The Essential Elements: Boxed Set

by Elle Middaugh

  “I’ve always been a chef,” he said, correcting me with a smile. “You just never knew.”

  “I’ll be the judge of that,” I said, teasing. “Do you mind if Sienna and Jay come, too? They’re probably going ballistic about me not coming home last night…”

  Cade sighed, but his smile remained. “Sure.”

  I borrowed his phone and called Sienna.

  When she answered, a long rant of things hit my ear, one after the other.

  She told me that Jay had disappeared at the club, too. That she’d been royally freaking out for the past twelve hours or so. That she had no desire to see “Sir Plants-a-lot”, but that she was definitely interested in meeting his big brother. And that she, too, was starving, so I needed to get my ass over there pronto to pick her up. She was at her own house for once.

  I blinked as the line clicked off.

  “Yes ma’am.” I handed the phone back to Cade. “It’s just Sienna coming. Jay’s MIA.”

  We shared a nervous glance, and I felt my appetite slipping away as my stomach knit itself into knots. Concern about Jay was quickly overcoming my hunger.

  It wasn’t fear for his safety, though.

  It was fear that his role in my life, like that of so many others, might have also been a lie.

  Chapter Eighteen

  I’d seen Cade’s house before, but the immaculate wood and stone structure never ceased to amaze me. Nestled in the West Woods, it was huge and full of windows and asymmetrical peaks. Very modern meets rustic, money meets minimal—full of contradictions that somehow proved true. The whole Traditionalist village was built that way.

  I carefully parked my silver sports sedan in the driveway.

  Cade immediately leapt out from the seat behind me and opened my door. I aimed a surprised face at Sienna, who was sitting shotgun. She looked completely flabbergasted.

  Xavier followed suit, clumsily hopping out and grabbing Sienna’s door, too.

  “Shit, sorry,” he said. “They swore this wasn’t going to be a double date…”

  Sienna grinned, taking his proffered hand. “I’d be cool if it was.”

  Xavier blushed, and it made me grin like an idiot. He was so childish sometimes it was almost comical. No wonder Cade had inherited the family business of leadership.

  I followed Cade onto the stained-wood porch and took a deep breath. This was as far as I’d ever come. I had never been beyond that elusive front door. Would the inside reveal more pieces to the Cade Landston puzzle? I’d never quite gotten it all put together.

  He opened the door and I stepped inside, looking around in wonder.

  “So, this is the foyer, and that’s the living room,” he said, giving Sienna and me an artless tour.

  It was completely stunning. Natural wood walls stretched down to polished stone floors. Glittering chandeliers hung from rough beams framing wide skylights. A feathery rug rested between expensive leather furniture and a roaring fireplace. Everything smelled new and fresh, with just a hint of evergreen.

  “And this is the kitchen,” Cade said, leading us onward.

  Can lights illuminated the space with a warm glow and granite countertops stood out elegantly against stainless steel appliances. It was spacious, but it felt cozy, which could be said of the whole house.

  I took a seat at the island bar, along with Sienna and Xavier, and waited. I’d been so distracted with taking in my surroundings that I hadn’t said much. I’d been quiet for too long, and now it felt awkward to talk. I squeezed my lips shut and looked away.

  Cade worked quickly. He created vegetables, herbs, spices, and even his own flatbread. A taut look of concentration dominated his features, but there was always a smile just on the verge of shining through.

  Before I knew it, we were staring down at the best-looking lunch I’d seen in a while.

  “This is awesome,” I said, too impressed to really contain my reaction.

  Cade chuckled, smiling more radiantly than I’d ever seen. “You have to try it before you say something like that.”

  I lifted my fork and scooped up a small pile of vegetables. They practically melted in my mouth. The flavors tickling my tongue were great by themselves, but superb altogether.

  “This is awesome,” I said, reiterating the words with true conviction.

  He looked almost shy. “Thank you.”

  Even Sienna, who was prone to oppose Cade by default, had nothing snarky to say.

  I wished I could’ve said we enjoyed our lunch, happily chatting about this or that, but we didn’t. When Henrie Landston burst through the door mid-meal to the sight of our mock double date, things got tense pretty quickly.

  His eyes roved the bar stools until they fell on his eldest son.

  “Xavier!”

  I wasn’t sure if it was a whisper or a shout—desperation and excitement sometimes seem to blend that way.

  “Hey Dad,” Xavier said, standing.

  Henrie bridged the gap in three steps and pulled him into a bear hug.

  My eyes lowered to the floor as discomfort settled in my chest. I felt like an outsider. I had no right to be a part of this moment. I was the reason they had ever been separated.

  Sienna grabbed my hand to comfort me, but also to get my attention. She mouthed, “Do you want to leave?”

  I hesitated then nodded.

  Cade cleared his throat. “Have a seat with us, Dad. There’s plenty of food.”

  Xavier sat back down and started eating again without missing a beat. Nothing fazed that guy.

  Henrie stared at Sienna and me, distrust only barely trumping disapproval. Finally, he walked around the island, grabbed a plate of food, and sat down beside Cade.

  And…we were officially stuck. Leaving at that point would have been incredibly rude. All I could do was keep my head down and say as little as possible.

  Henrie wisped a handful of tomatoes into the air, spun them until they mashed into sauce, added herbs and spices, and then dropped it into one of Cade’s wooden bowls. Bread in hand, he dunked it into the sauce.

  “Interesting company you’re keeping nowadays, boys,” he muttered before taking a bite.

  The boys exchanged a look.

  Interesting company indeed, I thought sarcastically. The niece of the Modernist leader and the granddaughter of the Elitist leader—talk about breaking bread with the enemy.

  I didn’t know what to say. Almost anything would’ve sounded defensive on my part, and if not that, then incriminating. Henrie had very real reasons for hating me. Most people did, thanks to my mother’s side of the family.

  Sienna wasn’t intimidated, though.

  “Better company than you think,” she said quietly but confidently.

  Henrie quirked a brow. “Is that so?”

  “I know how it looks,” she began. “But, I’m not so sure I’m a Modernist anymore. I don’t really know what I am, and Valerie has disowned half of her family, so…”

  “More like half the world has disowned her family,” he said.

  “Better be more than half,” I mumbled. “If not, the Elitists will take over.”

  Henrie surprised the hell out of me by chuckling. “Isn’t that the truth?”

  Anxiety escaped Cade’s body in tiny beads of sweat. Apparently, he hadn’t been looking forward to his father’s reaction, either. That he wasn’t being hostile was a huge relief to us both.

  “Dad, there are some things you might want to know,” Cade said. “Nicholai has planted a bomb in Center Allegheny.”

  “Where?”

  “Sol and Lune.”

  “When will it blow?”

  “At the grand opening.”

  “Tonight?” Henrie sat back, scratching at his neck as he debated on what to do. “I’ll have to talk to Exis…”

  Cade frowned. “Who the hell is Exis?”

  They stared at each other for a long moment.

  “I have some things you might want to know, too,” Henrie said, finally.

&n
bsp; He glanced at me and Sienna again. We were bugs in his eyes, better squashed than befriended, or maybe snakes—better killed than trusted. I could tell he wasn’t sure if he wanted us to hear what he had to say.

  Then he sighed.

  “You’re just gonna tell these two everything I say anyway, so they may as well hear it.” He ran a thumb across his bottom lip. “Traditionalists have officially joined the fight. We have economic support.”

  “How?” Cade asked. Then he put things together. “This Exis person, he’s given you money?”

  Henrie shook his head. “Not me. She and her organization have given money to Brielle Lewis, the Traditionalist leader from Northland. She is our new national leader.”

  “What exactly are you hoping to achieve?” I blurted out.

  Heat crept into my cheeks. My heart beat harder. Ice spread out to my fingertips. I shouldn’t have said anything, but it was too late. I cleared my throat and plowed on, wishing the ice would disappear.

  “From what I understand, Traditionalists prefer to exist well under the human radar. Wouldn’t this be counterproductive?”

  Henrie glared at me. He looked annoyed that I would presume to know anything.

  “If you could just not talk,” he said, “that’d be great.”

  “Dad…” Cade warned. “Just answer the damn question.”

  Henrie kept his green gaze fixed on me. “It’ll be a delicate platform for Ms. Lewis to utilize, but she’ll do fine. We’ll have to interact just enough to win. Then we can ensure that Elementals all but disappear.”

  “What if they refuse to disappear?” Sienna asked, taking the words right out of my mouth. “Some groups have been fighting for centuries to become equal with or superior to humans. Now that they’ve gotten this close, I can’t imagine them giving up without a fight.”

  “This is the fight!” Henrie said, slamming a fist. “We are fighting right now, trying—and failing miserably—to figure out exactly what to do about this ugly mess.”

  I wanted to argue, but this time I kept my mouth shut.

  Elementals wouldn’t change their true colors just because their candidate had lost. Modernists wouldn’t be satisfied with going back into hiding. Traditionalists wouldn’t agree to limit their power and live normal lives. Elitists wouldn’t be happy until they were dominating. And who was to say humans would agree with any of it?

  No one would win. No one would accept the victorious group as their true leaders. The world didn’t work like that anymore. People didn’t know how to lose graciously.

  Henrie stood and looked at Cade. “Let me make a few phone calls. I need to find out what they want me to do about this—if anything.”

  Cade nodded and Henrie disappeared upstairs.

  A collective whoosh of relief fanned over us all. I could practically feel it on my skin.

  Or maybe that was Sienna—she had a small wind funnel swirling absently on the bar.

  We finished our lunch and dessert in near silence. Minor pleasantries were passed out here and there—“Please pass the salt,” “Thank you,” “This is delicious”—and when the food was gone, the remaining warmth was gone too.

  That might’ve been my fault, though. I had been having ongoing mini battles with my water side, and I’d been losing. I could sense the temperature fluctuating every time I thought about Henrie. For some reason, he scared me more than the other Elementals.

  Emerald eyes met mine across the island.

  “You wanna take a walk?” Cade asked.

  “Yes.”

  I needed to get the hell out of there.

  “What?” Xavier protested. “You’re just gonna leave us? This really is a date, isn’t it?”

  Sienna giggled and looped her arm through his. “Oh Xavier, you’re so funny!”

  “Seriously,” Cade agreed, frowning. “It’s like you’ve never seen a girl before. Just relax.”

  He shook his head at his brother then motioned for me to follow him outside.

  He led us through the woods and with every step I took, more and more stress melted away. Walking didn’t help me to not-think this time, though. Two memories had clashed violently in my mind, and there was no getting them out.

  First, I remembered being hauled through the night, tied to a stake. Cade’s parents had, in a deranged attempt to keep Elemental existence a secret, decided to kill me for knowing. Not just kill me, though—they wanted to make an example out of me so Elementals would never again even consider letting the secret slip. They wanted to burn me at the stake. They tried, too. I just didn’t die…

  A chill raced up my spine, spreading goose bumps across my limbs. Unease settled into my bones, and nausea curled in my stomach.

  I had just dined with a man who’d tried to violently murder me.

  How completely messed up was that?

  We climbed a hill and, at the top, the woods disappeared into a long golden field. A single tree stood strong in the middle, a beautiful weeping willow. Even in the winter, its branches were full of tiny green leaves.

  We hiked closer, and the second memory took over. It was of this place, when Cade and I had met at this willow he’d created and had opened our hearts a little.

  No one in Center Allegheny had genuinely known or understood me at the time, but Cade had. He’d said no one knew or understood him either, but I hadn’t been able to figure that out. Why would he feel like an outsider in a place like this?

  I understood now. As a Traditionalist, he was essentially an outsider to everyone. His kind wanted to disappear into the woodwork, exist only amongst themselves.

  The fact that he’d reached out to me, a mere human at the time, stirred up a few questions I’d never contemplated. Was Cade unsatisfied with his life as a Traditionalist? Was there a small part of him that actually leaned toward Modernism when it came to longing for social interaction?

  If so…

  A strange feeling crept up on me. It covered the floor of my core like a small flood. The feeling? That Modernism might be the right way to go.

  I pursed my lips.

  It kind of felt right, but I didn’t want to become a Modernist. I didn’t want myself or anyone else to have to compromise their ideals. I didn’t want to fuel someone else’s war. I wanted my own. I wanted more options. I wanted a new faction of leaders to rise up and take charge—justly, of course.

  Revolution was already taking place all around us. Why not add a little rebellion?

  Cade plopped down in the snow and patted the spot beside him.

  I raised a brow. I wouldn’t get cold or wet from sitting in the snow, but he eventually would. I used my fire to warm a circle around the tree, melting snow and drying soggy soil. When I was satisfied, I sat down too.

  He immediately opened his palm and wisped a jewel out of thin air. It was light blue, clear as crystal, and about as big as my thumb. He spun it around in his fingers so its facets caught the light.

  “I remember the first time we were here,” he said, smiling. “You told me your favorite gemstone was alexandrite, probably because it’s purple, since that’s your favorite color.”

  I grinned. “That’s not alexandrite, though.”

  “Nope.”

  He tossed the jewel into the air. It came down, hit his palm, and shattered into tens of tiny pieces. Then the pieces swirled into a circle. A thin vine weaved through them, forming a delicate bracelet.

  “This is aquamarine,” he said. “It has a very strong affinity to water. The fire opal from your mother has kept your fire powers beautifully in check, but your water element sometimes gets the best of you.”

  I scoffed. “Like when I nearly killed you in that pit?”

  Cade smiled, but didn’t make eye contact. “Something like that.”

  He took my hand and slid his creation onto my wrist. Just the feel of his skin on my skin had me taking shallow breaths. My water element, on the other hand, suddenly felt extremely contented. Not just calm, but compliant. Like it would do
whatever I told it to, no questions asked. Like it was so happy, all it wanted to do was make me happy too.

  Insane…

  I glanced up at him. “Thank you.”

  He chuckled and ruffled his dirty blond hair. “I mean, it was a little self-serving—I really don’t want to come that close to death again.”

  “I’m not so sure it’ll help…” I muttered.

  His comment had taken me back to the Elitist camp. I’d been wearing the fire opal necklace the entire time, yet I’d still killed people with fire. Would these crystals actually keep me from killing with water? I wasn’t so sure.

  The weight of my power was getting heavier every second. When I didn’t think about it, I could handle living with it, but when I focused on it, really saw it for what it was, it felt more like a burden.

  I’d been Gifted with these amazing powers…but I didn’t know what to do with them. I couldn’t fully control them, and because of them, people had died. What was the point in that?

  “Can you feel a difference?” Cade asked, running his thumb across my wrist.

  My insides swirled and heat climbed up my neck. I nodded, because I didn’t trust myself to speak.

  He removed his hand and squeezed both fists. “I think we need to test it.”

  The willow’s roots pulled up from the soil and arched over us. Then they dove back underground, sinking us down with them. I felt like I’d been swallowed by a wooden whale.

  Panic coursed through my veins, and I shook with terror. Fight or flight kicked in and I fought to flee, but there was nowhere to go.

  Cade rested calmly overtop of me, one hand under my waist, the other under my head.

  “You’re scared,” he said softly. “But look, it’s toasty warm down here.”

  He was right; the water was content as ever. I could feel it smiling under my skin.

  He reached down and laced our fingers then brought them up to his lips. “No ice on these fingertips.”

  Shock momentarily surpassed the panic. Was…Was he kissing me?

  “Cade?”

  “Yes?” His lips touched my inner wrist, giving me goose bumps.

  I swallowed. “Aren’t you, like, supposed to be avoiding me or something?”