Caution to the Wind: Book One of the Elementals Series

by F. R. Southerland

  “You don’t have a wound,” Loren pointed out.

  “Not anymore. Cal took care of it.”

  “It’s one of my abilities,” Callum explained. “Along with the power to create water, I can heal. It takes time and effort, but I can do it.”

  “You can heal?”

  “It comes in handy.” His gaze shifted to Avery. “The wound was severe.”

  “Two inches to the right and you would’ve been crying at my funeral,” Avery said.

  Loren didn’t want to picture that. “So someone fired a gun at you and you were shot—”

  “Not quite.” Avery glanced down at his hands, flexing them before he gripped the edge of the bed. “It wasn’t a gun. It was an arrow.”

  “What?”

  “Two arrows, actually. I was on the rooftop. I never saw who shot me, but I felt it. The first arrow hit. I managed to duck before the second one could strike. That’s when I stumbled back too far and fell off the roof.”

  “Oh God.”

  “Luckily, I landed in a dumpster. Garbage broke my fall.” Avery tightened his hands on the mattress. His knuckles were white.

  Without thinking, Loren edged forward in her seat. She placed her hand on one of his. She flushed when he looked to her and held her gaze. She didn’t move.

  Callum spoke up. “It concerns me how you were deliberately attacked.” When Loren glanced over at him, she was uncertain what to make of the look on his face. Disapproval mixed with something else. His lips tightened.

  Loren drew her hand back into her lap and looked down.

  Avery shifted on the bed and his feet met the floor. “Someone shot at me twice. They weren’t doing it for shits and giggles.” He picked up his soiled shirt and stepped over to throw it in the trash.

  “And no doubt you have a long list of people you’ve pissed off while playing your little game. It could be anyone. How do we begin to narrow it down?” There was a note of sarcasm in Callum’s voice.

  “It’s not a game.”

  “Clearly.” Callum looked at Loren. “I won’t argue the point. Not tonight.”

  “Fine.”

  There was a terse silence. Loren looked between them.

  “You’re certain you saw no one?” Callum asked.

  “Not even a glimpse.” Without looking at either of them, Avery crossed to a cabinet and opened it. Loren caught sight of towels and various other linens. He snatched up a plain white t-shirt and pulled it over his head.

  “Someone knew you’d be there. Someone’s been watching you.”

  “Someone’s been watching the Shadow, not me. I highly doubt they know who I really am.”

  “You can’t be sure of that.” Callum’s eyebrow lifted. “Were you followed?”

  “No, of course not.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Avery pursed his lips slightly, looking far less than certain. He lifted a shoulder. “I was bleeding out. I… may not have been very concerned with being discovered at the time.”

  Callum rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I can’t believe this.”

  “Well, if the puncture wounds weren’t proof enough, I don’t know what the fuck is.”

  He shot Avery a piercing look. “You know what I mean. I don’t like this. Any of this. If someone was watching you, it’s possible they followed you. It was risky before, but now…” Callum trailed off and glanced toward Loren. He shook his head. “We can’t compromise anything.”

  “I know that.” Avery crossed his arms.

  “Which is why I don’t want you to go out into the city again.”

  Avery’s eyebrow went up. “Excuse me?”

  “I don’t want you to go into the city again.” Callum was firm.

  “Ever?”

  “I’d prefer that.”

  Avery scoffed. “Unlikely. Are you ordering me?”

  Callum gave his brother a tight-lipped smile. “No. I know you’re stubborn and won’t follow if I did. I’m asking. Nicely.”

  “You forgot to add please.”

  Callum sighed. “At least refrain from it while I’m on my business trip? I can’t fly back from Spain at a moment’s notice to heal you again.”

  Avery placed a hand over his heart. “Oh, you care so much.”

  He received another pointed look. “Avery, please be sensible. Don’t go into the city while I’m gone.”

  He debated it then gave a curt nod. “I’ll do my best.”

  “Thank you.” The words were tense. Callum faced Loren and mustered a small smile. It didn’t meet his eyes. “It’s been quite an evening.”

  It had been quite the last few days, but Loren didn’t speak her thoughts. “Yeah.”

  “I think rest is needed for all of us.”

  “Good call.” Avery moved to the door. “You always know best.” He gave one last look back, eyes locking with Loren’s as he left the infirmary. The door slammed behind him.

  Callum sighed deeply. He rubbed at the bridge of his nose again. Loren shifted in her seat before she stood. “I should go too.”

  “Of course. I have a flight in a couple of hours and a mystical stone to put into safekeeping. I should attempt sleep, at the very least.”

  She hesitated. “Uh, thanks for the tour. Earlier.”

  “It wasn’t much of a tour.”

  “I liked the sunroom.”

  His smile became more genuine. “I’m glad you liked it.” There came a brief pause. “I’ll leave a number where I can be reached if anything should come up. You can use any house phone to call. You don’t have to worry about the charges.”

  “Right.”

  “Let me walk you back to your room. We didn’t seem to make it there, did we?”

  Blushing, she shook her head. She took his arm again when he offered it. “Okay.”

  They left the infirmary and training room in silence. Once outside her door, Callum gave her another gentle smile. “I’ll see you in a few days. I hope by the time I return, everything will have settled in your head and we can talk more. There’s still much to discuss.”

  “Right. Yeah. I’ll be ready then.”

  “Good.”

  “Goodnight, Callum.”

  “Please, call me Cal.”

  She smiled. “Okay. Cal. Goodnight.”

  He dipped his head in farewell. “Goodnight.”

  Loren stayed at the door and watched him until he was gone. When she stepped into her room, her smile dropped. The pit of anxiety suddenly tightened in her stomach.

  “Avery?”

  He stood from her bed when she entered. “We need to talk. It’s about what happened tonight.”

  Loren didn’t move. The look on his face was too grave. She swallowed hard. “What?”

  “You’re in danger.”

  Chapter Nine

  Danger.

  The word echoed in her head. She knew her life was anything but normal, but it had been safe. Safe and close to normal.

  What had she gotten herself into?

  She didn’t move, even when Avery stepped past her and closed the door. Loren blinked rapidly.

  “I didn’t want to say anything in front of the others,” he said. “In front of Callum.” He put his hand on her arm and led her to the bed. He sat with her.

  “I wasn’t completely honest about where I was tonight.”

  “You weren’t in the city?” Loren couldn’t make sense of this. Her heart raced.

  “No, no. I was. I wasn’t patrolling random rooftops.” Avery combed fingers through his hair and puffed out a small breath. “I was on the roof of your building.”

  “Why?” She didn’t understand. “I don’t follow.”

  Avery glanced over at her, but he didn’t answer. He shook his head. “I was on the rooftop of your place, about to drop onto the fire escape, when I saw someone there.”

  It didn’t answer many questions. “In my apartment?”

  “On the roof. I don’t know who it was, but the crossbow gave me some indication th
ey were serious. They were dressed in black.” He frowned. “In fact, they were dressed like I was.” He made a gesture over his head with his hand. “A hood. All black.”

  “They were imitating the Shadow?”

  “Something like that.”

  “What does that have to do with me? Why does that put me in danger? Why were you on my roof?”

  Avery looked over at her. “It doesn’t matter why I was there.”

  “Yes, it does. If it put you in danger. If it puts me in danger—”

  “I was making sure you were safe here. That no one was—” He cut himself off with a small derisive laugh. “I guess I was wrong. They knew your name. They used a fucking voice modulator too.” Avery stood and ran a hand roughly over his face.

  She tried to think. Who would want to hurt her? She couldn’t think of anyone who hated her that much—not even some of the people she’d worked with at the diner. She leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees. “I—I don’t know anyone who would uh want to hurt me.”

  “They mentioned your name and said they were looking for you. I just—I was careful in making sure no one saw us leave.”

  The air in the room was stifling, hot. She watched him closely. What happened if he lost control of his powers? She didn’t have an inhibitor device. She chewed her lip.

  “Someone must’ve been watching me. Callum was right. He’s always fucking right.” Avery combed fingers through his hair, agitated.

  “Can you… please sit down?” Loren suggested quietly. “Calm down?”

  “I am calm.”

  “You’re not. Please?”

  Loren waited a few beats before she stood and approached him. She could feel the heat emanating from him before she even reached him. She started to put her hand on his arm but thought better of it. “They can’t find me here, can they?”

  Avery pursed his lips slightly. “No. There’s a security system in place. And I never follow a direct path here. You saw that when I brought you to the manor. No one can follow me. No one even knows you’re here. For all they know, you’re still somewhere in the city. They can’t track you either. I made sure of that.”

  “How?”

  “Your cell phone.”

  Loren nodded, remembering his insistence that she left it behind. “I’m safe here. I’m not in danger. We’re okay then.”

  Avery didn’t respond right away. He watched her and lifted a hand. She sucked in a breath when his fingers touched a piece of her hair. The movement was gentle when he brushed it away from her shoulder, his touch lingering. Loren shivered, despite the warmth it left behind.

  “You’ll be safe. We looked for you for a long time. Nothing will happen to you.”

  She wanted to find comfort in his words, but the knot tightly twisted in her stomach. “Okay.”

  “I hate to admit it, but Callum was right about one other thing. I shouldn’t go into the city again, not for a while. Not while someone is still out there. I don’t care what happens to me. I go out there every night, fully aware I can be hurt. But I can’t slip up and accidentally lead them here. Even with the secret tunnels and routes. If someone is watching me, they’ll know how to get there.” His brow furrowed. “I’m not chancing it.”

  “What do we do?” Loren took a step back, wrapping her arms around herself.

  Avery sighed. “I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s only made you anxious.”

  “No, I was um already anxious.” She rubbed her arm. “Are you okay, though? With what happened tonight?”

  “I was hurt but like I said before, Cal took care of it. Not even a scar.”

  “That’s—that’s good.”

  “I’m fine. It takes more than that to bring me down.”

  Loren didn’t even want to think about it. She nodded.

  “I’ll lay low.” He blew out another breath. “Everything will be fine.”

  It sounded to her like he was trying to reassure himself. She stepped back to the bed. When Avery’s hand touch her arm, she stopped and looked up at him.

  “Everything will be fine,” he repeated, gently.

  “I know.” Her voice was hardly above a whisper.

  “And I didn’t mean to freak you out. I thought you should know.”

  “Yeah.” Her gaze dropped to his lips. She caught herself staring and blushed.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay. You don’t need to be sorry. If it helps, I’m easily freaked out and that’s not your fault.”

  His gaze was on her face, focused only on her. The blush remained on her cheeks. “What should we do?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “We uh might be stuck inside for a while.” Her mind went blank and words failed. He was too close. And he smelled so good. She leaned up.

  He drew back quickly and released her arm. Loren exhaled a shaky breath when Avery put distance between them.

  Loren’s hand trembled as she brought it to rest on her arms. She could still feel the warmth of his touch.

  Avery moved to the door with a shake of his head. He put his hand on the doorknob.

  “Don’t fall,” she said before he could step out.

  Avery stopped mid-step to give her a questioning look.

  “That—that’s what we should do. Not fall. So uh we shouldn’t… fall.” What was she saying? She bit down on her lip.

  A small, amused grin replaced the uncertainty on his face. “Good advice,” he said. “I’ll remember it.”

  “Okay.” She mustered a small smile. Their eyes met for a moment before Avery lowered his head slightly.

  “I’ll see you later. I’ll be careful not to fall.” He stepped out and closed the door behind him.

  She sank down onto the bed once she was alone and lay back. She stared at the high, vaulted ceiling and gnawed on her lip.

  It was hard to believe that only a week ago her life had been almost normal. She had a job, a car, and an apartment in the city. Now, she had none of that. Now, she was part of a team of super-powered people and her life was in danger because of it.

  There were too many attractive men and too many feelings.

  Now she was falling and it had nothing to do with her powers. She didn’t need that on top of everything else. She sighed heavily and closed her eyes.

  Damn everything.

  ~~*~~

  The manor was much quieter without Callum around. Loren first noticed it at breakfast. His presence was pleasant and the lack of it made for more tension. Loren quickly learned without him the animosity between Levi and Avery was at its highest peak. Eva was a good mediator but was busy with business affairs and easily stressed by the two.

  The usual hangout was the training room, which Loren found somewhat strange, if only because she assumed it was a rarely used location. Loren was on the couch when Eva broke up the first argument between Levi and Avery. Eva spoke calmly, her arms outstretched to keep the men back. When Avery stepped forward, she was able to shove him back with no more than a single push.

  She was a lot stronger than she looked.

  After Levi and Avery dispersed, Eva returned to sit with Loren.

  “You really know how to handle them.”

  “Well, yes.” Eva pushed an errant strand of hair away from her face. She was perfectly made-up, as usual. Loren admired the brush of green eyeshadow across her lids, wishing she could pull off such a dramatic look. “But I’ve grown accustomed to it over the years.”

  “Do you have to shove them apart like often?”

  “Not so much. They tend to not like being manhandled, especially by a girl.” Eva looked smug as she picked up her cup of tea.

  “A really strong girl.” Loren watched Avery as he blew off steam with the punching bag. He threw rapid punches, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face. She quickly glanced back to Eva.

  “Ah, yes, you noticed. It’s one of my gifts.”

  “Strength?”

  Eva smiled. “Super strength. When we gained
our powers, Castle divided them equally. He said certain other abilities tied in with the elemental ability. Mine was super strength.” Her attention drifted to her brother. “Avery was jealous of that at first.”

  Loren held her mug between her hands, feeling the warmth through the ceramic. “Callum got healing. You got strength. What about Avery?”

  Eva’s gaze lingered for a while on him. She looked thoughtful before she turned back to Loren. “His ability is less flashy. No less powerful, but… more guarded.”

  Loren scooted forward. “What is it?”

  Eva ran her tongue over her teeth before she answered. “Precognition.”

  She pondered as she sipped her tea. She knew what precognition was. She’d read about it in books and seen it in fantasy movies and shows. But of course it wasn’t real.

  Just like people couldn’t manipulate the elements, have super-strength, or fly. Her brow furrowed slightly. “He can see the future?”

  Eva canted her head slightly, her earrings bobbing with the movement. “In a way. It involves fire. He can look into the flames.” There was a brief glance to her brother. “He rarely uses it and when he does it’s even rarer we’re told what he sees.”

  Loren shifted. “How far into the future does he see?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  Loren leaned back against the couch cushions as she wondered. She was curious. What could Avery see?

  “He doesn’t talk much, does he?”

  “No. He’s never been much of a talker.” Eva took up her mug again. “But I notice he talks to you.”

  Loren thought of the night before and blushed. “Yeah. He does. But not so much.”

  “I’ve noticed it’s a little more than that.” Eva smiled over the rim of her mug. “I think he likes you.”

  Loren’s eyes widened. She almost upset her mug as she picked it up again. She wiped at the tea she’d spilled with a napkin. “Oh, I don’t know about that.”

  Eva smirked slightly. “And I know you like him.”

  “I don’t think that has anything to do with anything.” She quickly drank her tea, ignoring that it burned her tongue.