Shawn cleared his throat, “How many do we have willing to battle? It has to be at least seven.”
“I know. Looks like that huge guy, Kevin, is going to do it and, believe it or not, Lyssa is on here.”
“I remember Kevin. He’s been trying a while now. I hope Lyssa knows what she’s in for. She’s been doing great in training, but, well, we’ll see, I guess.”
“I don’t see Bianca on the list. Did you ask her if she was going to do it?”
“No.” He looked away.
“Are you sure you’re alright, Shawn?”
“No. Yeah, yeah I’m good.”
“Did you talk to Brea?”
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat again, “I really need to clear my head. I think I’m going to take a leave this weekend, after Utah.”
“Sure. Where are you going?”
“I don’t know. Back home, maybe. Maybe just spend a few days thinking.”
Alec felt bad for Shawn. “Do you love her?”
“Who, Brea? It would never work.” He looked away, “She’s there, I’m here.” He spit and cleared his throat, “You okay with me taking a leave while all of this is going on?”
“Yeah. It’ll be fine. Do what you have to do. I’m just sorry I can’t help you in Utah,” Alec said, frustrated.
“Never thought you could, Bro. You have to stay here with Ava. You have to keep her safe.”
“I know.” Alec watched Shawn for a moment. They had known each other for years and he had always been distant but something seemed off with him. Something was different.
…Ava…
Ava stood on the balcony staring out at the stormy ocean. They were still searching, trying to find the people she needed to teach her. They had found a woman who had such incredible control over her earth element that she was known throughout the Element community. She had shown Ava a different way to connect to her Earth Element. It was simple, really. Ava closed her eyes and smelled the familiar earthy smell swim around her. She stared down at the small patch of wild flowers that wrapped around the bottom of the castle. She concentrated on one flower. It was a beautiful shade of blue. She reached her hand out and twisted her fingers. As she did the flower grew. It reached and then began to climb the side of the castle. It wound its way through the railing that wrapped around the balcony and stopped when it reached her hand. Ava plucked the flower and touched its velvety petals to her nose. She closed her eyes, finding some relief in the control she had found. Maybe all of this was happening for a reason. She would certainly be much stronger when she had learned all that she could.
She opened her eyes and stared at the sea again. The dream flashed through her mind once more. It was only a dream, just like the dream about the baby, but still it wouldn’t leave her thoughts. She had been trying everything to get control. She was stuck in this room; she was trying to be good and stick to the bed rest rule as much as she could in preparation for her journey. She had been reading the diary for days now. There was so much in those tattered pages. For one, she’d learned that the True Elementris from that time was also interested in the history of those born of the element. She had found the cave drawings too. Ava sighed and grabbed the diary. She carefully leafed through its pages until she came to the one she had been reading. Running her finger along the page to find where she had left off, she began reading.
The fifth day of the twelfth month
Every moment in time passes before the eyes of those meant to see it. I’ve always dreamed, but lately every dream that comes brings with it a new time. I know that what I see is not quite clear, but I feel a strong need to discover what I am to do with this information. I believe I am supposed to share it. Last night I dreamed that the red-haired girl held my diary in her hands. I dreamed that we talked over time. Somehow.
I see a future beyond mine and Hanna’s time. I see a great battle. A battle much like our current battle. I see five children born to unmated mothers. I see the moonlight on their upturned faces as they stand in a circle. Then I see her. I hear her scream as her own child is born and her battle comes. I see her red hair and his green eyes. For days now this dream has haunted me, sometimes even when I’m awake.
I have only just begun to share my secret with others. I told Hanna first. We have spoken to many others on the island and no one has ever witnessed an ability quite like mine. My connection to Hanna goes beyond her somehow. I see things that will come long after we are gone. I hate this. I hate that I don’t understand. I fear that whatever this gift is, it has been wasted on me.
The sixteenth day of the twelfth month…
Something is coming. We can all feel it. It’s in the air. A thick and sour smell dominates the breeze. A threat of something. My mother used to say that you could feel bad approaching, that you could taste it when you caught the wind on your tongue. I have no doubt this is true. Hanna has been upset for days now. She stares blankly at the ocean around us. Yesterday was the Winter Moon Festival. Everything usually feels so promising the day after, but not today. Today the clouds hang low, blocking the sun’s heat and leaving a stale taste on the wind. I see so many things now that I am not sure what’s from this time or another. I keep seeing the five rings floating in a circle. Then those from the Circle of Five as they step forward and slip their fingers into them. I see the land.
The lost land written about in the scrolls. It rises from the sea and with it, darkness comes. This land is filled with gold, and cities drowned in a different time. There is darkness there, but answers too. A great magic. They say a cure for any curse can be found there. I cannot imagine a curse great enough to risk such darkness. I don’t know what it all means. I wish I did. I dreamed of her again too. The red-haired woman. I see her looking at one of my drawings. I see her eyes cast to the sea, just like Hanna’s are now. I’m not sure where those rings come from but I’ve found them all. Hanna wants them, but I don’t want her to see what I’ve seen. I don’t want her to uncover what lies in the lost city. I’ve hidden the rings just to be sure. I have to protect her. No one will ever find them. One lies in the place it all began, the circle that only lights with power. The second lies in a circle of blood and history. The third is beneath the broken entrance that no one can see. The third I wear and the last…
Ava flipped the page only to find that the next few had been ripped out.
Frustrated, she began to read what was left.
He stands at the shore. Malinda’s son. His dark eyes seem darker and he is followed by thousands. They all stand chanting, moving together to form a large circle on the beach. I move closer to see what they are circling. It’s Hanna. She lays curled in a ball, screaming. The five rings are placed around her. As their chanting grows louder, her screams do also, and the five rings rise. They are not affected by the wind racing around them. Four people emerge from the crowd. They take their places at their rings. Malinda’s son steps to the last. As one, they slip their middle fingers into the floating rings.
Hanna’s scream breaks through the roaring wind and she starts to shake. Around them, all of the Elements seem to be fighting for their show. Snow blows fire. The ocean becoming a wall of water. The ground shakes. Then I see it. They’re taking her powers as their own. I scream as I realize that she’s lying lifeless on the sand. I try to reach her, but the ground is shaking so badly. The wall of water rises higher. Then it happens. I see the land of gold. Statues emerge first; much like the Circle of Five statue. Each being in each statue is holding an element in their hand. Somehow the element held by each statue is alive. Living and breathing, just like the earth. One statue holds a burning flame not affected by the sea it has been submerged in. Another keeps an ever-changing clump of earth spinning in the air.
The five with the rings step though the roaring water and onto the great land as the water washes away from it.
That’s where I always wake up. I’ll never tell Hanna where the rings are, no matter how she pleads. I know there is something evil within those r
ings. I can stop it. I just have to keep them hidden.
Ava gasped and threw the diary on the bed. It was just like her dream. Could there really be a lost city full of secrets below the sea? Where did that vine ring come from? Was it from there? What kind of power could create such a ring? Were all the secrets to the past there in the lost city? Wait? The lost city? She took a sharp breath. It couldn’t be Atlantis, could it?
…Brea…
Brea stared at herself in the mirror. She wore the tight black shirt, a pair of dark skinny jeans, and black boots. She brushed her hair behind her ear. Her hair was starting to grow out and curl all over the place. It looked pretty good tonight though. She caught a glimpse of Macy over her shoulder. She was turned away. Her hands busy with something. “Her phone, maybe?” She spun and Brea saw that she had been right when she tossed the phone onto her bed. She looked mad as hell. Her face was all red. She looked up, noticing Brea watching in the mirror.
She smiled and it was obvious that it was forced, “Are you ready?”
“Yeah.” Brea wanted so badly to turn around and ask her straight out what the hell she was up to. Instead, with a ton of effort, she took a deep breath and followed her through the door and outside to her green Jeep.
Caslan was leaning against the driver’s side door. His gray shirt was stretched over his broad chest, accentuating his impressive build. Shadows danced on his face. Brea could easily remember exactly what he looked like shirtless and she had to fight the heat building in her cheeks. His right ankle was crossed over the other giving the impression that he had been waiting for a while. Brea hated that he tempted her so much. He was dangerous. She knew that, but it just attracted her more. He locked eyes with her and winked.
Brea felt her heart flutter in her chest and tried her best to make it go away. “Forbidden fruit. Forbidden fruit,” she reminded herself as she rolled her eyes at him.
She looked at Macy. Macy’s mouth was wide open. She looked like she was ready to bite his head off. “What are you doing here, Caslan?” She didn’t so much say his name as snarl it. She was seriously pissed. “Interesting,” Brea thought.
“Nothing much,” He said with an easy smile. “Dad sent me.” He added with one arched brow.
Macy stopped where she stood and her face paled. “No he didn’t!”
“Sorry. He thinks you need someone to watch over you tonight.”
“I don’t need a babysitter!” Macy screeched. “I know what I’m doing!” She stopped suddenly, looked at Brea, and rushed over to him. Her voice dropped to a whisper. He shook his head and walked away from her.
It was obvious that Macy was mad as hell. Her usually creamy complexion was blood red. “What is Caslan doing here?” Brea thought, as she stood there watching them. If it was important that the Waevern not see them talking, then why was he standing out in the open like this? “What the hell?”
Macy turned around and smiled at her. She looked suddenly calmer. Caslan met Brea’s eyes over Macy’s shoulder and shrugged. Brea stared back at him, trying to read his dark eyes. He lifted his brows like he was trying to tell her something, but what?
Macy still had the smile and she had definitely done a three-sixty. “Come on, Brea.” She waved her over excitedly, “Caslan’s going to go with us.” She opened the passenger side door, “You know parents and big brothers. Always trying to watch over you.”
“I don’t mind,” Brea said as she climbed in the back seat, marveling once again at Macy’s acting skills. She looked at Caslan as he settled himself in the driver’s seat and started the Jeep. He looked at her in the mirror, none of the urgency that had marked his features the other night showing in his face now. He looked completely calm. “So, where to, ladies?”
He was a good actor too. “What the hell was really going on here?”
Caslan picked the place. They wound up at a small pool hall on the edge of town. It looked like crap. The neon sign outside hung sideways and only half of the lights worked. Caslan held the front door open for them and a cloud of smoke bellowed out.
“Aww, he’s trying to be a gentleman.” Macy said as she passed him and disappeared into the cloud of smoke.
Brea paused in front of him. He locked eyes with her, trying to say something with those dark eyes again. She lifted a brow at him, “What?”
He shook his head.
She groaned and walked in. This secret mission thing he always seemed to have going was starting to wear a little thin.
The pool hall was basically empty except a few shady-looking guys in the corner. They were all covered in tattoos. One of them looked up as they walked in, “Caslan!” he shouted.
“Brian!” Caslan called back, flashing his perfect smile and walking towards them.
“I thought you fell off the earth, Son.”
“Nah, just had to get away for a while.”
Brea looked at Macy. She sitting at the bar, her face propped in her hand. “Two shots, top shelf.”
The old bartender laughed, sizing Macy up with a slow glance. “Top Shelf?” He snickered as he grabbed a cheap bottle of vodka from the counter, used his sleeve to wipe at the label, and poured two shots. Brea slid onto the stool next to Macy as she downed both shots. Brea looked over, studying her.
Her face was red and her normally upbeat attitude was drowning with each shot. She took another one and looked at Brea, said “Bottoms up,” and turned up the third shot.
Brea stared at her. What the hell was this girl’s deal? Was she about to crack? Brea cleared her throat and tilted her head, “So, um.” Brea jerked her thumb towards Caslan, “You and your brother aren’t exactly…” she trailed off as he walked up behind them.
Macy looked up at him and rolled her eyes.
He smiled at her and turned to Brea, “Do you play?”
“Play what?” Brea was tired of games already.
“Pool?”
“Oh. No, not really.” She clicked her tongue, “I don’t really like games.” The cold edge in her tone echoed through the room.
For a moment everyone got really quiet and the tension in the room pulled tighter. The air thickened and everyone seemed to notice it at once. Brea regretted it as soon as she locked eyes with Caslan. His face looked a little pale. His dark eyes watched her. She really hadn’t ever seen eyes quite like his, they were so easy to get lost in, despite the crazy situation.
His hand tangled with hers, the sudden heat of his palm shocking her, “Come on, I’ll teach you.”
“Teach me, huh?” Brea said as she closed her fingers between his and tried to ignore the strange tingles that traveled around her palm and straight up her arm. “Stop it,” she told herself. “This is just to help Ava. This is not your Romeo! Not your Romeo.” That thought brought uncomfortable memories of Shawn; his tortured smile, his arms around Bianca. Her temper burned at the thought of his rejection. “I want us to be friends.” How could he do such a flip-flop? It pissed her off.
Luckily it was easy to distract herself with the thought of Caslan’s hand over hers; his dark eyes tracing her face like it was some puzzle. “What is he thinking? Is he feeling all of this, temptation?” His sexy smile answered her thoughts and sent warm tingles racing over her body. He grinned and the way he leaned over her made her uncomfortable and excited at the same time. When his eyes dropped down her front and came back up she had to stifle the urge to giggle. She was appalled. She was not a giggler; her face turned beet red at the thought of it.
He grabbed her other hand and pulled her towards the pool table.
She cleared her thoughts and looked down at their clasped hands. Her legs went all rubbery. Her mind said run like hell, but her body didn’t get it. “Run!” Her feet disobeyed her and followed him. She felt so pulled to him that she wasn’t sure she could run if she’d really wanted to. She felt flushed and she wanted nothing more than to be wrapped in his strong arms and to taste his perfect lips.
…Alec…
Alec walked into the room, feel
ing her anxiety hit him in strong waves. Their bond was stronger than ever. Ava was pacing back and forth and the torture in her eyes nearly seared his heart in half. It burned in his chest as if it was really trying to break in two. He hurried over to her. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing really, I’ve just been thinking about everything. Like the baby, my connection to the elements, those missing women. There are all of those children that have no one. It’s not how it should be. I should be doing something about all of this. I shouldn’t be stuck in this room. I have to fix this now.”
He grabbed her, “It’s okay, Ava. You will. You’ll be able to fix everything soon. I know you will.”
“I need to be doing something now. Right now, there are disasters everywhere, children with no homes because of their abilities. Somewhere in the world there is a child with no one to explain all of this to them.” She pulled back and looked into his eyes, “I want to build that foster home I talked to you about. I need to do it.”
“We’ll do whatever you want, Ava.”
“I want to go to your dad’s place. I need to talk to him. It’s the perfect place. I want to ask him. I need to not sit here and do nothing about everything. I need my connection. That diary…,” she pointed at the bed. “It’s all about us. It’s all about this time. I have to figure it out. I need to know what she’s trying to warn me about.”
He put his finger over her lips, “Calm down, Ava. I’ll take you as soon as I can.”
“I want to leave tomorrow,” Ava said firmly.
“You want to go tomorrow?” Alec asked, startled.
“Yes, tomorrow. I need to. I need to get things started. I’ve already told the council I was leaving. I can’t sit here any longer while everyone else tries to fix things. Things I may be causing.”
Elementris, Exposure, Eruption Box set: The Vangeretta Curse Series Page 68