by Larissa Ladd
Aiden absorbed the advice for a moment. Lorene stood, taking his coffee mug and refilling it without asking whether he wanted more.
Dylan was absent for a long time; long enough for Aiden to get restless and decide to read in the living room while he waited for their return. If it hadn’t been for Lorene’s perfect calm, and the fact the wind had died down a few minutes after Dylan had walked through the front door, Aiden would have gone to see how his brother was faring. He had perfect confidence in his brother’s ability to convince almost anyone to cooperate and calm down. He had been capable of that very feat with Aiden for years, arbitrating arguments between Aiden and his other brothers, and suppressing the temper that raged more intensely in Aiden’s psyche as his fire-aligned elemental traits intensified. Aiden had only gradually learned to calm himself down, to focus on completing tasks instead of leaping from one to another. “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread” his mother had told him time and again when one of his impulsive actions had resulted in trouble.
***
When Dylan and Aira returned, Aiden noticed his younger brother had worked the usual magic on the woman. She was much calmer, and when she apologized immediately, Aiden sensed it was time for them to discuss matters. He resumed his seat at the table, and watched Aira grapple with her lingering resentment at having to accommodate himself and his brother for an indefinite period. It will be good incentive for her to find a mate, Aiden thought, as the younger woman accepted the stipulations her grandmother set. He and his brother would get paid for their services protecting Aira, with the added benefit of having a place to stay and very few expenses. When their Nana had asked the favor of them, there had been no way to refuse it. They both owed Nana far too much and, as the center of the family, they couldn’t turn her down without facing pressure from their parents.
So Aiden and Dylan had flown out overnight and followed the directions to the house in the middle of the woods, without any real expectation of payment or a clear idea of what they were actually going to be doing to help. When the situation became clear, Aiden was relieved to discover Aira’s grandmother fully intended to finance their time protecting her granddaughter.
“It’s not going to make you rich, but my first husband was an Earth elemental.” She said with a faint smile. “He left me in very good financial standing. My second husband was a brilliant air elemental, and did quite well for us as well. I can afford to give you fair wages for your time.”
They would be driving down with Aira at the end of her stay at her grandmother’s and remaining with her to ensure her safety at all times until she found a mate who could protect and stabilize her.
Aiden had been considered an unstable elemental since he was a teenager. He had much better control over his abilities than he initially had. There had been a great deal of discussion on the subject of him finding a mate when he came closer to the birthday when he would receive his full abilities. His own Nana had repeatedly suggested that he find a good earth-aligned woman and let himself be grounded by her influence. Aiden had hated the idea from the moment it was mentioned, and rejected it so continuously that everyone had given up. He knew there were still murmurs about his unstable tendencies among the ruling elite, but as long as he served a function among the elementals they wouldn’t push too hard. He’d had mostly satisfying relationships with women, although the lifestyle he led with his brother meant he never kept a relationship for very long. He knew he had a habit of pushing women away when they got too close. In addition to his lack of desire to “settle down,” he didn’t like the idea of anyone other than his brother being close to him emotionally.
Shortly after everything was settled, Lorene asked Aira to show Aiden around the property, since she had already shown Dylan that courtesy. Aiden had little interest in gardening, but he was content to have the opportunity of talking to Aira alone. She agreed, after mentioning she should change into something other than pajamas. Aiden tried not to feel disappointed. Aira’s sleepwear piqued his interest. He’d had an intense sex drive as a teenager that had continued unabated when he reached his full powers as a fire elemental. If anything, Aiden thought it had intensified. He waited for a few moments, talking to Lorene about the book he was reading.
Aira stepped back into the kitchen fully clothed and, for a moment, Aiden couldn’t help but stare. She was casually dressed, but the fitted jeans and thin sweater clung to her womanly curves even more thoroughly than her pajamas. She’d pulled her hair back, revealing the curve of her neck, practically inviting his attention. He took a deep breath and suppressed the instant attraction he felt, reminding himself once again she was looking for a suitable permanent mate, and his job was to protect her, not become distracted by the way her ass filled out her jeans. He stood from the table, gesturing for Aira to lead the way. Aira didn’t spare him a glance as she went through the front door. “I’ll take you out to the far corner and we can circle around,” Aira said over her shoulder.
“Fine by me,” Aiden replied. He couldn’t resist the impulse to glance down as he followed her, and had to still his lust at the sight of her ass swaying as she walked. He moved closer to Aira to abate his distractions. She pointed out different plants as they moved along, telling him about their significance. Aiden had always considered gardening a somewhat futile pursuit—when he was outdoors, he much preferred actually doing something active; playing sports, or at least hiking. But he was interested in Aira’s explanations about why her grandmother had planted a particular bed in a particular location, so the plants would get the right amount of sunlight. She told him a story about how her grandmother would throw pennies around the various beds to keep away snails and slugs, and how she would tell people she was paying the flowers to bloom.
In spite of his general disinterest, Aiden was impressed with the sheer abundance of growing things thriving in one place. Aira led him around to a tall magnolia tree, smiling faintly as she looked up through its branches.
“This has always been my favorite tree. I learned how to fly because of it.” She said, glancing at him with a trace of shyness in her smile. “Grams always scolded me for climbing trees, but I never stopped.”
Aiden grinned at the thought of Aira as a child, defying her grandmother.
“Look.” He said, reasoning it was as good a time as any to have the discussion they needed to have. “I know you’re not thrilled at the idea of having two bodyguards protecting you for however long it takes you to find someone.” He licked his lips. “Trust me; it’s not the assignment my brother and I would prefer to have either. And I, for one, think you should take all the time you need to find a mate, if that’s what you want.”
Aira shrugged uncertainly.
“But you have to know it’s not safe. I can protect myself pretty well, and so can my brother. He’ll be even better at it once he comes into his full abilities, but an air elemental does have a limited means of self-defense.” Aiden stopped short as Aira turned to face him fully.
“Limited means?” She asked him, her voice deceptively sweet. Aiden realized he had made a mistake. Before he could even think to correct it, he heard the wind starting to rise around them. Aiden wasn’t afraid so much as he was feeling somewhat cautious, focusing his mind on his abilities. If he had to do something to scare the woman in front of him, to show her who she was dealing with, he would, but he didn’t want to actually hurt her. The wind continued to rise until Aira was moving, slowly lifting off the ground. She looked up at the sky and made several odd chirping noises, and Aiden backed away, watching her closely. He felt the heat building up in his body as he focused his fire affinity, concentrating it into his hands. It was a difficult trick to summon fire on his own, instead of controlling it, but he was able to do it when sufficiently motivated.
A moment later, Aiden was surrounded by howling winds and the cries of dozens of predatory birds, all appearing from what seemed to be nowhere. They surrounded Aira, hovering around her as she rose fifteen feet above him
, glaring at him balefully. She held up her hand and the attention of all of the birds—ranging from small but dangerous-looking jays to hawks—turned their gazes upon him. “Would you call this limited?” She asked him.
Aiden heard the challenge in her voice. He grinned, in spite of the fact that the hawks looked fairly formidable. There were no animals his fire alignment allowed him to command close by; but he focused his mind on his hands, pouring heat through them, feeling his skin crackling. He rubbed them together quickly and with a snapping, shuddering roar of heat, a ball of fire appeared between them.
“Birds aren’t too bad,” he said. He maintained his grin. “But they’re pretty easily defeated by fire.”
Aira’s scowl intensified and Aiden saw the thoughts running through her mind. He knew she was trying to think of a way to combat the fire he had at his disposal. Not being water-aligned, however, it was going to be difficult. Aiden directed more energy into the fire he held in his hands, growing the flames into a larger ball. He tossed the fireball into the air and caught it, even as the wind began to build up even more. He considered what he could do to impress upon his charge that he was the one with the power in the situation. He didn’t want to actually cause a fire or any injury.
He decided simply tossing the fireball wasn’t enough.
“How would you defend yourself against a fully-fledged fire elemental when they can do this?” He threw the flames in her direction, keeping his focus to recall the ball of crackling fire back to his hands at the last moment. Instead, however, the wind shifted abruptly. A tunnel of gale-force knocking the orb out of its trajectory and spinning it off. The same wind tunnel turned and came directly at him and pushing him off of his feet until he landed in the dirt. Looking with panic through the gale, Aiden saw the fireball wheeling off towards the trees where it would certainly set something ablaze. The wind had not just sent the fireball off its target, it had caused the flames to expand and the ball to grow twice its size. Not at all what Aiden expected.
He struggled to sit up in spite of the torrent of wind that plastered him to the ground. He extended his awareness out to the ball of fire as it moved away from him faster and faster, heading for a wooded area. He grabbed for it with his mind, desperate to keep it away from the trees, and called it back to him, maliciously passing it close to the birds on its path back to his hands. The smaller birds fluttered, initially spooked, but in the next moment the hawks were descending upon him, and Aiden had to hold the ball of fire over his head to ward them off.
“What else have you got, fire boy?” Aira called down to him, and Aiden found himself expanding the ball of fire further, dodging the fearless dives of the hawks, who were followed by the smaller birds. Aiden wracked his brain, trying to think of what he could do safely. It was only a matter of time before his brother sensed his predicament, and he wanted to make sure he had impressed a lesson on the woman he was supposed to be protecting. He had a sudden inspiration. Focusing on the fire in his hands, he changed its shape, lengthening it, seeing the new shape in his mind. He sharpened the angle of the pole the fireball had become, flattening it into a sword. He waved the sword over his head, dispersing the birds, though the hawks tried to get in around the movements he made. Aiden struggled through the corridor of wind that shifted around him, trying to push him further back.
He lifted the sword and continued to frighten away the birds that, in spite of their service to their air-aligned mistress, had enough self-preservation to want to avoid the fire. He kept low to the ground, to keep the wind from lifting him, and began slowly moving towards Aira, who was trying to move backwards in spite of her challenging look. He didn’t know how he would go about getting to the woman so high above him, but Aiden told himself he would find a way. He avoided the birds and considered how to scare some sense into Aira, whose attitude was making him angry. He growled lowly to himself, thinking she had no idea of the dangers she was really facing among the fully-developed elementals in the world. Some of whom would be very interested in either killing her or forcing her into an alliance. Her cavalier attitude was getting on his nerves and, in spite of the fact she was clearly a strong elemental, he was in full possession of his abilities; he had to be able to get the better of her.
They stood at a stalemate, Aira’s avian defenders avoiding the fire he held in his hands, though they had taken up posts surrounding her. She was still out of his reach though. If she would let up on her flight for even a moment, she would be at his mercy. Aiden knew he needed a way to distract her. He shifted the fire-sword into one hand and directed his attention into the other, quickly forming a small but potent flame in his palm. He shaped it slowly, and then when it was exactly what he wanted it to be, he threw it in her direction.
Aira’s attention wavered, and the wind she had been directing at him disappeared abruptly, Aira’s hand guiding it at the fireball to direct it away from her. She hadn’t entirely been expecting the quick attack and took her attention off of her flight as well as her adversary. She fell toward the ground, barely catching herself before she hit the dirt. Aiden rushed at her, intending to scare her without actually harming her. He wielded his sword as if to strike and called the fireball back toward him, dispersing the birds once more. He was a few feet from her before she managed to marshal her focus once more. She held out her hands, and his fabricated strike was cast aside by an intense gust of wind that pushed him away from her, dragging his feet through the dirt with speed.
Before either of them could think of a way to get the advantage, they were interrupted by a stentorian shout. The wind cut off abruptly, and Aiden looked behind him to see Lorene and Dylan both approaching. He could see the anger on the old woman’s face as she made her way more quickly than he would have thought she was capable of. Dylan, in contrast, looked disappointed rather than angry, with a faint hint of amusement in his eyes. Lorene stopped her headlong pace as she approached, her jaw set, and Aiden suddenly knew why his Nana had called the old woman the most formidable water elemental she had ever met.
The depths of her green eyes, staring at both Aiden and Aira, held the mystery of an ocean, and he felt the energy crackling around them. “I don’t know what the two of you were fighting about, but you will both stop it right now.” She said sternly, scowling from one to the other. In moments, the world had gone dark, and Aiden looked up to see enormous rainclouds overhead. Aiden was on the point of apologizing when the rain started to fall, utterly extinguishing his sword in an instant and soaking everyone to the skin a moment later.
Aira recovered before he did, and she approached her grandmother, her body language showing her to be truly apologetic. He saw her speaking, but couldn’t hear the quiet words over the beating rain. Dylan stood at the old woman’s side, taking in the power the woman had shown in such a stunning exhibition. It was rare for water-aligned elementals to be able to summon rain so quickly; Aiden knew it took a great deal of focus. His brother could call up water by will, but he didn’t have the focus or strength to coalesce the water in the air into rain.
Dylan gave Aiden a sharp look, and Aiden knew it was just as much his responsibility to apologize as it was Aira’s. He took a deep breath, pushing down his distaste for being soaking wet, and approached the old woman. Aira bristled as he came close, giving him a baleful look and shifting away from him. Lorene had softened slightly, and the rain was beginning to level off from a torrential downpour into something more manageable.
“I take responsibility for what happened.” Aiden said, pushing down his pride. “Aira and I got into an argument because I misspoke, and she became angry.”
The old woman raised an eyebrow at him, staring into his eyes as if to read his soul. Aiden bit his tongue against the retort that sprang into his mind and turned toward Aira, managing to conquer his pride for a moment longer. “I’m sorry I said what I said.” He told her. “I still think you need help defending yourself, but I didn’t mean to imply you were helpless.”
Aira’s lips
tightened and she glanced at him, her dark eyes sharp for a moment longer before she subsided under her grandmother’s stern demeanor.
“I am sorry I didn’t give you time to explain your stupid remark,” she said. Aiden bit his lip against replying, knowing it would only spark another fight if he gave into the temptation. The rain was beginning to abate completely.
“Both of you come inside and get out of your wet clothes.” Lorene said, satisfied with their apologies if not happy. “And if I have to break up another fight, there will be real consequences.” Aira nodded, and her grandmother gave Aiden a lingering look until he, too, nodded his understanding. Without another word, the old woman turned on her heel and walked back towards the house with Dylan, Aira, and Aiden in her wake.
Chapter 5
Aira was relieved when it was finally time to travel back to the city and to her own home. The few days she had spent with the two men had been interesting, but she was glad to get out from under her grandmother’s vigilant gaze. Things had not gotten any less tense between her and Aiden, though she had developed a rapport with his younger brother Dylan. On the few occasions she had been forced to spend time with Aiden alone, Aira had been as silent as possible, not wanting to either get into another argument with him or allow him to irritate her into another exhibition of her abilities. It frustrated her to no end that her grandmother had sent her on numerous errands with the older brother, for groceries or to pick up an antique a friend had put aside for her. Dylan seemed entirely at home in her grandmother’s house, and when Aira had taken him with her to retrieve plants her grandmother had ordered from a nursery, they’d had a good time on the drive to the next town over, comparing their taste in music.