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

by Christina Mobley

  “No, you’re not.” She stepped closer and whispered something in Shawn’s ear.

  Shawn stepped back, turned slowly to look at Brea and yelled, “Run!” His eyes were gleaming.

  Brea froze as the woman’s strange eyes came to rest on her.

  Brea stared back at her. Remembering what Caslan had told her. “She can freeze you from the inside out.” Brea started to shake.

  “Go.” Shawn pushed her out of her daze.

  He spun around and hit one of the guards. The blonde woman grabbed him by the throat. Frost formed on his lips. You could see his cold breath as it left his lips. “Brea, go. Get out of here!”

  Brea ran.

  She only made it a few feet before they caught her. They spun her around and she watched as Shawn’s lips connected with the blonde woman’s. “Oh my God, she’s going to kill him!” Brea lunged towards her, then felt something hard hit her on the back of her head. Everything went black.

  …Ava…

  Ava stared out of the window. Alec was silent as he drove. She couldn’t think straight. “Was something wrong? Had something happened to Brea? Had Brea been wrong about Caslan?” Ave felt like everything was starting to fall apart. New Roots was coming together, but everything else was falling apart. She still didn’t have a good grasp on the weather, she was pretty sure her baby was a True Elementris, and now her best friend was missing. Talk about things coming in three’s!

  Alec reached over and touched her hand. He rubbed it with his thumb, soothing her the only way he could just then. Sometimes the bond was a really good thing. It was easy to forget that he could feel what she did. Maybe that’s why he’d had such a strong reaction about the baby. He felt her worry, her fear, then magnified it within himself. She stared at him. She was so lucky to have him. He was beautiful inside and out. He was her perfect match. Where she was weak, he was strong, and, when she needed him to understand, he did.

  She stared out of the window seeing a small subdivision with storm damage. It looked a few days old. There were torn up houses and leaning signs. She felt her stomach lurch. She had to figure this out. She had to stop all of this devastation. She wondered if any other True Elementris had ever experienced this loss of control over their powers. How could she lose her connection to the elements when she had just gotten them? She remembered her bag in the floorboard. She pulled the diary out and flipped it open.

  The lost city is a place of power and deception. This place was once ruled by five powerful Elementris’. Hanna found some old scrolls. The council wants to destroy them. The temptation of power is too great. After the dreams I keep having, I agree with them. Hanna wants to uncover it. I worry why she wants to open such a bad place.

  According to the scrolls dark and light magic were born there. There are powerful Crystals around the whole place. I’ve been dreaming of that place. I see the five of them sitting in five grand chairs. Each of them ruling their element. Hanna says then there wasn’t just one True Elementris. There were five who were in complete control of their element and together they were a circle of True Elementris’. I keep dreaming about that place. I see people coming to trade gold and silver for potions and weather spells.

  I see the lure Atlantis had. I see the discovery of a spell that changed everything. They say Demeter Waevern made a deal with Hades himself. He gave one the knowledge of Dark magic. She used it to rob the others of their power. I see her as one by one she sacrifices the others in her circle. When she took the last, Earth. She lost everything.

  The volcano erupted and the great land sank into the ocean taking all of its riches with it. It’s secrets and power sinking with it as well. Element island was born. The very top of Atlantis. One True Elementris was also born. I don’t believe that it’s a place that should be uncovered. Hanna wants to know more. Her own ancestor, Cassandra Vangeretta was one of those sacrificed. She was one of the original five. That’s why Hanna is so strong. The Vangeretta bloodline is powerful. Earth is her greatest ability. I understand her curiosity about the past, I just don’t think it’s worth risking the future.

  That last dream left me with a revelation that won’t leave my mind. The power of the True Elementris shall split when the lost city is unleashed. Two born of equal heritage and power shall decide light and dark. One shall be left to rule and shall decide if dark or light magic will lead the earth. Those scrolls are dangerous. They predict things that should not be revealed. They tell of each battle behind us and each battle to come. I copied them, but I shall never tell Hanna.

  Hanna was a Vangeretta?

  Ava flipped to the next page. The only thing left was a small piece of the page. It barely hung on. One word was written on it. A name, Emberlee.

  “We’re here,” Alec interrupted her reading.

  “We are?” Ava asked, looking up from the diary. “I didn’t realize I’d been reading that long.”

  “I’ve been thinking.”

  “About what?”

  Names?” He smiled. “For the baby. I have the perfect name. It was my great-grandmother's name,” Alec said.

  “Okay.” Ava felt sick suddenly. She knew what he would say before his lips parted.

  “Emberlee.”

  “That’s a beautiful name, Alec. Emberlee it shall be.” Ava smiled, even though her heart was breaking. She was grateful when he mistook her quick tears of sorrow, for tears of joy. She stuffed the diary in her bag. She couldn’t tell him. She wouldn’t.

  …Brea…

  Brea was dreaming. Everything was foggy. There was a loud humming sound vibrating in her ears; something cold on her arm. Then the haze cleared and she realized where she was. Her mother’s house. The letters were stacked high on the kitchen counter. Brea thumbed through them and then she saw it. His name. Buck Henderson. Her hand shook wildly. The thunder cracked outside. For a moment it was like Ava was there. She watched the letter fall to the floor. She felt betrayed. Her mother was still talking to him. The monster that had haunted her growing up years was still here. He was still finding a way in. She looked around the small kitchen, then turned to look down the hall that led to her room. Memories, haunting visions filled her mind. She felt tears spring into her eyes and each breath came harder than the last. She backed out of the kitchen and ran outside. The rain began to fall just as she ran outside. She just stood there, letting it wash away her sorrow. She took a deep breath and exhaled as her tears mixed with the rain and ran down her cheeks.

  Her mother’s car pulled into the drive. Brea stared at her, her eyes forming slits. She had always thought of her mother as the victim. She wasn’t though. She was the reason he had been allowed to be here. She’d brought him here.

  Her mother got out of the car and hurried over to her, “Brea, what are you doing out here?” She pulled her arm. “Come inside.”

  “No.”

  “What’s the matter?”

  “I saw the letters, Mom.” The cold rain ran down her face, but there was no cooling the heat of her anger. Her wet clothes clung to her.

  “Brea…,” Brea’s anger grew as she saw a familiar look in her mother’s tortured brown eyes “I love him, Brea. You can’t help who you love.”

  “Yes, you can!” Brea shouted. She thought of Shawn and that only fueled her anger. Her body shook with emotion. “Why didn’t you ever choose me, Mom? Why was he more important? No matter what he did, you brought him back here. I was just a kid, Mom. Mothers are supposed to protect their kids, not bring monsters home!” Brea felt some strange relief as she screamed those words. She had never realized she had been so desperate to say them to her.

  “Brea, I didn’t know,” her mother said, reaching out to take her in her arms.

  “You did!” She backed away, “You knew, but it was easier to pretend you didn’t. You didn’t care enough to make him leave. You were too weak to protect me. You forced me to take care of you. I always thought you were the victim, Mom. You weren’t. It was me. I was the one who didn’t have a choice. I couldn�
��t leave. I was stupid enough to think you needed me. You made me stay here to protect you.”

  Brea looked at her mother one more time, shook her head, and got on her bike. She pedaled as hard as she could, and left her mother standing in the rain.

  …Ava…

  Alec walked Ava up to Brea’s room. Ava knocked on the door.

  “Coming.” A girl with straight blonde hair answered the door. Her mouth fell open, “Um, can I, uh, can I help you?”

  “You must be Macy. I’m here to see Brea. Is she home?”

  “You’re… Oh, Brea, No, she’s not here. She’s visiting her mother this weekend.”

  “When did she leave?”

  “Yesterday.”

  “Oh.” Feigning disappointment, Ava looked around her and into the small room.

  “Did she say when she was coming back?”

  “No.” Macy shook her head, “She goes there a lot.”

  “Okay.” Ava smiled.

  Macy smiled back.

  “Let’s go,” Alec said.

  Ava looked back at him.

  “Come on.” He was insistent. Intensity rolled off of him.

  “Okay.” Ava looked at the girl. “Thank you, Macy.”

  “You’re welcome,” she said as she closed the door.

  “What was that?”

  Alec hurried down the stairs. “Thomas just sent me a text. There are Waevern Army cars on either side of the parking lot. We need to go, now.”

  Ava moved as fast as she could. Her back hurt and her legs burned as they rushed across the parking lot. By the time she got in the car her whole body felt tight and painful.

  Alec cloaked the car with a quick spell before reversing out of the parking spot. A black car appeared behind them. It sped up and got behind them, then disappeared. They had used a cloaking spell of their own but she could still see them.

  “They’re still there,” Ava told Alec. “I know why I can still see them through their cloaking spell, but how is it that they can see us?” she wondered aloud.

  “I don’t know.” Alec said grimly as he made a sharp turn.

  Chapter Fourteen…

  …Alec…

  Alec’s heart was hammering. The car following them was close, their cloaking spell had faltered and given him a blurry glimpse of the car behind them. He grabbed his cell phone and dialed Thomas’ number.

  “Yeah?”

  “Thomas they’re right behind us. Get here, now!”

  “Okay. On our way now.”

  Alec floored the gas pedal.

  “Thomas was following us?”

  “Ava, I love you, but I told you I would not bring you here unprotected. I asked Thomas and a few others to come. Bianca was already here on leave, so she said she would come too.” Alec flashed his lights as he spotted Thomas in a big black truck. He passed them and spun his truck around in the street. Another Clutch car pulled the same maneuver right behind him. As Alec turned off, Bianca pulled her vehicle in front of them. Thomas slammed the seemingly empty space just behind them. Uncloaked, the car appeared as it flipped and turned into a pile of bent flaming metal. Alec shifted and pressed the gas harder, staying close behind Bianca. Thomas and the other Clutch Guards formed a line behind them.

  …Ava…

  Ava held onto the door grip as Alec cut up and down side roads, leading the silent train through the night.

  He turned to her after they reached the interstate, “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah,” she lied.

  Her back was killing her and her stomach felt tight and hard. She tried to keep her face from showing the pain. She knew it was just stress and fear causing contractions.

  He stared at her, “Are you sure?”

  At times like these, the bond between them could be a definite nuisance, “I’m fine. Just get us home.”

  …Brea…

  Brea woke to the sound of thunder…or something else. She gasped as the dream and then the memory came rushing back. It had been so long ago, the day she’d found out Buck was coming back to live with them, but she’d relived it many times in her dreams. She blinked and sat up, sobered by her surroundings. Bars, cold, wet, concrete floor beneath her, and five men in suits walking towards her. They lifted her from the ground. A man with strange blue eyes screamed at her. “Where is Ava? Where are the rings hidden? Has she found them?” Then fire. Heat, chanting. No, that wasn’t right, she blinked again and saw something totally different.

  Sunlight. Bright and shining through dirty glass. She felt warm all over and despite the haunting nightmare she felt as though she had never slept better in her entire life. She rolled on her side and stretched. She was wrapped in golden sunlight. She used her hand to block the bright sunlight. Her head ached badly as she tried to focus on her surroundings. She brought both hands to her temples and sat up. Something warm and wet trailed her cheek. She pulled her hand back to find blood. Bright, red, and hot. She was in Caslan’s truck, there were blood stains on his seat. She flipped down the visor mirror. She had a gash just above her eyebrow. She glanced down at her right forearm. There was nothing there, but it felt like it had been burned.

  “Brea?!” She heard Caslan. The passenger door of the truck opened. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah. I think so.” She looked around. “Where are we? Where’s Shawn?”

  “Shawn?” His shirt lifted as he leaned over to touch her face. Brea saw a bandage on his side. “He left. We’re almost there.”

  “Almost where?” She looked at the truck, “How did we escape?”

  “What’s the last thing you remember?” He walked to the front of the truck.

  Brea followed him. “I don’t remember driving here, I remember the gathering, I remember…they caught us.” Brea remembered Shawn, too. The blonde woman kissing him. Was Shawn dead? “Is Shawn okay?”

  “He’s fine. You don’t remember? They hit you on the head. We barely got out. Macy helped us and Shawn and Bianca took off.”

  “Macy?”

  “Yeah. Believe it or not.”

  “Brea could remember going to the gathering. Loud music. Fire. Shawn was there. The missing women. Everything felt a little foggy. Did she dream about Shawn being there, trying to rescue her? “Was he really there?”

  “We have to get to Ava. We have to warn her.” Brea suddenly felt a little dizzy, “He’s not really a Clutch Guard...” Brea’s head started pounding as she remembered everything Caslan had told her, the strange dreams. She kept seeing Shawn’s face in her mind. She wished what she felt for him would just go away. How could she feel anything for him now, knowing what she did?

  “We’re here.” Brea hurried ahead. “That’s my road, Aunt Avalene’s house is right up the road.”

  Brea’s phone rang. Her wicked witch ringtone put a smile on Caslan’s face. Brea had changed it the day after she’d learned the truth about Macy. “Hello?”

  “Hey girl, it’s Macy.” Brea’s head suddenly hurt more.

  “Did you both get out?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Are you with Caslan?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Let me talk to him.”

  She held the phone out to Caslan.

  Caslan took it and turned around, “What?”

  He turned away, listening. “He did?”

  He let out a breath. “What did he say?”

  He looked back at Brea and moved a little further away. “It’s not a problem.”

  “Shawn?” Brea thought, moving closer to him.

  “He’s not going to stop looking for her.” She heard Macy’s say

  “That’s fine.” He whispered.

  Caslan looked at her. He hung the phone up.

  “What did she say?” Brea stepped closer.

  “Macy?” Caslan handed the phone to her, “Nothing important. Shawn’s looking for you.”

  “Oh.”

  “He’s going to try everything to stop you from telling Ava, we need to hurry.”

  She pointed
at the white house ahead, “Right up there. That’s Aunt Avalene’s house. She ran ahead hoping that Ava was still there. She had no clue what to think. Brea pounded on the door, “Ava!”

  …Ava…

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” Alec asked again, as he pulled into the boat house garage.

  “I’m fine. Do you think Thomas is okay?”

  “Yeah. They’ll just lead them away. They know what they’re doing. Bianca will be fine too.” He grinned as he held the door for her.

  “Oh, sorry.”

  “You really should give her a chance. She’s a good asset to the Clutch and a good friend.”

  Ava held his hand as she climbed into the boat, “I know. I just haven’t been around her a lot and it’s hard to trust her.” She shifted, feeling pain in her back again.

  He looked at her, “I shouldn’t have agreed to your leaving the island this late in your pregnancy. Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “Yes, Alec. I’m not due for another month, stop fussing.”

  “Okay.” Alec pulled out his phone as he started the boat. I’m going to send Shawn to find Brea.” He dialed the number and put the phone to his ear.

  …Brea…

  She knocked over and over again, but no one came. She looked back at Caslan. “Give me a boost.”

  Caslan grabbed her by the waist and held her up. She grabbed onto the roof edge and pulled herself up using the upstairs porch railing. She stood and looked down, “Wait right there.” She walked around to Ava’s window and pushed it to the side and open. She had snuck in and out this same way hundreds of times. She climbed in and closed the window behind her.

  The house was completely quiet. Brea heard her own footsteps echo off the walls. “Ava!” She hurried down the stairs, “Aunt Avalene, Ava?” She spun in a circle, “Anyone?” Deflated, she walked to the door and let Caslan in, “No one’s here.”

  “We have to go to the island.”

  “How are we going to get there?” Brea’s head throbbed.

  Maybe we could call someone?”