Caution to the Wind: Book One of the Elementals Series

by F. R. Southerland

  “It’s sweet.” Eva ran her napkin along the rim of her mug to remove a lipstick smear. “You’re not Avery’s usual type.” She stopped. “You know he was engaged before?”

  Loren did know. It had been on the news and in the magazines, but they’d split apart more than a year ago. The detail had been niggling at the back of her mind. She wasn’t Avery’s type, not by a long shot. She wasn’t sophisticated or graceful. She was barely even pretty.

  Yet, she couldn’t help but feel all of those things when she was alone with him, when he looked at her.

  It was stupid. Falling was not on the agenda. She had to ignore it. Feelings were complicated. She knew from her own experiences.

  “Yeah, I know. I uh read about it. And I know I’m not his type. I’m not really anyone’s type. I’m just me and I’m not looking at liking anyone or anyone liking me.” Loren stopped her rambling by drinking more tea. At this rate, she’d soon run out.

  Eva laughed softly, immediately making Loren feel self-conscious. Was she mocking her for liking her brother? “It’s not that funny.”

  “No, I’m not laughing at you, dear. The situation is… amusing.”

  Loren didn’t know why she thought it would be, but she kept her thoughts to herself. “He’s nice. And yes. I do like him. But not like that.”

  “Of course.” Eva’s smirk remained while she sipped.

  “I mean it.”

  “I believe you.”

  The topic made Loren warm. She sought out a change in topic. When Levi entered the room again, with a mug of his own, Loren asked, “Levi’s been here for a while, hasn’t he?”

  Eva glanced at him. “Mm, yes, for a few years now. He’s been a big asset.” Her lips pursed as she said it. “Abrasive,” she confirmed, “but an asset. He knows a lot. He’s valuable.”

  Levi wasn’t her favorite topic of conversation, but Loren was glad for the change. She watched as he sat at the terminal again, immediately becoming absorbed in the technology.

  “Callum hired him,” Eva went on. Her voice was hushed. “I didn’t like the inclusion, but my hands were tied on the matter.”

  “How come?”

  “Levi knew more about us than we wanted him to know. It was either keep him here as an ally or allow him to spill our secrets to the public.” Eva’s lips pulled into a thin line.

  Loren pondered on it for a few moments before she made the conclusion. “He blackmailed you?”

  “Blackmail is a strong word. He persuaded us, quite convincingly.” Eva took a final drink of her tea and put the mug down. She smoothed out her skirt before she stood.

  As she watched Levi, Loren couldn’t help but notice how he kept his back to them, absorbed in his own technological world. His lack of caring, his intrusive manner, and his aloof attitude didn’t settle well with her. She frowned slightly.

  There were so many pieces of this puzzle. Some pieces were missing completely, while others didn’t fit at all. But Loren was starting to see the big overall picture.

  She didn’t like it one bit.

  Chapter Ten

  Loren hadn’t been able to put her thoughts to rest.

  She thought of Levi and his generally disliked presence in the manor. She thought of the story about Fredrick Castle and his brother. She thought of how she’d gained her powers. She thought of her parents deaths. She thought of the first foster home she lived in and the day-to-day struggle to hide her powers. She thought of her old job, her old apartment.

  No matter what thoughts she found, they all shifted back to the Morgan brothers. She saw Callum with his kind smile, cool touch, and soft words. She saw Avery, who she was reluctantly falling for. And when she thought of Avery, she was reminded of his attack the night before.

  Loren couldn’t escape any of it.

  But she was safe at the manor. Avery assured her of that and she believed it. Whatever misgivings she or anyone else had for Levi, he was good with the magitech stuff and whatever perimeters were in place to protect the manor were highly advanced.

  Callum was due to return to the manor the next day. Eva read the itinerary aloud at breakfast that morning and Loren felt a twinge of excitement. She did miss him. She found it easy to converse with him, and it wasn’t easy for her to talk to people. Callum had a way of speaking that made her feel important and she liked that.

  And Avery had a way of looking at her and making her feel the same way. He made her feel safe.

  Oh, this was dangerous territory.

  Loren tried to dismiss the thought and push back her emotions. None of that would do right now. She didn’t have time for it.

  She stood in the doorway of the garage, watching as Avery leaned into the engine of a rusted car. At first glance, it looked like someone had dragged it up from the depths of a swamp.

  “Wow. It’s old.”

  Avery lifted his head, careful not to bang it on the open hood of the car. “Yeah, it is. A junker. I’ve been trying to fix her up for the last couple of months, whenever I get some spare time.” He grabbed a towel and wiped grease from his hands. His blue shirt had a smear of grease on it and his hair fell loose from his ponytail, but he looked good.

  “How good are you with recharging a car battery?” she asked. “Because my piece of shit sedan needs that.”

  Avery smiled. “I don’t know. I’m okay with it.” He tossed the towel aside. “But you didn’t come here to talk cars, did you?”

  “No, not really. My extent of car knowledge ends at the gas pedal makes it go and the brake makes it stop.” She chuckled nervously. “I wanted to ask you something.”

  “What’s that?” Avery wiped at his brow with the back of his hand.

  “The other night when you were attacked,” she began, “are you sure you didn’t know who they were? That you didn’t see something relevant?”

  Avery picked up some tools and stepped over to a table to put them away. He shook his head. “No. Not really.”

  “Are you lying?” It sounded more accusatory than she meant.

  Avery gave her a sharp look. “I think we need to drop it.” He looked down at his hands while he sorted his tools. “Just drop it and it won’t be a problem.”

  “Is it a problem?”

  “Well, people asking about you and shooting arrows at me generally is.”

  “And you think ignoring it will make it go away?” Her brow knit together.

  Avery exhaled a heavy sigh. “I’m trying to take a page out of Callum’s book and play it safe. Is it working?” he said, tone bitter.

  “Avery, if I’m in danger… I think we should know why. And who. And maybe… stop them.”

  Avery looked at her again. He hesitated. It took some time before he replied. “It was a woman.”

  Loren blinked. “What? A woman?”

  “My attacker. Clearly female. The voice was altered, but there was no mistaking it.”

  Loren folded her arms, brow still furrowed. “Do you really think we should drop it?”

  “No. I don’t. But what can I do? Callum’s made it clear I’m not to go out. Or do a damn thing about it.”

  She neared the car and rested her hand on the rusted metal. She withdrew it after a moment. Red stained her fingers. She frowned as she wiped it away on a nearby towel. “He likes to be controlling, I’ve noticed.”

  Avery scoffed. “You don’t know the half of it. It’s always been like this. Especially after dad died. Even before then.” He frowned too.

  “Just because he’s bossy doesn’t mean you have to listen to him.” Loren’s eyes widened when she realized what she said. “No, I don’t mean it like that. Just… he doesn’t control you. You’re your own man. An adult. You have your own life.”

  “What do you think I’ve been doing?” Avery rolled his eyes and moved away from her and the table. He picked up an oil pan and looked it over before he tossed it aside. Loren jumped when it clanked onto the floor. “I’ve been living my own life. You’ve read the papers and articles, right
? You’ve seen the news. You know what kind of guy I am.”

  “This is more than parties and dates and photo ops.”

  “I know. I do all that shit for attention, if you believe Callum and Eva.” Avery forced a laugh. “I don’t become the Shadow to get attention. It’s the opposite of that.”

  “You do it to help people.”

  “Yeah. I do. And Callum doesn’t understand it. He still sees it as me crying out for attention. He ses it as a liability.”

  Loren took a few steps toward him, lightly kicking aside the oil pan at her feet. “But you help people. And one of those people you help happens to be me. I’m caught up in all of this… mess.” She gestured vaguely with her hand. “Why not help me? Why not find out what these people want with me, why I’m in danger and put a stop to it?”

  It was a lot to ask. And she wished she had kept her mouth shut about it. Loren waited for his reaction.

  “I want to stop it.” His voice was quiet. “I really do. I’m one guy. Yeah, I have powers but I don’t know what I’m facing. I go out every night never knowing, but I do it anyway. This… this is different. This is—” He cut himself off and swiped the piece of hair away from his forehead. “Cal was right. It’s dangerous.”

  “I can help you.” She surprised herself with the offer.

  Avery lifted an eyebrow. “You can help me?”

  “Well, I j-just thought since it involves me I could—” she stammered. She closed her mouth. Maybe she was wrong to suggest it.

  “That’s exactly why you shouldn’t. It involves you. Throwing yourself right into the middle of the danger is not exactly helpful. You can’t even control your powers. You don’t know how to fight. You’d be in even more danger. Better to stay out of it entirely.”

  “I can learn to control my powers. Eva told me earlier she’d be willing to help me. And Callum will help.” She sucked on her lip when she paused. “I can learn to fight. You can teach me. I don’t want to be in danger, Avery. I don’t like that. I want—I want to be safe. And I don’t want to rely on anyone else to do it for me.”

  Loren took a few steps back. It all spilled out of her so suddenly, it left them both in a shocked silence. Her heart thudded.

  There was a long pause. Avery studied her. “Is that how you really feel?”

  She couldn’t speak. She wanted to be her own person. She wanted to control her powers and be strong and feel and be important and safe. She’d always wanted it, but never felt she would ever have it.

  She didn’t deserve it, but she wanted it.

  Slowly, she nodded her head, averting her gaze from Avery. “Never mind. It’s stupid. I should just go.”

  “Loren, wait.”

  She kept her eyes focused on the door. She turned when Avery stepped closer.

  “I get it. I know how you feel. And if that’s what you want, I’ll train you.”

  “Really?” She let out a small breath.

  “Yeah. I don’t like you being in danger. Any chance you can defend yourself… that’s fine with me.” He scratched the side of his nose. “But I think I’ll leave the power training to Cal and Eva. That’s not my forte. They’ll be bent out of shape enough if they knew I was training you in any way at all without permission.”

  “We can do it at night, maybe? When everyone’s asleep and the training room’s empty?”

  “Levi stays up late. I think he looks up porn at the terminal.”

  She flushed. “Oh. Ew.” She made a face but moved on. “That doesn’t work.”

  “We can train here.” He glanced around the garage. “I can move some shit around, put down a few mats. No one comes out here and Levi doesn’t have it linked to the manor’s security cameras. It’s safe from prying eyes.”

  “Okay. That could work.” She fell silent for some time. “Thank you,” she finally said. “For helping me. It means a lot. Really.”

  “It’s nothing. Not a problem.” Avery smiled gently.

  “And thanks, for before. For saving me from the mugger that night.”

  Avery’s smile grew a little more. “Now that was nothing.”

  “Nothing? That was the start of everything. Right?”

  “Right. It was.”

  Avery shifted and looked her over. Her face warmed. She felt self-conscious and shifted her feet.

  “I’m heading back inside.” Loren pointed her thumb back at the door. “Maybe grab a snack and watch a movie.”

  “All right. That sounds nice.”

  “Yeah.” She nodded, rocking back on her heels. “Nice and normal and safe.”

  Avery scratched at the back of his neck. “Loren, before you go, I want to ask something.”

  “Yeah, sure. What is it?”

  He licked his lips. “I know we’re not supposed to leave the manor to go back to the city any time soon, but would you like to go on a date with me?”

  Her mind went blank. Avery Morgan just asked her on a date. She couldn’t speak.

  When she didn’t respond, Avery went on. “It doesn’t have to be fancy. We could have it on the terrace, or anywhere you want on the property. I’ll have the chefs fix something you like. We don’t even have to dress up. And if you don’t want to, that’s fine too.”

  Loren had to shake her head to snap out of her trance. “No, no. I mean, yes. I would like to go on a date with you.”

  “Oh okay. Great.” Avery smiled, clapping his hands together once. “Tomorrow night? Around eight? Or seven?”

  “Eight’s fine.”

  “And we can do training soon. Later that night. Or the next night?”

  “We uh can come up with something. One step at a time. I’ll uh see you later then.”

  “Yeah.”

  Loren nodded and left the garage. She felt so light, as if she was walking on air. No, her feet remained planted firmly on the ground.

  She was going on a date with Avery. She smiled.

  So much for not falling.

  Chapter Eleven

  Callum arrived at the manor early the next morning. Loren didn’t go to greet him right away, figuring he’d need some time to settle in. It was late afternoon before she found him in his study.

  He sat at his desk, sorting through a pile of mail and papers. He smiled when she entered. “Loren. Hello.”

  She couldn’t help but return the smile. “Hey. How was your trip?” It was good to see him again.

  Callum put some papers aside and stood. He stepped around the desk. For a moment, Loren was tempted to embrace him, but she figured it might be too much too soon. “It was good. The weather was dreary and business was…” He trailed off and blew out a small breath. “Well, business was tedious, as usual. How are you?”

  It was a loaded question. How was she? She’d moved beyond her initial anxiety and was nearing confident territory. And she had a date with Avery tonight. Her long-kept securities and the fact people wanted to hurt her shifted focus to the back of her mind. “Good. I’m really good.”

  “I’m glad to hear it.” He smiled again. “Would you like to sit and have some tea with me? I was thinking I should call for some.”

  “Oh, that would be nice. Thanks.” Loren sat while Callum called for tea and returned to the desk.

  “How are you adjusting?”

  “Better,” she admitted with a small nod. “Everything’s kind of settled. I mean, there are some things that are kind of crazy, but I’m calmer.”

  “That’s wonderful.” Callum folded his hands on top of the desk. For a couple minutes, he simply looked at her as he smiled. He broke the quiet by clearing his throat. “I don’t want to presume you’re ready to continue our discussion just yet, but if you have questions, I could answer them while we have our tea.”

  “I do have questions,” she said, tucking hair behind her ear. “Mostly about my powers.”

  “Oh? I’ll do my best to answer them.’

  “Yeah.” She resisted the urge to fidget. “I uh was never actually trained to use them.”
/>
  “We realized that.”

  She tried hard not to blush, but her cheeks warmed. “Yeah. So I was thinking… would it be possible for you and maybe Eva to show me how to use them? I mean, not use them because my powers are different from yours, but maybe show me some techniques to control them? I talked with Avery and he doesn’t feel like he’d be much help with it.” No, he would train her to fight and that was enough there. Her stomach fluttered when she thought of him.

  Callum listened before he nodded solemnly. “I believe it goes without saying. Eva and I had discussed it earlier and we would both be happy to assist you.”

  She rubbed her hands on her jeans. “Okay, great.”

  “We can begin tonight,” he went on. He glanced at the door as the maid entered with the serving tray.

  Loren remained silent as the woman placed the tray on the desk and Callum gave her a thank you. It wasn’t until after the maid had left and Callum poured both their cups that Loren found the courage to speak.

  “Uh, maybe not tonight.”

  “I understand. It’s too soon. I have some business affairs to get into order. We can begin another night.” He picked up a paper and read over it.

  Loren gnawed briefly on her lip. “No, it’s not that it’s too soon. I just… I have plans tonight.”

  Callum paused and lowered his paper. “Oh?”

  She nodded. “Yeah, uh, Avery and I have a date.”

  An eyebrow lifted slightly and Loren shifted her gaze away from him. Suddenly uncomfortable, she started to ramble. “It’s okay though, we’re not actually going out into the city. We’re staying in. Dinner or something. A staying in date.” She took a quick sip of the hot tea. It burned her tongue, but she tried not to show her discomfort.

  She glanced at Callum but was unable to read his expression. Was he angry? Her hand shook as she put her cup back on the tray. She waited for him to say something—anything—but he didn’t. Loren lifted her eyes to look directly at him.

  He blinked twice before he looked down at his cup of tea. He set it aside, paused, and then resumed searching through his papers. “That’s nice.” He sounded strained.