Hungry Earth (Elemental Book 2)

by Oxford, Rain

  “It’s not working now; that much I can tell,” Darwin said. “What are you going to do with it?”

  “I haven’t decided yet. I suppose I should bury it. Most importantly, my parents must never know the amulet is still around. It would also be very bad for me if the council heard that I had something that belonged to them.”

  “Good thing that’s not the real one, then, since you’re not a thief,” I said. If someone had bugged Hunt’s office again, we were in trouble. However, if someone like Ghost was listening in, they had no evidence whatsoever.

  He nodded. “A very good thing. And for the record, the next time my jaguar tries to attack someone other than you or Darwin, trust him. Felicity was using magic to smell like Clara. The second I shifted, I could tell exactly what she was.”

  “Well, we may not have defeated Gale, but he shouldn’t be that big a problem without Felicity,” Darwin said.

  “Not necessarily,” Henry argued. “Gale still has the power he gained from his kills and he now has a grudge.”

  “What about my dream? I dreamt of Gale using the amulet and shooting Astrid. That didn’t happen, and if we have the amulet, how can he kill her with it?”

  “Maybe you stopped it from happening,” Darwin suggested.

  Henry was less optimistic. “Or Gale will get the amulet again and go after her in vengeance for us killing Felicity.”

  Hunt entered at that point. I sat up and Darwin sat next to me. “You should not have gone down there.”

  “Gee, you don’t have to thank us for saving everyone from the psychopath galore.”

  Darwin stared at me wide-eyed and I knew I said exactly what he had been about to. “Especially not after abandoning us on the field. Hell, you abandoned Devon twice if you count the pawnshop, which I do.”

  “I cannot apologize for the incident at the pawnshop, for I had to get Remy out of there and I could not reach Devon at the same time. I would have gone right back for him if Langril had not gotten him first. During the golem attack, it was merely unfortunate timing. I had to get the key.”

  “Let’s see this key that’s worth the lives of your students,” Darwin said.

  Hunt sighed, suddenly looking several years older from the frustration and exhaustion in his eyes. “I was unable to get it. Fortunately, neither was anyone else.”

  “Was it worth all of your students’ lives? If we had died, would you regret it or be glad no one else got the key either?”

  “I knew you could handle the golems. I really did. If I do not get that key, many more will die, just like Cooper.” With that, he walked out.

  “Henry,” I said.

  “I’m on it.”

  * * *

  I discovered that evening that Maseré had heard me tell him that Clara was found, but I was unable to hear his response, probably because of Felicity’s magic. Maseré tried to warn me repeatedly, since Stephen found his daughter about ten minutes before I found Felicity.

  Clara had been dragged into the rubble of the dorms and trapped there, wounded. From the synthetic blood that the vampires had been drinking, she didn’t have enough strength to heal or free herself. She was given blood and they both returned to their coven.

  Maseré only stayed for a few days to help with the reconstruction of the dorms. Each day, more and more of his pack showed up to help. Henry, Darwin, and I were eating lunch in the makeshift dining room, which was the lecture hall, when Maseré came up to us. He put his hand on Darwin’s shoulder, careful not to touch Darwin’s skin.

  “Are you coming home with me, monkey, or staying with your friends?”

  I didn’t even snicker. I bit the inside to my cheek until my eyes watered, but my lips didn’t even slightly twitch. Henry made a slight choking sound that he covered with a respectful cough.

  Darwin blushed. “Dad, I told you not to call me that in public. I want to stay here.”

  Maseré’s eyes widened dramatically. “Really? My son would rather play outside with his friends than sit in front of the computer all day? Wait until I tell your mother! I never thought I’d see the day.”

  Darwin walked away, grumbling about his mother being the reason he was always hiding in his room in the first place.

  Maseré patted my back firmly. Henry stood right behind the wolf, ready for any problems. “My friend has discovered his situation is worse than he thought. You would be doing a lot of people a great deal of good if you would help protect his daughter.”

  “Well, that might be difficult while I’m at the university, but I have a friend in–”

  “Oh, she won’t be a bother at all. She’s already a student here. In fact, she had to return home for a few weeks for her own safety, on Logan’s orders. I know this girl; she’s sweet as a button and cute as a peach.”

  Henry’s left eye twitched. “I can see a resemblance between you and your son,” he said.

  “You’re not talking about Amelia Bell by any chance, are you?” I asked.

  “As a matter of fact, I am. Will you do it?”

  “I’ll need to talk to her and her father to see what exactly is going on, but–”

  “Great!” He patted my back harder. “I will let them know you agreed to do it, then. Good day to you!” He walked off.

  “What did I just agree to?” I asked Henry. I didn’t actually remember agreeing to anything.

  “I don’t know, but I would start running if I were you.”

  * * *

  At midnight on the next Thursday, I went to the clearing in the forest where Langril and I met for our training sessions. It was mid-March and there was an end in sight for the winter weather. Actually, the weather at Quintessence seemed to be quite a bit more stable than right outside the grounds.

  Either way, the dirt was still frigid when I sat cross-legged in it. I pulled the red ball out of my pocket and rolled it between my hands. As I did, I focused on the mind of the professor. I had seen glimpses of it, but never more strongly than in the vision where he was in that alley.

  A human might consider him extremely immoral. Of course, every villain believed they were the good guy. Langril was not a good person or bad one. He was far older than anyone I had ever encountered, and possibly much more powerful. Morals and ethics meant little to him. He cared next to nothing about anyone who was not directly useful to him. At the same time, he found friends and allies useful.

  The only one who he really cared about other than himself was his daughter. I knew I was useful to him or he wouldn’t have saved me in the pawnshop. From my brief glimpse into his mind, I found his intuition to be nearly as strong as mine. However, instead of centering on self-preservation, overhearing vital information, and solving crimes like mine did, his intuition showed him how useful people were in his plans.

  He had some very powerful enemies. If one of his enemies was the shadow man, as it appeared to be, then I could trust Langril. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and the shadow man was sure as hell my enemy.

  While concentrating on the professor’s mind, I allowed the earth magic to give my power strength and stability. I was not going to become like John. John had power, but he was never balanced and he never accepted the elementals as part of what made us wizards. I will not become like John because I am a wizard. A wizard was a part of nature and thus was balanced. As long as I accepted that I was part of nature, my power would work for me instead of against me.

  That’s why Langril said he wasn’t a wizard here; Langril’s powers did not belong here. Langril didn’t belong here. As silent as the shadows he appeared from, the professor stood before me.

  “Congratulations, you have passed your earth element.”

  * * *

  Even after Maseré’s shifters headed out, the construction went smoothly. When the professors returned, they dived right in as well. The students were excited by then, certain they could build it better than before.

  The new building was going to be wider and not so many floors high as the original. We w
ere also getting an indoor pool, a den, group study rooms, and club rooms. I had to wonder if anyone was going to get any work done.

  There were four towers on the original building; one on each corner. Two of them were water towers and two were observation posts. Fortunately, the water towers had held, or there would have been a lot more injuries. We rebuilt the towers, but we use wind turbines to pump the water from the well, as opposed to the electrical pumps that were used before. We had enough problems without worrying about losing water.

  The biggest change was the implementation of four-layer glass we received from Stephen’s suppliers that protected against ultraviolet radiation. Using the special glass for every single window, along with an additional protective film, vampires would be able to live in the dorms and move around inside freely during the day.

  After lunch, I got the odd urge to update Hunt on our progress. Knowing this was my instincts trying to get me moving, I acted on it. Darwin and Henry followed me and we stopped in front of Hunt’s office a few minutes later. The door was open just a crack, as if someone had meant to close it but hadn’t been paying attention.

  I heard Remy yelling at her father about making Flagstone take her out of the golem fight. Since I was expecting her to have a fit about it, I almost moved on, but the sudden silence stopped me. After a moment, I heard Flagstone’s calm, cold voice.

  “This is my last day here,” he said.

  “What are you talking about?” Hunt asked. He sounded more angry than shocked.

  “You always have to have something to kill yourself over, Logan. In school, you were constantly goofing off and playing pranks. Then you started getting into those damn books and talking about towers and keys. When you got the first school, it was all about making the lives of your students better, and I was happy to help you do that. You attained this school to guard the tower, but you still put your students first.”

  “I am still putting my students first.”

  “Even when you achieved equality for fae, wizards, and shifters, you never took a moment to rest. After that it was the vampires. Now you’re becoming obsessed with the key. You let the golems become a problem. I understand what will happen if you don’t get the key, and there is no one who wants you to get it more than me.”

  “Then why are you talking about leaving?”

  “For the past five years, you have been increasingly thinking of me as your pet. I realized when I got Remy out of the golem fight that this isn’t working. I can’t be in two places at once, and I can’t keep up with your shifting priorities. When you find the key, when you find what you’ve been looking for all these years, summon me back and I will answer.”

  “Rosin, you can’t leave,” Remy said, her voice thick with tears.

  “I can’t do this anymore. I cannot be your father’s familiar when I’m starting to hate him.”

  Henry shoved both of us lightly away from the door and we got the hint. Walking casually and silently, we barely made it around the corner before the door was thrown wide and someone stormed out.

  “Did you know Alpha Flagstone was the headmaster’s familiar?” Darwin asked me when it was quiet again.

  “I didn’t even know a person could be a familiar. Vincent has a cat.”

  “I’d heard that some of the most powerful wizards could have familiars that can shift,” Darwin said. “If Alpha Flagstone is Hunt’s familiar, then this separation is a bad, bad deal. Flagstone should never have started dating Remington.”

  “But they’re so happy together.”

  “It doesn’t matter. It’s probably why Hunt never found another wife after Remy’s mother died; familiars are fiercely territorial over their wizard’s magic. If Hunt dies, Flagstone will lose all of his power, which means that protecting Hunt must be his top priority. Familiars are never supposed to feel love.”

  “Maybe I should be a familiar,” Henry mused.

  “It’s not really a choice. Familiars are summoned by their wizards and must agree or lose their magic. Wizards don’t get to choose their familiars, either.”

  “Sounds like a sucky deal all around,” I said.

  “Yeah, let’s see if you think so a year from now,” Darwin said. “C-Four wizards are supposed to call their familiars.”

  “Devon, glad I caught you,” Kale said as he we rounded the corner and nearly ran into him. He specifically ignored my roommates. “I was just looking for you. When you were fighting… Gale, I think Logan said it was… Did you happen to find anything odd on him?”

  I had successfully avoided the man after we defeated Gale, so I was hoping to never see him again. Unfortunately, it seemed he wasn’t just going to go away. “Like what?”

  “Nothing. Never mind.”

  “Oh, but there was that amulet,” Darwin said innocently.

  “Oh, yeah, I forgot about that,” I lied.

  Kale’s eyes widened with excitement. “Did you get it? Where is it?”

  “Well, we were going to bring it to the council, just in case it was important. But, you see, there was a chasm,” I said slowly.

  “Filled with lava,” Henry added.

  “Yep, lava. Unfortunately, I tripped over a rock and it just fell right in. It was destroyed instantly.” Henry and Darwin nodded solemnly. It was about the worst lie I ever told and I was trying hard to keep a straight face.

  Kale was no longer smiling. “Oh. That is unfortunate,” he said, buying it. “You never did tell me who the witness was.”

  “We got distracted. There was never a witness; Hunt was wrong,” I said. Henry and Darwin nodded in agreement. We hadn’t talked about what I would say, but they automatically went along with me.

  Kale’s expression was shocked for a moment before his lips thinned in a sneer and he scoffed. “Well, I’m not paying you for that.”

  “Understandable. I also understand why you would never want to hire my services again.” I tried to pass him, but he grabbed my arm. Henry growled and Kale jumped back.

  Right before he let into the jaguar, he visibly held back. “Actually, Devon,” he said with a forced smile, “I would like to hire you for a different case. It was my suggestion to disband the school entirely after the golem incident, but the rest of the council believes Hunt has everything under control. I want you to find evidence to prove otherwise.”

  Talk about a two-minute job. “I’m going to have to decline. My caseload is full.”

  Kale’s face reddened. “Now see here, Sanders, council business comes first and if you don’t graciously accept this assignment, I have every inclination and right to lock you in–”

  He was cut off as Darwin started yelling at him in German. With every guttural syllable out of Darwin’s mouth, the wizard’s face grew whiter. When Darwin was finished, Kale looked like he would never open his mouth again.

  Just then, Langril arrived and put his hand firmly on Kale’s shoulder. “I believe Grayson was looking for you. I would assume it is urgent if I were you.”

  “Oh, of course. Have a good evening, Keigan.”

  “And you.” He watched Kale run off.

  “Is everyone going to have to repeat the semester?” I asked. “Because if we do, I want a different earth elemental mentor.”

  Langril laughed. “No, the headmaster has decided that everyone who was passing at the time of the attack is going to automatically be passed through the semester. There are a couple dozen students that were going to fail anyway, but Hunt is giving them a special chance to make it up over the summer. You three passed, as far as I know.”

  “I’m glad I don’t have an elemental mentor,” Darwin said.

  Langril nodded thoughtfully. “You might be capable of using some magic objects even if you aren’t actually able to produce your own magic. Talk to me next semester; I might have a thing or two lying around that can help you.”

  “Danke,” Darwin said.

  “Gern geschehen,” the professor replied before he turned and walked away.

  Dar
win stared after Langril with a suspicious expression that didn’t look right on his face. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “It’s an anagram. This castle doesn’t belong to Hunt; it belongs to Langril.”

  “Huh?”

  “Keigan Langril is Leara Kingling.”

  Epilogue

  “We have a problem, Mr. Sanders,” Hunt said gravely. He folded his hands over the blue folder. Remy was just as somber on his left. Professor Watson was on his right, because Alpha Flagstone hadn’t been seen since I overheard his argument in the office.

  “You’re kidding me,” I said, not finding it humorous at all. “Please tell me this is a joke.” I had spent the entire remainder of the semester getting the dorms rebuilt and, now that it was mid-May, I was ready to get back to my paying job. That didn’t mean I never wanted to return.

  I tried to think of any class I might have flunked before the golem attack. I missed a few astronomy classes, but that was only two credits. All my teachers were at the table and every one of them looked confused.

  “No, no, not with you,” Remy said quickly. “You graduated just fine. It’s Darwin.”

  “Darwin is the smartest student in the school. Why are you bringing it to me?”

  “I knew from the moment Mr. Mason entered my children’s school that he was exceptional, so there was never a doubt in my mind that he would make it here,” Hunt said. “Unfortunately, he has been legitimately labeled a throwback by the wizard council, who sees his genius as something mundane. The council defines a throwback as a person unable to exhibit and control aspects of one or more of their paranormal parents. As Darwin is unable to shift or use fae magic, he fits into that category.”

  “You knew that when you admitted him.”

  “It was never a problem before. The paranormal world needs more people like him. As you know, this school is private and separate from the council. However, wizards make up the majority of the school and are governed by the council. Due to the new equality laws for vampires, the council has started hounding us about allowing throwbacks. They decided that if we allowed throwbacks, it would be discrimination to reject humans who have been raised by paranormals.”