Elemental Series Omnibus Edition Books 1-4

by Shauna Granger

  We practiced the same move from different angles; he’d alternate his attacks from left to right, same side to cross body, showing me the different ways I could get to the same move. It was effective, fast, and took very little physical strength to execute, exactly what I liked. As we worked through the move, Michael sped up his strikes for me to counter and I found out very quickly that I was a long way from having the move down pat. Either I moved too fast and risked actually hyper extending Michael’s shoulder or I’d get tied up in our arms and forget where I was going. Speed was my enemy and that worried me because it wasn’t like I could ask an attacker to slow down, so I got the move right if I ever had to use it.

  By the end of our hour, I was covered in sweat, a little out of breath, and feeling energized. I’d screwed up the move plenty of times since that first attempt, but I had also managed to execute it a handful of times and I chose to focus on those. I knew today I needed to feel good to get past the block my dreams and my mother’s dreams had built inside of me or this lesson would be pointless.

  I walked over to my bag and grabbed a hand towel to wipe off my face and the back of my neck before fishing out my keys. My heart was still pumping madly and my feet almost felt like they were barely skimming the ground as I left the gym to find my beautiful black Camaro waiting for me in the winter sun. I smiled as I walked up to it, running a hand over the sun-warmed metal, caressing it slowly as I slid my way up to the handle. I fell inside with practiced ease, the seat having already molded to fit my frame, and slid in the key. The engine roared to life, giving voice to the blood still thrumming inside of me from the work out. I gripped the wheel, threw it into gear, and tore out of the parking lot laughing. Some days, even if they start with nightmares and terror filled tarot card readings, you had to remember the joyous escape that being a teenager could bring. I had no idea where I was going, whether it was just go pick up my friends or a mindless drive up the freeway, but the not knowing was part of the fun.

  Chapter 6

  I ended up spending the rest of the day alone, enjoying a little me time. I drove to the mall. We were all going to a concert at The Ventura Theater tonight and I wanted to buy something new to wear. Shopping by myself was kind of fun. I had forgotten that I liked to shop if I was in the mood.

  I didn’t like shopping with Jodi because she was one whole size bigger than me and she let her insecurities blot out any fun we might’ve had as two teenage girls shopping together.

  I didn’t really like to shop with Steven either because I’d inevitably become his life-sized doll and spend the entire time being dressed by him and not having a say in what I tried on. Steven had great taste, but he was a lot braver with another person’s body than they may be.

  But today I was on my own, letting my fingers trail over the racks until something caught my eye and I was able to try on whatever I wanted. There was no guilt if something fit particularly well and no pressure to wear something shorter, tighter, or lower. I liked to look good, even sexy when the occasion called for it, but there was no need to be overt about it. Sometimes I don’t think Steven understood that. Sadly, because Jodi was so insecure, she let Steven dress her when we went out on the weekends, and sometimes the outfits looked amazing, but other times I was glad she had broken up with her boyfriend because he probably would’ve gotten into many fights with the stares she received.

  I ended up with a new pair of jeans that cost more than any other I had ever bought, but I had Christmas money, otherwise I would’ve never been able to afford them. They were boot-cut in a dark wash that slung low over my hips. The sides were cut with black and there was an interesting detail of silver grommets up the calf. I paired it with a long-sleeved black top in deference to the cold weather. The neckline was wide, almost looking torn out, so that you could wear it off one shoulder if you wanted. It was screen-printed in gray with crosses and angel wings with a random splattering of rhinestones. I planned to wear it off of my left shoulder with a deep pink bra since the strap would be showing anyway. Everything hugged the right parts and skimmed others that weren’t as flattering when you were sitting down. I felt kind of like a rock star in the outfit and that’s how you should feel at a rock concert. I had a pair of purple Doc Martins at home that I already knew I would be wearing with it.

  I was back at my house, curling my hair, when I heard someone at the front door. My awareness tingled instantly and I knew it would be Jodi and Steven, come over early to get ready with me, and didn’t bother to stop what I was doing, knowing my mother would let them in.

  “Oh good, you didn’t do your makeup yet,” Steven said by way of greeting when he came through the door, a makeup case in one hand and a garment bag slung over his other arm.

  “Did you bring a suit or something?” I asked into the mirror as I set another fat wave into my hair.

  “Shut up,” was all he said, and I glanced up to smile at Jodi as she came in only carrying her purse.

  “He’s got both our clothes in there,” she explained, leaning down to kiss my cheek before moving over to my bed to sit. Steven already claimed my desk and chair to layout his supplies. Jodi was missing most of her usual makeup, but she would never go outside without at least a little bit of makeup, so I knew she’d be getting hers done too. Steven was better than the free makeovers at the MAC counter in Macy’s.

  “Do you know what you’re wearing or did he pick it out?”

  “No clue,” Jodi said, a little resignation in her voice as she moved to the edge of the bed and tilted her chin up, surrendering her face over to Steven as he started applying base makeup all over.

  “You’re either very brave or very stupid,” I said before moving on to the other half of my head with the rest of my hair. I always toyed with the thought of cutting my hair short, but I found every time I went into the Earth for magic or meditation, I came out with my hair an extra inch or so longer, so I knew it would be a losing battle.

  “I’m guessing a little of both,” she replied, careful not to move her mouth too much and mess Steven up as he applied the first layer of eye shadow to her left eye.

  “What color are you wearing?” Steven asked without taking his eyes off of Jodi.

  “Black shirt with a pink bra,” I said.

  “Why do we need to know what color bra you’re wearing?” Steven actually stopped and turned to look at me through the mirror, one eyebrow arched suggestively, making me laugh.

  “It’s an off-the-shoulder-shirt, so I thought you might want to know.” I thought it was a reasonable enough assumption.

  “Ah,” he said, lifting both brows now. “Good, I thought you were going to be taking our relationship to the next level, and I gotta say, darling, you’re gorgeous, but I’m a good Catholic boy.” Jodi and I both laughed at that, Jodi reflexively moving her head back and out of the way of his sweeping fingers to keep from being poked in the eye.

  “Then I think we’ll use a purple and mauve combo for your eye makeup,” Steven said, pulling Jodi’s face back to him to finish her eye makeup. It sounded garish when he said it, but I knew he’d somehow make it look amazing. Besides, we were going to a concert; you were allowed to look a little over the top at these things, so we’d let him play with our faces since he couldn’t play with his own.

  “What colors am I getting?” Jodi asked, sounding mechanical as she tried not to move too much as Steven applied liquid eyeliner on her lid.

  “Dark blue and a pale green,” he said, earning an eyebrow twitch as he blew on her eyelid to dry the liner. “It’ll make the blue of your eyes look brighter,” he explained.

  “You’re going to be amazing at school,” I said as I finished with the last big auburn curl, the bends in my hair shining a dark red as it caught the light when I moved, exactly what I wanted. Steven blew a kiss in my direction before sweeping on an extra coat of mascara for Jodi, who was trying desperately not to blink.

  I turned off my curling iron and then whipped my head forward and shook out my
hair, hitting it with hair spray as it hung upside down. When I came back up, my hair was in soft waves, bigger than I normally wore it, but I knew after just a couple of hours in the crowded theater, it would all have fallen, leaving only the tips curled. But if I got a few hours out of the look, I’d be happy.

  An hour and a half later, we stood in line outside of the theater. Both Jodi and I huddled in close to Steven, taking warmth from him against the winter chill. Most girls would huddle next to their boyfriends, or boy friends, for warmth, but Steven was actually able to heat his body until his skin was almost too hot to touch. In the foggy street at seven o’clock in December, I loved him a little more. Standing nearly six feet tall with long lean muscles, artfully mussed hair, and sharply defined features, Steven looked gorgeous, and with the two of us hanging on him all dolled up for the night, you’d think he was some kind of player. I’d be the first to admit some nights I wished Steven wasn’t gay, and I’d told him as much more than once. Sadly, he’d be meeting his current love interest, Anthony, once inside, since he was getting here late.

  The show was actually upwards of ten bands all playing short sets. Some were local bands trying to get a following and the others were middle of the road fame who would still play this kind of show for cheap. I had no idea who was playing, but it was better than going to a movie again. We already had the pink plastic wristbands that were practically impossible to remove without scissors that let the bartender know we were under twenty-one, in case we tried to order anything stronger than a Shirley Temple.

  I actually planned to grab a seat at the bar and spend the night there because this theater only had seats up in the balcony and they very rarely let people up there, so it was standing room only and general admission. It would be just a crowd of bodies, surging back and forth from the stage as more popular bands came and went. Not my idea of a good time. I wouldn’t even have considered coming except that our trip to the park had refueled me and I was able to strengthen my shields enough to block out most of the people that would be around me.

  “My toes are starting to go numb,” Jodi complained, shifting her weight back and forth, but never letting go of Steven’s arm.

  “Shouldn’t have worn heels,” I teased, making her stick her tongue out at me. I was perfectly happy in my combat boots, though they lost some of their edge being purple. I realized a little belatedly that they matched my eye makeup.

  “My pants were too long, I had to wear heels,” she explained. I nodded in understanding. Another reason why the pants I bought earlier in the day had cost so much; they felt like they were custom fit just for me and not a broad, generalized size for the masses.

  Then the doors opened and the line started moving. Jodi groaned in relief as she turned towards the front of the line and led us in. Steven, ever the gentleman, walked behind us to keep the people in line behind us from pushing forward. It looked like half of the girls who’d been in line in front of us had practically run for the bathroom while the other half ran for the theater, hoping to reach the stage before the rest of the crowd. The male sect tried to play it cooler, walking casually into the venue, some making their way towards the hoard of women at the stage, others stopping in groups to talk while the rest went to get the first glasses of beer from the bartender.

  “You gonna sit it out?” Steven asked me as we made it through the doors, and I nodded before angling towards the bar. Usually, in the state of California, you couldn’t sit at a bar – drinking or not – if you were underage, but this was a very relaxed place, and as long as I didn’t push for a more adult drink, they’d let me stay.

  Steven and Jodi made their way towards the stage, hanging back a few yards in case of a mosh pit. I slipped up onto one of the empty stools at the corner of the bar, spinning to face the bar, testing it for any sticky residue before I leaned on my forearms. The stools were filling up fast. Some adults were too old to be here, so I knew their kids were somewhere in the growing crowd and I nodded in their direction, earning resigned smiles. They weren’t going to enjoy this as much as they would have ten or fifteen years ago.

  “What’ll it be, Red?” a bartender called my attention to him and I was pleased to see that he wasn’t bad to look at. He had thick black hair that was greased back in a Fifties style, wearing a white wife-beater tank top tucked into loose black slacks, held up by suspenders. His shoulders were broad and rounded with muscles, covered in tattoos that trailed down his arms to his wrists. It was too dark to make any of them out clearly, but it looked like classic, old-school ink and just a hodgepodge of pictures. He had a narrow waist that accentuated both his full hips and chest. I was suddenly aware of an excess of saliva in my mouth.

  “Just a Coke, please,” I ordered before I drooled all over myself. The bartender quirked an eyebrow at me and I let a finger of awareness travel between us so I could pick up on his signature. I wasn’t sure why, maybe I was just being more careful these days.

  “A rum and Coke?” He emphasized the rum and I gave him a sad smile, lifting my right hand up to flash the pink wristband.

  “Seriously?” He blinked at me, making me see that his lashes were thick and black when they closed against his pale cheeks. Why do guys always get the best eyelashes when we’re left to apply coat after coat of mascara for the same effect?

  “Seriously,” I nodded, not quite sure why he was so surprised. He shrugged one shoulder and tossed the white dishcloth he’d been drying glasses with over his shoulder.

  Grabbing a glass, he moved closer to me to pick up the soda gun that was just to my left on the other side of the bar. I was pleased to see that he was even more handsome close up. I realized part of me had expected the illusion to be broken when he came closer and the dim lighting of the theater couldn’t hide him as well. But no, his skin was smooth except for a scar that ran under his right cheekbone; it was almost as pale as the rest of his face, making it hard to see in this lighting. But rather than taking away from his face, it only added to the slant of his cheekbones, and I noticed his eyes were an interesting shade of warm honey. I concentrated on the line of awareness I had created with him and found him to be a generally nice guy, a nice single, straight guy.

  Sliding the Coke in front of me, he said, “Well, at least I know I won’t be committing any crimes tonight.” He winked conspiratorially at me, and when he smiled, a dimple appeared in his right cheek. I felt butterflies erupt inside my stomach and I took a moment to sip from the straw in my glass, feigning nonchalance.

  His pink tongue darted out, licking his lips and deepening the red already there. “Not going out to the stage?” He nodded his head to his right, but didn’t take his eyes off of mine. He made good eye contact.

  “Not really a crowd kinda girl; besides,” I added, “I’m sure it’ll be loud enough to hear from right here.” He nodded, and though he tried to be quick about it, I saw his eyes dart to my exposed shoulder and a spark of heat flared in their depths. I gave him credit for appreciating the skin I was showing and not trying to ogle my chest. Still being in high school, I was used to that.

  “Good, sit right there and I’ll take care of you.” It sounded innocent enough, but that flare of heat was still in his eyes when he looked at me, and I felt a weird tingling in the small of my back that was both pleasing and a little unnerving.

  “Promise?” I asked just as he started to turn away. He chuckled again, making the tingle flare anew, before he said, “Oh, I promise.” He turned to take a few drink orders. I had never been good at flirting, but I had to admit that was a lot of fun.

  I picked up my glass and spun in my seat to face the stage. A much larger crowd gathered inside now, growing thicker the closer to the stage one got, and I was glad to have my seat at the bar. I leaned an elbow on the wood top, swirling the ice with my straw in my other hand before taking a sip. I scanned the audience for Steven and Jodi, and if not for Jodi’s bright yellow blond hair, I probably would never have found them. I saw them a little to the left of center
stage, not quite in the thickest part of the crowd; they had retreated a few more yards from the stage.

  As if feeling my eyes on them, they both turned and looked right at me, Jodi raising a hand and waving excitedly to me. I lifted my glass a little, acknowledging the wave before they turned their attention back to the front of the theater and to the stage. The first band was walking out onto the stage, each member taking their place at their instruments already waiting for them. A clump of people to the right of the stage erupted in cheers, letting everyone know they were obviously friends and family of the band. I glanced down the bar and saw that the front of it was five people deep, and I felt a twinge of disappointment knowing the bartenders would be slammed and I may not even find out my new friend’s name.

  By the time the third band of the night had taken the stage, the theater had filled to capacity and the internal temperature had risen fifteen degrees. The bartender hadn’t been able to break away to talk to me again, but every time we made eye contact, he smiled at me, and a few times when I felt like someone was looking at me, I looked up to see him staring my way. My ego was getting a much-needed boost. I hadn’t so much as gone out with anyone since Jensen had ended things between us and that was nearly six months ago. I swirled the ice in the bottom of my glass, the soda long gone because of the heat, trying to listen to the music through the noise. As the crowd had steadily grown larger, I worked at building up my shields against it.

  It was a delicate balancing act of blocking out the mass energy while still leaving myself open enough to be aware of my surroundings and Jodi and Steven lost in the gyrating crowd in front of the stage. I spotted my two cohorts on the fringe of the crowd, dancing together to the new techno beat the third band was playing. They moved comfortably together, Steven behind Jodi, his body bending around hers as she guided him with her hips and led him in the dance. When the music faded away into a new song, they broke apart and started to weave their way towards me. A woman on the stool to my left jumped up when her date found her and walked off with him, leaving the seat vacant.