But the real surprise came when Maya suddenly found her hand in his. And as their fingers entwined together, something inside of her softened too. A warmth spread up her arm and through her chest, and she found her carefully crafted mask crumbling around her.
When she smiled, it was for real. When she laughed it was because Aedan said something funny. When she stole a kiss, the rush was real, and it made her head spin. And when it came time to say goodbye, she felt only a cold emptiness inside. The usual dread that surfaced when she realized she would have to face Carlos. She had two nights left at most. After that, she’d have to cope with the Noble Ones.
But it couldn’t be him. It couldn’t. The fire Aedan set inside of her, it wasn’t evil. It was beautiful. Like nothing she’d ever felt before. Hadn’t she seen him stop to help someone stranded on the side of the road just this afternoon? An Elemental would never do that. It would be against his nature. He had nothing to gain from it. And how many times had his eyes lit up when Edy entered a room? The Elemental wasn’t capable of it.
And if he was. Then everything they’d told her had been a lie.
Maya took her time getting to the restaurant at the other side of the mall. Carlos was waiting for her, waving from a booth on the other side of the window. She waved back and went inside to meet him.
Soft jazz piped through the speakers, and the exotic scent of Eastern spices permeated the air. It wasn’t busy, probably because it wasn’t quite dinner, but well after lunch. Maya’s choice. But the light was low, the windows tinted to limit the amount let inside. Rose petals floated in a large rectangular basin of water with lit candles interspersed among them.
She hadn’t realized how romantic the setting would be. Instantly she longed for Aedan to be by her side, still holding her hand. The absence of his warmth left her cold and hollow inside. She tried to shake it off as she took the seat opposite Carlos. Normally she’d have slid into the seat next to the Target.
He lit up the moment she arrived, his handsome face rearranging into an even bigger smile. His dark skin set off by the bright white t-shirt he wore, a loose tendril of black hair falling carelessly into his eyes. It reminded her of Aedan’s curl. The one that refused to stay back no matter how many times he or she pushed it out of his face. Stop it.
“How was tutoring?” Carlos asked. “Ready to relax and party a little?”
“Relax? Yes. Party? I don’t know. That depends if I manage to get served without my fake ID.” She grinned her signature grin. It was so easy to get into character, she could basically go on autopilot.
They shared some sushi and a spicy beef dish. She didn’t get her sake though, just an eye roll from the waitress who couldn’t have been more than a year older than she was. If she was going to go for it tonight, she’d need to fuel up somehow.
She heard Toby’s voice in her head. You have to stay sharp for the fight. If it’s the Elemental you can’t risk your reaction time being slowed. Well, screw Toby. Something in Carlos’ glittering eyes told her he was too nervous and anxious to be the One.
And she also knew she wouldn’t be checking for any marks tonight. That could wait for tomorrow. Yeah, it was cutting it close. But so what? This was her operation, and since when did she work well with plans? She far preferred seat of her pants situations and the adrenaline rush it gave.
“So,” Carlos said, putting an arm around her and pulling her close. The temperature had already dropped by at least fifteen degrees, but the air was still warm as they left the restaurant. “You want to go for a ride in my convertible? We could visit Skyline Drive. Watch the sunset. Look at the city lights…”
Parking with Carlos? Perfect opportunity. She cringed, starting to shake her head.
“My friend Captain Morgan is riding in the backseat. And I picked up some cokes just in case.” He’d gotten to know her well enough in the last few days that he anticipated what might tempt her.
She studied his face. She had to do her job. What if it really was him? Maya’s heart sank. She didn’t want to kill him either. What the fuck was wrong with her? She was turning soft. Maya contemplated confessing to Toby and letting him handle the final two.
He wouldn’t hesitate.
“Well, I didn’t know we had a mutual friend, Carlos. I’d love to take a ride with you and the Captain.” She fingered the Flashball in her pocket.
Carlos squeezed her tighter and guided her over to his white Mazda. The top was already down. Sure enough, two brown paper bags sat on the floor behind the tan leather seats. The boy came prepared.
The wind rushed over her face as they climbed higher into the foothills while the stereo blasted hip hop tunes. At least she didn’t have to make small talk. Carlos wouldn’t care anyway. He was only interested in one thing. Just like the rest of them. Except Aedan. Who tried for so long to push her away because he was afraid. Afraid of hurting her in some intangible way.
Carlos knew exactly where to park so that they enjoyed the beautiful view opened up to them overlooking the city. The twinkling lights were already visible against the purpling sky. He flipped off the radio, and the distant sounds of traffic punctuated the relative silence of the evening.
Maya stared at the glittering expanse before them, wondering what it would be like to come from a normal family. To have no idea what dangers lay in wait on the equinox. Hell, to not even know what an equinox was.
Carlos’ arm slid around her shoulder, pulling her close, and she fought back the annoyance that rose in her chest.
“How about that rum and coke?” she asked.
He didn’t look thrilled, but prepared two makeshift drinks for them, pouring a bit of soda on the ground and filling it back up with the liquor. Maya took hers, grabbed the bottle, and took a swig between each sip. The liquid burned its way down her throat, warming her stomach, and making her think of Aedan. In no time she was buzzed.
She laughed as Carlos pried the bottle from her hands, and replaced it in the back seat. But when he settled back into the front, reaching for her, her face grew serious.
“Do you have any birthmarks?” she asked.
“What?” Carlos paused halfway to her neck, looking dumbfounded.
“You know, in secret places?” she pressed, throwing her arms around his neck.
“You are one strange girl, Maya. But I don’t care. Because you are also so totally hot.” He pulled her roughly toward him, and stroked her chest while sucking on her throat. Did he really just insult her then feel her up?
“Hold up there, lover boy,” she slurred, pushing him away.
“What?” he asked, clearly losing patience.
“I want an answer.” She folded her arms and leaned back against the door.
Carlos wiped a hand down over his face, sighed, and said, “No. No birthmarks.” Then he lunged at her again. Before she’d decided whether she could really just take his word for it, he’d unhooked her bra. Carlos had some skills. She shouldn’t have been surprised. He’d clearly done this before.
She wrestled a hand free, which wasn’t too hard considering that wasn’t the part of her body he seemed most interested in, and fumbled in her pocket for the Flashball. But when she pulled it out, Carlos climbed the rest of the way over the seat, releasing the back so that they toppled backward, him on top of her, and the tiny weapon went flying out of the car into the dark.
Damn. She shouldn’t have drunk like that. Toby’s imaginary voice was right. She giggled despite herself, and Carlos started ripping off his own clothes, thinking that was the same as a green light. She didn’t like how fast he was going, and her head spun. Anger swelled in her stomach. What was she doing here? Five weeks ago, she would have gone all the way just to test him out. But five weeks ago, she hadn’t doubted everything.
Well, that wasn’t the only way to find out.
“Hey!” she shouted flipping him over in one move so that she was on top and pinned his hands at his sides. His face registered shock, fear, and then excitement when she l
eaned down over him, pressing her now naked chest against his.
“Hey yourself,” he said.
Idiot. Maya stared him right in the face. “You’re the Fire Elemental and I’m here to kill you.”
The words hung in the air between them. If it was him, he would give it away in the reaction. But all he registered was confusion.
“You really are nuts,” he said. “Not that I have a problem with that.”
Maya rolled her eyes. She still had to make absolutely sure. There was no way out of that. And she’d gone too far already to wait for tomorrow night.
She’d have to do this the hard way.
Sitting straight up in his lap, she yanked him up by the shoulders and slammed her head into his. She loosened her grip, and Carlos slumped back into the seat, unconscious.
Not as elegant as a Flashball, but workable.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Maya
Maya moved, silent and invisible, through the soft grass of the graveyard. She hid behind the taller stones, watching him. The first grave was tiny, that of a child. And she knelt close enough to hear him this time. Closer than she’d dared before.
If she stopped to think about it, which was very unlike her anyway, she might have realized earlier that exactly whom Aedan was visiting might have been important. It’s just that she felt it was somehow crossing a line. The kind of line even she was uncomfortable with. Because his face, every time, was so filled with pain it made her heart lurch. And since he didn’t know she was there, there was no one else to impress, no one to put on an act for. So whoever it was, he’d truly loved them.
“I tried,” he said softly. His voice strained. “I tried to protect you from him. But I only hurt you, Dani. I’m so sorry.” Aedan wiped at his face with the back of his hand.
Maya gave up on her braid after her “date” with Carlos, and right now her long loose hair blew across her face, obstructing her view. She wiped it away and hugged herself in the sudden breeze. It was cold. Or more likely the chill was emotional.
Aedan stood, oblivious to anything but the simple stone before him, and moved off toward the hill. The one she’d seen him visit so many times. But instead of staying with him, she waited until all was silent, and crept over to the small, sad grave.
Danielle Pearson. Maya typed the name quickly into her phone, along with the dates. She’d been six when she died, and if she were still alive, she’d be Aedan’s age. Maya’s hand shook slightly as she typed the name in the browser.
Time stood still. At least that’s how it felt, as the story unfolded before her eyes. Died in a fire. Six-year-old boy miraculously survived. Shit. Shit. Shit. No. The screen blurred, and she squinted, not realizing until the first tear splashed down on her arm what was causing it.
But he’d said he was trying to protect her. He still visits her grave.
Maya tucked her phone in her pocket and crept up the back of the hill to the twisted mesquite tree she’d seen from below so many times. She never dared get this close before. But she’d crossed the line already, and she had no more time to play with. She had one more day until the meeting. Less than two months until the equinox.
“Oh, Carrie, I wish I could believe Edy. Believe it wasn’t mine. But in my heart I know it was.” Aedan’s voice was thick, making Maya’s eyes cloud once again.
She’d taken enough time at Danielle’s gravesite that Aedan was already finishing with Carrie. She tensed, waiting for him to go back down the hill but instead he moved toward the tree. Had he seen her?
She crouched low, slipping around the side of the trunk, mirroring him as he moved around to the opposite side. She watched, eyes narrowed as he bent to examine something on the ground. What was it? Had she left footprints or some other evidence behind? Had he heard her? But another noise drew Aedan’s attention away from the spot he’d been examining. He turned and straightened up to face the stranger walking toward him from the other side of the hill.
She was tall with long wild dark hair and walked like a predator in her tight shorts, and cut-off shirt. Instantly, something inside Maya flared hot and angry. She’d never been one to feel jealousy, but she was pretty sure this is what it must be like.
Aedan stood, brushing off his faded jeans, the ones with the holes in the knees that he’d been wearing that very morning in the library. He faced away from her, but his body language was taut and he held one hand clenched and shaking behind his back. He wasn’t happy about the girl’s intrusion. Some of the jealousy subsided, but her insides still felt like fireworks, telling her this girl was no good.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
The girl smiled in a wicked kind of way and curled her fingers through his hair over his ear. He jerked away, but she seemed nonplused.
“Don’t you think I already know everything, Aedan?” the girl said.
“You don’t know everything, Kari. No one knows everything.”
“Well, when you’re done being depressed I have news. I’ll be waiting in the truck.”
Was it Maya’s imagination, or did she just wink in her direction? Maya turned to glance behind her, half expecting someone else to be there, but nothing else moved in the darkness. When she turned back, Kari was gone, and Aedan was bending over the other side of the tree again.
She held her breath, as he touched his fingers to his lips, and then back to the ground. Then he glared back toward the parking lot and straightened again. The cool breeze blew around her once more, and Maya’s hand slipped against the ground, sending a bit of gravel out toward the hill. Aedan’s head snapped toward the sound, his eyes narrowing, then opening wide, leaving only untouched sorrow behind. Maya reached out a hand, touching the back of the rough tree, wishing she could touch him instead. Comfort him. Hold him.
But he was gone before she could even think about revealing herself. She pressed her own eyes closed, then turned toward the grave, running a hand along the slate headstone, then pulling out her phone. She knew what she would find before she found it though.
Died in a fire. Roughly the same age as Aedan.
With a deep sigh, Maya moved to the other side of the tree to examine the spot Aedan had kissed. At first, she saw nothing, but she held her phone above the ground letting the dim light shine over the small patch of dirt, and the glint nearly blinded her. She ran her fingers over the uneven patch and found it. The smooth surface of glass. But as she carefully pried at it, searching for the broken edges of whatever the object was, she realized it wasn’t an object at all. Just a flat perfect piece of glass set so deeply in the hard desert ground, that it seemed to be there on purpose. But for what reason?
She couldn’t make sense of it. But if Aedan knew it was here, and he kissed this spot… Maya jumped back throwing a hand over her mouth. Didn’t heating sand to a certain temperature make glass? And this was a cemetery. Maya thought back to the day in the truck. The day they’d shared what she thought were their deepest darkest secrets. She’d omitted certain parts of her own story. Was it possible Aedan had done the same?
Her stomach twisted. She was going to be sick. Get a hold of yourself, she ordered. And after a few deep breaths her insides settled back down. She threw her head back and studied the night sky. The breeze was gone now, but she hugged herself anyway, feeling cold and empty inside.
She’d found the Fire Elemental.
She’d also fallen in love with him.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Aedan
Aedan was not happy about Kari coming to the graveyard. She was the last person he wanted to share the V’s with. She would never understand. She’d ridicule him for being weak. He kicked at an older headstone on the way down, regretting it at once. It was disrespectful. And it hurt.
“Sorry,” he muttered to the occupant. Then he pushed down the fire that had ignited inside. He wondered vaguely what news Kari had brought him. Ten to one it wasn’t any good.
“Hey fire boy,” Kari cooed from the open window as he pa
ssed around the front of the truck.
Aedan threw the door open, hoisted himself into the cab, and froze, staring at the console in front of him. “What’s the news?” he asked.
“You sound like a wounded puppy,” Kari said.
“Yep. That’s me. Wounded puppy.” Aedan started up the engine, and pulled out. He was exhausted, but didn’t really know why.
“Stop feeling sorry for yourself. I’ve solved half of your problems while you were wallowing in the past.”
“Oh yeah?” Aedan asked, only half listening. He wondered if Kari would be too offended if he asked her to leave him alone for the night.
“Yeah. I’m getting you a present. But you can’t have it yet. I haven’t wrapped it up nice and neat.” A cool breeze whispered through the car,
Suddenly Aedan’s head seemed to clear. Kari wasn’t just spouting nonsense. She had some serious news. He pulled into the driveway, headlights flipped off, and turned to face her. “What’s going on?”
“What’s going on is I found one of them.” Kari bounced a little in her excitement.
Aedan’s pulse sped up. “What does that mean? One of who?”
“One of the Circle Operatives who’s after you.” She patted his cheek.
Aedan sucked in a sharp breath and swept the hair from his eyes. Her breeze was starting to annoy him. “Who?”
“Hmm. I think I’ll just surprise you. You’re busy lamenting past loves anyway.” Kari climbed out of the car, and Aedan hurried to catch her, pulling her back roughly by the arm.
“This isn’t some kind of game, Kari.”
“But if I don’t look at it like a game, I’ll be as miserable as you, fire boy.” Aedan’s face remained hard. “Look,” she said, and it seemed she was going to change gears to one of her rare soft and real moments, as Aedan thought of them. The times when he really thought of her like a friend. “I know this is weighing on you. The truth is I have to make absolutely sure. But I’m going in first thing in the morning. They won’t be expecting me. Only you, and even then they won’t think you know about them.”
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