The Essential Elements: Boxed Set

by Elle Middaugh

“I never said you were beneath me,” I argued in exasperation. “It’s just not fair that they can try to kill me, and when that doesn’t work, try to banish me. What the flaming hell? I mean, who are these people to make decisions like that about my life?”

  “They’re the law,” Bear clarified, as if I didn’t know. “We obey them to keep the peace. Otherwise, it would be anarchy and chaos.”

  My grandfather’s radical ideas suddenly carouseled through my mind. This was the first time I’d felt real empathy to his cause. If this is what the authorities were truly like, perhaps we did need new ones.

  I glared at Bear as he and the others began shifting uncomfortably on the blanket. “And if there was a different authority? One that actually embodied the values they claimed to possess, would you blindly follow them as well?”

  “Blindly?” Bear asked. “No. Would I follow a different organization? One that had been lawfully placed to govern us and keep the peace? Yes, I would.”

  I noticed Holden touching his hands. He glanced at me, then put his palm on my forearm. It was hot. Sienna and Boone stood up to get their hands and butts off the sweltering blacktop, and everyone else quickly followed suit. I noticed the blanket starting to steam; a corner of it lit up with blue flames.

  Oh shit, not again…

  Go to your happy place, Valerie. Imagine those peaceful woods. But the temperature was still rising. Why was it not working? Um, the trees are tall and it’s shady... There’s, like, pollen in the air…and… Damn it! The vision that had calmed me so easily in Chase’s presence earlier was now fueling my fire. I saw the bark of the trees in my vision smoldering and catching on fire, flames licking up the trunks, threatening to reach the leaves above.

  No, no, no… I needed a different vision. Something less flammable. Colder.

  Snowy mountain peaks, similar to the landscape I’d painted in school, rushed into my mind’s eye. There…now, just imagine the heat draining. There’s no heat here at all, only cold. Finally, the temperature began lowering.

  I exhaled and looked around at my friends. They looked worried, but pleasantly surprised that I’d managed to contain the situation so quickly. The blanket’s flames had even snuffed out.

  But the temperatures were still dropping. The soda froze solid in the bottle and in each individual cup, the piece of pizza in Holden’s hand crystalized and shattered when he reflexively dropped it, frost crept steadily along the parking lot, and the windows of nearby vehicles iced over.

  I half-growled in frustration as I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to picture another destination for my happy place. Somewhere neither hot, nor cold. Or maybe both hot and cold, simultaneously. But it didn’t work. The cold was spreading mercilessly.

  Ugh! Forget it. I just need…to not think.

  I stood and began pacing around, allowing the familiar motion of my limbs to relax me. In my rush out the door that morning, I’d quickly slipped on a pair of flip-flops—deep red with shimmering crimson accents that sparkled even without much sun—and I now forced myself to focus on them. Step, sparkle, step, shimmer. Sparkle, shimmer. Sparkle, shimmer. Nothing else. Step, step. Step, step.

  When I finally dared to look around some minutes later, the world looked as if nothing had ever happened. Nothing was steaming or burning, freezing or crystalizing. Thank god…

  But everyone was watching me closely. I couldn’t be sure what was going through their minds. Were they impressed that I was so quickly learning control? Or were they fearful at how quickly I’d managed to lose control in the first place?

  A bell sounded off in the distance, signaling the end of lunch. We all shared uncertain glances before they began cleaning up. After the blanket was shoved back in Holden’s truck and the trash was thrown away, they began to walk back toward the school.

  But not me. I couldn’t trust myself to not accidentally hurt someone somehow. Not now. My emotions still felt kind of raw, though I tried my best to just not think about them.

  I couldn’t hold back the question scratching at my skin, though. “Where do we stand, you guys?” It might kill me to hear the answer, but at least I’d know the truth, and truth was infinitely better than lies.

  Bear spoke up first. Leave it to him to be the brutally honest one. “I like you, Valerie. I do. But I respect our leaders enough to back the decisions they make. Wherever they stand is where I stand. Nothing personal.” He turned and left, Emilie at his side. Apparently she felt the same.

  Charlene walked up to me and squeezed my wrists affectionately, cleverly avoiding my palms; I was sure it was safer for her that way. “I’m with you, Val. It’s going to be a long, hard road, but I’ll be there whenever you need me.”

  “Me too,” Jay added with a serious nod.

  “And me too, of course,” Sienna agreed before pulling me into a tight hug. “You’ve been my friend for longer than anyone, and I’m not about to lose you now.” She smiled and I beamed right back.

  Boone mirrored our expressions with a boyish grin. “I haven’t really known you long, but”—he shrugged nonchalantly—“I don’t see anything wrong with you. You’ve got an extra power to control. So what? You’re not gonna get it right the first try. None of us did. I don’t get what’s so extra scary about that. I’ll back you, for sure.”

  My smile widened. “Thank you.” Then I stared into each of their eyes. “Thank you all.”

  The two couples turned and walked back to the school, leaving me alone with Holden. My breath hitched as he silently looked me over. I couldn’t seem to read the emotions swirling in his brown eyes, and that petrified me.

  Unwilling to let the fear provoke another Elemental response, I took a deep breath and stared at my shoes, tapping each toe off the ground to create some sort of mesmerizing rhythm. Tap, sparkle. Tap, shimmer.

  When the silence broke, it didn’t just crack, it completely shattered.

  “I think…I love you, Valerie.”

  I choked on my own spit as my eyes darted up to his. “What?”

  He tucked his lips in and took a few steps closer, eyeing me earnestly. “We haven’t been together long, but I know how you make me feel when we are. Like my world suddenly lit up. Like my heart swelled five times too big. Like I wasn’t alive until I met you. I’ve never felt like that before, Val. Not ever.” He licked his lips and took a deep breath. “That being said, you know I’ll stand by you. No matter what. Even if you don’t love me back. I’ll always be there for you.”

  Tears welled up in my eyes; I wasn’t sure why, exactly. I guessed because I wasn’t sure if I loved him back or not. I was deeply attracted to him, and I enjoyed being with him. His kisses were phenomenal. He was perfect from head to toe, and I absolutely did not deserve him. He was virtuous, and I was confused. I didn’t know what I wanted out of life…who I wanted.

  I nodded, but that’s all I could do as the tears spilled over my lids and coursed down my cheeks. He pulled me into a devastating hug and ran his fingers through my hair.

  “It’ll be okay, Valerie. We’ll find a way to make it all okay,” he whispered.

  I nodded again, but the tears kept flowing. They ran and ran, until they finally ran out.

  Holden tipped my chin up and looked into my eyes. “What will you do?”

  I took a deep, shaky breath and wiped my eyes. “I don’t know. I guess I’ll have to finish school online, or something. I can’t risk hurting anyone, least of all an unsuspecting human, and I can’t risk exposing us, either.” Not yet. “I’ll see if I can train with my aunt, or maybe even my grandfather, in the meantime. Hopefully Cade’s dad and your parents won’t try to kick us all out just yet.”

  His brows furrowed and he forced a small smile. “Okay, Val.” Then he glanced over his shoulder. “I gotta get back to class now, but I’ll see you again soon, okay?”

  I snorted humorlessly. “You mean you’ll see me tonight? At my big birthday bash at Charlene’s.” I smacked his arm. “How could you forget?”

  “I’
m ashamed,” he replied, guiltily dropping his head. “Happy birthday, Valerie.”

  I laughed. “Thank you, Holden. Now get to class.”

  He kissed me square on the lips before spinning and jogging off. I touched the spot where his lips had just left mine tingling. Did I love Holden Michaels? I watched as he shrank against the horizon and ducked into the big brick building. It was impossible to say.

  With no car, and no real plan, I began walking home.

  With any luck, Aunt Marge would agree to begin giving me lessons immediately. What the hell else did she have to do all day, anyway? She might demand that I read Carving Earth first, but that’d be fine. I’d already decided it would be fruitful for me to do so.

  As the hour’s walk drew to a close and Aunt Marge’s little cottage came into view, I froze. Two unfamiliar cars sat in the driveway, and I could hear raised voices coming from inside the house.

  Ice-cold panic leached into my system and began to physically spread out all around me. It crawled along the road and up the trees, and hung from the branches. It frosted over the unfamiliar cars and clung to the outside of Marge’s house. It forced the air into a frigid temperature, and any moisture in the atmosphere was instantly crystalized into snow, falling nervously to the ground.

  I groaned and drug my nails down my face.

  Not again…

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  For a brief moment I actually considered leaving Marge to fend for herself and just running far away from it all. It was a fleeting thought, thankfully. I’d had about enough of being a coward lately. Now that I had powers to back me up, however uncontrollable they may have been, I had no excuse for not being brave.

  I stormed right up to the front door and burst through, not even bothering to conceal the snowy mess I’d created and left outside. I was ready to kick some ass, but what I saw knocked the rage right out of me.

  Elise sat at Marge’s little kitchen table, cradling a hot cup of coffee as Marge paced angrily back and forth. Both of their eyes shot to me as the door smacked loudly against the wall.

  “Valerie!” Aunt Marge cried, throwing her arms about me crazily. “Where have you been? I’ve been worried sick!”

  Elise took a sip from her cup as she, too, waited for my response.

  “I, uh…” I shook my head. “Elise?”

  She smiled. “Hey Valerie.”

  Elise was probably the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. She looked so much like her mother, who looked so much like my mother, who looked so much like me, only somehow much prettier. Her long blonde hair was the perfect shade of the palest gold. Her eyes were a tropical turquoise that you couldn’t help but want to swim in. She was tall and thin, but busty and athletic, too, and her smile was shy, but it had the power to light up an already radiant room.

  I sort of idolized her, if that wasn’t apparent. It had been years since I’d seen her last. I couldn’t believe she was actually there, now, of all times…

  “My god,” I muttered distractedly. “Um, anyway. Yeah. I was with Nicholai this morning—”

  “I knew it!” Marge shouted maniacally as a few more strands of hair pulled loose from her low bun. She thrust a finger in Elise’s direction. “We need to keep him away from her. It’s the only way.”

  Elise nodded, but I protested. “I went with him willingly.”

  Marge shook her head dismissively. “Doesn’t matter, dear. You won’t want to make the same mistake twice.”

  I was a little taken aback by her assumptions. “I know you hate him, Aunt Marge, and I totally understand why, but—”

  “You understand why?” She eyed me crookedly. “Then why are you practically defending him? You should know he’s a heartless murderer who only ever pushes his own agenda.”

  Elise silently gestured for me to take a seat, so I plopped down while she got up and poured me my own cup of coffee. Coffee wasn’t my favorite drink by any means, but I sipped at it anyway.

  “What’s so terrible about his agenda?” I asked indignantly.

  Elise walked over to the sink and peered through the blinds as Marge continued her self-righteous raving. Elise’s body language spoke of calm, but her eyes shouted out an alertness that made me feel on edge.

  “What’s wrong with his agenda? Valerie, he’s a radical elitist with no sympathy for human life! Oh, no, excuse me. He does care about humans, but only so that he can enslave them!”

  Elise turned around frowning. “Why is it snowing outside?”

  I exhaled loudly. “Shit. Sorry. That’s my fault.” I got up a little reluctantly and jogged outside, taking in the colossal mess with weary eyes. I’d had practice with this. I’d cleared the snow and ice away from my own body, away from the river behind Billy’s, and away from the parking lot at the high school. This seemed much more extensive, though. More time consuming. I’d have to tackle each tree, each leaf, each blade of grass…but it wouldn’t clean itself up. I had to start somewhere.

  I stood at the edge of Marge’s driveway, opened my palms skyward, and began reeling the magic back in, inch by inch, as I tapped a simple rhythm with my toes. Tap, tap. Tap, tap. First, the ground surrounding me cleared. Then it spread out away from me like a ripple, along the length of the driveway and over the cars, the front yard, and the decorative bushes and trees. Then the main road cleared off, as well as the trees at the fore of the surrounding forestry and at the backyard. Finally, the snow vanished from the air, leaving an almost warm aftereffect floating on the breeze.

  It took a number of minutes, and a fair amount of sweat, but eventually I got it all. I was surprised by how these episodes failed to discourage me, but rather strengthened my confidence in my abilities. Control might’ve been haphazard at the moment, but I was beginning to realize that the wicked consequences were reversible, and that I was already getting semi-decent at cleaning up the mess.

  When I reentered the tiny kitchen, both of their eyes fell on me. Marge was speechless for once, face blank. A small smile perched on Elise’s lips, though her arms were crossed aloofly. I wasn’t sure what to make of either of their expressions or silence, but I didn’t really want to dwell on it. I still remembered the last thing Marge had said before I’d gone outside: that Nicholai wanted humans as slaves. I wanted to get to the bottom of that allegation immediately.

  “Why enslave humans? They’re no real threat to us, and Elementals can certainly do well enough on their own.”

  Marge made no move to speak. That blank yet almost measuring expression still rested heavily on her features as she stared at me. Her pale green irises moved side to side as they studied my face, seemingly oblivious to the fact that I’d just asked a question.

  Elise sighed and ran a hand through her straight golden hair. “Because elitists are villains, Valerie. And what does every villain want? Power. And how does one attain power? By taking it from others.”

  I folded my arms and narrowed my eyes. “The Elites might be bad guys, but how do you know Nicholai is still associated with them?”

  Elise smiled slightly. “Because it’s my job to know these things.”

  “How?”

  “Observation.” She studied me as closely as Marge. “Covert operations.”

  “So, you’re like a spy?” My disbelief saturated the air like a sticky sap.

  She merely shrugged an arm. “Something like that.”

  I wanted to believe her; this was Elise we were talking about. Aunt Marge’s only child. Surely she was telling the truth. But what an outrageous idea! It’s not every day you discover a loved one is living a double life as a spy. Then again, it’s not every day you discover you’re an Elemental badass, part of an entire family of Elemental badasses. In that case, it really didn’t seem too farfetched.

  But that meant one thing, and one thing only: if Elise was telling the truth, then Nicholai was not. Believing what Nicholai had told me would be calling Marge and Elise liars. Again with the black and white. Why couldn’t they both somehow be tell
ing the truth? Or worse, what if they were all manipulating me, feeding me lies to gain my trust and my double-threat powers?

  I scrubbed my hands up and down my face. I wanted to figure this out; I wanted to know the absolute truth that very instant, but that would be impossible. Only time would reveal anyone’s true intentions. That said, I needed to change the subject. I couldn’t dwell on this any longer without my emotions getting out of control and burning the house to the ground, or flooding it, then freezing it solid.

  “Whose car’s outside?” I asked. The attempted conversational shift was feeble at best, but thankfully they obliged.

  Marge reached in her pocket and dangled a set of keys from her pointer finger. “One’s Elise’s. One’s yours.”

  My eyes widened. “Mine?”

  She nodded. “Your father had it delivered this morning. He said he’d be calling you at some point today, so keep your cellphone on you.” Marge wiggled the keys, reminding me to take them.

  “Thanks,” I muttered as I squeezed them into my palm. “I’m gonna go check it out. Maybe take a drive…”

  Marge nodded solemnly.

  Elise smiled. “We’ll be here.”

  I heaved a silent sigh and walked outside.

  The sweet smell of decaying leaves swirled around me as a crisp autumn breeze blew through my hair. It immediately calmed me a little. It felt good, being out in nature; it felt right. I had never experienced nature in that way before; it had to have been an Elemental side effect.

  The car was brand new, and glittery silver. It was sporty, yet practical. My name was written in cursive on the front license plate, backed by an image of a tropical sunset. I wondered immediately how much he had paid for it. Not knowing much about cars myself, it was difficult to guess. Dad had been right though: I totally loved it!

  The door swung open smoothly and closed with an easy click as I slid into the driver’s seat. The interior was creamy leather and cool beneath my jeans, and the dash lights were a magical blue. It had that fresh, rich, almost-plastic smell of newness. When I turned the key, the engine purred silently, another telltale sign of its brand newness.