Broken Elements (Elements, Book 1)

by Mia Marshall

  “I’m not going with you.”

  “You heard Josiah. No one will hurt you.” He pasted a smile on his face, one with no charm. I saw a grimace composed of stiff lips and shark’s teeth.

  “It’s too late for that.”

  “This is not the time.” The words erupted in a hiss. He took several long strides to me and tightly grasped my upper arm. “Just trust me, damn it.”

  “You killed your own girlfriend before. Why should I possibly think you won’t do it again?”

  He rolled his eyes, as if I’d inquired about why he hadn’t done the dishes or had arrived home late the night before. “That was different. She wasn’t you. As long as she was around, you wouldn’t see me as anything but a friend.”

  “And what, a breakup would have been too messy?”

  His eyes narrowed. “I told you. She wasn’t you. It didn’t matter what happened to her. Now get in the car, Aidan.”

  I shook my head. An instant later, I felt the cold fingers of ice curl around my throat, the sensation disconcertingly familiar. I gasped in one long breath, buying myself precious seconds. In another minute, I would be unconscious and vulnerable once again. Rage stirred deep within, and for once I welcomed it. I gave in to it willingly. I stoked it, feeding it with my doubts and fears until I felt the warmth simmer. I raised one hand to my throat and easily burned the manacles that threatened to steal my air. Cold, melted water dribbled down my back and chest. I was free.

  Perhaps I should never have accessed that magic again. I knew so little about how it worked, how it would gnaw away at my sanity over time. I only knew that I had kindled something by the pond, and it was hungry and eager. If the cost of my freedom was a tiny bit of my mind, right now it seemed like a fair trade.

  Plus, the look on Brian’s face was more than worth it. “Looks like you need to find some new tricks,” I suggested.

  His face rebuilt itself before my eyes. The mouth tightened, his nostrils pinched shut, and his brows sharpened into an unforgiving angle. “Stop fighting me,” he grunted. Unable to control me through ice, he opted for a more physical solution, wrapping both arms around me and dragging me toward the car.

  Brian was strong, but his strength came from the gym. It was trained for repetitions along a limited range of movement rather than genuine usefulness. I had none of his strength, but I was fast enough, and I was angry. I touched one of his hands and heard the skin sizzle. He yelped, and his grip loosened for a mere second, but that was enough. I twisted and spun, ducking under his arms and immediately darting several feet to the side before his brain informed his muscles where to find me. By that point, I was dancing backwards toward the porch, staying well out of his reach.

  “I’m not going with you. Leave without me or wait for the others to arrive. I am sure they’ll be as understanding about all the people you killed as Josiah was.” The words were intended to be a taunt, but I felt the sting as much as Brian did. I knew that Josiah was an old one, capable of teaching graduate level courses on moral relativism, but even the most flexible ethics had to cringe at the thought of ignoring Brian’s actions.

  The thought fed my anger, but I paid for the momentary distraction. I didn’t notice Brian raising the earth behind me. I tripped and fell backwards onto the stairs, limbs splayed at an awkward angle. Thick wooden splinters stabbed my palm, and my ankle twisted sharply. I gasped at the unexpected pain. Wincing, I picked myself up and scrambled awkwardly backwards toward the door, staring at his enraged face the entire time. He did not walk toward me. He stalked, eyes alert for any movement, anything that could be used as a weapon. I was his prey, and all other thoughts had fled his mind. He was no longer considering the others’ imminent arrival or making plans to woo me. His only intent was to possess me.

  I stood and hit the door at a run, feeling my ankle scream with each step. Slamming it behind me, I heard an angry grunt. His arm was halfway through the door, and the heavy wood had closed on his bicep, but he didn’t withdraw. I slammed it again, and again, hearing the grotesque thud of wood crushing soft flesh. Finally, with an oath, he slid his arm through the narrow gap, leaving me free to close and lock the door. I ran into the kitchen and locked the second door before he could enter.

  Loud rasps filled my ears. It took several terror-filled seconds to realize they were my own desperate breaths. I focused on slowing my breathing, reaching for any peace I could find. I waited for a sound, for the tread of feet turning the corner on the porch or the shattering glass of a window breaking, any indication of his next move. There was nothing.

  One room at a time, I limped slowly through the downstairs, peering around curtains to look outside, both hoping and fearing to see him. The kitchen was clear, as was the living room that faced the front yard. I eased my way toward the back of the house, to the dining room I never used. The first window revealed only an empty garden. Twitching back the curtain that covered the second window, I saw absolutely nothing. No light streamed through, no view of the yard. A single earthworm wiggled against the glass, and I dropped the curtain in horror.

  Even as I raced for the front door, I knew it was too late. I heard his feet stepping confidently down the stairs, dragging the dirt from his improvised elevator through my house. My hands grasped the deadbolt and turned. He was so close. The door swung inward and I launched myself outside, seeking distance, only to crash at full speed into the immoveable sheet of ice that covered my front door. Shocked, I fell to the floor, wincing at the pain.

  “There’s one on the kitchen door, too, in case you were thinking of wasting more time.”

  I placed one hand surreptitiously behind me and channeled heat. It was too much ice and would take long minutes to melt, but I had to try.

  “You know I’m not going to leave with you.” I tried to distract him from my efforts. The small smile that danced at the corners of his mouth suggested he knew exactly what I was doing, but he played along regardless.

  “Am I so bad as all that, Aidan?”

  “You killed people.” He turned a mildly confused expression on me, one that suggested my case wasn’t especially compelling. “You killed people I knew. You killed Christopher.”

  He scoffed. “You hadn’t seen or even written him in years. Don’t pretend like you care that much.”

  “Don’t pretend like you don’t remember. After Sera, he was my closest friend.” Do not bait the crazy. Do not bait the crazy. “Closer than you ever were.” Oops.

  He offered me a frozen smile that matched the frost in his eyes. “Of course, you’re right. You and Sera were very close to him, weren’t you? You loved him.”

  Confused by his sudden about face, I said nothing.

  “Yes, you both thought good old Chris was wonderful. He was the reason she came to find you. He was the reason you returned to Tahoe after all this time. Not for us, no. Not for me. For your friend that you loved even in death.” He took the final steps down the stairs and crouched until he was in front of me, and I needed to tilt my head slightly to look into his eyes. “Josiah did say that was the best way to draw you out of hiding, to convince Sera to finally give up your address—better even than killing your exes. I thought it was too risky, but he was right. Here you are. Perhaps that’s why he was willing to forgive me when I connected the murders to Sera. After all, it was his idea to start killing her boyfriends.” He sat back on his heels and grinned at me. “Who’s your daddy, Aidan Brook?”

  “I don’t believe you,” I whispered. It was a reflex answer that sounded weak even to my ears. Based on what Josiah Blais had already revealed, that level of manipulation was entirely credible.

  Brian shrugged and stood. “You don’t have to believe me. Just ask yourself which scenario is more likely: that Josiah is keeping me around to observe the effects of dual magic on a person’s psyche to save his precious daughter’s mind—a daughter he previously ignored, mind you—or that, after observing us for years, he gathered us both to him in order to control two of the most pow
erful elementals in the world?”

  I felt it heat up again, starting all the way down in my toes. The rage crept upward, through my legs, warming everything it touched. “I will not be controlled.”

  “Of course not. But you know he will try. But you and me, we would be equals, always equals.” He stated this so simply, as if it were an undeniable fact, and he had never bound or drugged me, never attempted to control me in any way. It strengthened the anger I still felt at his betrayal, his lies and treachery. I let the rage reach higher still, felt it curling around my hips and waist. My vision narrowed, until all I saw was the vile, murderous sadist standing before me.

  “We will never be equals, Brian.” I stood easily, the pain from earlier rendered insignificant by the flames now coursing throughout my body, obliterating everything that was not pure, focused rage.

  I knew the moment he saw the transformation cross my face. The relaxed cockiness of his posture vanished into the tense readiness of prey, and worry scarred his ice blue eyes. “Aidan, stop. Listen to me. I love you.”

  It was a pure, simple declaration, and he thought he meant every word. “You love my power. Here, give it a closer look.” Without any further warning, I engulfed the staircase in flames. They licked greedily upwards, devouring carpets and wallpaper.

  I distantly heard him screaming at me, his face red and sweating and his words accusatory. Curiously, I looked at him, at his panicked eyes. “This is for arranging to have Sera arrested.” I brought the flames steadily closer to his body. He had nowhere to run. My power was everywhere. “And this is for tricking me at the campsite.” I created a semi-circle around Brian. I saw his efforts to control his panic, and that was all the warning I needed. When the earth slipped through the window and eased its way down the stairs, extinguishing the flames it met along the way, I only laughed and increased the blaze, bringing the flames high enough to lick the ceiling.

  “This is for killing innocent men.” The semi-circle closed, locking Brian within its greedy jaws. “This is for killing shifters because you consider them nothing but animals.” I brought the circle’s flames higher and drew the tips together, creating an inescapable tent of fire. My last glimpse of his face was that of a desperate man, his own anger fled in the face of mine. He simply looked like Brian, my friend, pleading for mercy. I heard him begging, his smooth words and his magic useless against the anger that fueled my punishment. I had known and loved him for years, and his sobs meant nothing to me. I was judge, jury, and executioner, and I would not be moved.

  “This is for Christopher.” My voice was calm, the way a snake is calm even as it slowly squeezes its prey to death. The ice on the door had long since melted, and I stepped through the doorway. I widened the circle of fire, sending it through the house, closing off every escape route.

  Through the rage, memories fought for my attention. My home the first day I ever saw it, when I knew it would be my bastion of peace. The years in which I had loved being half-human, because it provided an escape from the elemental world. The time I did not know or care about my father’s identity, happy to think of him as an anonymous human. The life I’d thought I would live, lost and confused and a little bit broken at times, but always sane. As each memory crossed my mind, I identified it as exactly that, a memory, something from my past that would never be true again.

  I whispered my final words. “This is for me.” I stepped off the porch and turned for one last look at my house before I stretched the fire to every last wall and window. It burned, oh, it burned, and all I could do was stand and watch. When I felt something snap inside of me, I let it go, and dark laughter crawled its way out of my mouth. I laughed at the horror and the fear and the way I might never be okay again. I laughed until I was nothing but the laugh that slowly consumed me and replaced the white hot rage.

  That was how they found me. Standing in front of my burning shell of a house, cackling like a madwoman.

  Chapter 25

  I felt a blanket drop into my lap, and Sera sat next to me on the steps. They were all that remained of my house. Behind us, small fires still blazed in the rubble. Even as they destroyed what little was left of my possessions, their warmth was welcome. I felt a chill in the very core of my being, one I needed to stave off before a part of me froze permanently. I wrapped the blanket around my shoulders and let the shivers run rampant through my body, their violent path the first thing I felt in hours.

  Distantly, I heard Vivian behind us, shifting the earth that had crashed to the ground along with the staircase and second floor. Despite her squeamishness, she had volunteered for the gruesome chore of searching for any charred body parts. She held a long piece of burnt wood before her, using it to keep a safe distance between herself and anything she might find. I felt slightly guilty asking it of her, but it was not a task I could manage, either physically or emotionally. So far, she had found nothing, but I knew she would. The fire had burned with such heat and ferocity that nothing could have survived. He was in there somewhere, buried under the very earth that had been his undoing.

  “Do you want me to look for anything else?” When only silence greeted her question, I realized she was speaking to me. Vivian was attempting to salvage something, anything from my old life. It was a fool’s errand, but it seemed too much bother to tell her this. I lifted my shoulders in a non-committal shrug and trained my eyes on the distant trees, where a large bear and small black house cat ran together side by side, heedless of the animal kingdom’s dictates. Their noses were both to the ground and had been since they arrived on the scene. They’d begun at the ruins and tracked in a steadily increasing circle. I wondered how far they needed to go before becoming convinced that Brian hadn’t escaped again. I knew he was behind me. I had watched the staircase fall on him and crush his spine, had seen the cascading earth cover his legs and trap him. I did not know how to tell them this without also telling how I had watched and smiled as he died, and so I let them search.

  Josiah had not come back with the others. I did not know what he’d told them, let alone where he was or when I would see him again. At the moment, it seemed a small concern.

  “So, coma girl, you ready to tell me what the fuck happened here?” Her black eyes fixed on me, and I experienced a quick flashback to the last time we’d sat together on this porch, when that look in her eyes had told me she was about to upend my entire world. Turnabout was fair play.

  “Well, you see, it turns out I can control fire, too.”

  She nodded, face impassive. “What, borrowing my clothes wasn’t enough for you?”

  “You’re too short. This was easier.” She waited, knowing there was more. “Of course, the downside is that I’ll almost certainly become insane at some future point.” I indicated the wreckage with a quick tilt of my head. I wasn’t sure if I was pointing out the murderer now buried in its depths or my own role in putting him there.

  “Become? Well, at least that won’t be an especially long trip.” Her expression barely changed, but I caught the slight tip at the corner of her mouth. It made me want to punch and hug her simultaneously.

  “It’s true. If I’ve been friends with you for years, I must have been halfway to crazy all this time.” And somehow, from out of that cold place deep within, a laugh found its way to the surface, and I felt the thaw begin.

  “So, tell me,” she said.

  I told her everything. No more hiding.

  When I finished, she stared at the ground for a very long time, long enough for me to worry that I was about to find myself a roommate of Trent Pond’s. “Well, it sounds like, until we understand this whole hybrid thing a bit better, you should leave the fire usage to me. Try not to get angry, okay?”

  “So, you’re planning on not talking, are you?”

  “You’re not serious. I am your sister, and it is my god-given right to give you hell.”

  The word hung heavy in the air between us. Somehow, with everything else that had happened, I’d failed to make that con
nection, but it was the one thing from all this chaos that made any sense. Of course she was my sister. She always had been.

  And she deserved to hear the words I should have said ten years ago. “I never should have hated you. I thought you were at fault for the warehouse fires. I thought you were reckless. But it was me, fanning the flames with my rage. You never deserved my anger.”

  She waved her hand, dismissing ten years of estrangement. “I was reckless, and there was no way we could have known you’d turn out to be this much of a freak. It’s done. Just… never do it again, okay?”

  “I’ll try not to. I’ll be too busy ordering you around. Older sisters get to do that, I hear.”

  “You heard wrong. Older sisters get to wear out the parents so much that they half-ass the discipline on the younger one, and you totally failed in that regard. All other rights are therefore lost.”

  “For the record, I don’t really plan to follow Josiah’s orders for the foreseeable future. I may just wear him out yet.”

  She nodded, humoring me. “Good luck with that.”

  “Hey, have some faith. And when I succeed, we’re playing only my music for a month.” I paused, uncertain how to approach the next topic. “You do know our father isn’t right in the head, don’t you?”

  She nodded. “Welcome to the family, Aidan.”

  Her words reminded me of what waited for us back in the world. “Considering Josiah knows we told the agents, other elementals probably do, too. We might be shunned, you know.”

  She crossed her fingers and held them up, eyes closed tightly. “Here’s hoping.”

  “I can take all the blame for that, you know. It was my call.”

  “Please. I’ve been looking for an excuse to skip the family holidays for years now. I’m not letting you have all the fun.”

  We sat in silence for a few moments, looking around the ruins of my previous life. “What happens now?” I asked.