled out my lighter, lit it,
and held it out like a torch.

  Against the far wall was a small writing desk that was spilling over with papers. Every inch of every wall consisted of bookshelves that were crammed with books. “Henry, check the desk. Skim through the pages to see if anything strikes you as odd. If it’s in another language, ask Darwin.”

  “I can read Portuguese,” he said.

  “Good to know. Darwin, help me check the books.”

  We got to work. These books were mostly hand-written grimoires, some old maps, and some very old and rare books, such as a copy of the Egyptian Book of the Dead with papyrus paper. I found a small book that looked to be only a few hundred years old, written in German.

  “Darwin, check this one.”

  “I found something, too,” he said, holding out a familiar book. He laid his out on top of the desk and started flipping through pages. “We got it! This is the same history book, but it’s not vandalized.”

  “What’s the Englishman’s name?”

  He skimmed through a couple of pages. “Leara Kingling,” he finally said. “That’s an odd name. It sounds… not familiar, but like my brain is trying to recognize it.”

  “That was the name the gnome gave me. He said that I had to stop Leara Kingling. Maybe it’s a language you know?”

  “No, that’s the first thing my brain works out. According to the book, the man died, so maybe the gnome meant for you to stop whatever Kingling was trying to accomplish.” He gathered several more from the bookshelves, but didn’t bother looking in them. “Let’s get these back to our room before we get busted.”

  We were careful to put everything but the selected books back exactly the way we had found it. When we got back to our room, Darwin spilled the books across the floor and flipped through pages of multiple books at once.

  “Damn,” he said after about half an hour. “First off, Baldauf and Kingling knew each other. Apparently, Kingling was an extremely powerful wizard. Baldauf got into the dark stuff and began building the castle about the same time he met Kingling. From the books, it sounds like Kingling was a servant to Baldauf, but Baldauf was terrified of Kingling and the Englishman was definitely a more powerful wizard.”