Elemental (19 page)

Ranen sat on one of the sofas and gestured
for Cailen and me to take the other. Our bare arms brushed against
each other as we sat in silence across from the Soltakian. A jolt
of electricity hummed through my veins and Cailen inched away from
me. I didn’t understand the reaction. Whenever I felt the
electricity between us that made my blood numb, all I wanted to do
was move closer to him, touch him more. I dreamed of his arms
wrapping around me, smothering me in the numbing haze. My head swam
like someone had drugged me. Before I knew it, my hand was inching
closer to graze his. I jerked it back and stuffed it under my
leg.

Ranen’s far-too-perceptive eyes narrowed in
suspicion.

I couldn’t be sure, but I thought Cailen
shook his head an infinitesimal amount when Ranen turned his gaze
on him. Before I could give it much more thought, Ranen leaned
forward with his elbows on his lap and a broad grin spread across
his face.

“Now talk,” he said.

Cailen leaned forward as well, his shoulders
tensing as his fists clenched. “What do you know of the
Destructor?”

My breathing stopped. I couldn’t tear my
wide and horrified eyes away from Cailen. This is what he wanted to
talk to Ranen about? How did everyone
know
?

“She’s the one meant to issue El’s judgment
upon Manoo, ending the reign of evil in this universe once and for
all.”

Cailen’s gaze hardened. “What else do you
know?”

Ranen’s eyes flicked to me for an instant.
He gulped. “Well, it’s not entirely certain if she, uh, lives
through the experience.”

My held breath came out in a whoosh. I
struggled to find my voice, but my question was little more than a
squeak. “What?”

Ranen readjusted himself on the couch and
spoke quickly. “Well, there’s some doubt on that point, you see.
It’s not really discussed much in the old prophecies. There may be
a line or two in some of the more obscure papers about how ‘under
flame and smoke, the two will be consumed,’ but that doesn’t
necessarily mean you… or if it does, that you will die.”

“How could it not?” My squeaky voice somehow
rose up an octave.

“Well, there are passages that indicate an
accomplice for Manoo, and many scholars in my family theorized that
perhaps he was the one the quote was referring to. Or!” He raised a
finger, pausing to make sure I was listening. “It could have been
referring to the man whom Manoo will possess during the rite of the
Shadra… if it gets that far. Which we hope it won’t because, well,
the prophecies imply that there won’t be much hope for you if it,
um, goes along that path.”

“Wait a second.” I held up my hand. “This
isn’t a sure thing? I might not actually win against Manoo?”

Cailen’s piercing gaze turned on me while
Ranen fidgeted with his shirt sleeve. “Well…no.” He sighed. “You
see, this is the turning point. Either you win and evil is
destroyed, or you lose and Manoo is allowed free reign for an
unconfirmed number of years. Possibly forever.” He brightened.
“Though I can’t imagine El would actually let that happen.”

I stared at Cailen. He looked back at me
with an unfathomable expression. I might not win, and even if I
did, I probably wasn’t going to live. This seemed like a sick
mockery of my previous whim of self-sacrifice. It was one thing to
give up my own life under my own power; it was quite another to
know I had no choice.

“Everything must happen just so,” Ranen
continued. “Though no one really knows how that is supposed to be.
Hopefully, though, we have a few years to prepare you before Manoo
discovers who you are and names you Shadra. That’s the catalyst.
Once you’re named, everything will be set in motion.”

Could someone’s heart stop beating and still
keep them alive? Because it felt like every last cell and organ in
my body had just frozen in place.

“How do you know Ella is the Destructor?”
Cailen was speaking to Ranen, but he didn’t tear his eyes from
me.

“The locket—the red and orange flower symbol
of the Destructor.” Ranen’s tone was wistful. “It was left by
Elsden to be found by the Destructor alone. There are stories that
El left a message for the One within its locked compartment.”

Like a reflex reaction, my hand went up to
the locket around my neck. “But I didn’t find this,” I said,
staring at Cailen. “You did.”

He shook his head…slowly. “No. You found it
the day you were kidnapped. As soon as I saw it in your hands, I
knew what it was and convinced you to give it to me.” He looked
away. “I was trying to protect you.”

I didn’t remember any of that, and suddenly
I was angry. What had the Mamood done to me? Why couldn’t I
remember anything? I’d been seven, for crying out loud! I should
have remembered
something
! “Why can’t I remember?” I said
that much louder than I needed to, but I didn’t care. Fury broiled
in my veins.

Cailen rubbed a path along my arm. “Ella,
you went through a lot of trauma. Maybe your mind shut down to
protect itself. You just escaped. Give it time.”

Did that make sense? Maybe. I
had
been using my dreams to escape—I’d always known that. Maybe I’d
subconsciously forgotten my past to keep it separate from my
hellish present. Well, my dreams had been an escape up until last
night. A shudder passed through me as I thought of the hound’s jaws
around my throat. I remembered my hand on the locket, so close to
my neck, and dropped it to my lap. “Why did you give it back?” My
voice was barely above a whisper.

“Because I had to live ten years without
you, and I always blamed myself. I swore that if I found you, I
wouldn’t deny your destiny again.”

So Cailen did care. He cared more than he
wanted to let on. His face looked tender, sweet, and less guarded
than usual. But an undercurrent of agony lay just underneath the
surface. My heart swelled, almost painfully so, and I ached to wrap
my arms around him.

However he felt, it was pretty clear he
wanted distance between us, and I was far too timid to be the one
to breach the wall he’d built. Besides, there was something far
more important that needed to be clarified. Cailen and Ranen needed
to know.

“Manoo’s already named me Shadra,” I
murmured. “He did it right before I escaped.”

Before I even had a chance to register their
reactions, a ball of flames exploded from the maw of the fireplace,
curling in waves and coming right toward me.

Chapter
Fifteen
:

War

“No!” In one quick movement, Cailen stood up
and thrust his hand against my chest, pushing me back. The sofa
rolled on top of me.

I was stuck on my back with my body all
curled in on itself. I tried to move, but the sofa pinned me down.
Flames roared around me. I could barely hear Ranen’s squeals of
panic above the ear-splitting thrumming as the fire consumed and
sucked at the air.

Something started grabbing me. Invisible
fingers pulled at the sleeves on my dress, dragging me along the
floor. I managed to straighten my legs out, so I kicked at the sofa
and twisted my body around.

Smoke hovered inches above my head and
scorching heat prickled the skin on my back. I rose to my knees and
crawled away from the flames. Ranen was ahead of me, leading the
way.

But where was Cailen?

I twisted my head around, squinting my eyes
at the blast of heat. Cailen still stood in front of the fireplace.
Flames swirled around him as tendrils ripped through his wall of
air.

“No,” I whispered.

My blood began to tingle and I knew it was
only a matter of seconds before those roaring flames would have to
bend to my will. If only Cailen could hold on that long.

A tendril of flames whipped out and smacked
Cailen against the chest. He retreated a step, but held on. I
crawled toward him, preparing myself for when the red points of
light would appear in my vision.

Ranen wrapped his bony fingers around my
ankle and yanked me away. I dug my nails into the wood floor, but
he was too strong.

The flames rose above Cailen and slammed
down on him. I knew in an instant that he couldn’t recover from
that kind of attack.

“No!” I sucked at the air, preparing to
lunge away from Ranen’s restraining fingers and toward the
consuming flames. The smoke burned my throat.

Ranen had a grip on both my ankles and
pulled me out of the room with one final heave. When I was clear of
the doorway, he jumped up and pushed a keypad. A metal door slid
closed in front of me, cutting off my vision of the burning flames
as they consumed Cailen.

I clutched at my chest and screamed.

“Shh!” Ranen’s face hovered inches above
mine. “It’s here for
you
.”

“I could’ve stopped it! I was so close! I
could’ve saved him!”

Ranen shook his head. “No. That is Fire in
there. You aren’t strong enough yet.”

I fixed my gaze on the smooth, silver door.
“Cailen.”

The keypad chirped and Ranen punched in some
kind of code. The door slid open and as it did water poured out of
the library, soaking me.

Two sets of footsteps pounded on the floor
behind me. “What’s wrong? What happened?” Meir’s voice clenched
with anxiety. It was nothing compared to the way my torn and bloody
heart burned in my chest.

Someone’s hands grabbed at me. I shrugged
them away. I needed to see Cailen, if there was anything left of
him. I rose to my feet and stumbled forward, too drunk with grief
to figure out how to put one foot in front of the other.

The room was a disaster. Scorch marks rose
up the walls like shadowy fingers. The sofas were burnt and
blackened, the floor charred. And Cailen was… gone. I slipped on a
puddle of murky water and my head slammed against the floor. I
didn’t even have the energy or the will to put my hands behind me
to stop the fall.

Tears and pain eluded me.

“There’s something over here,” Malik
said.

My head popped up. Behind the other ruined
couch, he crouched over something—something green and blue. I
crawled forward as fast as I could, not trusting my feet.

A green and blue cocoon—roughly Cailen’s
size—lay on the floor. I stroked it with careful, timid fingers.
The electric shock that jolted through my bones nearly knocked me
onto my back. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling. In fact, it was
altogether mind-tingling and euphoric. My muscles jelled into a
sweet, hazy mush.

I moaned.

Cailen’s wings hadn’t been there the night
before or even that morning, but they were there now, wrapping him
within their velvety folds.

I pulled at the folds where I guessed his
head would be; they peeled away without much force. Cailen’s face
was black and blistered, his eyes shut tight. I choked back a gasp.
Malik rubbed my shoulder and pulled me into a hug.

“Is he breathing?” I whispered. I didn’t
dare check myself.

Malik leaned slightly forward with me still
in his arms. “Yes.”

I let out a deep sigh of relief. If he was
breathing, he’d be okay. Somehow, I was certain of that fact. And
if he was okay, I could live on.

The storm of emotions all roiled underneath
the surface of my cool exterior. Now that I knew Cailen was safe, I
couldn’t let Malik… or Meir… know the depth of my feelings. I was
sure they guessed—I hadn’t exactly hidden my pain from them just a
few moments ago—but I would keep them guessing. At least, until I
had any idea of what was going on.

“We need to get him on a bed,” Meir said.
“And maybe call someone to come over and look at him.”

“No!” Ranen and I said at the same time.
Whatever Ranen’s reason for it, I didn’t want anyone poking and
prodding Cailen. I didn’t understand exactly why, but it just
seemed so… wrong.

Luckily, I didn’t have to explain this
because Ranen spoke up. “I’d like to wait a little while before the
presence of the Auri becomes publicly known, my friend. We have no
idea how anyone will react.”

Meir nodded even though he looked a little
unsure.

“Take him up to my room,” I said. “I’ll keep
watch over him. If he gets worse, we’ll call someone.” I didn’t
mean what I said—there was no way I wanted anyone touching Cailen
except me. And I hated lying to Meir. It felt like rot in my mouth.
But telling him a lie was still easier than admitting there was
something between me and Cailen. How could he possibly believe me?
And how could I possibly explain something
I
didn’t even
understand? The only thing that mattered now was keeping him close
to me. My instincts told me that I
needed
to stay by
Cailen.

Ranen agreed—perhaps seeing the lie in my
eyes—and Malik and Meir carried the velvety and beautiful, but
prostrate form up the stairs and down the hall to my room.

Hours passed as I kept vigil by his side,
with no change and no idea of when he would wake up. I was sure he
was healing himself. Certain details had clicked into place early
on in my watch. I remembered with perfect clarity the events that
had taken place on the
Meridian
when he and two other Auri
boarded the ship. I had been in severe pain and bleeding, but my
wounds had healed almost instantly when Cailen had stood by me. I
also remembered the command Cailen had given to one of the Auri
about standing near Meir. At the time, I had thought it was to
guard him. Now I understood that it was to heal him.

There was something about those
wings—something special. Still, it had taken only minutes to heal
Meir and me. So far, Cailen had been out for hours.

I didn’t know what I’d do without him. There
was something there between us, wholly undefined and perhaps
indefinable. It wasn’t dependent on how much time we’d spent
together or how much we knew about each other. Perhaps we didn’t
even have a choice in the matter. But I knew beyond all reasoning
that I belonged with him, and he with me. Whenever he was near me,
I felt strong… and whole. Apart from him, I was weak and crippled,
unable to even breathe without effort.