Elemental Earth (Paranormal Public) (19 page)

She stepped toward me. Lisabelle
started, but then stopped; she was going to let me handle this. The room had
grown colder since Daisy entered, and it took every ounce of strength I had not
to shiver. Daisy’s eyes bore into mine and I met their fury as calmly as I
could. Dobrov had proven that an angry hybrid was not a paranormal to mess
with, and I had a sickening feeling that Daisy was far more dangerous than her
brother.

“Yes,” she said silkily, nearly
purring with glee. “Whatever you say, dear elemental.”

A tense silence followed, in
which I couldn’t even hear the sound of the breath going in and out of our
lungs.

The tension was only broken when
Daisy stepped back. “Anyway, you can have your little secrets. They won’t help
you now. It is far too late. I am, however, here to say that tomorrow we are
going on a field trip, and all three of you are expected to attend.”

“All I hear is blah blah noise
blah blah,” said Lisabelle coldly.

With that Daisy swept out of the
suite. Her feet didn’t make a sound as she moved slowly away, and I wondered if
they even touched the floor.

It was a long time after she had
gone before any of us moved.

I sat heavily down on the couch
while Sip did the same. Lisabelle strode to the door and locked it.

“But how will Bartholem get in?”
I asked quietly.

Lisabelle shrugged. “He wasn’t
going to come in through the front door anyway.”

“In other news, was she saying
what I think she was saying?” Sip asked, her eyes fretful.

“If you think she was saying that
Malle is not the leader of the Nocturns and does not rule the darkness, then
yes,” said Lisabelle. “I do believe that’s what she was saying.”

“Oh good,” said Sip faintly. “I
was worried that it was bad news.”

“Only if you’re a paranormal not
beholden to the demons,” said Lisabelle, sitting down at the foot of one of the
floor-to-ceiling bookcases and leaning her head back against the wood.

“I really hope he gets in,” said
Sip.

“Bartholem?” Lisabelle asked.
“Yes, well, there he is now.” She pointed under our couch. The werewolf flung
herself sideways and peered under the hanging cloth flaps. There, a pair of
purple eyes were staring out of a white face. The cat’s body blended into the
background so well that his eyes didn’t look like they were attached to his
head.

“I can hear him purring,” I said,
grinning. I hadn’t known until just that second how much I had missed the
sound. The cat took three steps and jumped gracefully, making for Lisabelle.

“Hello, dear one,” said Lisabelle
happily, opening her arms to the white fluffy animal.

Bartholem was purring so loudly
that the noise was creating echoes. He rubbed affectionately against
Lisabelle’s outstretched hand before starting to walk in tiny circles on her
lap, looking for a comfortable place to sit.

“Hiya, Bartholem,” said Sip
solemnly, as if he could actually understand her. “Thanks for coming.”

The cat acknowledged her with a
look, about all you could expect from that animal, before returning to being
petted.

“It’s nice to see you,” I said,
feeling very strange myself for talking to an animal, even though I’m a
paranormal and one of my best friends is a werewolf. “But I don’t see how this
helps us contact Dacer.”

“I think the answer can be found
here,” said Lisabelle, her hand carefully winding itself around Bartholem’s
throat. “He’s wearing a collar.”

I moved closer to examine what
the cat brought in.

“I wish he’d brought us a bomb,”
said Lisabelle. “I want a quick end to all this, not some drawn-out nonsense
where we keep having to pretend to be nice.”

“All you ever do is pretend to be
nice,” said Sip.

“We still don’t know who killed
our friends,” I pointed out.

Sip gave a heavy sigh.

“He’s wearing a Contact Stone,”
said Lisabelle breathlessly, fishing through the cat’s fur.

I took Bartholem from Lisabelle
and for once the cat didn’t protest. The Contact Stone was already flaring to
life.

This particular Stone was green
with silver and white flecks. I had never seen anything like it before, and
although it was large for a cat’s collar, I had to assume that Dacer had fixed
it there as a way to disguise its real use. If I hadn’t known what it really
was I would never have guessed.

“Dacer?” I asked, as my
professor’s face flickered over the stone’s surface. Bartholem hung limp in my
arms. He was still purring, but more quietly.

“Charlotte,” said Dacer, smiling
broadly. “Wonderful to see you.” His eyes were bright, but his face was thinner
than I remembered. He wore lots of white paint and had dark pink-tinted
eyelashes. I could see he was also wearing a nightcap that appeared to be a
light purple.

“You too,” I said, clutching
Bartholem as my voice broke.

“Oh, no, my dear,” said Dacer
soothingly. “I don’t look that bad. It’s just the lighting.”

I croaked out a laugh as Sip and
Lisabelle smiled.

“You look splendid,” I said,
trying to smile.

“It’s this new night cream I’ve
been trying,” said Dacer happily, patting his cheek. “It works wonders for the
vampire complexion.”

“Since you don’t have to worry
about sun damage, I imagine it does,” I said dryly.

“How progressive of you,” said
Dacer approvingly. Over Bartholem’s head, Lisabelle coughed.

“Alright,” he said, sitting back
a little so that I caught a glimpse of a collared shirt that matched his
nightcap, “tell me what’s been happening. Oliva’s been getting reports that
everything is fine, but he doesn’t believe Zervos is writing them.”

“Why not?” Sip asked.

“Ah, Ms. Quest,” said Dacer, a
smile appearing on his tired face, “good to know you’re doing alright.”

Sip came to sit next to me and
peered at Bartholem’s neck. “We must look ridiculous,” she muttered. Then she
said out loud, “Nice to see you, Professor Dacer.”

“Nice to see you as well, Ms.
Quest. Your parents have been asking after you and it is a relief to know that
I can now inform them that I’ve seen you with my own eyes and you appear to be
in good health.”

“Oh yes,” said Sip. “The biggest
threat to my heath is demons, but that’s nothing new. Well, that, and
Lisabelle’s driving me crazy.”

“Also nothing new,” said Dacer
jovially.

“So, why don’t you think the
messages are from Zervos?”

Dacer sat back and steepled his
fingers. “There is a code he is expected to use when sending us messages. The
information is encrypted. He is using the code, but the words he is choosing
are not words we have ever heard Zervos use before.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s using kind words. Simple
language. None of it is like Zervos. Is he alright?” Dacer asked, although I
couldn’t really say that he sounded like he cared.

“Zervos is fine,” I said. “He’s
still running the show and keeping track of us. I thought he was in regular
contact with you.”

“Someone is,” said Dacer grimly,
“but as I say, we do not believe it is Zervos.”

“Marcus died today,” said
Lisabelle softly, sitting on my other side. Now you could see my face and half
each of Sip and Lisabelle’s.

Dacer’s face went ashen
underneath his makeup.

“When?” he asked gruffly. “How?”

Now that we sat in the cold
silence of our dormitory, the only sound the echo of our collective pain, I
realized that I had no idea whether Dacer had known Marcus.

“Today,” said Sip softly, casting
her purple eyes down to her lap.

Dacer sat back in his chair and
pulled his purple jacket more firmly around his body. His long thin hands shook
slightly as he said, “This is worse than I thought. I thought Golden Falls
would protect Public students better than that. It is a place known for its
safety and its kindness.”

After that I told Dacer about
what we had found in the medical wing. His nostrils flared and his breath
quickened.

I didn’t think it was possible
for his face to go any whiter, but I was wrong. When I was finished he gave us
an order: under no circumstances were we supposed to attempt any such thing
ever again. We agreed reluctantly.

“I just can’t believe Golden
Falls has anything like that,” he said over and over.

Lisabelle started to say more,
but Dacer interrupted her. “Ms. Verlans, I really must insist,” said Dacer.
Holding up a hand before she could continue, he said, “I’m sorry, but I know
you well and I expect you not to endanger the last elemental. It’s just foolish
on all fronts.”

“But what now?” Lisabelle asked.
“We don’t want to leave until we get to the bottom of the murders.”

“I think it’s Faci,” Sip chimed
in.

“You just want it to be Faci,”
said Lisabelle with exasperation.

“Don’t we all think it’s Faci?” I
asked.

“You just want it to be Daisy,”
Sip said accusingly to Lisabelle.

I rolled my eyes at Dacer and the
tiniest bit of sparkle returned to his eyes.

“What do we do?” I asked my
mentor. “We don’t know what to do anymore, so much has gone wrong.”

“There’s only one thing I can
think to do,” he said slowly, pulling slightly on his ear as he thought. “This
probably isn’t necessary, but I don’t want to take any chances.”

“Come here, storm the gates, so
to speak, and take us home?” Sip asked hopefully.

Dacer shook his head. “That would
probably create more problems than it solved. But you do need help. Professor
Zervos needs help, and lots of it.”

“I hate to break it to you,
Professor Dacer, but Zervos might not be on our side anymore,” I said softly.

Dacer’s eyes flashed and he sat
forward with renewed life. “Professor Zervos is loyal beyond question. I would
trust him with my life, and I have even entrusted him with yours.”

I bit my lip to keep from
replying. He hadn’t been here. He hadn’t seen what Zervos had done and not
done, I thought rebelliously. I knew my friends were having similar thoughts,
but it would clearly do no good to voice them to Dacer.

Dacer sat back again, satisfied
with our reactions.

“I’m going to send someone,” he
said. “Right away. Just in case. But I don’t want any of you to worry.”

“Who?” the three of us chorused.
I had images of large men, like Risper, strong men dressed all in black, maybe
with some armor. Who knows, a sword could even be thrown in there for good
measure.

Dacer smiled brightly. “I’m going
to send my mother.”

After a couple of years of
knowing pretty much nothing about Dacer’s personal life except that he had been
educated in French schools and was still somehow friends with President Caid,
we were dumbfounded at the idea that we were going to meet his mother.

“How’s she going to get in?” I
asked, barely able to form a coherent question. “They keep the gates locked.
It’s a miracle Bartholem got through.”

“Bartholem is a cat of many
talents,” said Dacer calmly. “No one tells my mother no.”

“So, she’s going to come through
the front gate?” Sip was clearly impressed. She jumped off the bed and started
cleaning her already impeccably clean bed. “I guess it could work if Golden
Falls feels the need to be hospitable.

“Are there any readings I can do
to prepare for her arrival?” Sip asked. “Studies I should be looking into for
her?”

“We won’t have time,” said
Lisabelle. “Tomorrow we have a field trip,” she explained to Dacer.

“That might be a good thing,”
said the vampire, nodding. “Get out of Golden Falls for a while.”

There was a sweep of hair and
Bartholem started to meow.

“One last thing,” said Dacer. “Do
not tell any Golden Falls student we have spoken, or about Bartholem. Any of
them.”

“The students seem nice enough,”
Sip commented. “Nolan, Jewel, Pearl. . . .”

Dacer shook his head. “I’m sure
they are, but it doesn’t matter. You must keep yourselves safe, even if that
means not confiding in friends.”

We all nodded.

“I must go,” said Dacer, looking
over his shoulder at something on his wall, which I assumed was a clock. “Take
care. I shall see you again.”

My friends waved and he gave me
an extra nod before he disappeared out of the strange-looking jewel around
Bartholem’s neck.

“See?” Sip yawned. “Everything
will be fine. Even Dacer isn’t very worried.”

I could only imagine what his
mother was like. With that comforting thought I laid my head down on the
pillow.