Elemental Light (Paranormal Public Book 9) (24 page)

“It’s like the Power of Five,” I whispered.

A small smile touched Lough’s lips. “I dreamed it,” he whispered. “It doesn’t last long, never will, but it’s enough for now. This battle will be over pretty quickly, one way or another.”

Suddenly Dobrov stumbled up to me and wheezed, “You know that drastic step I spoke about a little while ago?” He was in bad shape, taking painful breaths as he clutched his side. “I think it’s time,” he said.

“How in all the paranormal worlds is that going to help?” I demanded. I could hear the two pieces of crown in my pockets, singing for connection, release, and power, but I was afraid. What did it all mean?

“It’s more elemental power than has existed in the open in years,” Dobrov said. “Decades, really. Stand up and join the other powers. There won’t be anything to stop you.”

Lough was there, and so was Sip. What about the others? I could see Saferous, James, and Lessi now. Darkness had yet to envelop them forever. Unfortunately, that was only because so many bodies had fallen between us. There was still a film of black smoke, but my explosions were clearing it.

“All you have to do is get to them,” Dobrov breathed. “Once you start, there won’t be any stopping you.”

My hands fumbled in my pockets as I pulled out both sides of the crown. But I didn’t even have to do anything to place them together. Like magnets, they slammed together on their own, and as soon as the edges touched, a white blaze shot out, like falling stars shooting upward.

I felt warmth race through my hands. My ring blazed so hot it burned. The crown trembled as all the jewels on it burst into life. I couldn’t look away from the blinding brightness.

Somewhere nearby I heard a “Yay!” It sounded kind of like Lough.

I took a deep breath. The crown was still in front of me, and I couldn’t see anything but its light. I raised it into the air and set it on my dust-covered head. The moment it settled, I felt power course through every limb, shoot through my neck, race down my spine, and fill every cell all the way through to my toes. The power slammed through me so fast it felt like I was going to burst. All at once I saw my past, the past of all the elementals, in a million pictures racing before my eyes. I felt the warmth of Queen Ashray and her fighting spirit, the memories of my family and of the generations of royals who had worn the crown before me. I was an elemental royal, and I had taken my place as the leader of the elementals by donning the crown. I needed no one’s permission but my own.

I felt fresh air move through my lungs, and finally I raised my eyes. A spring breeze blew around me as lights from a million red fires sprang up. The ground rolled and rumbled a greeting under my feet, as in the distance I heard the patter of rain.

Through the blaze of my crown I could just see every head in the Circle start to turn my way. In no time at all, every pair of eyes was on me, so I decided that I might as well do something with all the attention. I needed to find a vampire, a pixie, and a fallen angel, fast.

I called to the wild wind - not the tame breeze, but the one that blustered and blew and ripped roots from the ground, houses from foundations, and ships from their moorings. The deepest, hottest part of the earth came at my slightest demand, and the rain turned to blades of ice when I asked for cold. This was the most solid and real I had felt in weeks, months, maybe forever. It was wonderful and terrifying and I had already gone too far to go back.

In search of a fallen angel, a vampire, and a pixie, I headed for the last place where I had seen the High Council. Nothing and no one got in my way, and I wondered if this was how Lanca felt when she wore her crown.

To my surprise, others came to meet me. Saferous walked up and just stood there, looking me over. His clothes were tattered and bloody and his hair stuck up at odd angles, but his eyes were bright. Saferous of House Safe had been captured.

“The Power of Five?” James Gallavin asked, gulping air like it was magic medicine. “I’ve never done it.”

“We’ll show you,” said Saferous, nodding to me. I nodded in return, surprised by the respect shining in his eyes. Lough was right behind me, and the High Council representative for Airlee had been pushed aside. Lessi Anderonics looked less than pleased, as I would have myself if most of my paranormal type was secretly or not so secretly helping darkness. The werewolf Zuss came from another direction, and I could see that it was because he knew the little girl I had saved. He cradled her in her arms and she clung to him in return until a female werewolf came and took her. Zuss watched them huddle with another group of werewolves before turning to me.

“Let’s get this over with,” he growled.

“It’s better if we join hands,” I said.

“Then we won’t be able to defend ourselves,” Lessi objected. In the distance I could see Caid and Goffer surrounded by a small ring of police officers, which was in turn hemmed in by a large ring of demons. We were about to lose.

“STOP THEM,” a voice screamed. I couldn’t hear where it was coming from, but one of the Nocturns had figured out what we were about to do.

“Now!” I cried. I felt the prickle of darkness on the back of my neck and it took everything I had not to turn around.

“This can’t possibly work,” Lessi said. “The Power of Five doesn’t work anymore.”

“Of course it does, with her,” said Zuss. “You always were a skeptic who hated progress.”

“Can we save that argument for a time when our fellow paranormals are not dying in droves?” Saferous asked dryly.

“What about him? Another student,” Lessi sneered, staring at Lough.

“He’s braver than you’ve ever been,” I said. “Now just join.”

I was tired of arguing. We were out of time.

Lough seized my hand and in turn I seized Zuss’s. He grabbed Saferous who grabbed Lessi.

The power surged.

I felt a blast and saw Lessi’s eyes go wide. I felt another blast and was thrown clear of the circle. I had never moved so fast through the air. I didn’t have time to call the winds and cushion my fall. There was a split second before I slammed back first into a tree, and then darkness surrounded me.

Chapter Twenty-Two

I woke up feeling hot and tired and like I’d been pummeled with bricks.

Shifting, I nearly fell off
. . . whatever I was lying on. Fear had been a constant state for me recently, but the panic I felt now was different. I knew without a doubt that I’d been taken prisoner.

I was not on the ground or on anything stable. I was riding or being carried, but on what I couldn’t tell. Opening my eyes all the way, I felt my lashes brush against a covering of some sort. But all I saw was black. The blindfold was thick and heavy, and no trace of light came through.

I coughed, but that made my arms wiggle and my shoulder hurt. After that I tried to stay very still.

“Charlotte?” a hoarse voice asked. I felt something shift along my ropes and realized that I was tied to both a horse and another paranormal.

“Lough?” I whispered back.

“Finally,” he muttered, sounding relieved. “You’ve been out for hours, and I don’t even know how long I was out. I didn’t want to wake you, because it might draw their attention, so I just went into a dream state.”

“Can you dream us out of this mess?” I whispered. I was tied hand and foot. My crown and my ring were gone.

“Nope,” said Lough. “They’ve halted the most basic magic and our rings are missing. I can’t do nearly as much without mine.”

My stomach twisted. “They took the elemental crown?” I whispered, feeling sick.

“Must have,” said Lough.

“Are you alright?” I asked.

“Yeah,” said Lough, “some bruises, but nothing serious. What about you?”

“I’m fine,” I said. “Same. I hit a tree.”

“Just imagine how the tree feels,” said Lough.

I snorted. Same old Lough, a crisis would never derail his bad sense of humor.

“Do I even want to know who took us?” I whispered. It wasn’t meant as a question for Lough to answer, but he did.

“No,” said Lough. “If you ask me, I’ll have to tell you demons, and I’ll have to say I can’t see where we’re going, because I have a face full of demon horse hair sticking into my eyes at the moment. But still, I have a good idea.”

“You recognize the terrain?” I asked, feeling hopeful. Maybe they were taking us to Vampire Locke. I’d love for them to do that and run into Lanca.

“They’re taking us to Public,” said Lough. His voice sounded thick, as if his mouth was filled with fur. “I guess there are Nocturns there, and Malle’s demon council, and they’re under the funny impression that you know where the Mirror Arcane is.”

“Oh, that old thing,” I said, fear stabbing me.

“Yup,” said Lough, “that old thing.”

I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the ache caused by my contact with the tree. I wished fervently that the Power of Five had not knocked me out. Even more, I wished I knew what had happened. Where were the other paranormals? Did we defeat the demons? Had enacting the Power of Five been the best thing to do?

“How is it that they haven’t stopped us talking?” I asked.

“First, I know for a fact that we’re at the back of the line, because we’re going through their stench as if the air was made of it. Second, what do they care if we talk? We’re alone, and bound.”

“Thanks for that charming picture.”

A few branches brushed against my back and I nearly screamed in agony. It occurred to me that my injuries might be worse than I had thought.

I sucked in my breath and Lough said, “You sure you’re okay?”

“Yes,” I gritted out. My skin stretched as I moved, and I felt something hard and cakey on it. I must have been bleeding.

“So, how long do you think till we’re there?” I asked, trying desperately to change the subject and get my mind off the pain.

“Not very long,” said Lough. “These guys don’t talk and they don’t think. They follow orders. Mindless evil. My only comfort is that evil with a mind is far more dangerous.”

“Do you know if Sip’s okay?” I asked. Trying to summon what I could remember of the scene before I blacked out, I ended up with nothing. I’d been out the second I slammed into the tree.

“I have no idea,” said Lough. “The second blast knocked me out, too. But I’m pretty sure she’s with us somewhere, probably tied to another horse.”

My lip trembled and I could feel my hands clench.

“I’ve decided she’s fine, though,” said Lough. “She’s too tough to die at the hands of demons.”

“It wasn’t even demons,” I whispered. “It was me.”

Lough snorted. “The second blast destroyed every demon that wasn’t a Demon of Knight. It got some of the Nocturns too, it was that powerful. More demons just came, that’s all.”

I felt a little bit better at his words, but not much. I had thought I was being careful, but I was so focused on saving us from the demons that I might have killed us.

“I wonder what happened to my former dorm mother.”

“Mrs. Swan,” said Lough, “should never have brought you there.”

I didn’t want to admit it, but I’d been thinking the same thing. She had invited me to the Circle, which had become an attack, first on Sip and the Sign of Six, and then on me, with Mound immediately reverting to his normal state of elemental-hating. Not to mention what they had said about Lisabelle. You’d really think he wouldn’t be stuck on that anymore, but apparently it was asking too much.

“I don’t trust Mrs. Swan,” I said. It was hard to say it, because she had been my dorm mother sophomore year, and for that whole school year I had come to look forward to her being there when I got home at the end of the day. But there was an unsettled feeling in my stomach when I thought about her now, and I needed to trust my gut.

“She’s is dangerous,” I said. A bump in the road made the ties chafe against my wrists, and I fought the urge to cry out.

“Yup,” said Lough, “just like everyone else.”

Lough was right. We were being returned to Paranormal Public. I didn’t know how clear it was to my friend, but it was very clear to me that under no circumstances could I come face to face with Cynthia Malle. We had to escape, and we had to do it before we got anywhere near the former Public president.

The only problem was that I didn’t have my ring or my crown. That was the first thing I needed to fix. If we could just get to Astra, we might have a chance. Making a run for it seemed suicidal, but on the other hand, getting away from the demons was our only hope. I remembered all too well Smeer and Gargoile’s conversation about the
Black Ring ceremonies taking place at Public. What made this even harder was that there was no way for me to tell Lough to make a break for it.

I sighed and tried to relax into my bonds. The blindfold was itchy against my face, but with the onset of night at least my body felt cooler. We’d been climbing gently for a while now, and the feel of the slope reminded me of the small hill that led to the woods around my university.

We were getting close.

For the next I have no idea how long - a few hours? a night? - we rode in silence. My voice barely carried to Lough, and I was too tired to keep my eyes open. No matter how hard I tried, I kept dozing off. A bump in the road or the slashing sound of a demon racing through the forest would jolt me awake, then my eyes would close again.