Elemental Darkness (Paranormal Public Series) (33 page)

We all started to scrabble away, but there was no point. We couldn’t get away.

A thundering sound, like a million giants’ feet hammering down the staircase in Astra, started to make a ring of noise around us. Somehow the only part of the room that was left untouched was the part that I was in with my friends; everything else started to shake and crumble around us.

To my surprise, the demons looked just as surprised at the sound as I felt. Before any of us could move, there was a blast, as if a furnace had exploded right in the room with us, and the demons were slammed backward.

Every. Single. One. Went flying like leaves buffeted in a gale. They slammed into the walls of the room, except for the one that smashed into a chair, tipping it over.

They never even had a chance to rise. Only the Demon of Knight stayed standing, but barely. The other demons flew out doors and windows in every possible direction. The hellhounds whined and rolled away from the power, but the power was controlled, not random. I now knew just how hard it was to direct your power, and I could see that the blasts were directed at the hellhounds nearest to us.

The demons no longer looked scary. They looked like no more than pathetic scraps of black paper, powerless to protect themselves against so much strength.

The hellhounds either ran or disappeared, mostly the latter. The ones that ran didn’t get very far, it was as if the power didn’t want the darkness to leave the room. The demons crumbled into heaps. Finally the Demon of Knight himself fell, his armor dinging the floor.

I laid my head on the floor, unable for the moment to face what was coming. Dust and debris lay everywhere as a dark figure walked through the doorway. I breathed out a long, ragged sigh. My vision was blurry, so I was forced to squint. If this was the darkness premier, I didn’t have the strength to fight anymore.

“We have about a minute before the next round comes through that door,” said Lisabelle, stepping into the room.
Her eyes blazed, and she looked much the same as ever. Her skin was pale and her long black hair flowed over her shoulders and cascaded downward, nearly to her waist. Her cheeks might be a little thinner, but it was her eyes that really stood out. I had seen them blaze before, spark to life in a fit of anger, but that wasn’t how she looked now. Now her eyes were burning with a thoughtful light. If she was angry, it was hidden deep inside. She was pure leashed power, and never in my life had I been happier to see her.

Lisabelle glared at the standing Demon of Knight. “Come here,” she said to it, motioning with her finger. “Come on. Okay. A little closer. Yeah, close enough.”

Black fire whipped from her hand faster than I could follow, slamming the demon back against the wall. He fell next to his companions. Then Lisabelle looked at Sip and shrugged. “Having him still standing makes me look bad.”

“We can’t have that,” said a dumbfounded Sip.

“Well, no,” said Lisabelle as she looked around the room and dusted her hands off. The silence was broken only by the gentle swing of the door to our living room cabinet, which was almost off its hinge.

“Cool, and oh look, I win,” said Ricky smugly, pointing at Lisabelle. “I so win. Hi, Lisabelle!”

She grinned briefly at him, then threw the three surviving hellhounds against the fireplace. She looked different somehow, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

“Why has she gotten to meet Ricky and I haven’t?” Sip demanded indignantly.

“She likes me better,” said Lisabelle, her eyes still examining her handiwork.

“What are you doing here?” I asked her.

She paused. “It’s been their plan all along to come for him,” she explained. “I didn’t want to make contact with you, because I was worried that if I did they would no longer trust me and I wouldn’t be able to help him when they attacked.”

“You didn’t think our defenses would hold?” I demanded.

“Obviously not,” said Lisabelle matter of factly. “You can’t win against darkness in a fair fight.”

“Good thing the fights aren’t fair.”

“Exactly! Now, do you have a basement?”

“Yes,” I said, frowning. “You want us to go where we can’t get out?”

“I’m going to magic it,” Lisabelle explained. “Then I’m going to let the demons in to search for you. They won’t find you. After they leave you can come out.”

“We have to get back to Public,” I said.

Lisabelle nodded. “I know. It is where I’ve been summoned as well.”

“Not by the same mistresses though,” said Sip, eyeing her friend.

“Do you trust me?” Lisabelle asked, her eyes dark. “I know you’ve taken a lot of grief this semester for being my friend.”

I might have been imagining it, but I was pretty sure I saw Lisabelle’s lower lip tremble just a little.

To Sip’s undying credit, she never hesitated. She flung herself at Lisabelle and wrapped her arms tightly around the taller girl. Lisabelle was unused to displays of affection, and it was very clear that for a split second she thought she was supposed to blast Sip away, because another paranormal was running toward her at high speed. But finally she gave in and hugged her back.

As Sip reached Lisabelle I thought I heard her say, “You didn’t say bye.”

“Girls,” Ricky muttered, throwing up his hands. “At a time like this, no less.”

“I like him,” said Lough, although I could see the happiness shining in his eyes. He had tried to keep it contained, but he’d been desperate and miserable without Lisabelle.

“Hey,” said Ricky, looking at the dream giver. “I like you, too.”

Lisabelle put us in the basement. We protested, because it felt like running away from a fight, but she insisted.

“I don’t like that you’re taking all the risks,” Lough said to her. “Why didn’t you show yourself sooner?”

“It’s not a risk,” said Lisabelle calmly. “They’re just demons. They are no match for me. As for that, I was hoping you could fight your way out. If I hadn’t had to help, all the better.”

“But of course we couldn’t,” I said, “not with so many demons.”

Lisabelle shrugged. “I’m just glad I got here in time.”

“It was amazing,” said Ricky excitedly, turning to me, “I’ll tell you all about it. She controls fire.”

“So does she,” said Lisabelle, pointing at me.

Ricky looked at me in shock. “No way,” he breathed. “You can’t even light our fireplace in the winter.”

“Thanks for that, Ricky,” I said dryly.

He shrugged. “Just telling the truth.”

Our basement wasn’t much to speak of. It had a dirt floor, and Carl used it mostly to keep old boxes in storage. My mom had refused to go down there entirely.

Ricky waved goodbye to Lisabelle, obviously already knowing better than to try and hug her at this moment. It astounded me how much raw power was coursing through her veins. I couldn’t see her wand, but I had a feeling it covered her whole arm by now.

“Do the demons know about your arm?” I asked.

Lisabelle shook her head. “I carry a wand and wave it around like an idiot to throw them off.”

“I wish I could see that,” said Sip wistfully.

Lisabelle rolled her eyes. “Of course you do.” She pointed at the werewolf. “You better not have ‘redecorated’ our room.”

“I haven’t touched it,” said Sip, her voice breaking a little.

“I have to go,” said Lisabelle, her eyes softening a little. We could all hear the demons outside. They were growing impatient.

“Wait, Lisabelle,” said Sip, her purple eyes filled with worry. “Are you okay?”

At first I had thought that Lisabelle looked fine, but on closer examination I could see that she didn’t. She looked tired. The circles under her eyes were darker and she was thinner.

She sighed. “It’s the Black Ring. I made promises when I put it on. I didn’t have a choice, but they are promises I have no intention of keeping. Fighting saps my strength every day.”

Sip merely nodded, her eyes bright. Lough cleared his throat. “Dreams help,” he said quietly. “Dream yourself not wearing the Black Ring. When you return to wakefulness it’ll be hard for a minute, but overall it should be easier.”

For a second Lisabelle didn’t say anything, then she nodded. “I didn’t know that. I’ll do it.”

Lough nodded, unable to speak.

I gave Lisabelle a hug. It felt good to know she was alive and fighting.

“I can’t thank you enough,” I whispered. “For Ricky. If you hadn’t. . . .”

Lisabelle’s black eyes met my gray ones. She nodded once.

“Loyalty. Always.”

“You go far beyond that,” I told my friend.

We all watched as she closed the door behind her.

After Lisabelle was gone we sat in silence. There were several heart-stopping minutes when we heard the patter of countless feet slamming overhead while Demons of Knight and hellhounds tore our home apart and we sat in the basement, hoping that Lisabelle’s spells were strong enough to protect us.

“What if they find us?” Ricky whispered to me. He was glued to my side and staring with wide eyes at the ceiling of the basement.

“Then Lisabelle will come back,” said Lough. “I’d kind of like that,” he finished wistfully. “For a minute we were all together again, and wasn’t it grand.”

All except for Keller.

“We’d all like that,” said Sip softly.

Finally, the noise stopped. We stayed still for several more minutes.

“Ouch,” I muttered, glaring at my arm, momentarily distracted.

I was just about to stand up when my elbow bumped into a box. It was hot to the touch.

“What is this?” I whispered. “Sip, demon magic?”

She came over to examine the box. “No traces of it,” she said, her voice filled with as much confusion as I felt. “Hum.”

She reached out, but she didn’t even get near it.

“That’s my stuff,” said Ricky, his voice rising. He’d been through a lot that evening. “Don’t touch it.”

“We can’t,” I said honestly. “It’s burning up.”

“I thought it was just some stuff I used to play with,” he said. He came over to the box and reached out to open it. Sip and I both cried out in alarm, but he ignored us. He touched the box without screaming, and his hands didn’t burst into flames.

“See?” he said. “There’s nothing.”

In
side the box was something wrapped in old brown paper. It felt heavy, and I could feel the cold even through the wrapping. When I touched it, though, it started to hum with warmth and life.

“What is it?” Ricky asked me eagerly.

I wasn’t sure. “Lets go upstairs and find out.”

“Okay,” said Ricky, “but maybe in the kitchen?”

I swallowed hard as I walked past Carl. I hadn’t liked him, I hadn’t thought well of him, but that didn’t mean I thought he deserved to die, especially not when he died protecting Ricky.

My
brother averted his eyes from his stepdad. I knew he’d have to grieve, I knew I had a lifetime’s worth of explaining to do, but right now, just like me, his heart was too full.

The kitchen was relatively unharmed. A chair was turned over, but otherwise there was no sign that a demon battle had just taken place in the house.

Gently I laid the brown paper on the counter. It was so hot now that I could hear it humming. As my friends and Ricky gathered around, I carefully unwrapped what my mom had hidden for so many years.

But I could already feel what it was.

“Wow,” Sip breathed, when I had finally finished uncovering the Crown of Nascaro.

Well, half of it anyway.

“That’ll set you back,” said Lough.

I snorted. “I’m pretty sure it’s priceless,” I sa
id. I couldn’t take my eyes off it.

The half crown was a delicate metal frame, around which were fixed delicate white pearls in the shapes of things that were important to elementals.
I could see thistles and clovers mixed in with other flowers. There was even a vapor rock, which water elementals use to focus power.

“Oh
, Charlotte,” Sip breathed.

I swallowed hard, staring at the crown of my family.

“So, Mom kept half a crown in the basement. Our family is so weird,” said Ricky, shaking his head disapprovingly.

I glanced at my brot
her and then at my two friends, but I could find nothing to say.

“Good thing
the kids at school don’t know. Although I suppose I’m not going back to school,” my little brother said wistfully.

M
y mom had kept the crown all those years, hidden downstairs in some dusty box.

“You know
, Charlotte,” said Sip slowly, “the crown might offer an explanation of why elementals killed your mom.”

I nodded slowly. “It was a rogue band, but they wanted the crown, because
whoever possessed the crown would technically be the ruler of the elementals,” I said. “They wanted it and they knew my mom had it. Maybe they killed her when she wouldn’t talk.”