“It’s possible,” said Sip. “But come on. Let’s go outside. Lough said he’d be arriving with Bartholem soon.”
“He’s bringing the cat?” I asked, startled. Sip grinned.
“He tried to leave him, but I guess Bartholem had a fit and Lough had to bring him along after all.”
“Sounds about right,” I said, grinning back.
It was now early evening, and Sip and I had a ton of catching up to do. For one thing, I wanted to talk to her about Keller, because I couldn’t not talk about Keller. And that was only the first topic on a long list. In true Sip form, she prepared us a pot of tea, sliced some cheese and put it on a plate with crackers, and grabbed a blanket. We went outside and spread the blanket on her front lawn, sitting on the grass to wait for Lough.
“At least we’ll be on our way back to Public soon,” I said, biting into a slice of cheddar.
“Everything feels better when we’re there,” said Sip. “It wasn’t the same this summer without the other students.”
“How’s the research coming?” I asked. Sip had spent the summer researching ways to get Lisabelle back, even if that isn’t what she told Oliva.
“Not well,” said Sip grimly. “Lisabelle probably had to sign a Blood Kept, a type of agreement that’s almost impossible to break.”
“She took an oath to darkness?” I asked, shocked. Somehow I still felt like this was all a bad dream, like I’d been hit in the head at Golden Falls, and any minute now we’d all wake up safe and back at Public. But I was slowly facing the fact that going back for the semester and regular classes without Lisabelle there would be a big wakeup call.
“I’ve found out a couple of things,” said Sip, “but before I tell you about them, you need to read this.”
She handed me a Tabble and my relief was palpable. Until I saw the news wire, I hadn’t fully realized how lost I’d felt all summer without any links to the paranormal world.
“It’s an article by Mound,” I groaned. “This is bad.”
Sip nodded. “You have no idea. He’s advocating arresting Lisabelle’s parents.”
I stared at Sip wide-eyed. “No wonder they’ve gone to ground.”
It has come to my attention, in my esteemed position as a pixie, that Lisabelle Verlans is in contact with her mother and father. Do we not find it suspicious that they blithely continued to live their lives until suddenly disappearing? What could this mean other than their direct involvement in their daughter’s illegal activities? I advocate doing the only thing we paranormals can to protect ourselves. I advocate arresting the Verlans traitors.
I have two more orders of business. The first concerns Charlotte Rollins, the elemental who, in all honesty, started this whole mess in the first place. I advocate laying the blame at her feet, where it should have been from the beginning. All of this madness and carnage can be stopped, and it can be stopped simply. Just turn the elemental over to darkness. If we are on good terms with the demons, as we should be, we do not need the Power of Five, because we do not need protection. I would also like to point out, in the same vein, that if we truly had the Power of Five, if Charlotte Rollins was truly a good paranormal, so many of us would not already have died for nothing.
Lastly, I would like to commend Cynthia Malle on her continued talks with the paranormals. She is truly doing everything that she can to stop this madness. I also commend her on Keller Erikson, who is truly a talented fallen angel. He will fly far.
I made a face at Sip. “He’s talking about Keller as if he knows him,” I said bitterly. “He doesn’t.”
Sip nodded. “I know. I’m sorry. Have you talked to him at all?”
I sighed and told her I hadn’t. We talked about Keller for a bit and wondered just how he was doing and where he was. I had a feeling he was at Vampire Locke, surrounded by demons, but the thought made me sick.
“I can’t believe his parents just gave him over to her,” I said, shaking my head.
“I know,” Sip whispered. “I’m sorry.”
“We’re at war and they gave him over to the enemy,” I said, tears welling up in the corners of my eyes, as they tended to do now when I thought of Keller. I missed him. I missed him with a deep ache I was sure would never go away, and there didn’t seem to be a thing I could do about it.
Sip reached out and patted my hand. “We’ll get them back,” she assured me. “We will.”
“I hear a car,” I said, watching Sip’s long driveway.
“Probably Lough,” said Sip with amusement. “He and Bartholem were having trouble figuring out how to travel.”
I looked at Sip’s gleeful face.
“So, they aren’t getting along any better?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” she said. “Bartholem loves Lough’s family.”
“And Lough wanted to take care of him because he loves Lisabelle, of course,” I said thoughtfully.
Sip nodded. “We all do.”
The taxi pulled up and Lough nearly tumbled out.
He walked briskly toward us, ignoring the driver in his haste to get away from the vehicle. The driver quietly moved to get Lough’s luggage out of the trunk.
“He’s in the back seat,” he said to me. “Can you get him?”
I got up to do as he asked.
“Oh, cheese!” Lough could always be diverted by food, no matter what was going wrong.
I laughed and grabbed one more cracker before I went to get the cat.
Bartholem was in a carrier in the back seat. He started to purr happily once his purple eyes landed on me.
I grabbed the carrier, thanked the driver as Lough came back to take his suitcase, then returned to Sip, who had sprawled on the blanket and was reading the Tabble.
“Hi Bartholem,” she said, when I let him out of the carrier. He ignored her and darted off into the woods, prompting Sip to glare at Lough.
“What if he’s running away?” she demanded. “You scared him off!”
“Good riddance,” said Lough, sitting down heavily and piling three pieces of cheese on one cracker. “He’s just doing his business. I’m sure he’ll be back. Lucky us.”
Sip sniffed disdainfully. “He’d better be, or Lisabelle will be mad when she comes back.”
Lough didn’t answer her, he just sank into a dark silence.
We talked for most of the evening. Lough’s parents, who ran a farm, were almost as out of the loop as I was, so he was eager to hear the latest news from Sip, and Sip was only too happy to rant about Mound and Caid. In the midst of all the bad news, though, she was at least happy with the progress of the Sign of Six.
“They haven’t shut me down,” she said with pride. “And they have definitely tried.”
“Her membership has doubled over the summer,” said Lough proudly.
Just then I saw something white out of the corner of my eye. When I turned to see what it was, there was Bartholem, making his leisurely way out of the woods and looking quite pleased with himself. He came to the edge of the blanket, plunked himself down, and proceeded to wash himself. Sip quirked an eyebrow at the cat, but she didn’t say anything out loud.
“Told you he’d come back,” Lough grumbled.
The light was fading and the breeze was starting to pick up. Clearly wanting to veer away from the subject of the cat, Sip peered into the teapot and observed, “All the tea’s gone.”
“No sense in being outside anymore without tea,” I said dryly.
Sip grinned at me, and we gathered our snack and rolled it up in the blanket, which Sip started to carry toward the house. I picked up Bartholem, who was one big ball of fluff, and carried him inside, since Lough didn’t seem inclined to acknowledge his existence.
We made our way into the kitchen, and Sip set about brewing more tea.
“So, tell us about your research this summer,” said Lough, settling in at the big kitchen table.
Sip waited until she had set three piping hot cups of tea in front of us, then sat down and explained
what she had found.
“The demons want all the objects on the Wheel. They think that once they have them, they’ll be able to bring all the paranormals under their control,” Sip explained.
“How can objects that were made by the founders of Public and filled with their purest and most powerful magic help demons?” Lough asked. “How do you know all of this?”
“From my research,” said Sip. “I think the Nocturns just figured it out as well. They initially wanted the objects on the Wheel to take away our last hope at the Power of Five. That’s all well and good, but now they know that the magic can be bent and used to further their own goals. I think they’d still destroy the objects if they could, but that’s not their main goal anymore.”
“Their main goal is to use our greatest weapon against us,” I said thoughtfully.
Sip nodded. “Exactly. I mean, they could already have destroyed the objects if they wanted to. Long since. But they haven’t. Why not? They still have a use for them.”
“How many objects do they need?”
“They need the Mirror Arcane, which you still have, and they need the Globe White,” said Sip.
“We have to protect the Mirror at all costs,” said Lough. “We also have to assume that the Nocturns know that Charlotte has it.”
“Don’t talk like that,” Sip chided. “It’s depressing.”
Lough shrugged. “Well, it’s not like we have a lot of good news to celebrate these days.”
“At least after this we’re all going back to Public,” I said. “We can work better from there.”
Lough shook his head. “I just can’t believe we’re going to have classes at a time like this. I barely got here alive. I actually saw a demon searching the woods.”
Sip straightened up, her eyes filled with worry.
“It’s that bad?” she asked softly.
“Of course it is,” said Lough. “The reports of paranormals dying are growing by the day. Our neighbors disappeared. Even Mrs. Swan. . . .”
Lough trailed off as he glanced at me. Mrs. Swan had been my first dorm mother. She’d left campus to visit family and never come back. There had never been any trace of her since then. I still thought of her often.
“So, what do we do about the objects?”
“Well,” said Sip, leaning forward conspiratorially. “I think we have to find the Globe White. It’s the only other one not already in possession of the demons.”
“They now control access to the Fang First,” I said, “but they don’t know that they have it.”
Sip shook her head. “I think we have to assume that they do know,” she said seriously. “From all the information we have, we have to assume that they took over Vampire Locke just to get the Fang First, which means there’s no telling what lengths they’ll go to for the Globe White and the Mirror Arcane.”
“We know one thing,” said Lough grimly. “President Caid is in danger.”
Sip nodded. “Yes, he is.”
Bartholem had curled up by the fireplace and seemed to be asleep. But now he opened one purple eye and meowed.
By the time Hyder and Helen came back I was nearly falling asleep. Sip’s brothers had stayed at the Conclave to help get ready.
“Where is this Conclave?” I asked, thinking of how small Sip’s home town was.
Sip looked at me in surprise. “You don’t know?”
“If I knew, why would I ask?” I said irritably.
Sip shrugged. “You’re right. You aren’t Lisabelle. You don’t do stuff just to be annoying.”
“Pretty sure Lisabelle calls that entertainment,” said Lough, licking his fingers clean of peanut butter, which he had slathered on three bananas as a pre-bedtime snack.
“It’s on a ship,” said Sip. “It’s waiting for us in the harbor.”
I gaped at her. “That’s safe?”
“It’s the safest place for us,” said Sip. “At least for a short period of time. Water paranormals don’t like us. Some fall under the Strange category, but we don’t talk about them and they don’t come to meetings. Demons hate water, so that’s an advantage, and the water spirits, the mermaids, and the occasional kraken can join us.”
“Mermaids aren’t real,” I scoffed. “That’s just weird.”
“What’s weird is that seventy-five percent of the mermaids are women,” said Lough. “I’m jealous of mermen.”
Sip rolled her eyes. “Well, don’t be too jealous. It also means the women run everything.”
“That’s different from now, how?” Lough asked.
Sip grinned and waggled a finger at him. “Good,” she said. “I’m glad you understand. Now, go to sleep. We have a big day tomorrow.”
The plan was that we’d arrive at the ship for the Conclave and spend the night on board, in order to hear firsthand what Caid and the other senior paranormals wanted. I was mostly expecting to sit back and watch, staying out of the way as much as possible, but at least I’d get to see Dacer. Then, after the meeting, we would all return to Paranormal Public to begin our senior year.
I was almost afraid. Lisabelle and Keller weren’t there, and it just didn’t feel worth it.
I stayed awake for a long time after Sip rolled over on her side and I could hear Lough snoring on his mat on the floor. I kept trying to picture myself at Public without Lisabelle and Keller, but I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. At least we would have a lot to keep us busy, and my fight with Nicole and Nick had taught me something: I needed to get better. They had expected my attacks, and I had nearly died. If we were going to go to war to get Lisabelle back, I’d have to be not only stronger but smarter. Lisabelle wasn’t there to hide behind anymore. I was a senior and an elemental. And I was ready to fight.
Chapter Sixteen
“Good morning,” said Helen’s voice. I wanted to stay warm and cozy, so I tried rolling over and burying my head deeper in Sip’s extra pillow. But then I realized that today was the day of the Conclave, so I forced myself to crack one eye open and look at Sip’s mother. She was smiling down at me as if she’d been up for hours and already had her tea. I groaned.
“Sip’s making breakfast,” said Helen, with a hint of a smile. “You and Lough can get dressed and come join us whenever you’re ready.”
Even from Sip’s bedroom I could smell the wonderful aroma of breakfast being cooked. Helen was barely out the door before I pushed off the covers, grabbed a black hoodie, and followed her downstairs.
Lough looked at me blearily as I left, but I knew him well enough to know that despite the fact that he wasn’t a morning person, in five minutes he’d be following me down the stairs. If everything else failed, he’d still come for the food.
Bartholem, who had slept with Sip and me instead of Lough, was nowhere to be seen.
Sip’s kitchen was warm and cozy and obviously well used, everything that Carl’s kitchen was not.
“Morning,” said Sip brightly. She was standing next to the stove in a purple apron, which really brought out her eyes. She held a spatula and was gently poking some eggs.
“So, how’s Ricky?” she asked, turning back to breakfast.
I sat down at the table, where three kinds of jam were waiting for us to try: one was red, either strawberry or raspberry, another was either blueberry or grape, and the third I very much suspected of being orange marmalade.
“He’s fine,” I said, picking up a piece of toast and buttering it before turning to the jams.
“Did you tell him anything?” Sip asked. I knew she was being careful, because so far I had always refused to say anything to Ricky about our parents, or about the fact that that Carl might not be his real father. What surprised me most was that Carl himself somehow knew that, and knew that Ricky could be in danger; he had told me as much when I had been home last winter.
“No,” I said, putting what I thought was the grape jam on my toast and taking a bite. “There was never a good time. Besides, he isn’t showing magic.”
“Well,�
�� said Sip dryly, “it would make it easier if he burned a house down, wouldn’t it?”
Just then Lough staggered in, still looking as bleary-eyed as he had a few minutes ago. But he brightened up immediately at the sight of the toast.
Leaving the subject of Ricky aside for the moment, I filled my friends in on what had happened with Nick and Nicole.
“What do you think they were doing there?” Lough asked nervously. “I don’t like that at all.”
“I think they came for Ricky and me,” I said grimly. “Cale said the Nocturns and their allies are now determined to eliminate the Power of Five once and for all. Leaving him this time was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
“Well, that’s just another day of college for you,” said Sip off-handedly.
“Yeah,” I said. “Ever since Malle put that bounty on my head when we were at Vampire Locke, I’ve been looking over my shoulder.”
“You’ve been glaring over your shoulder,” said Sip, “and no one from the forces of darkness has glared back yet.”
“Nick and Nicole won’t quit,” I said. “I just wish I knew more about them.”
“We can find that out once we get to Public,” said Sip.
“We can?” I asked skeptically.
“Public keeps amazing records,” Sip explained. “They have an archive.”
“Yeah, we’ve all been in the library, Sip,” said Lough. “It’s cool, but it’s not that cool.”
Sip fixed Lough with a death stare and said, “I wasn’t talking about the library. I was talking about the archive.”
“Well excuse me, Ms. I’m Number One in Our Class,” said Lough.
Sip sniffed and spooned eggs onto plates for each of us, and we barely spoke after that, nor did Hyder and Helen join us. I had an odd feeling that Hyder was avoiding me, but I pushed it away since I had no reason to think such a thing.
After we had finished eating, Sip went up to her room and frantically started to pack for school. The ship was expected to dock near Public the next day and drop all the students off, and Sip hadn’t even begun to gather her things.
Elemental Darkness (Paranormal Public Series) Page 10