Elemental Fate (Paranormal Public Book 12)

by Maddy Edwards

  For a long time after the war ended the Tabble had shied away from mentioning the premier of darkness, which showed some sense. But then, when they mentioned her a couple of times and nothing happened, they had apparently decided that the lack of consequences gave them permission to talk about her all the time.

  I didn’t think that was going to end well for them, but they hadn’t asked me what I thought.

  Never in my life had a “celebration” felt so oddly hollow. In an effort to stay on good terms with his disapproving fallen angel parents, Keller had agreed to have the celebration of their marriage over the winter break. But there were two caveats. The first was that Sip’s condition needed to be respected, as in she would not be present, but she would be acknowledged as Charlotte’s best friend. The second was that the evening had to take place at Duke Dacer’s Duckleworth castle.

  We had some stormy weather. It never really snowed, but every so often the gusting wind would lash the windows, and Zellie had once gotten so tired of it that she’d yelled out to me to stop the wind, something I told her I didn’t think I should do.

  She had then ranted about her hair being messed up, and about how hard it was to get to the stable to see the horses and the dogs, and how cold her feet were. I listened for fear of what would happen if I didn’t, then disappeared as quickly as I could.

  The ring on my finger looked like the dead of night. I had never seen anything so dully black before. Sometimes when I would shift position and the essence ring would catch my eye, I’d be surprised that it was there. Then I’d remember what had happened and wish I could forget. Memory was the enemy of a lot of things, including forgiveness.

  At least the castle was never quiet; that would have been too much to bear. Dogs, visitors, and a lot of party setup to work on kept things lively. It should surprise no one that Dacer went all out for parties.

  When the time came, I found that the process of getting ready for this particular party was short and sweet. I had fancy dress pants laid out for me and a gray shirt to wear. None of the clothes were what I would call comfortable, but I could live with them for an evening.

  I bathed and combed my hair and was ready to go. Charlotte had insisted that before I start getting ready I let Crumple out, just in case the dog decided to jump all over me and ruin my clothes.

  All day I refrained from asking her for news about Sip, because I didn’t want to ruin her big night. She was already so nervous, I was surprised she didn’t faint. Keller’s whole family had said they were coming, but until that moment the fallen angels hadn’t approved of her in any way and had done their best to get Keller away from her. Keller had always taken her side and insisted they treat Charlotte with respect, but the fallen angels were a tough lot. Now they were all coming, and the place was decked out accordingly.

  When I was all ready, I went to check on Charlotte and found her dressed for the evening but still in the process of getting her hair braided by Zellie, who it turned out was a master. The vampire was all dressed up too, wearing black as always, her hair pulled back into a severe-looking bun and heavy ruby earrings hanging at her ears. The cuffs of her robe shimmered silver.

  I patted Charlotte’s shoulder and said, “It’s going to be great.”

  “Thanks, Ricky,” said Charlotte. “I’m sure it will. I just haven’t seen Keller’s parents . . . well, I haven’t seen them in a long time.”

  “You would think when they found out that Professor Erikson was the darkness premier they’d have behaved better,” I said. “Not even fallen angels are perfect.”

  Charlotte sighed. “Yes, that would have been nice. Unfortunately, you are very right, and we cannot have everything.”

  “We can try,” said Zellie. “I certainly do. Don’t spoil my dream.” She winked at my sister. When she noticed me looking on, she glared. “What?”

  I quickly looked down. “Nothing,” I said.

  “Oh, let me see the ring,” Charlotte said. She had asked me several times to show her the ring Lisabelle had turned black. I didn’t know what to make of it, other than that Lisabelle had done something that changed how the molten pile of metal on my hand related to essence.

  I showed my sister the black circle around my finger.

  “Humm, it’s strange,” she whispered, bringing it closer to her face. I felt her breath on my skin. It tickled, and I twitched.

  “Oh, stop it,” she said, amused. I tried to hold still as she continued to examine whatever it was that Lisabelle had done. “Let me try something,” she said at last.

  I jerked my hand away, causing Zellie to glare at me and Charlotte to look at me with confusion.

  “It’s okay, Ricky, I’m an elemental too,” she pointed out. “We aren’t going to understand essence, or what Lisabelle did, without doing some experiments.”

  “We’d understand what Lisabelle did if she was around to tell us,” I gritted out.

  Charlotte conceded that that was true. “But until she comes back, this is the best we can do,” she argued. “Now, stop being ridiculous and let me see.”

  Reluctantly I held out my hand again. This time Charlotte took it and held the ring up to her nose. Instantly my finger started to tingle, then to heat up.

  “Charlotte,” I muttered.

  “Yes, yes, I’m just seeing . . .” My sister was entirely pre-occupied with making the powers work, while Zellie tried desperately to keep braiding her hair.

  “It’s sparkling!” I cried at the same time that Charlotte also noticed. She looked up at me, beaming. The ring was indeed sparkling. It looked like a night sky where the stars are the colors of the rainbow and they’re dancing about.

  “It’s beautiful,” I whispered in awe. I could feel my essence there, coming to life and waking up.

  Charlotte looked at me in wonder. “Essence feels . . .”

  “Incredible?” I offered.

  She smiled. “Yes, that’s exactly what it feels like. Incredible. There is still wonder in the world, Ricky. There really is.”

  “Ricky, this is going to be amazing,” said Zellie, speaking positively for the first time this entire break.

  I glanced at both of them. I wasn’t big on feelings, and I didn’t like not knowing what was going on with my very own essence. “Yeah, okay, I’m going to leave now,” I said. “You clearly still have a lot of getting ready to do,”

  I made to back out of the room, and my sister released my hand with a show of amusement. “Very well,” she said. “Don’t think we aren’t going to talk about this again, because we are. You should be excited to discover all of your powers.”

  It wasn’t that I wasn’t. In fact, as I left the room so my sister could finish getting ready, I wasn’t entirely clear why I was so uncomfortable talking about essence and having Charlotte, who of all paranormals I should be fine with, exploring the magic.

  At any rate, now was not the time to think about it. We had a party to attend.

  I had been avoiding going downstairs for the last hour, partly because I didn’t want to get caught up in any more of the last-minute chaos. Dacer had been frantic about preparations all day, his last request having been to ask Keegan and me to find chairs and move them into the Great Dining Room, as he kept calling it.

  “What’s the THEME again?” Dacer was yelling as I descended the stairs. He invented themes for all his parties, the better to plan the decor. Or so he said. This one was Light and Stars. He had offered to change it once Sip was attacked, but Charlotte told him that wouldn’t do. Lisabelle had left hellhounds outside Public to make the point that no matter what, the Hunters wouldn’t win. If we changed our plans now, if we didn’t celebrate the wedding or scaled back the party, where would that leave us? We had invited the world to a show and we would be there to put it on in style, especially the Duke.

  Dacer had reluctantly agreed, and I knew Charlotte was grateful.

  Light meant that Dacer had worked tirelessly with the gardener for weeks on how to simulate the sun, t
he party would actually take place at night. Even Charlotte thought this was incredibly sweet of him, since as a vampire he would never have chosen light as a favorite medium.

  Once that was figured out, along with how to hang bulbs that looked like crystal vases suspended from the ceiling to bring the place into full brilliance, Dacer moved on to the stars, which he found easier.

  As it turned out, Duckleworth, like most castles, had a grand ballroom, and it was in this room that Dacer planned to have the celebration. He had the place spotlessly cleaned, then spent the better part of two days crawling around on his hands and knees with a powerful microscope to make sure it was spotless.

  No, that’s not a joke.

  The floor was sprinkled with colorful stones and rocks and petals; vases that had been decorated with stars and filled with flowers lined the stairs. The only light came from the chandeliers and what looked like millions of candles that lined the walls. The wax was silver, and the light the candles gave off was soothing and dim. I had never seen anything like it. When Dacer said he knew how to throw a party, he wasn’t kidding.

  The other problem was the smell. For days, countless cooks had been in and out of Duckleworth preparing a feast fit for hundreds of the fanciest paranormals. Now all those smells were coming to a head. The whole castle smelled amazing. My stomach rumbled.

  “Shush,” said Keegan, coming slowly down the stairs behind me. “I can hear you from here.”

  “Sorry, but when’s dinner?” I asked, feeling my stomach rumble again.

  “You mean the celebration of the century as told by food? Not soon enough,” sighed the tree sprite. “How do I look?”

  Keegan was dressed from head to toe in brown, the tree sprites’ ceremonial color. “Is the suit too big for you?” I asked.

  “Are you saying that because it’s so long, I’m walking on the pants and the sleeves are covering my hands? Why yes, as a matter of fact, it’s too big,” he said. “Good catch.”

  “Sorry,” I said.

  “It was my dad’s,” said Keegan. “My mom can’t bring herself to hem it, and it’s not exactly like we can afford a new suit at the moment.”

  Keegan and his mother had spent years running from the Hunters because of Keegan’s much sought-after ability to speak with dragons. We didn’t talk about it often, but I knew it affected every aspect of his life, including, apparently, his wardrobe.

  “Shall we go look outside?” Keegan asked. “I bet he decked out everything outdoors just as much as he did the inside.

  Knowing that Keegan was right and wanting to see everything before guests started arriving, I hurried down the great staircase at his side.

  Every so often as I climbed these stairs, a memory would come back of the night when Zellie had attacked me. She hadn’t been herself, I knew that, and other than her apologies we hadn’t talked about it again. Dacer had never said anything either, offering not one word of explanation about what he thought had happened that night. But Zellie had clearly been possessed, by what or whom I had no idea. Dacer didn’t seem worried that it might happen again, but I wasn’t sure his optimism was comforting. How could he know if he didn’t know what had happened in the first place? An even more enraging thought was that he did know, but he just wasn’t telling me.

  While I mused about the past, Keegan got to the front door and tugged it open. There, standing in the doorway with her arm raised to knock, was Eighellie. Her eyes brightened when she saw us.

  “Wow,” said Keegan.

  Eighellie blushed a little and reached down to fluff the flowing skirt she was wearing.

  “Oh, um,” Keegan said, his eyes focused intently on our friend. “I was saying wow to the grounds.”

  Eighellie’s shoulders sagged and she glared. “Oh, sure, okay,” she said.

  “You look great,” I added over Keegan’s shoulder.

  Eighellie was wearing a dress, something I hadn’t seen her do all last semester. It made sense, because Paranormal Public University was a physical school that asked a lot of you, and beyond the regular curriculum you never knew when someone might try to kill you in the night. Why put a pretty outfit at risk?

  Eighellie’s dress was green velvet, with long sleeves. Her blond hair was free and hanging over her shoulders. She clearly liked the dress; I could tell because she kept swishing her hips.

  “I didn’t know you wore dresses,” was Keegan’s next comment. Eighellie’s frown only deepened as he turned his gaze again to the grounds.

  To be fair, the grounds were amazing. Dacer had spared no time or expense, and when your creativity was as boundless as Dacer’s, that clearly made for a wonderland. Everything sparkled with stars and light. The trees were laced with twinkle lights of all sizes and colors. The flowers looked particularly brilliant, and the driveway was lined with white stones.

  “You both look good,” said Eighellie, although she clearly had some doubts about Keegan’s attire.

  “Thanks,” said Keegan. “I know you’re lying, but thanks.”

  Eighellie grinned. “Hey, you couldn’t even be bothered to notice my dress.”

  “I noticed,” he said. “I noticed after I noticed all this stuff that Dacer did.”

  Eighellie glanced over her shoulder. “I hope the fallen angels appreciate the work he’s done. I couldn’t make something look this beautiful if I spent my life trying.”

  “That probably won’t be necessary,” said Keegan. “You have assassin training, after all.”

  We headed indoors, but as soon as we were inside the front hallway the darkness mage whipped around, bumping into me and knocking me a couple of steps backwards. She moved behind Keegan and placed her pale hands on his shoulders to keep him still.

  “Um?” Keegan questioned.

  “Don’t look,” Eighellie demanded, grinning evilly. “I want you to tell me what I’m wearing. As many details as you remember.”

  Keegan groaned. “Stop being ridiculous,” he said. “Let me go.”

  Eighellie held firm, and Keegan, who wasn’t really going to struggle, stopped moving altogether. For a few seconds the tree sprite remained silent, then, much my surprise and Eighellie’s, he did as was told.

  “Your dress is forest green velvet,” he said, “with a slightly lighter green at the hem of both the skirt and the sleeves. You have a boat neck, as they call it, with tiny green jewels in the shapes of leaves at the edges. You have gold fern earrings that match your gold fern ring and your gold fern bracelet. Your shoes are a deep mustard yellow, which is a stretch for you, but you’re going with it, and um, they have blue clasps just for fun. How’d I do?”

  Keegan turned around and found both of his friends gaping at him.

  “That’s what you get for underestimating a tree sprite,” he said.

  Chapter Seven

  There were several moment of confusion as waiters and other Duckleworth staff bustled toward the ballroom. As Keegan paused for a moment to talk to Cather, Eighellie’s eyes swung from the tree sprite’s back to mine. What I saw in her expression surprised me. Her entire face was glowing as if she’d just received the best compliment in the world.

  I raised my eyebrows. Eighellie quickly looked down, but the damage was done.

  Tiny explosions were going off in my head. Eighellie had a thing for Keegan. I mean, that shouldn’t be particularly shocking, since Keegan was a good guy. He was also a bit clunky, but it seemed as though Eighellie must not have minded.

  Oh, boy, I thought. This was likely to change our friendship for sure.

  But speaking of crushes, I didn’t have one these days. I had spent most of middle school suffering from unrequited crushes on cheerleaders, but when I had finally figured out that they only wanted football players – one of which I was not – I came to my senses.

  At Public, it was easy enough to see that there were a lot of pretty girls at college. The fallen angels were pretty, the pixies were pretty, even some of the vampires were attractive if you didn’t mind shar
p teeth. With all the divisiveness among the groups, though, there wasn’t much chance for relaxed socializing, and even college policy as a whole didn’t encourage it. Dobrov had explained to everyone that this year was a trial run at Public, and that if all went well, next year would be more like the old days. Next year we’d have dances and even some supervised parties. This year was bare-boned by design. We just had to get through both the reopening of the university and our hormones, apparently.

  “Eighellie, so good of you to come!” exclaimed Dacer, unintentionally interrupting our little group dynamic. He had emerged from the ballroom and was speed walking past us, his arms pumping to give him momentum and his head turned sideways to meet our eyes. He wasn’t going to stop to talk, but he was certainly going to make his presence felt.

  As Eighellie’s attention was claimed by Dacer, Keegan turned to me and started dancing a little jig and mouthing, “How do you like me now?”

  We continued to stand in the entryway talking for a few minutes, glad to be reunited. I could have looked out on the decorated grounds for hours, but soon Dacer clapped his hands sharply.

  “PLACES!” he cried.

  The three of us exchanged glances. We had no idea where we were supposed to be, and Dacer, spotting our confusion, swept to a screeching halt and gave a gusty sigh. “You are supposed to be in the ballroom, because you are guests. Since you are here early, you can make it look populated, an important part of any party. Now, if you please?”

  “Do you think he’s this stressed all the time?” Eighellie asked.

  “No, only for special occasions,” I said. The three of us did as we were told and moved into the ballroom, which was decorated about as much as the rest of the place, only with the addition of a gigantic table complete with hundreds of place settings. The settings were all of silver and the napkins were in the shape of stars, as were many of the dishes.

  “Food,” said Keegan.

  “How eloquent,” said Eighellie.