Air: The Elementals Book Two

by L. B. Gilbert

  What the hell was this? Did her father know this person? And what was with the whole rising-from-the-ground trick? Shit. This was another Elemental. Earth, if she had to state the obvious.

  Gia’s smile warmed her face, and Mara had the inexplicable desire to drop her head. The power emanating from the other woman was odd. It was soothing, like a warm summer’s day. But that didn’t mean her energy wasn’t potent. It was fucking powerful, the strongest she’d ever felt from anyone, her father included.

  “I would ask how you have been, but Logan’s been keeping me updated,” Gia said politely. “I am sorry for your trouble.”

  “Thank you,” Douglas replied gruffly.

  “May I see Logan?” Gia asked, her hands respectfully clasped behind her back.

  Her father nodded, and he stepped aside. The Earth Elemental snaked past them, pausing to nod at her. Mara watched her pass, wide-eyed.

  Snake is the wrong word to describe it, she thought. Gia and Logan moved the same way. Quick and fluid. It was different from the way wolves moved. Mara had always believed her kind was the fastest and most graceful of all the Supes. She knew better now.

  Her skin tingled in the aftermath. “Should we show her up to the sickroom?”

  Her father shook his head. “She doesn’t need help. They always know how to find each other.”

  15

  “I fucked up.”

  Gia had just closed the door behind her before Logan greeted her with that pithy confession.

  Her counterpart was sitting next to a sleeping boy. He was quite young, a wolf cub a little over seven years old. There was stuff all over the floor as if a small cyclone had gone through it. Or a small child—but something told her the little one on the bed wasn’t the culprit.

  She smiled at the junior Elemental. “I’m sure you haven’t done anything wrong. Is this our patient?”

  “Yes, this is Sammy, short for Sammael. He’s the second victim. He wasn’t doing too good, so I tried something, but now he won’t wake up,” Logan said, her voice tinged with panic.

  “Calm down, sweetie,” Gia said. She leaned over the boy, stroking his forehead with her hand.

  “What if I made him worse?” Logan asked, her dark honey eyes wide.

  “If you didn’t intend to harm him, then you didn’t,” she assured her.

  Logan scowled. “You don’t know that!”

  Gia smiled. Intent was everything when it came to their gifts. “Call it an educated guess. Move over so I can confirm it.”

  Still frowning, Logan stood to make room for her at the side of the bed. Gia sat next to the cub, taking both his little hands in hers.

  Gia closed her eyes and felt around. It was a deep sleep, one not entirely natural. “Hmm,” she murmured.

  “Hmm, what?”

  This was interesting. “What exactly did you do?”

  Logan shuffled her feet, a nervous move Gia hadn’t seen her do since her training. “I could feel his aura bleeding away, so I wrapped him up with my energy. I was hoping it would stop up the leak somehow.”

  That explains it. Gia huffed. “Well, I think you’ve succeeded. Only you’ve done a bit more.”

  Logan bit her lip and started pacing. “What did I do?”

  “I’m seeing traces of your aura weaved into his, right over the tear. It’s this silver bit here. I didn’t think this was possible. But it’s stopped the bleed, so it must be.”

  She’d learned a little of healing techniques under the Mother’s tutelage, but this sort of fix was like nothing she’d read or seen. That doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened somewhere. It just means it wasn’t written down.

  She sent a silent prayer of thanks to the Mother for letting the boy live. Over the centuries, she’d seen a few victims drained of magic. But they had been dead when she found them; their aura’s gone, returned to the earth. Gia sighed, not unhappily. There was still so much more to learn about the world.

  Logan stopped short in front of her. “Crap! Have I sprung a leak in mine now?”

  Gia squinted at her. “I don’t think so,” she said and laughed. “I think you’ve done the magical equivalent of a skin graft—but with auras. Unlike other Supes, ours are capable of regenerating—but only to a point, so I wouldn’t try this again. You haven’t damaged yours. It also hasn’t healed the boy, but he’s stable, at least for the moment.”

  “Can you wake him up?”

  Gia frowned down at their small patient. “I don’t think that would be a good idea. His sleep is a reaction to the treatment. It’s his body’s way of trying to protect him through the healing process.”

  “Like a medically induced coma, but supernatural?”

  “Yes,” Gia said before her forehead creased. “Was this how the other one was too? I know he was walking around and everything, but does he have an aura bleed?”

  Logan flushed and shook her head. Gia searched her expression. Why was her sister blushing?

  “Connell’s injury must have been shallower somehow,” Logan said quickly, avoiding looking her in the eyes. “Or being an older alpha allowed him to heal faster. He’s already on the mend. My theory is that the perp didn’t cut away as much that first time. I don’t know why he took a child this time instead of another alpha. Maybe he’s trying to refine his technique and was looking for an easier mark. But I don’t know why he would keep trying so soon, unless—”

  “Unless the first attempt didn’t go as planned. Like he or she successfully cut away the magic, but couldn’t absorb it,” Gia finished for her, still analyzing that flush on her sister’s cheeks. “It’s as good a theory as any other. So…where is Connell?”

  “Looking for the site of the second attack with some others.”

  “And he’s doing well enough for that?”

  “It would seem so. He hasn’t lost all of his wolfy abilities either. Still stronger than a human. And his sense of smell seems to be intact.” She shrugged, still studiously avoiding looking at her. “What happens in those cases where the perp couldn’t absorb the magic? Does it roam around loose in the aether?”

  Gia considered that. “In theory, but I don’t know of a way to funnel it back into a body once it has been severed. Not in cases where a witch took the magic. There simply hasn’t been a case where the victim survived before,” she said before studying her counterpart.

  Something was definitely off with her sister. “Is everything okay?”

  Logan’s eyes snapped up to hers. “Not exactly. But I don’t want to talk about it.”

  Gia leaned back, bracing herself on one hand as she examined Logan. “Are you sure?”

  Logan blinked and let out a harsh breath. “Let’s just say I let this case get personal. It was a mistake. I’ve made a bit of a mess, but I’ll deal with it. It won’t stop me from completing this mission. I promise.”

  Oh. This is about Connell. Yes, that sounded right. If he were anything like his father, he would have been enough to turn any Elemental’s head. Gia sighed.

  Ah, Douglas. He had gotten grey, with some new lines around his eyes, but he was still the same man—attractive and virile. But some things weren’t meant to be…

  Of course, she wasn’t Logan. And Connell wasn’t Douglas. But she’d been around long enough to know that history sometimes did repeat itself. “All right,” she said quietly, deciding to let it go for now.

  She might be jumping to conclusions in any case. Best to let Logan play this one out as she wished. It was her case after all.

  “What do you want to do now?”

  “Can we leave him?” Logan asked, gesturing to Sammy’s still form.

  Gia took another long look before nodding. “He is stable. I don’t believe there’s more we can do for him right now.”

  “Then let’s go do what we do best,” Logan said, straightening up. “Let’s go hunting.”

  16

  Logan was glad that Gia was with her when she informed Douglas of Sammy’s new condition. The Earth Elemental
stood silent at her back while the assembled wolves towered over her, trying to intimidate her.

  There were more of them now. A lot of pissed-off males who hadn’t been part of the search party were milling behind Douglas, no doubt egged on by Riley. The blonde Were was shooting daggers at her from behind the chief’s back.

  The announcement that Sammy was now in a coma didn’t win them any fans in the increasingly hostile group. That included Douglas, who was frowning at her.

  Damn, she hated when he did that.

  Despite her show of concern for Sammy, Riley didn’t run upstairs to check on him when they came down. It was Mara and Salome that hurried off to verify that Sammy was unconscious. Mara came down alone while Salome stayed upstairs to sit with her brother.

  “It’s true,” Mara confirmed. “We can’t wake him up.”

  Riley’s pretty face contorted, and she stepped up to Logan and got into her face. “You’ve done something to make him worse! I told you we couldn’t trust her or any of them,” she said with a sneer, turning back to the room at large.

  The Weres behind her paced and whispered. One male even growled. He tried to move to the side, presumably to flank her and Gia, but a glare from the Earth Elemental froze him in his tracks.

  Logan wiped the excess spittle, courtesy of Barbarella’s snide twin, from her cheek with a moue of distaste. “I haven’t done anything to harm Sammy. He was dying. I didn’t heal him, but he is better now. Stabilized at least.”

  “I don’t believe you,” Riley snarled.

  “I don’t care what you think,” Logan spat back, baring her teeth.

  She stared her rival down, but Riley didn’t budge. They glared at one another while the shifting group of men paced restlessly.

  The tension in the air jumped up a few notches. Logan smiled and cracked her knuckles behind her back. She wasn’t about to start a fight with the bitchy Were, but she’d sure as hell finish one.

  “Riley,” Douglas snapped, and the big blonde retreated behind him.

  Disappointed, Logan sighed and rocked back on her heels.

  “What my sister said is true,” Gia said, breaking her silence. “The child’s aura was bleeding away into the aether. Logan somehow managed to weave some of her own into the wound, enough to stop the bleed. Sammy’s coma is protective, not unlike a medically induced one.”

  Douglas’ face cleared slightly. “How did you do that?” he asked, turning to Logan with narrowed eyes.

  He still sounded suspicious, but he seemed to believe Gia.

  Logan shrugged. “Hail Mary,” she said honestly.

  Douglas’ lips thinned. “But he’s not healed?”

  She shook her head. “We don’t know how. What I did is a stopgap. If he makes it, he’ll be like Connell. Wolf-less.”

  He crossed his arms and stared down at her. “And you can’t put his wolf back?”

  It was Gia who answered. “There is no way to do that as far as we know, but there’s also no way to graft your aura on someone else’s either.”

  Douglas huffed before nodding. “We haven’t heard from the search party yet, but I expect them to check in within the hour.”

  Logan sucked in a breath, her chest tight at the reminder of who was heading that search party. An hour was too soon. “We’ll start without them, at the site of the older attack. Can you give us directions?”

  “Shouldn’t you be able to divine where it is?” Riley sneered.

  Logan ignored her. Douglas did too. “It’s near the stream, thirty-four clicks southwest, then bank hard left for one and a third.”

  “Got it,” she said, pivoting to extend a hand to Gia behind her.

  Her sister took it, and they were off in the air.

  Logan took more pleasure than she should have giving Riley a good, harsh blast in the face as they went out.

  It was a quick trip in the currents. They landed in a small clearing surrounded by a thick copse of trees. Logan could hear the faint sound of running water nearby to the south, but she couldn’t see the stream Douglas had mentioned.

  There wasn’t anything special about the place. No stain of violence. No telltale ripples of magic in the aether. If she’d been scanning from the sky, she would have missed it.

  Logan took a long look around and sighed deeply.

  “Relieved to be out of there?”

  She looked up at Gia. The Earth Elemental was watching her instead of looking around for clues.

  “I could have taken them had things gone south,” Logan assured her.

  Gia laughed lightly. “I’m sure that’s true. But it’s not what I meant. You seemed uncomfortable, especially with that difficult female. And you don’t usually let anyone get to you like that.”

  Logan wished Gia wasn’t so perceptive. Diana would have let her tiny show of aggression go, but the Fire Elemental was kind of a smash first, ask questions later kind of girl. Gia was a talker, always had been.

  “She’s Connell’s mate.”

  “Oh.”

  There was a wealth of information in that one syllable.

  “And I slept with him.”

  “Oooh.”

  Logan rolled her eyes. “I told you I made a mistake—a huge fucking monster one. And it keeps getting bigger and bigger, and now I think my head is going to explode. Also, I’m pissed off. I want to kick Connell’s ass into the middle of next week. If I thought he’d survive, I’d do it too.”

  “I take it he didn’t mention having a mate?”

  “No, he didn’t,” Logan said, her eyes wide. She exhaled and crouched down, eyes on the ground. “What am I going to do?”

  Gia knelt in front of her and waited until Logan looked up before speaking. “Finish the job and forget about him. What’s between him and that female is not your problem.”

  “How do I do that? I thought—well, never mind what I thought…”

  “You thought he might be your mate. Mainly because he was acting like he was.”

  Logan frowned. “How did you know?”

  Gia’s face clouded. “It may have been a mistake to let you take this case after all. I know Connell came to you, but Serin or I should have taken it over.”

  Her heart dropped. “Why do you say that?”

  Gia patted her arm. “It’s not a reflection of your abilities. But there are some unforeseen complications when dealing with Weres. I should have warned you. In a way, this is my fault.”

  Logan’s head was starting to ring. “What are you talking about?”

  Her sister smiled, but it was a sad and distant expression. “I’ve never told you this. Actually, I’ve never told anyone, but that may have been an error in judgement. I didn’t want to embarrass him.”

  She was starting to feel dizzy now. “Who?”

  Gia grimaced and sat down Indian style in front of her. “Douglas. The same thing happened to me with Douglas.”

  Logan’s mouth dropped open. “Really?”

  “Well, not exactly the same thing. I didn’t sleep with him. I had a mate.”

  “Oh,” Logan said in understanding. “This was when Marco was still alive.”

  “Yes,” Gia said, a sad smile on her face. “It was a case, forty years ago, right after Douglas succeeded in uniting the packs. The union was fragile. A rogue Were was trying to break it before people could get used to the new order. She had allied with some witches, and they were attacking Were families that didn’t join them as well as any stray humans who got in their way. I helped clean it up out of self-interest. Uniting the packs meant less fighting and fewer rogues being created when their packs were wiped out. I stayed here for weeks trying to ferret out the witches. It was a longer case than most, but Marco understood how important it was.”

  Logan nodded. Marco had been Gia’s mate for hundreds of years. Unlike others in their sisterhood, Gia didn’t put down the mantle when she met him. She and Marco had grown up together, friends long before things had turned romantic. But he had been gone a long time, since befo
re Logan had been born.

  “During that case, I worked closely with Douglas,” Gia continued. “I got to know him pretty well. But I hadn’t anticipated his interest in me. Or mine in him for that matter. However, when all was said and done, I went home to Marco as I always did. My mate was a good man, and he deserved nothing less than my complete devotion. But don’t think I wasn’t tempted. Back then, Douglas was very much as he is now, strong and handsome. Age has tempered him, made him more contained and careful. But picture him a little brasher, a little more aggressive. It was a potent combination.”

  “Sounds familiar,” Logan grumbled before running her hands over her face. “So this is normal?”

  Gia laughed. “I didn’t say that. We like what we like. And our sisters liked what they liked. Otherwise, there would be a long history of wolves and Elementals mating, and there isn’t one. Both Di and Serin have worked Were cases and have been…unaffected. But when it comes to the wolves, the converse may be true. They might not be able to help it. It seems our kind holds a rather strong appeal to a certain class of alpha.”

  Logan threw up her hands. “What the hell does that mean?”

  “I think—and this is just a guess based on my own experience—that males of Douglas and Connell’s ilk, those at the top of the food chain, are compelled to take a female mate like them. An alpha female for an alpha male. It’s built into their biology. We’re not in their hierarchy, but a little above it. We don’t register as alphas to them, but something more.”

  “So the reason Connell can’t keep it in his pants is not his fault? It’s mine?” Logan asked sarcastically.

  “I didn’t say that,” Gia said, fiddling with her braid.

  Logan grimaced. “And is this supernatural appeal strong enough to make a Were break his mate-vow?” she asked in a low voice.

  Gia’s eyes were sad. “I don’t know, sweetheart.”

  17

  Connell jumped out of Yogi’s truck and hustled up the back porch steps. His sister was outside, pacing back and forth. When she saw him, her eyes lit up, but they dimmed when she saw Malcolm coming up beside him.