CRYSTALLUM (The Primordial Principles Book 1) (42 page)

"I'm sorry I dunked you in the water. Next time we come, I'll let you put your bathing suit on first." He grinned.

"You've seen everything now," she half laughed. "I don't think it matters."

"There's my little devil showing her horns again." He reached for her waist, and her shirt billowed out underneath the water, so his hands wrapped bare skin. She sucked in a breath. "And I have not seen everything. There's still a lot of material going on up top, so it's sort of a distorted view."

"Distorted?"

"Okay, not distorted...unclear. Only outlines, and shading, and—
"

"Really—" she said in a flat tone. "Outlines and shading? Sounds pretty clear."

"It's a little bit clear," he admitted, hands skimming over her stomach. "It's not like you're naked. You still have your jeans on." His hands slid up her rib cage and he kissed her neck.

"If you keep going, I'm going to take your shirt off, too. Just so we're playing fair."

He groaned and backed away. "I'm starting to hate the word 'virtue.'"

"I thought you hated the word 'belong'?"

"I do." He hoisted her out of the water and onto the edge. "I also hate the word, 'thing', and the phrase, 'my own.’ Virtue is about to be added onto the list." He pushed himself out of the water, and sat beside her, leaning back on his hands, his own T-shirt clinging to the hard lines of his chest, shoulders, and stomach.

"I hate to point this out, since we're discussing virtuous behavior and everything," she said, eyeing him. "But you look way hotter than I do in a wet T-shirt." Her gaze traveled from his broad shoulders, over the defined ripples on his hard stomach, and to the bare strip of exposed skin above the waistline of his jeans. "It's...I mean..." She let out a breath. "Damnnn."

Cole's eyes turned black, and he snatched her up, and they fell back into the water.

***

Darkness was falling as they made their way back toward the Brotherhood. Street lights dimmed on either side of the rocky road, their existence thinning the higher up in the mountain they drove, until eventually there were none. Only the small round spots of
yellow from
the Jeep's headlights showed on the road in front of them. Cole's hand rested on Kade's knee, and a slight change of energy rolled through the car. He tensed.

"What is that?" Kade's gaze roved the dashboard.

"You feel that?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Your instincts are as sharp as mine. You keep surprising
me, little bird." Cole gave her a quick grin, but his entire demeanor
had
changed. Gone from the sweet, loving Cole, to the hard, arrogant one. He pulled the Jeep off the side of the road and yanked the emergency brake. "I need you stay here. Leave the car on and the
heat. I don't want
you to get cold." He removed his phone from his pocket and texted something with his thumb. "Danny will be here in a minute to get you."

"What?" Kade glared at him. "I'm not sitting here while you go...where are you going?"

"I just have to check something. I won't be long." Cole unclipped his seat belt. "But I'd feel better if you were with Danny."

"Out there? You're going out there, alone?" She thrust her hands toward the pitch black road, bordered by the dense, snow covered forest. "It's pitch black dark."

"Kade—" Cole's jaw muscles popped.

She shook her head, noticing that every time he called her Kade something was either wrong or he was serious. "I'm coming with you."

"Kade—"

"Stop calling me Kade."

"Please, stay here, Sparrow. I don't want you hurt. You don't know how to do enough yet. I'll take care of this. Go with Danny, and I'll meet you at the Brotherhood."

"Take care of what?" Her voice shrilled.

A rumble shook the ground, shaking the Jeep, and caused her to grab onto the door frame. "What was that?"

Cole cursed. "That's Jake. The guy who apparently thinks that there is something going on between the two of you. Okay? Don't get out of the car." Anger flashed in his eyes, and Kade saw the falcon in them. It was a relief to recognize the darkness.

He opened his door, and a cold blast of air swept through the Jeep, freezing her. The ground rumbled again, harder this time, rattling Kade's head against the leather seat.

"I swear to god, I'm going to kill that kid one of these days." Cole glanced back. "I'll see you in a minute. Lock the doors." He took off like shot. Kade tried to follow his streak of movement across the snow, but he was too fast.

Without street lights, only darkness pressed against the windows. Nothing but wilderness and wildlife. Animals that would
literally eat someone if given the chance. Kade clicked the automatic door locks with a shiver. Not only was the temperature dropping rapidly, even with the heat on, fear was creeping up her neck like spider's legs. No headlights shone in the distance. Danny could've been anywhere when Cole texted him.

A shout rent through the still night air, followed by a painful,
sharp cry. It swept over her like the cut of a knife. She knew that
scream. Would have known it anywhere. It was the scream she'd heard when the falcon appeared.

Cole.

Terror gripped her, and she practically ripped the door off its frame. She took off through the trees, trying to follow the sound, searching for footsteps to track. There were none. Cole simply moved too fast to leave any.

Ice crunched under her feet, her boots sunk into the slush, freezing her feet through the suede. Low hanging tree branches, pulled down by
the weight of deadly icicles, brushed the side of her face, her arms, threatening to slice through her clothes and skin. The side of the mountain came into view under the waning moon, its hazardous, jagged face shining in the dim light, and Kade made it to the top of a
hill.

Cole stood over an abandoned mine, and Kade knew there were
faults everywhere. Growing up in the mountains, she'd been taught
to stay away from abandoned coal mines. They could collapse underneath the weight of a person within seconds and swallow their
victim whole,
burying them alive. But Cole and Jake were fighting across the
barren stretch of ice, not with their fists, but with energy.

Oh. My. God.

Ribbons of colored light streamed out in every direction. Like spears or knives, the bolts were clearly aimed to do damage. And even though Kade knew about energy, wielding it herself, and she knew all
Primordial had that ability, seeing Cole do it was more than she was prepared for. He moved with purpose and grace. Standing tall, his shoulders were broad and proud, and he seemed to welcome the threat.

Jake's hand shot outward, and a blue band of light caught Cole in the shoulder. He staggered, and Jake ran, wrapping Cole up around his waist. The full weight of his body knocked Cole
backward to the ground. Kade stifled a scream.

"You son of a bitch." Jake stood over Cole like a lion who'd just captured his prey. "You thought you could get away this, and no one would know? She's a Primeva and mine. I should hand you over to the Ward right now. You sorry—"

A swift kick to the stomach sent Jake flying through the air, silencing whatever else he was going to say. His back slammed into one of the rusted buildings surrounding the mine with a deafening bang, and he slid to the ground.

"Son of a bitch?" Cole yelled, standing tall, breaths labored and drawn. He paced back and forth, shaking his right arm, energy vibrating off of him in waves of red light. It shimmered on the still night air like ripples on a lake. "That's the best you can do? Slam into me? It's like your signature move now." He wiped his mouth, and something glistened on his hand under the moonlight. Blood. "
Fortis fortuna adiuvat
."

Fortune favors the bold.

Latin again.

"You still feeling lucky, Jake?" Cole continued pacing like a caged tiger.

A blue stream of energy blew from Jake's direction, whistling through the night like a bullet, and Cole lifted a bored hand and deflected it, sending it screaming into a cluster of trees, engulfing them in flames. The night lit up like a fireworks display.

"Had enough?" Cole taunted.

Jake rose to his feet and released another surge of energy.

"Guess that's a no." Cole sent the blue wave ricocheting into the sky in a swirl of red. "I don't give a damn what you tell the Warden. Tell him I stole your girl. It'd be true if she were yours. But she isn't."

Kade's jaw dropped, and she couldn't stop the smile that crept over her face. Shapes moved in her periphery, weaving through the trees, and orange light cast off two faces hidden in the dark. Two faces Cole didn't see. Couldn't have seen with the firelight blazing.

"Done yet?" He continued to pace like a hopped up wire.
"Because I can't play all night. Sorry. Plans."

Jake didn't respond, or move, still leaning against the rusted building. Something told Kade that Cole wouldn't do anything else unless it was in self-defense. There was a familiarity in Cole's taunts. Giselle said they hated each other, so had Jake, but all the times Kade had seen Cole around him, other than taunting him like the arrogant ass he could be, hatred wasn't what she picked up on.

The shapes below moved closer, and Kade scurried down the hill, lost her footing and slid on her butt, the snow soaking her clothes. One of the figures rushed from the darkened tree line, racing
across the deadly mine field at full tilt toward Cole. Jet black hair shone like a beacon against the orange flames, giving his identity away. Alex.

Kade screamed.

Cole spun just as Alex plowed into him with an audible growl. They rolled, arms and legs flailing, as punches were thrown.

The other figure eased out of the shadows, and turned on Kade. "Well, who do we have over here?"

Kade backed up.

"Away from your protectors, new girl?" Kyle grinned. “It still looks like you're confused about where your loyalties lie."

Kade's eyes shifted toward Cole, who still rolled across the frozen ground. She had no idea who had the upper the hand, Cole or Alex, and her stomach knotted, knowing Cole still wasn't completely healed from the fight with Kyle.

Kyle, the Shadow. The Nefarius.

Energy zinged through her veins and her gaze shifted back to him. Milky white eyes stared back. Rows of silver teeth jutted outward, and his wide mouth morphed into a grin.

"Afraid?" he asked.

"You wish." Her jaw itched, wings straining to break free of her shoulders.

"I tried to get to you in Crystalline, but I think now is more fitting." His white eyes roved toward Cole. "That way lover boy will
remember who has the upper hand in this war."

Electricity hummed down her arms, in her hands, building in her core, and she refused to move, to back up. She might not be trained yet, or know how she'd been doing it all her life, but if she got mad enough, or if anyone hurt Cole, she could wield just as
much power as she'd seen him let loose in the past few minutes.

"I tried to warn you," Kyle said. "Remind you of your alliances." Rows of razor teeth showed in the back of his mouth. "Somebody needs to learn a thing or two about ownership."

"Ownership? You might want to recheck what century you're living in because you seem confused," she said. "It's the twenty-first. Equal rights and all that."

"No wonder you like Cole so much. Match made in hell."

She shrugged, heat radiating up her spine, quivering in the air around her. "Or in heaven."

"You don't belong in heaven." Something about the way Kyle said those words scared her like nothing else had.

"What would you know about it?"

"More than you think." He sneered, and took a step toward her.

Kade backed up.

A glimpse of red light gleamed in the darkness.

Cole was on his feet, Alex on his back in the snow. Not moving. Cole wiped his mouth, more blood on his hand. He turned, and his gaze caught Kade's across the field, and shifted toward Kyle. With speed too fast to track, Cole was gone, only a faint red streak showed in his wake, marking his path before two arms blurred in front of Kade's face, and Kyle was lifted off the ground and thrown. Straight toward the fire engulfing the trees.

"Get down!” Cole shouted.

Kade dropped to her knees. Kyle's body slowed in midair, and spun, wisps of shadow breaking away. He landed on his feet, fury contorting his face. His entire body shook, and he transformed into nothing but Shadow, blending into the night.

“Stay down, Kade.” Cole took off. A screeching cry broke over the clearing, and a massive, six foot tall falcon sped like a bullet toward an invisible prey. Kyle's body shifted back and forth,
between Shadow and human, flickering in mid-air as if unable to hold one shape. The
falcon's talons sunk into his neck. Red energy lit up the sky, and spread through Kyle's body, his veins, lighting him up from the inside out. His body convulsed, but he never made a sound. Only dropped from
midair onto his knees in the snow, eyes wide with shock, his spine
severed in two, his body charred black.

Kade covered her mouth with her hand, shock rippling through her.

Thickness filled the air, blocking out the cold, and Nefarius filtered through the forest, all along the tree line, everywhere, their wispy forms catching the moonlight, exposing their positions.
Hundreds of them.

Cole shifted into his human form across the field. "Get your ass
up, Jake!" he shouted, and was next to Kade in less than a second, rolling his neck, flexing his hands. "Remember what you did in the
cavern?"

"Yeah." Kade eyed the Shadows, still trembling. Nowhere to run. Nowhere to go. Too many of them.

"You're a good shot," Cole said. "I'm going need you to be a good shot in a minute. Can you do that?"

"Yeah." She swallowed hard. She would do that. She would do anything to protect Cole.