Noomi and Loki finally caught up to him, the woman bracing her hands on her knees and breathing hard. The fae man squealed like a little girl, clapping his hands over his mouth. “It’s so beautiful I want to cry.”
“You can cry all you want later.” Daniel turned to Noomi. “Which one is Serin in?”
Noomi straightened up, pointing to the castle-like structure at the top. “She was taken directly to the temple, where our connection to the Mother is the strongest. There are rooms devoted to the healing arts in there, where our most-skilled physicians conduct their work. Most of the village is there, praying for her recovery.”
“All right then,” he muttered, starting down the path that would incline again to take him to the peak.
“Stop!” Noomi cried right before he passed under a stone arch.
Once on the other side, he turned, scowling at the pair. “I told you I’m not leaving. Are you coming or not?”
Noomi stood stock-still a few yards away on the other side of the arch. Her hands covered her eyes. Loki gave her a hard nudge, and she slowly put her hands down.
She gaped at Daniel. “How are you standing there?”
“I really don’t know what you mean,” he snapped, tired of the games.
Noomi crossed the arch. “The wards were supposed to keep you out.”
She glanced at the stone structure, her hand on her chin. “I didn’t realize they weren’t working… Oh no! Perhaps they were deactivated. It would make sense. The last visitor to cross was…well, it was Jordan. That was back when Uncle John first brought him here, but he had an invitation so he wasn’t stopped.” Once again, she stared at her feet instead of him when she talked. “Sorry to babble, but this is a rather alarming turn of events in a string of alarming events.”
Loki moved toward her, his hand out, probably to pat her reassuringly. He only made it a few feet before he reached the arch and rebounded off what seemed to be nothing, landing on his ass.
“Ow,” he groaned, picking himself up.
Daniel did a double take. “What the hell did you do?”
Noomi’s mouth went slack. “I don’t understand.”
Tentatively reaching out, she touched the stone arch. “Wait, I can feel the spell. It’s vibrating the stones, which means it’s functioning.”
Frowning, Daniel place his entire palm on the rock. “I don’t feel anything.”
“The vibration would be imperceptible to one of your kind.” She turned to Loki. “I’m so sorry. Are you hurt?”
“Only my pride.” Loki’s expression was that of a child who’d lost his puppy. “It’s okay. Go on without me.”
Daniel stalked to the gate. “I am sick of these made-up magical rules getting in my way.” He reached through the arch and grabbed Loki by the shirt, starting to yank him through the unseen barrier.
Loki squealed again, cringing as he moved closer to the arch, but nothing happened. He flew through the air like nothing was there, causing Daniel to have to right them both since he’d been expecting resistance.
Once Loki was on his feet, they all stopped and stared at the archway.
“Huh,” Daniel grunted. “Well, obviously it’s on the fritz. Let’s get the fuck out of here.” He turned his back to the others, immediately starting to jog down the path. The others ran after him.
“Should we tell him it’s not broken?” Loki asked the woman in a quiet voice, but Daniel heard him anyway. He chose to pretend he hadn’t, not in the mood for guessing games.
“But it has to be.” Noomi was panting as she raced to keep up. “Otherwise, I can’t understand what happened.”
Loki started laughing. “I think I can enlighten you…”
23
The atmosphere in the temple was hushed and somber. Each long bench was filled with people in colorful dresses and robes, their heads bent in prayer.
Daniel tried to ignore them, but he could feel their eyes boring into the back of his head as he paced in front of the healing chamber. The constant susurration of the prayers was making him twitchy.
Loki was across the vaulted chamber, taking everything in with worshipful eyes. Noomi, his self-appointed guide, was with him, whispering and pointing as she answered his endless stream of questions.
There was an altar at one side, but no painting or statue of any god sat on or behind it. Instead, there was a huge tree. He didn’t know what species it was, but it appeared ancient. Each limb dripped with delicate white flowers. Their scent filled the room. Ivy clung from every column. In the center of the room, between the benches, there was a raised well with swirling water that glowed brightly.
It’s just the algae again, he told himself, but something told him that wasn’t the case. It was more like the water was illuminated by life itself. Could water be alive?
Everything here is alive.
He tipped his head back, staring at the vaulted ceiling. It had an operculum, open to the sky. The moon and starlight came straight through, reflecting off the white stone interior in such a way that it lit every bit of the oval-shaped chamber.
He leaned against one of the ivy-covered pillars. It was weirdly cushiony.
“What if it rains?” he murmured, almost to himself, shaking his head at the huge hole in the ceiling.
“Then we get wet.”
Daniel spun on his heel. The man who answered was roughly his height, with dark skin and long dreadlocks fastened at the neck with a strip of red leather. His robes were lavender, but on him the color appeared masculine.
He didn’t have any wrinkles or grey hair, but Daniel instinctively knew this man was older than Serin. There was something very dignified about him, a quiet wisdom in his eyes that was apparent, despite the soberness of his expression.
Maybe this guy was one of those elders Noomi had mentioned.
“Hey, can you get me in there?” Daniel asked, indicating the healing chamber. “I really need to check on Serin. I won’t interrupt any spells or anything like that. I just need to see her.”
The man cocked his head, staring at him as if he were trying to understand him—not his words, but more like what he was, as if he’d never seen a man before.
“I know you’re not used to seeing humans around here, but I’m hoping you can overlook whatever it is you think about my kind and put a good word in with the healers back there. I really need to see Serin.” Daniel tried to make his voice respectful, but his anxiety and impatience bled through.
The stranger tapped a finger to his chin. “Gia brought you.”
“Yes, yes she did.” That had to count for something, right? If Gia was the senior Elemental, then her decisions should have some weight with the council.
“And you can travel with Serin?” the man asked, his expression growing a touch skeptical.
“You mean getting tossed down drains as water?” Daniel straightened with a wry shrug. “Yeah. Serin can basically pull a Dorothy to my Wicked Witch—melt my ass to get rid of me whenever she wants.”
“That is…interesting.”
“Why?” Daniel asked, still wondering why the guy was eyeing him as if he expected him to sprout a second nose.
“Because Jordan couldn’t.”
There was that name again. Why did everyone in this world keep comparing him to this Jordan person?
The man did an about face, heading to the center of the chamber but gesturing for Daniel to follow. He joined the man next to the well, aware everyone was watching them.
“Please reach into the Well of Souls and touch the water,” the dreadlocked man instructed.
Daniel leaned forward, staring at the radiant liquid. “You want me to touch the what?”
“The words are a rough translation. It does not contain literal souls.”
“Uh-huh.” Daniel’s nose twitched as he glanced askance at the gleaming water. It looked radioactive.
This is hardly the weirdest thing that has happened to you lately. You traveled as dirt, for God’s sake.
; There was an air of expectation in the room. If he had to hazard a guess, he’d bet most everyone was holding their breath.
It’s a test. If he passed, they’d let him see Serin.
“Okay,” he said, jaw tight as he raised the cuff of his shirt. He dipped his hand down.
The damn water dodged his fingers.
Daniel swore. “Get over here, you little….”
The water dodged again, swirling and dancing away like he was a magnet that could repel it. Frustrated, he was about to pull away when a ball of it jumped into his hand like a little puppy.
“Damn, look at that.” Daniel laughed in amazement, awkwardly holding the perfect sphere of rippling water. He nodded at the man. “This is cool. Does it do this for everyone?”
“No. Only Water talents…and their mates.”
Daniel blinked, not sure he’d heard right. “What was that?”
The water responded to his voice, twisting into a rope and running around his cupped hands like a speedy snake.
“Woah, woah, stop that,” he said, shaking his hands until the water obligingly jumped back in to the well.
“Did I pass?” Daniel asked, raising his head.
The man wasn’t there. Daniel twisted around until he spotted the elder at the door of the healing chamber. He was holding it open for him.
“Finally,” Daniel muttered, his whole body flooding with relief.
He ran, stopping at the door to the healing chamber. “I don’t know how to thank you. I don’t even know your name.”
The man nodded, but his face was conflicted, as if he were still torn about something. “My name is Caimen. I’m Serin’s father.”
Daniel forgot all about the fact he’d just met Serin’s father when he stepped into the healing chamber.
It resembled a Roman bath with a single narrow oval pool in the center filled with more of that glowing water. Serin was floating in the center, being held up by Gia and three other women. The bullet wound in her gut was very visible. It was as if there were a neon arrow pointing to it. A small amount of blood floated over it.
The Earth Elemental stared down her nose at him. “What took you so long?” she snapped.
He hurried over to the edge of the pool. “Well, maybe if you had brought me straight here instead of dumping me at the beach, I could have gotten here sooner.”
One of the women holding Serin glowered at him. “No one enters T’Kaieri without an invitation.” She turned to Gia. “Who is this?”
The disdain and indignation in her tone was apparent to all, but Gia interrupted before he could introduce himself in an equally snippy fashion.
“He belongs to Serin, and he’s late.” Her dark gaze appraised him. “Get in here.”
Everyone stared at Gia as if she’d gone crazy.
“Oh.” Daniel shut up, his belligerence blasted to nothing. He toed off his shoes and hopped in the pool fully dressed, wading to Gia and Serin.
“So this is what you all do around here instead of surgery,” he said in a low aside.
Gia ignored his comment. “Stand on my other side, then put your hands here,” she instructed in a no-nonsense voice.
Daniel imitated her movements, aware the other people in the room were having a full-blown whisper-fight.
“He bypassed the wards without even a twitch, then pulled the Loki through the Channel gate even after he’d had already been ejected by the arch,” Caimen told the turbaned woman from the edge of the pool.
The expression of comic horror on the woman’s face was one Daniel would never forget.
“But he’s a…a… Is he a warded witch?” she asked, talking about him as if he wasn’t there.
“There is no ward that can pass the Channel gate intact,” Gia said, staring at each of the fae in turn. Her clipped tone brooked no argument.
“Sorry, I didn’t have time to wait for an engraved invitation,” Daniel said. “And no, I’m not a witch. I’m one-hundred-percent human.”
“More like ninety-four percent,” Gia corrected, not taking her eyes off Serin.
Ah. Well, that news would have to wait to be processed another time. “Am I supposed to be doing something?” he asked, his hands supporting Serin’s neck and shoulder.
“Yes. Focus,” Gia ground out, her jaw tight.
“That is not a specific enough instruction.”
What the hell was he supposed to focus on?
Daniel’s stomach roiled as he watched Serin’s chest. In the water, it was difficult to tell if she was even breathing.
Gia smacked his arm in an unmistakable sign that meant shut the hell up. He resisted the urge to rub the smarting appendage—the woman hit like a linebacker—and finally decided to try concentrating on sending healing vibes through his hands into Serin’s body. It felt a bit silly, but he would try anything at this point.
Gia nodded approvingly and held her hand out, palm down, just over the bullet hole.
A hush fell over the room. The moment stretched. Every beat of Daniel’s heart sounded absurdly loud in the sudden quiet. Even the lapping of the water was muted.
He bit his tongue to keep from asking what they were waiting for. One…two…three…
At four, a flash of something swept over him. The closest he could describe it was an ocean wave made from electricity. It barreled through him as the copper-colored bullet appeared at the entrance to the wound. It floated out of Serin’s body and straight into Gia’s waiting hand.
Blood filled his mouth. Daniel had bitten through his tongue at the awesome sight.
The Earth Elemental glared at the bullet, turning it over in her palm before a young man outside the pool held out a bowl carved from stone.
“We’ll analyze it for traces of the poison.”
“It’s there,” Gia said. “It’s infused into the metal.”
Fuck, please don’t let this poison be the infallible super killer. Let it be a dud like the one that made Loki sick.
“Is there an antidote?” he asked, his eyes tracing the spidery dark line emanating from the wound.
“No.”
“That better be no as in not yet,” he said.
“Even if the healers get lucky, the poison has been in her system a relatively long time.” Gia shook her head. “I can feel it—there’s a significant amount of damage.”
This last was directed at the turbaned woman. The woman’s face hardened, her lips firming. There was something about the gesture that was familiar.
This was Serin’s mother. There wasn’t a strong resemblance, but his gut said he was right. Noomi had mentioned her name…
Dalasini inhaled deeply. “Let us pray to the Mother. Ask her to spare our daughter, Her servant, Serin.”
As one, all heads in the room bowed.
Damn. Prayers were all well and good, but the pragmatist in him wasn’t ready to trust in a higher power, no matter how much glowing water they had around here. “Um, that’s great, but why don’t we ask Serin to turn herself into liquid so she can just flush the poison now that the bullet is out?” he asked.
“N-no! Are you mad?” Serin’s mother sputtered.
Gia held up her hand. “Dalasini, he doesn’t understand your concern.”
The Earth Elemental turned to Daniel. “Water is inherently wild and difficult to control. It requires the fiercest will to manipulate it…and an even greater singlemindedness to maintain your own integrity within it. Serin has to be conscious to remain Serin in there. She’s too far gone from the poison to make the attempt.”
Not liking her answer any more than he liked the whole situation, he reached out for Serin’s hand. “Are you sure? Can’t we go with her and…I don’t know…hold onto her like she holds on to me when I turn liquidy?”
Dalasini made a disgusted noise. “Gia, can you please tell this person to stop speaking? Clearly, he has no idea of what’s at stake.”
Affronted, Daniel straightened, spine going rigid as he glowered at Serin’s mother. “Hey, lady, I
know exactly what’s at stake—”
Daniel didn’t get to finish telling her what that was. One moment, he was there in the pool with the others. In the next, he was formless, floating in the glowing pool.
Gia’s voice came out of nowhere, a faraway echo.
“Uh, Daniel, it seems that on some level, Serin must have heard you. Your bodies have merged with the water in the pool.”
Feeling as if he were floundering, Daniel tried to contain his panic in this nowhere state of nothingness he’d found himself in. Fuck. What does that mean? What do I do? Where are you?
The Earth Elemental’s voice surrounded him, grounding him enough to stop his panicking. “Still standing in the pool. Serin only took you with her. This is on you now. The rest of us are getting out. I’m going to flush the poison out of the pool. You have to hold on to her.”
He wanted to laugh, but a mental image of him drowning was too strong—despite the impossibility of water drowning itself. I have no fucking idea how to do that. Serin had always held on to him, never the other way around.
Gia’s tone grew impatient. “You’re her mate. Figure it out!”
The word mate flashed through him, but he pushed it to the back of his mind to examine later. All right. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Daniel cast his mind out, attempting to find the bit of essence that was Serin. At first, there was nothing. It was like treading water in the middle of the ocean while wondering where the hell the nearest island was.
“Stop panicking,” Gia ordered from somewhere above him.
He scoffed. Easy for you to say; you’ve got feet and a mouth right now.
“Figure. It. Out.” It sounded like she pushed the words out through gritted teeth.
Damn that Earth Elemental could be a hardass. Daniel made a move to suck in a breath, but immediately realized how stupid that was. This was a simple case of mind over matter. He just had to picture himself swimming.
Stroke, stroke, stroke. He counted one after another, willing the mental image to be a reality. It took way longer than he would have imagined, but he eventually did a circuit of the tiny pool, collecting Serin’s essence and holding it to his heart.
The Elementals Collection Page 74