Elementris, Exposure, Eruption Box set: The Vangeretta Curse Series

by Christina Mobley

  “I don’t think so.” Ava sat the binoculars down, disappointed, “I have no idea what it is, I think it’s just like some family secret of hers that I’m supposed to know. Aunt Avalene said that I need to gain Nisca’s trust.” Ava shrugged, “I have no clue.”

  Downstairs Ava joined Aunt Avalene, Brea, and the others in Aunt Avalene’s circle, for dinner. Ruby jumped up and held her arms out, “Oh, there she is. Come over here, little Ava.” She flung her arms around Ava, stepped back, and took her chin in her hand, “So beautiful!” She shook her head and took her seat.

  “We are all so proud of you.” Mr. John said, with a smile.

  Sherri slid the chair next to hers out for Ava, “You look so right here.” She patted the top of Ava’s hand as she took her seat, “I always knew I would see you here someday. Are you excited?”

  “About what?” Ava said absently.

  “Your birthday, of course!” Ms. Ruby said, “I am. This will be the first festival I have been to, since...” She paused and looked at Aunt Avalene.

  Aunt Avalene shook her head, “Since Nadia.” She smiled at Ava, “She would be so proud of you.”

  “I just hope I’m doing everything like I should be.” Ava muttered.

  “You are!” Greta said confidently, “You’re a Vangeretta. Don’t you worry, child.”

  “You’re doing marvelously.” Mr. John said.

  “Yeah,” Ruby agreed, “Don’t you worry about everybody flaking out about the possibility of exposure. They’re just a bunch of weenies, scared of their own shadows.”

  “Ruby,” Greta snapped. “You didn’t have to bring that up.” She looked at Ava, “You’re doing the best you can with a terrible situation.”

  “I saw the fix,” Sherrie said. “I almost believed it myself.”

  “The council did that.” Ava took a sip of her drink, “I’m so glad you guys came.”

  “Of course we would be here.” Mr. John picked up his glass, “To Ava.”

  They all lifted their glasses, “To Ava!”

  Ava blushed, but felt wonderful. It was great to have so many people who truly cared about her and believed in her.

  Brea smiled across the table at her. Ava smiled back and looked around the table at each one of them.

  …Lyssa…

  Lyssa lay in bed and stared at the celling. She thought about all the times in the last seven months she had envisioned what her birth mother might look like. As stupid as it might be, she wanted desperately to know the story behind her conception, how she came to be with the Relic’s and if her mother knew of the magic that Lyssa had worked desperately to hide from her family for years.

  Lyssa looked over at Thomas. He was situated in his normal statue-like pose against the wall by the window. She couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed about her breakdown in the garage. Lyssa was really beginning to feel the soreness in her ribs and down the side of her face now. One thing was certain, she would walk into that school tomorrow with her head held high, “Screw them.”

  Thomas suddenly looked over at her.

  She felt her chest tighten and she held her breath, and waited. With all the courage she could muster she looked right back at him.

  He looked out the window.

  Lyssa felt an uncontrollable need to talk to him, to break the tension in the room. She sat up slowly, “How long do you think they will make you stay here?”

  He shrugged, “Don’t know, probably until they’re sure you’re safe.”

  “I’m sorry,” Lyssa said, in a whisper.

  “For what? Ain't nothing to be sorry for,” Thomas said, looking at her.

  “All of this, you having to stay here and babysit me. If I hadn’t done what I did you wouldn’t be stuck here.”

  “It ain’t so bad.” His lips lifted into a little half-smile.

  “It’s no Element Island.”

  “No,” He shook his head, “It sure ain’t, but being here has its own purty views.” He looked into her eyes again.

  Lyssa felt as though her lips were numb, which is why they messed up the sound of her words. “Like what?” she squeaked and then just wanted to die, she was so embarrassed.

  He tilted his head to one side, keeping his eyes locked on hers. His lips parted as if words were about to pour out, but no words came. Just a sound; a half clear your throat, half start of a word. He shook his head and looked down.

  Lyssa wasn’t tired yet and she was finally getting a peek into Thomas’ personality. She wanted desperately to know more about him. “So why did you do it?”

  “Do what?” he asked.

  “Join the Clutch.” She tossed her covers back and picked up her pillow and hugged it against her chest, “What was your reason?”

  He smiled and lifted his dark eyes. The moonlight coming through the window caught their glossy surface and sent dazzling white sparkles across them as he moved. “It wasn’t a choice, really. It was something I was sure I wanted. When I met my Keeper, I was just a little squirt, nine or so. On my twelfth birthday she finally agreed to take me to see the island. I saw my first festival of season’s celebration. I was hooked good when I saw the Clutch guards walk out in their black uniforms; I knew I wanted to join one day. Everyone respected them and everyone seemed to be in awe of them. My Keeper told me that night that at thirteen I could get into training for the Clutch. I went home and started training myself. I was in bed with the chickens and up with the rooster. For a year I ran and trained on my folk’s farm.”

  “So, you grew up on a farm.” She smiled, “I should have guessed with that accent.”

  He nodded, “Yeah,” he cleared his throat, “I figured they told you some about me.”

  “No.” Lyssa inched to the end of the bed and lay on her belly with her hands propped under her chin, “They didn’t tell me anything.”

  “I’m surprised; Alec loves to tell everyone the cow whisperer thing.”

  “Oh, I have to hear this, the cow whisperer?”

  He laughed.

  Lyssa laughed with him, really liking the sound of his deep throated laugh. She smiled up at him, “So tell me.”

  “Naw, girl,” he shook his head, smiling at her.

  “Oh, c'mon.”

  “I guess it won’t hurt nothin’.” He ran his fingers through his short hair. “When I was a kid, I figured out I could get the cows to corral into the pens easier than my dad. They just seemed to do whatever I wanted them to and then I realized that they really were doing whatever I wanted them to. All I had to do was think about what I wanted them to do, and they would do it. I could get them to line up and go wherever I needed them to just by thinking about it.” He paused, looked at the window and then back, “I always had a heart for animals. I just always thought it was growing up on a farm. Then other people found out about it and they started showing up to see what I could do.” He paused again, “That’s when my Keeper found me. She told me everything and told me how important it was to keep the secret.”

  Lyssa felt sudden guilt, “So you accidently exposed yourself?”

  “Sorta, no one ever knew how I did the things I did. Most of the people who came to the farm assumed I was a kid who spent all my time training the farm animals.”

  “What did your family think? Did they know?”

  “It was just my dad, my momma passed on before all that happened.” He paused, “He…,” he paused again. “I don’t know what he really thought.”

  Lyssa noticed the pain in his dark eyes, “So, your element is spirit. I was wondering.”

  He nodded.

  “I always thought the spirit element was one of the coolest ones.”

  “Well, you can’t really make an animal or a person do whatever you want. It’s the same as the other elements. You have a connection to water and it responds to you. I have a connection with animals and they respond to me. They have a mind and some pretty strong opinions of their own.”

  “Do you have any pets on the island?”

&
nbsp; “Pets?” he lifted his brow. “No, I stay pretty busy with the Clutch.” He paused “There is a bird on the island that is sort of a pet. She’s more like a friend.”

  “What’s her name?”

  Thomas smiled, “Lymp.”

  “Lymp?”

  “Yeah, she’s accident prone. That’s how I…well, met her. She’d crashed into a tree. I helped her heal up.”

  “Really?” She giggled, “A bird that crashes into trees, that’s hilarious.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, she’s smart though, for a bird.” He cleared his throat uncomfortably.

  Lyssa slid off the end of the bed and stood up, “Just out of curiosity, is thirteen the only age that you can join the Clutch?”

  “No, you can join at any age after you turn thirteen, if you can make it through the training and the trials.”

  The trials?” Lyssa’s brow raised.

  “It’s a test at the end, like the Olympics for us. The top competitors make Clutch Guards and the lower scoring competitors stay Greens.”

  “Greens mean new, right?” she asked.

  “It’s the new and lower ranking. You can only stay a Green for three years and then you lose your chance to become a Clutch Guard and you have to leave.” He looked at her for a moment “Why? You interested in becoming a Clutch guard?”

  “No,” she shook her head. “Well, sort of. I mean, it sounds cool.”

  “It is cool, but it ain’t no joke. You have to leave your family and your friends too.”

  “What family?” She asked sharply. “Dana isn’t my family. What do I have to leave?”

  “What about Zack?”

  Lyssa felt her shoulders sink. “Yeah,” she sighed, “he’s sort of my family. He would understand though.”

  “Would he?” Thomas locked eyes with her. “I’ve seen the way he watches you. I think he wants more than your, uh, friendship.”

  “I would never allow there to be more.” She said defensively as the kiss flashed though her mind. “Were you watching me when Dana brought me home from school?”

  He froze for a moment and then nodded once.

  “Seriously!” She felt anger and embarrassment collide inside her. He’d seen and heard everything; the conversation with Dana and all that with Zack.

  “Don’t get your panties in a wad. I didn’t have a choice. It’s my job to watch out for ya.”

  “You mean babysit me and make sure I don’t do anything stupid!”

  “You’ve got it all wrong, Lyssa. Come on,” he said, holding his hand out.

  She stared at it and narrowed her eyes.

  “I want to show you something.”

  “Fine.” She sat up gripping her ribs; they were even more tender now. Thomas knelt in front of her. “You know I can help you.”

  “Help me how?”

  “I can take some of that pain away with my Element, if you’ll let me that is.”

  She nodded, feeling her stomach do flips at his closeness. He rose and sat next to her on the bed. “Lay on back.” he said guiding her head down toward the pillow. He closed his eyes and began to speak in a voice so soft it was almost a whisper. When he opened his eyes, they had changed. They were illuminated, glowing almost. They were mesmerizingly beautiful. He placed a hand on either side of her ribs. His hands were warm and so big they nearly wrapped all the way around her small frame. She felt a strange vibration melt from his hands into her body. She closed her eyes as he moved his hands around her body and then finally, his palm rested over her eye. She felt better already. The pain was not completely gone, but the sharpness was. He took her hand and helped her sit up, “Better?”

  “Yeah.” She said locking eyes with him.

  He pulled her to her feet and she knew in that moment that she was really falling for him; the fall flat on your face, no going back now, kind of falling.” “This is not good,” she thought and then she sighed as he stood quickly and ran his hands through his hair. She hoped that meant that he was feeling the same thing she was.

  Thomas led her outside. The dark sky shadowed the back yard, only a faint light from the moon lit the tree branches. Thomas let go of her hand, “Stay quiet, okay?”

  She nodded.

  Thomas stepped forward and held his hands up. He murmured something so low she couldn’t make it out. As he did, the woods lit up with sounds. Clicks, moans, and howls. As Thomas continued, the woods seemed to come alive. Lyssa froze as animals came from the thick woods behind her house. Birds filled the trees, an owl hooted as he perched in the tree closest to her, and the branches around them danced up and down with life. She nearly jumped out of her skin when a bird dove right by her head. Wild rabbits scurried along the damp ground and then the bigger animals came. A pair of Bobcats came out together; a low throated growl coming from the one on the left.

  Lyssa took two steps back.

  “It’s okay,” Thomas whispered, “She’s the female and she has cubs, she’s just warning the other animals.”

  “I didn’t even know there were Bobcats here.”

  “Only these two in this area, them and their cubs.”

  He held his hand out in front of him, and the male Bobcat came up and brushed against his hand acting more like a friendly house cat than the predator she knew him to be.

  Thomas looked over his shoulder, “Come here.”

  Lyssa shook her head, “I’m okay over here.”

  “He won’t hurt you, come on,” he urged.

  Lyssa slowly stepped forward and stopped just behind Thomas. Thomas reached down and took her hand. He held it out in front of him and carefully placed it on top of the males head. His tail whipped back and forth and the moonlight flashed in his eyes as he moved forward. Lyssa felt her heartbeat go wild and her hand shook as he moved against it. She slowly and carefully stroked the top of his head with the tips of her fingers. He purred and pushed his head against her hand letting her know that he wanted more.

  “Let’s go.” Thomas said.

  “Where?” Lyssa asked, not quite ready for this moment to end.

  “He wants to run,” Thomas said as he nodded towards the Bobcat.

  The Bobcat prepared to spring. He looked at Thomas as if waiting for his signal. Thomas took her hand, “This will be good training if you ever decide to join the Clutch.”

  They took off. Thomas kept side by side with the male and tugged Lyssa along behind him. Lyssa’s legs burned as they ran, but she was determined to keep up. It was beautiful; running with the wild cats, the birds, and the other animals scurrying and flying after them. The sounds brought some deep animal-like instinct to life inside of her. She loved the way the moon danced over the trees in the woods and the crispness of the cool night air. She was ready to collapse when they finally stopped. Thomas caught her in his arms, “You okay?”

  “Yeah,” she said breathlessly.

  Thomas laughed and walked back with her. By the time they made it back all of the animals had retreated into the woods.

  Chapter Seven…Just a peek

  …Ava…

  “I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” Ava whispered to Brea.

  Brea was on her knees, feeling around under Nisca’s bed. “You need some answers; I’m just helping you get them. Quit being such a goody-goody.”

  “I’m not,” Ava glanced through the crack in the door making sure no one was coming, “this is wrong though.”

  “I found something!” Brea said excitedly.

  “What?” Ava rushed over to her.

  Brea pulled a box out and sat it on the bed. “It’s full of those little notebooks she carries around with her all the time. Do you think they’re diaries and she’s like an obsessive-compulsive diary keeper?”

  “I don’t know,” Ava whispered.

  Brea reached down and picked one up, pressing it between her hands excitedly.

  Ava gripped her arm, “We can’t, put it back!”

  “Seriously?” Brea said, “Don’t you want to know?”
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  “I do, but,” she shook her head, “not like this.”

  “Just one peek,” Brea pulled her arm free and looked down at the book in her hands.

  “No,” Ava whispered hearing footsteps coming down the hall. “Put it back, someone’s coming.”

  Brea hurried to put the diary back. She bent and slid the box back under the bed just as the door opened.

  “What are you two doing?” Aunt Avalene demanded.

  Ava felt all the blood rush from her face and drain into her feet. She had no words.

  Brea looked pale too.

  Aunt Avalene gave them both a scathing look and shook her head slowly, “You two should be ashamed.” Her dark blue eyes burned with anger.

  Ava nodded, feeling like a little girl again.

  Aunt Avalene opened the door the rest of the way, “Come on, there’s something that needs your attention.”

  Ava rushed through the doorway, Brea right behind her.

  Aunt Avalene touched Brea’s arm, “You stay out of this. This is something Ava has to learn on her own.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Brea nodded.

  They rushed down the halls. Brea took the first excuse she could think of to get away from Aunt Avalene’s disappointed glare. Ava didn’t have that luxury at the moment.

  Aunt Avalene walked next to her, “Come on, hurry up. Alec has sent a Green to get you and we’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

  “What’s going on?”

  Aunt Avalene shook her head as they rushed through the castle. She eyed the people passing them and gave Ava a silent, “Wait a minute.” She glanced at Nisca who was coming through an archway just as they reached it.

  “Everything okay?” Nisca asked, looking more at Aunt Avalene than at Ava.

  “No,” Aunt Avalene said. “Come on; she might need you.”

  “Aunt Avalene, what is it?” Ava asked again. They passed the guards at the main entrance. They stared straight ahead.

  Aunt Avalene waited until they were out of the guard’s earshot, “It’s him, Blake Sanders. He’s here. They caught him sneaking around the island trying to steal evidence. He had a camera, too.”

  “Blake Sanders?” Ava echoed, not believing what she had just heard.