Deep breath in. Slowly release out.
Fear is something I control. Her oldest brother, Calev, taught her this before he died, before her mother stopped loving her.
Elspeth finished sucking on the brow ring and threw this one to the floor, where it bounced and rolled toward the grate in the floor.
“That was my favorite…” Mina began as her nose ring was torn from her. She made another noise of pain, unable to stop as the hot press of tears blurred her eyes. The carefully controlled emotions surged, making the Darks around her murmur and hiss.
“Oh dear, did that hurt?” Elspeth tossed the nose ring to her followers that crouched in the stands, and a scuffle broke out as they fought for it. Behind Mina, the soft huff of laughter from Alexei filled her ears. She turned to glare at him.
“Your cousin would never have laughed,” she said. Which was true. Mikhail Petrov, a brutal but suave Tri-elemental, never found amusement in pain, even when he forced a bond on her friend Laurie or gave this boy up as a hostage. He’d never be the man Mikhail was.
“My cousin is a fool,” Alexei said with a sneer, but she tasted for a moment black licorice—anguish and hate—sweet and bitter.
A bright burst of pain hit as her ear loop was jerked out, flaying open her skin. Mina whirled to face her mother, not missing the young man’s grin. Mina was unable to stop one hot, salty tear track its way down the inside of her nose. She hunched over as her earring was tossed to the restless Darks behind Elspeth.
At least my wrist doesn’t hurt as much.
“Mama, what do you want from me?” Mina gasped, knowing as she spoke it would never make sense. Her mother had gradually stopped consuming emotion—the only thing letting her feel the pain—the day her oldest son, Mina’s brother, was executed. She must’ve stopped completely since she’d last seen her. In a sense, Elspeth had gone off her medication unwilling to be helped by her estranged husband or anyone else. All the woman craved was blood and power. A deep well of hunger filled her mother, making her black, sclera-less eyes empty.
“My dear, I’ve been telling you.” Elspeth leaned closer, and Mina shrunk back. She knew she wasn’t going to get out of here unscathed. A spell formed in her mind, the words scrolling across her thoughts as she began to call it up.
“Therapy?”
“Silly girl.” Sharp, stained serrated teeth were revealed in a shark smile as her mother looked at her with odd intensity. “Your death.”
As Elspeth lunged toward her, Mina knew she shouldn’t have come here for those books.
Chapter Four
“DID YOU EAT BREAKFAST?” The deep, Slavic voice held an edge to it, but Laurie chose to ignore his temper. This was a long-standing issue between them. A surge of nausea made her stomach clench at the image of food the question evoked.
“No,” she mumbled. She swallowed the saliva that collected, willing the urge to vomit to pass. It’d been getting worse lately. She didn’t tell him, thinking this uncomfortable feeling an after effect of taking on all four elements. Besides, they shared all sorts of emotions because of the connection he’d imposed; she’d be damned before she shared bodily functions.
Being an Elemental was new to her. For most of her twenty-five years, she fought the fire she’d possessed, until she’d met Mikhail. With one look from him, she found herself forced to face her fire element. It also ended up with her bonded to the frustrating Russian, which gave them unnatural insight into each other, whether she liked it or not. It didn’t matter this connection kept the Mages from draining her; the fact she hadn’t been given a choice still rankled.
At the tilt of his head, his eyes narrowing, Laurie leaned forward to examine the Boundary map, to make him think she was busy. The Elemental map was a thing of beauty and a gamer’s wet dream. Glowing blue-and-white lines crisscrossed to form a perfect 3D replica of the area she was supposed to monitor. It covered the entire southeast into Oklahoma, up to Tennessee, to include the Carolinas, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and part of Texas. She touched a section of the ethereal map, and it enlarged. Images came into focus, and miniature houses and the movement of people and cars were shown in real time. Sometimes she wanted to put her finger out and touch them, but something stopped her, and it wasn’t the dire warnings from Mikhail who stood in the door of the room.
“You are a stubborn girl,” he murmured and stepped down onto the packed dirt of the Boundary room. Oh crap.
“It’s why you like me.” Laurie straightened up, pushing the long curls of her coppery hair out of her face. She blinked. Mikhail was breathtaking—tall and lean, dark hair combed back, and the odd, ever-changing eye color of a Tri-elemental. But it wasn’t his looks that surprised her. It was his willingness to step into the Boundary room and not hover at the door like he was prone to do. Mikhail hadn’t entered this room in months. Not since he gave her all of his power.
“Maybe you should like me more and fight me less,” he teased. But there was something darker in his light tone. She couldn’t identify the mood, but she sensed the pang of loss as his bare feet touched the packed, earthen floor. Served him right, but she couldn’t stop the squeeze of her heart at the burst of compassion she felt.
“What are you doing?” she blurted. The Boundary room had been one of his favorite places where he connected with his earth and water elements. The breeze she’d associated with him at their first meeting was now hers to command. Strange, but she missed that bit about him.
He raised one eyebrow at her question, his high cheek bones giving him a rakish look as he approached. “What does it look like? I am walking. Should I be doing something else?”
She gave an exaggerated eye roll. “You’re going to drive me crazy.”
“Khorosho. Very good.” Mikhail now stood beside her in his expensive gray Armani. He never would wear jeans—and she’d tried. Oh, how she’d tried. He’d told her that jeans were for lesser men, not high-ranking Elementals. Especially not a bonded one.
And he thinks I’m stubborn.
Laurie swallowed, her throat going dry, which happened every blasted time he came near her. Even though the nausea hung around like a bad taste, it didn’t matter. This man was an addiction. Her mother warned her about men like him, but did she listen? No. She found herself smoothing a lapel so she could feel the hard muscle underneath the fine cloth. She breathed in the faint scent of pine and the cigars he favored. Lust shot through her, warming her in places she shouldn’t be thinking about while monitoring boundaries and struggling with queasiness. Mikhail’s eyes, a brilliant blue, shifted to a deep brown.
This bond was going to kill her. There were no secrets between them. She knew his anger, his amusement, and now when he…
To break the sudden surge of desire, Laurie jerked around to point to the area she enlarged.
“There’s something going on between Arkansas and Louisiana.” She shook her head to clear it, allowing the four elements she carried to flow outward. It was a relief to release the energy. Most of the time, having this much power made her feel bloated. Fluid pills didn’t help. She’d tried them, and earned Mikhail’s ire because she’d become dehydrated and fainted in a spectacular fashion during a meeting with two new Tri-elemental Controllers. She certainly knew how to make an impression.
“I don’t like how it feels here. There is too much pressure in Louisiana, and it’s causing a draft.” She allowed her consciousness to flow out. She fought to keep herself focused. It was too easy to follow the Boundary and get caught up in the grittiness of the earth, explore the sensations of plants growing, the leaves stretching outward, the sun on her, and the volatility of a storm. She didn’t just see it, she became it.
Oops. She’d gotten a bit caught up with the storm in Florida. Her skin tingled as hail hit the earth.
“Show me.” His accented tone spoke in Laurie’s ear. The press of Mikhail’s lean length redirected her attention. For a moment, she was back when he trained her and he’d do t
his very thing. Now, it was as if he could follow her along the same illuminated thread to the area she’d indicated. This is new.
“There, see it?” Laurie found herself experiencing the pressure difference between Arkansas and Louisiana; it made her sinuses stop up. “It’s not the natural weather because it focuses right there at the border, and it’s causing problems in Mississippi.”
A huff of laughter tickled her ear. “Do you remember who we appointed for Controller of Arkansas last month?”
Why did he have to run his hand down her side like that? It brought her back to herself enough that she wasn’t completely immersed into the Boundary map.
“Yes, some woman…” Laurie searched her thoughts for the Tri-elemental. They’d stepped back into the role as Director after their battle with the Mages. The war with the Darks had taken center stage, giving them an opportunity which Mikhail had taken. If all worked out, he’d be the highest-ranking Elemental in North America by fall. What she equated it with was endless boring meetings she’d be forced to sit through and numerous appointments made mostly by him.
“Vesna,” he told her as he kissed the side of her neck. The warmth of his lips made her lean into him.
“The tall woman? With the long brown hair and excellent taste in suits?” Laurie vaguely remembered someone who wore a dark green Chanel suit, and she smiled. “I remember she had these amazing Jimmy Choo heels.”
“Da, you would remember that.”
“You don’t have to sound so…amused. So, why is Vesna creating such havoc with Louisiana?” Laurie frowned; this little pissing contest between the two Controllers messed with the flow. And if you’d asked her a year ago if she’d say something like “flow and weather” all in the same sentence, she’d have laughed. Funny how strange fate was.
“Think, my beautiful Laurie, who is Controller there?” His tone was patronizing. She despised it when he did this to her.
“Why don’t you just tell me?” She elbowed him with no reaction. Not even a flinch. Jerk. Mikhail wanted her to remember every blasted name because of their position. She could barely remember her bank account, let alone the dozens of Controllers they ruled over. When she was a bartender, remembering all the names and clientele had been easy. Now, it was just one more thing in an endless list she had to do. It was easy to remember everyone when you weren’t also learning the shifting rule system of the Elementals, Mages, and Darks.
He pulled away. A pang of loss at his withdrawal made her irritable. No matter how frustrating he could be, she preferred him close to her.
“Fine,” she snarled and thought. “Some guy, a Will…” And an image came of a tall man with a wind-burned face and goatee. “William, that’s who it is.”
“Da.” He nodded in approval. “Vesna and William were lovers.”
“And it didn’t end well, did it?” Laurie guessed. She stared down at the map. “Well, I can see her point.” Without conscious thought, she let her elements flow outward to the high and low pressure zone. It was as if she insinuated into a conversation, pushing apart the energy flowing there. Her ears popped, and something made her fingers sting.
“Ow.” Laurie shook her hand, but the area leveled out. She felt, more than heard, Mikhail sigh.
“Now, I must make phone calls for this.” He kissed her temple and stepped back. “They will complain you did not go through the proper channels to end their dispute. You give me more work.” Mikhail’s tone was resigned, but she picked up on a faint feel of pride from him. She smiled.
“I’m done for now; let me help you.” With a wave, Laurie shrunk the Boundary map and stepped toward the door with him. For now the nausea subsided. It would return; until then, she’d take advantage of the absence. “Maybe I could use something to eat.”
“Some borscht?”
At her grimace, Mikhail laughed and lifted Laurie’s hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. For a brief moment, she basked in the warmth of his regard. Most of the time, she chafed under the restriction of the bond, always dealing with his moods as well as her own. But right now, this was good.
“Misha!” With a cry, she looked down to see the fabric of her linen blouse rip, skin split, and blood pour out in a hot wave.
Cursing in Russian, Mikhail grabbed her arm in a vise-like grip to stop the blood flow even as he yanked her from the ground.
“The blood can’t reach the ground,” he said. The warmth had leached from his face, making his cheekbones more pronounced. His eyes rotated wildly through the spectrum of color, showing his extreme emotion. She didn’t need the bond to know that.
“What’s happening?” she cried. Her arm burned, and an image of an enclosed space shot through her mind. A claw reaching out toward her, her vision cleared, and she was clutched to Mikhail as he rushed to the exit of the Boundary room.
“Too much energy here. Blood will cause a reaction.” His accent thickened. She barely understood him.
Too late. Drops of blood filled with Elemental power hit the packed earth as Mikhail carried Laurie through the doorway into the marbled foyer beyond. The earth tilted and rocked underneath their feet.
He snarled and hauled Laurie through a once-pristine foyer, and the smooth marble of the floor cracked with loud pops as a spider web of fine lines spread out under his bare feet.
“Stop!” Laurie twisted and wriggled in his arms, but he refused to relinquish her. His arms were like steel bands holding onto her. “I can deal with this.”
“Nyet.” His voice was tight as he moved down the hallway to the stairs. “This is not safe even with your power.”
Bits of ceiling dropped on them, and Mikhail moved faster. He allowed her feet to hit the floor so they could both run up the stairs. He hauled her up, uncaring if she could keep up or not.
With a gasp, they burst through the door at the top, but he kept them moving. He shouted orders in Russian, the words echoing in her ears. Everyone sprang into action with a flurry of limbs and thud of running feet. An alarm sounded.
Her feet still bare, she found herself pushed into the back of a black sedan. Mikhail barked an order to drive. Laurie fell against the upholstery, her face plastered against the cool smoothness of expensive leather. Her injured arm twisted as the car peeled off. Hissing to keep back the cry of pain she longed to release, she struggled upright. Her vision blurry from the throbbing agony of her arm, she caught the impression of people running from the house. Other vehicles followed, filled to capacity.
Fear, something she’d suppressed in the panicked moment of fleeing, blossomed in her chest, spreading outward along her nerve endings, an insidious weed of instability. The ache in her arm echoed her frantic heartbeat.
“Misha, wh-what is going on?” She didn’t like that her voice stuttered. This reminded her too closely of the day he’d brought her here. The power she carried pressed against her temples.
“Blood is not allowed into the Boundary room,” Mikhail said in a grim voice. He pressed a button on his iPhone and put it to his ear. “Only exception is to secure a cornerstone, an old practice. Only weaker Elementals are used. Tri-elemental blood is never used, but you are a Cogent, bonded, and you carry all of the power. It becomes unstable.” He paused and looked behind them through the back window as he spoke in his native tongue to someone. Laurie followed his gaze, her vision clearing as she watched the mansion she’d grown to love collapse in on itself.
Holy shit.
“But the people around here…we’ve got to save them.” Anxiety followed the fear and wound around her like a rubber band. If anyone died because of her…
She forgot about her arm and everyone else. With widening eyes, she watched the ground undulate behind them. Laurie shut her eyes and tried to use her elements to halt what was happening. For a moment, she felt the power of the earth, wind, air, and fire—single threads. Bite of fire, smoothness of air, cool wet water, and the roughness of earth. She formed them into a mental wall and pushed out.
Laurie found he
rself thrown to the floor of the vehicle. The energy rebounded off the unsteady flow of elements.
“Stop, Laurie,” Mikhail ordered. “You can’t fight your own blood. I’ve called all the Controllers. They will help with damage control and protecting the humans.”
With far more gentle hands than his expression implied, Mikhail reached down and helped her back on the leather seat. She whimpered as she moved. Her arm ached, making her fingers numb.
She looked at the gash running from her shoulder to forearm, the red, pink, and white of torn flesh, then into Mikhail’s black eyes. Rage reverberated around him, a strong beat pressing against her.
“How did I get this, do you know?”
“Mina.” Mikhail kept his voice flat. He didn’t have to explain.
My blood-tie with Mina.
She hadn’t wanted it in the first place.
“I thought this was to protect us both.” Laurie felt the heat of pressure behind her eyes, making them sting. She’d thought she’d gotten a handle on things. Of course not.
“Not if the purpose is to want you both dead. And there are many who want you gone.” That same grim tone of his caused a shiver up her back.
“How do we get rid of it?” Laurie looked around. It wasn’t as if there was a Spells-R-Us discount store to take this off. She’d been in this world long enough to know it was never that easy.
“We find Mina or Cazacul. I don’t care which,” Mikhail informed her.
A wrenching pain, and Laurie’s lip ripped open. She couldn’t hold back the scream. Searing bolts of agony followed as her nose, eyebrow, and then ear were shredded by some unseen hand.
“Make it stop!”
Unseen claws ripped at her, shredding her face. Laurie shrieked and sobbed. The pain was hot, sharp, and lasting.
After what felt like an eternity, the tearing of her skin stopped, and she found herself cradled in shaking arms. Mikhail’s low voice crooned words of comfort she didn’t understand. The last thing she heard before she slipped into unconsciousness was his icy promise.
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