“So,” Jodi said, a smile slipping over her face as we splashed back up to shore, “what now?”
“I don’t know about you two,” Steven said, “but I am so done with the beach.”
Acknowledgements
So many things go into the writing of a book and so many people contribute to it. I find, with the end of each book, I am thanking the same people over and over again. I know I am so lucky to have the support of some very patient and helpful people.
Thank you to my husband, John. This book was one of the hardest books I’ve ever rewritten and I know, during The Great Editing Lockdown, I went a little crazy, as so many writers do, and he was a great supporter. Without him, I know I wouldn’t be able to pursue this strange dream of mine to be a writer. The house would be in a shambles, the dog would be neglected and I would lose what little sanity I have left while consumed with each book I try to write.
A huge thank you must be given to my beta readers and fellow Fishwives, Juanita De Luna and Dayle Burg. I knew there was something wrong, something off, with this book while I was working on it and I just could not figure it out. Thanks to these two patient and honest women this is a much better book than what it started as. I don’t know if I could have published this book without their help.
Thanks to my parents. To my mom for being my biggest fan, no matter how atrocious something I write may be, and to my dad, who always cares how it’s coming along. I was very lucky to have parents who, when I went to college, didn’t try to get me to major in something frivolous like Business Administration or some such nonsense.
To my long suffering editor, Cassie Robertson, who makes me sound smarter than I actually am. Without Cassie my characters would be running off in all different directions and they would never find their way back again. All my life I have fought with dyslexia, making excuses and apologies for mistakes I couldn’t see, thanks to Cassie, I don’t have to do that anymore.
And a final thanks to everyone who has come this far with Shay, Jodi, Steven and me. The adventures are not over, and I know sometimes we do things to piss you off, but your support means the world to me. I hope you keep reading.
About The Author
Shauna Granger was born in Tennessee but raised in many different cities and states until her family finally came to settle, for the second time, in Southern California. Shauna now lives in Ventura, California with her husband, John and dog, Brody. Shauna is hard at work on the fourth installment of the Elemental Series: Fire.
You can find Shauna at shaunasspot.blogspot.com and at Twitter @dyingechoes.
Fire
Book Four in the Elemental Series
by
Shauna Granger
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission from the author.
Published by Shauna Granger
Copyright © 2012 by Shauna Granger
Cover art designed by Stephanie Mooney – www.stephaniemooney.blogspot.com
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Acknowledgements
About the Author
For John, who is always there for me,
when I need to scream or cry,
when I need to laugh and breathe.
Thank you for helping me through this.
**
Chapter 1
There were dragons in the sky this morning. You have to catch them when they’re not looking because as soon as they realize they’ve been spotted, they turn tail and disappear, wispy clouds dissipating into wintry blue nothingness. It had been dry all winter, biting at your skin, and every time I thought I caught a dragon in the sky to pray for rain, they ran. I could feel the nutrients sinking deeper and deeper into the ground and farther and farther from my reach. I was sluggish and parched and had taken to driving longer and farther into the mountains looking for life in the ground.
Standing at the top of the hill looking down on my town, my skin was chapped and my lips were raw with the bitter wind. I had slipped off my boots in spite of the cold to let my feet sink into the ground, becoming lost as I melded with the Earth and drew in what substance I could. It was the first time in a very long time that I felt envious of my two best friends.
Steven needed only to walk outside and turn his face up to the sky and let the sun’s rays refresh him and Jodi simply had to breathe to be refilled with her power, but I drew my main source of power from the Earth. But for the last two months, she had been hibernating. I had to be more creative in my search if I didn’t want to risk draining myself entirely.
My hands were shoved into the pockets of my jacket that I had been forced to button all the way up against the chill of the wind. I shifted my knees back and forth trying to work out the pins and needles racing up and down my legs. I could already feel the ebb and flow of power dwindling away. Groaning, I worked my feet out of the ground and slipped them back into my boots before I made my way back to the parking lot where I had left my beautiful black Camaro. As soon as I slid into the driver’s seat, I had the key in the ignition and the heating vents turned up high. Ordinarily I would get Jodi and Steven together and cast a circle to spell for rain to refresh the Earth and bring my power back to full force, but the elements had been toyed with enough in the last several months. I just didn’t feel right about doing it again. Even if my insomnia was back with a vengeance since my powers were so low.
I had started focusing my energies on helping Jodi and Steven develop their powers while I took a break from my own. They could both now call on their own elements without the help of an anchor, which was usually me, to provide them with the power boost needed to draw their power to life. Steven could call a ball of flame to life in his hand or set small objects on fire with a touch of his fingertips, and Jodi could blow out his fires, as well as bring on a breeze in a room with no windows and a closed door. I was more than a little proud of their progress and glad that they no longer needed me as an energy source to help amplify their powers because right now I had just enough power to keep me going from day to day.
Once the air coming from the vents finally started to warm up the interior of the car, I pulled my hands out of my pockets and gripped the steering wheel tightly. I had been sorely tempted to make up some excuse to drive north while on winter break; it had been raining so often just a couple of hours north that they were worried about landslides. If I could drive up there, I could store up enough power to get me through at least a month if nothing happened that caused me to use my powers.
We only had another week left of winter break, so if I wanted to make the trip, I’d have to do it soon. I leaned forward and looked up at the sky through my windshield, catching the retreating figure of a serpentine tail that flicked once in my direction and disappeared into the blue. I shook my head.
“Bastards,” I muttered to myself, not really caring how bitter I sounded. I had been running on fumes for the last couple of weeks. The headaches had started a week ago. It stung when I licked my chapped lips. If the dragons would stay, they could bring storms, but they just kept flying right on by. I glanced at the clock on my dash
board; it was still early enough to go today if we really wanted to.
I grabbed my cell phone before I could talk myself out of it and punched the speed dial that Jodi’s number was programmed into. It rang only once before her voice came through to me. “I’m already packing a bag and Steven’s on his way over. We’ll be ready when you get here.”
“I don’t think we’ll need bags,” I said, realizing I was smiling for the first time all week. After the last few months, the connection between the three of us had grown exponentially, so it was like have three consciousnesses rather than just the lonely one.
“You never know,” Jodi said, her voice a little muffled as she rummaged through her things. “You’ve got a few things you left over here, so I’ll pack your stuff too. Don’t bother to go home, just get your ass over here.”
“Love you,” I said as I put my car in reverse.
“I know,” she said with a smile. “Love you too.”
***
We hit the 101 freeway and headed north. Just thinking about it had my mouth watering. We’d already passed through Santa Barbara, stopping briefly for coffee, and were nearly through Goleta before my shoulders started to relax. The wonderful smell of roasted coffee and espresso filled the interior of the car, mixing with Jodi’s perfume and the heat of the engine. It was the calmest I had been all month.
“So, any idea where we’re going?” Steven asked from the backseat, cradling his sugary confection between his gloved hands.
“No,” I said with a smile.
“At least we always have a plan,” he said with a laugh.
“I’m sure I’ll know where we’re going once we get there.”
“Wow,” Jodi said, laughing now. “That sounds promising.”
“I just mean, I think I know where I’m going without knowing that I know, you know?”
“Sure.” “Totally,” Steven and Jodi said together, making us all laugh.
We drove on in comfortable silence, having given up on the radio as the static won out over the signal strength of the closest station. I could see clouds forming overhead, first a few white cottony ones that eventually led to a thick gray blanket. The 101 had given way to the Pacific Coast Highway and turned away from the coast leading into Gaviota. I followed the signs that pointed the way to the state park, feeling butterflies erupt in my stomach as I tried not to bounce in my seat as we drove.
“Where are we going?” Jodi asked, staring out of her window as the landscape began to change around us and gave way to green, living things that the winter hadn’t yet claimed.
“Park,” I said simply, not realizing I was gripping the steering wheel tightly enough to make it squeak under my hands. I followed the signs until I saw an empty parking lot off to the side and quickly turned in, parking the car and jumping out before either Jodi or Steven realized I had stopped driving. My fingers tingled with anticipation inside my gloves and I found myself peeling them off as I started across the asphalt towards the grass and trees just beyond.
“Dude, wait up,” Steven said a little impatiently as he and Jodi unloaded a cooler full of food and a few blankets to keep away the chill. But I wasn’t worried about the chill, not right now. I stuffed my gloves into the pocket of my jacket as I reached the edge of the parking lot, holding my breath as I looked down at the bright green grass. The blades were damp and shiny from yesterday’s rain. I could feel the life of the soil practically humming through me just from being this close to it.
“Shay, wait!” Jodi called out to me, her voice a little muffled under the bulk of the blankets she was carrying. I knew I would appreciate the effort later, but right now their protests were starting to fade away in my mind. Right now all that mattered to me was crossing this last barrier between my power and me. I stepped off of the asphalt and nearly fell to the ground as the power rushed up into me even though I hadn’t taken off my boots yet.
I rode the influx of power, remembering to breathe as it washed over me, threatening to knock me over. My skin burned under my clothes as the magic snapped all around me and my hair lifted away from my shoulders in a wind that only I could feel. I sighed audibly as a shiver ran up my back, making me tremble. I worked my feet out of my boots and took another step forward, feeling the give of the rich soil hidden under the grass as I moved forward.
“Shay, seriously!” I was vaguely aware of the frustration in Jodi’s voice as she called out to me again, but by then she was little more than an echo in my mind. I felt wild and eager, and without a glance behind me, I took off running, breaking through the line of trees. If either of them called out to me again, I didn’t hear them.
Branches and brambles reached out for me as I sped through the forest. I knew my skin should have been ripped and torn as they cut into me, but all I could feel was the sweet caress of long lost lover. I wasn’t aware of my feet anymore; it was as if I was already sinking into the ground and it compelled me forward with the power of shifting soil. I broke through the trees again and spilled out into a natural clearing. It was draped in shadows and quiet; all of the tiny animals and insects that would usually fill the air were deep into hibernation now.
My lungs burned with an exquisite pain as I tried to catch my breath, eyes wide as I looked around, taking in what little light was offered. My skin continued to hum with the power looking for an inlet until I thought I would be pulled apart. I tore at the buttons of my jacket, ripping it off and tossing it somewhere behind me, exposing my arms and neck to the cold, but it couldn’t touch me, not now, not here.
I fell forward onto my knees, feeling the damp of morning soaking through my jeans. I dug my fingers into the ground, slipping through the grass, feeling the silk of the soil. I sank deeper and deeper, my whole body engulfed by the ground. The Earth opened up to me, surrounded me and filled me all at once. Finally I felt whole again as the rest of the world slipped away.
Jodi and Steven broke through the trees into the clearing where my body was covered by soil and grass, setting their things down and spreading out the largest of the blankets they had brought with them. Jodi walked over and picked up my discarded jacket, setting it on top of my boots that she had grabbed on their way into the park. Steven began unpacking the food we had brought with us, laying out the picnic as they waited for me.
Once satisfied Jodi and Steven were nearby, I closed my eyes and let my consciousness slip away into the sweet oblivion the Earth offered me, feeling another influx of power plunge into me before the quiet black took away my thoughts.
***
I came back to myself as my body pushed through the ground, breaking the surface of the Earth as the grass tickled my face and my hair pulled against the roots. White daisies had sprung up around me, thick and fragrant. I don’t remember ever having smelt daisies before. I could hear the soft conversation between Jodi and Steven as each sense came back to me before I opened my eyes to a gray sky still hanging overhead. I felt rejuvenated, as if recovering suddenly from a long, draining illness.
I lifted my right hand, examining it from all sides. My nails had grown a quarter of an inch and felt stronger as I tested them against my thumb. The skin on the back of my hand was softer and the veins that had been pushing at the surface were set back among the tiny bones again. I drew in a deep breath of the crisp winter air until my lungs burned with the effort before I exhaled slowly through my mouth and realized my lips felt full and rich again, no longer chapped and torn.
Slowly, carefully, I pushed myself up, extracting my hair from the grass as I sat up. I had to be careful not to move too fast because the raw and wild power coursing through my body threatened to take over, making me feral and tempted to use it too quickly, putting me right back at square one. I rolled my neck around, loosening the tight muscles before I finally stood up, only now becoming aware of just how cold the air was.
“There she is,” Steven said happily. I was glad to hear he wasn’t annoyed with me for running off like I had. The Earth was awake and alive in this
place; it called to me and it wasn’t something I could ignore.
I walked over to them, slowly lowering to my knees on the edge of the thick blanket, and crawled forward until I was closer to them before I sat, leaning on my hip. I reached out and took a handful of chips from the bag they had opened to tide themselves over, waiting for me. I smiled lazily at them and they both chuckled, shaking their heads.
“Better?” Jodi asked, and I nodded.
“Sorry I ran off like that,” I said between chews. “I wanted to wait, but…” I shrugged as I looked for the proper explanation.
“Don’t worry about it,” Jodi said, saving me the effort as she passed me a sandwich from the cooler. “I can’t imagine what it must’ve been like to be that drained. Even your aura looked thin this morning.”
“I felt thin,” I said as I unwrapped my sandwich and realized just how hungry I was when the smell of the mustard hit me. I tore into the sandwich with little grace, letting the crumbs fall as I took bites that were way too big. I grabbed another handful of chips and practically shoved them into my mouth before picking up my coffee and taking a large gulp. It was cold, but I didn’t care.
“How long was I out?” I asked when the temperature of my coffee finally registered.
Elemental Series Omnibus Edition Books 1-4 Page 81