The Essential Elements: Boxed Set

by Elle Middaugh

  Sienna.

  Jay.

  I wondered how they were doing since the previous night, mentally scolding myself for not checking up on them, especially Jay. How was he coping with his peculiar brand of mourning? Had he made any mistakes, perhaps with the club owner, Adira? Was he suffering regrets? Harboring loneliness?

  I was such a shitty friend. I made a mental note to find the two of them as soon as I was done at Aunt Marge’s.

  I approached her driveway, finding no footprints in the snow. She’d been holed up for a while, then. I looked behind me—there were no footprints there, either. My water element must’ve refused to give me away, ensuring I left no tracks, even when I hadn’t been being very careful. Thank God. I appreciated the water a little more with each pleasant surprise.

  I knocked on the door, feeling strange for doing so. It was like a second home to me. I waited a minute and then knocked again, but she didn’t answer.

  Hopping down the steps, I walked over to the side door.

  Memories immediately washed over me, plunging me back to a night in the fall. Cade and I, lying on the grass under the stars. Our almost-kiss hanging heavy on the air. Marge calling to us, warning us of danger. Hiding inside as Nicholai prowled around out back. Cade covering my body with his own, protecting me. Me leaning into his back, breathing him in, wishing he didn’t have to go when the coast was clear.

  I swallowed my thoughts like a handful of nails.

  From the side door, a worn path of sunken snow led to the garden, plants still green as ever. I smiled. That was how Cade had figured out that my aunt was Elemental—her garden was more eclectic than any he’d ever seen, even his own family’s.

  “You’re thinking about him,” Marge said, drawing my eyes to where she was hunkered down between two rows of plants. “That boy from the woods.”

  I nodded, slowly making my way over to her.

  “I knew he was an Elemental the moment you said his last name. Landston. Henrie’s youngest boy and protégé. I knew that you, as a human, needed to keep away from him. It would have been suicide to get too close. But then you gravitated to Curwen’s son instead, the other team’s protégé. You are a magnet to trouble, dear girl.”

  “The other team?” I was pretty sure that wasn’t the part I should’ve homed in on, but I couldn’t help it. Politics were everywhere these days. “Are you saying you’re a Traditionalist?”

  She paused.

  “My ideals align most closely with theirs. Like them, I desire secrecy and solitude, peace and quiet.”

  I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. So my dad was a Modernist, my grandfather most likely an Elitist, my aunt a Traditionalist, my sort of ex-boyfriend a Modernist, my prospective next boyfriend a Traditionalist, and I was caught somewhere in between it all. Yikes.

  Marge pulled her unsoiled hands from the dirt and eyed me curiously.

  “Why are you really here, my dear? I’m assuming you didn’t come for relationship advice.”

  “I’ll take whatever advice you can give me,” I said.

  She chuckled then placed her hand around mine and squeezed. Tiny purple flowers spilled out through my fingers as she gave life to my little twig. “Follow your heart, but also your head. Only then will it be like shooting fish in a barrel.”

  Wow.

  She stared at me expectantly. It took me a minute to figure out what the hell was going on—I hadn’t answered her original question.

  “Oh, um…” I stuffed the lilacs into the pocket of my hoodie. “I’m here because I’d like to ask you some more questions.”

  “Ask away,” she said, getting back to the dirt.

  I crossed my arms, hugging my elbows. Where to start?

  “Why isn’t Xavier Henrie’s heir? He’s the oldest.”

  Marge shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess he just wasn’t interested.”

  “I highly doubt Cade was interested, either.”

  “That may be so, but with Xavier’s forfeit, Cade would’ve been the only one left. He wouldn’t have had the choice.”

  Well that royally sucked for him.

  I sighed and changed course. “Whose side is Elise on? Who does she work for?”

  Marge looked right at me. Her pale green eyes bored into my baby blues, searching for something she couldn’t find.

  “I don’t know for certain. Elise tells me almost nothing.”

  “You’re not certain, but do you have any ideas?”

  “I have my suspicions,” she said, digging around in the dirt. “But I really don’t wish to discuss them.”

  She created a seed out of thin air and buried it under a mound of dirt. She then covered the dirt with her palm, like a blanket. When she lifted it up, a seedling sprouted, chasing her hand into the air, leaves popping out as if in a time-lapse acceleration. A bud swelled and burst into a lily of some sort, its sweet fragrance perfuming the air.

  “Did you know,” I said carefully, “there’s a Valerie lookalike running around the forest?”

  Marge paused. “No, I didn’t know that. How incredibly strange.”

  “Yeah, I thought so too.” I stared at my gold flats, debating on how to continue. When I wiggled my feet, the cold sunlight made them shimmer. “Elise thought it was actually me at first,” I said finally. “But once she realized it wasn’t, she started acting strange. There was suddenly a wildness in her eyes—she was practically hysterical. She accused me of keeping secrets. Then she accused Chase. When my double showed up, Elise chased after her, and she hasn’t come back. I don’t know if she even will.”

  Marge’s fingers shuddered slightly. When she spoke, her voice was soft.

  “Don’t worry about Elise. I’m sure she’s been trained to handle things like this.”

  She walked to a different part of the garden, and I followed. An orchard of sorts spanned the ground between where we stood and the wood line. Powdery snow covered the fruit-filled branches, icicles hanging from their ripened skins. Perks of being an Earth, I supposed.

  She reached up and plucked a shiny pink apple.

  “Now, if you’re not worried about Elise and you’re bringing this topic up for another reason altogether, then I don’t really know what to tell you. Do I know what secrets she might think you or Chase are hiding? No. Do I know who your doppelganger is? No. I can tell you that I’ve sensed Nicholai around much more lately, but can I guess at what he might be up to? No.” She grabbed a wicker basket and made her way to a peach tree. “I’m sorry I can’t be of more help, my dear.” She pulled off a peach then headed for the pears.

  This time I didn’t follow; I got the feeling Marge was done talking. She seemed so…un-Marge-like…tired, nervous, sad. She’d lost some of that strange sparkle that used to set her apart. I could feel my heartstrings tightening.

  For what it was worth, I believed her. I no longer thought she was working with Elise. I no longer wondered if she was the one impersonating me. I still didn’t know exactly what Elise was up to, but I didn’t really think Marge did, either.

  “I love you, Aunt Marge,” I called before turning to leave. “I’ll see you later.”

  She rested the fruit basket on her hip.

  “I love you too, dear girl. Be careful out there.”

  “I will.”

  I would try to be careful, but there were forces beyond my or anyone else’s control that could wreak havoc around any turn. The odds of caution outweighing incident didn’t seem very good.

  In fact, I’d barely gotten a mile away from Marge’s when a torrential downpour spilled from the sky. The temperature was fit for snow and sleet, but definitely not rain. I glanced up, vision completely unfazed by the droplets. The storm clouds concentrated above my head in about a thirty-foot radius and were nonexistent anywhere else.

  Knowing full well this was the work of a Water Elemental, I spun around and prepared to put a face to the source. The rain split into a tall, misty hallway, and at the end of it, I saw her.

  Long
brown hair spilled over one of her shoulders. Lake blue eyes narrowed. Lips still held that near-constant sneer of vitriol, marring her pretty features.

  Loren Marlowe.

  Chapter Eleven

  I sighed and crossed my arms, wondering what the hell I’d done to piss her off this time.

  “Loren,” I said by way of callous greeting.

  “Valerie…long time no see.”

  “Not long enough.”

  She smiled sharply. “You always were horrible at making friends, weren’t you?”

  “I’m not trying to make friends.”

  “Thank God.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Why are you here? To warn me away from Cade again?”

  She shrugged. “I prefer the term threaten, but I won’t split hairs. When it comes to Cade, there is no you. He’s mine—always has been, always will be. The sooner you come to grips with that, the better.”

  I shook my head. “He doesn’t want you, Loren.”

  “Of course he does, he just won’t admit it. He’s always been too afraid to take risks.”

  “So we’re back to this?” I asked. “Fighting over a guy?”

  She shrugged again. “It’s not what I came here for, but whatever. If you think it’s too immature, you could always just leave him alone. Then we wouldn’t have to fight.”

  She was probably right. The mature thing to do would be to walk away, let her have him, at least in her mind. There was just something about the connection I felt with Cade that I couldn’t abandon. He was worth fighting for, even though I wished it wouldn’t come to that.

  I took a deep breath.

  “I’m not giving up on Cade.”

  A ball of ice careened through the air and shattered against my forehead. It didn’t exactly hurt, but it was startling. Her water element was vicious; I could sense it. Mine was timid. It would defend me, but I’d been suppressing it for so long that it wasn’t really aggressive.

  Another ice ball screamed through the air. I turned away and it smashed into my cheek. Anger bloomed beneath my skin.

  When the next one came, I created an icy shield and blocked it. She changed tactics. Suddenly, hail the size of golf balls pummeled to the ground. They bounced lightly off of my head, more of an annoyance than anything.

  “I don’t want to fight about this, Loren,” I said, using my shield as an umbrella.

  “I don’t really care what you want.”

  Ice spikes pushed up through the ground. I tossed my shield and was forced to tiptoe from point to point as I caught my balance. While I swayed unsteadily, she killed the hail and surrounded us in fog. Ordinarily, that wouldn’t have been a problem, but it wasn’t ordinary fog. It was thick and sticky and made my eyes water.

  I closed my lids and tried to shake it off, but that only made balancing more difficult. I fell, landing belly down atop the spikes. Fortunately, my water side kept me from being impaled. The icicles were sticky too. When I grabbed one to lift myself up, my fingers stuck to it like tar.

  What the hell?

  Loren walked over and grabbed the back of my neck, pushing my face into an icy spike. Her voice was barely a whisper and full of malevolence.

  “Stay away from Cade.”

  She pressed harder. Pain stung my cheek, and blood slid down the icy shaft.

  Shock overwhelmed me, followed almost immediately by fear. I’d never experienced Elemental overpowering before. I knew it was possible, because I’d watched the earth cling to Henrie Landston as both of his legs broke, but I never thought it would happen to me. From the moment I found out I’d been Gifted with two elements, I’d been told how dangerous I was, how powerful I could be. I honestly never imagined I’d lose to someone as insignificant as Loren.

  “And allow me to make just one more point,” she said. “It’s the real reason I came here, anyway.” She squeezed my neck until pain shot through my skull. “If you want to continue defending yourself like this, by using your power, then you better throw all of your glorious influence toward the Elitists. Modernists and Traditionalists require suppression. You wouldn’t last a day under those laws. They’d kill you for being a liability.”

  Anger finally broke through the shock, triggering my fire element. A blue-flamed dome erupted out around me, knocking Loren onto her ass a few feet away. Her hair was singed at the ends and some of her skin was pink and tender looking; I’d burned her, but not badly—not like what I’d almost done to Elise, what I’d unintentionally done to Cade.

  Breathing heavily, I stood and glared at her. My fingers found my cheek and came back bloody. I had no idea how large the gash might be, but I was definitely worried.

  She casually rose as if nothing had happened, checking her nails for any chips. Her fingers were shaky, though, so I knew she was a little rattled. Her hair was still steaming.

  “Expect more encounters like these,” she said, “until you make the proper decision.”

  Her strange ice melted, and she sauntered away.

  Before I could even calm my breathing, I ran toward town. I needed to find Sienna and Jay. Whatever had just happened with Loren was not normal. Her element had characteristics it shouldn’t possess. Stickiness? How was that even possible?

  I called Sienna as I ran. When she answered, I immediately said, “Where are you?”

  “At your house, watching the news with your dad and Jay.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah, there’s been more vandalism. The whole town’s in an uproar. I was scared, so Jay suggested we come here.”

  What the hell was the world coming to?

  “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  When I broke from the woods, I sprinted into town. I saw nothing suspicious on the way to my house, just more empty streets. Maybe the vandalism was on the human side of town? Or maybe it was downtown in the business sector?

  I burst through the front door and slammed it behind me, storming down the hallway toward the living room. Sienna, Jay, and Dad sat on various pieces of furniture, eyes fixed on the TV where a humongous picture of Holden’s face took up the frame.

  “It has definitely been a setback,” Holden said, nodding. “We believe it to be the work of a human extremist group. We don’t, however, believe that most humans have hostile feelings toward Elementals.”

  “What would you say to any humans listening right now?” a reporter asked.

  “Now, more than ever, we need to come together. We cannot allow prejudice to hinder our progress. Every day we come closer to peaceful human-Elemental cohabitation. Every day we come closer to acceptance and understanding.”

  Surprisingly, a few people clapped. Some even whistled.

  “And because of these events, it is even more pressing to provide a safe environment where humans and Elementals can coalesce. That is why Sol and Lune has agreed to open its doors early and celebrate its grand opening tomorrow night!”

  More cheers broke out, and the smile on Holden’s face radiated pure joy. His beckoning brown eyes sparkled. He was completely in his element in front of a crowd.

  I wasn’t so sure bumping up the date of the opening was the best solution, though.

  “What’d I miss?” I asked.

  Dad glanced at me and his mouth dropped open.

  “Valerie? What the hell happened to your face, sweetheart? Are the townspeople getting violent? Do I need to take care of something?”

  I shook my head. “No. I’m fine. Things are fine. Right now I just want to know what’s been going on.”

  He hesitated, concern morphing into a glare. “We’re gonna talk about this later,” he said sternly.

  “That’s fair.”

  Reluctantly, he looked away and rewound the DVR to a news segment depicting downtown Center Allegheny. Graffiti had been spray-painted on buildings. Phrases like ‘Get Out’ and ‘Die Freaks’ stood out amongst others. Windows had been busted. Doors were scratched up.

  News anchor Cherie said, “This was the scene from earlier to
day, where a number of strictly Elemental buildings have been vandalized. Authorities have yet to comment, but it’s safe to assume it was probably the work of a local anti-Elemental group.”

  After a few minutes’ worth of footage, Dad clicked it back to live TV and turned the volume down a bit.

  “You know who did this,” he said to me.

  “Yeah,” Sienna butted in. “Angry humans who hate us and obviously want us gone.”

  I shook my head. “Nicholai.”

  Sienna’s confusion was evident in her furrowed brows.

  “Modernists are making too much progress,” Dad said, explaining. “Nicholai can’t beat them if they gain much more momentum, so he’s staged setups to damage relations and hinder progress.”

  “How do you know this?” Jay asked.

  “It’s a side effect of a military career, son—you learn how the enemy thinks.” Dad looked at me and half-smiled. “I have to talk to Curwen. He needs this information, and he needs me on his team.”

  I nodded. Somehow I’d always known it would come to that.

  Dad grabbed a jacket, probably out of habit since the cold didn’t affect him, and adjusted the collar.

  “I’ll be back as soon as I can. I’d prefer you three to stay here. If not, at least stick together, okay? It’s not safe out right now.”

  As soon as he shut the door, Sienna jumped me.

  “What the hell, Val? Did you get into a fight with Elise? Or Chase? That’s who you went to see, right? That’s what your dad said.”

  “No. Yes, I mean—” I sighed and gathered my wits. “I went to see Elise and Chase, yes, and while I was there fighting did actually break out, but neither of them gave me this gash. Loren did.”

  “Loren Marlowe?” she asked incredulously. I nodded. “That bitch! I’d like to wring her scrawny little neck. I’ve been dying to kick her stupid ass ever since I moved here.”

  Jay was still back at the beginning of what I’d said. “Chase and Elise were fighting?”

  “Valerie and Loren were fighting!” Sienna said, stressing the importance of that fight over the other.