Elemental Earth (Paranormal Public) (29 page)

The other Public students,
including Rake and Trafton, hung in a corner. We had all started to feel
nervous. I still believed Faci had killed Kia and Marcus, but without proof it
didn’t matter. Faci was strutting around like he owned the place. The fact that
Golden Falls would rather have murders swept under the rug or blame Lisabelle
than confront the real problem disgusted me.

Happiness for some was not
happiness, and I refused to let it come at the expense of my friends.

“Aren’t you hungry?” Lough asked,
biting into a chicken leg. “You still have to eat.”

I shook my head. “No, I want to
be ready in case Sip and Lisabelle need help.”

“Suit yourself,” said Lough,
shrugging. He took another bite of chicken. “Golden Falls might be stupid and
they might put a lot of emphasis on peace, but that just means they aren’t
going to hurt Sip and Lisabelle. They will probably just want to talk to them
forever.”

“They were willing to hurt Vanni
for peace,” I pointed out. “What else are they willing to do?”

“Lisabelle isn’t Vanni,” said
Lough. “She pointed out to them that she’s darkness and they shouldn’t mess
with her.”

I tried to let Lough’s words sink
in, but I still wasn’t convinced. I wouldn’t be convinced until Sip and
Lisabelle joined us at dinner. What did they care what Sip wrote anyway? She
was just trying to stand up for paranormals everywhere, of which they were
some.

I took a deep breath as Rake and
Trafton joined us.

“Where are Sip and Lisabelle?”
Rake asked, looking worried.

I explained in great detail. They
could see how angry I was about it.

Sectar was roaming the gathering,
talking to students and shaking hands with teachers. As I had all semester, I
felt out of place at such a rich party.

He came up to my group and
smiled.

“How are you enjoying your final
weeks here?” he asked me. “I know it must be a strain, being the only elemental.”

“I’m used to it,” I said
bracingly.

He nodded, still smiling.

“I realize that all the Public
students have had difficulties with their studies. I just hope you can take
better habits back with you to Paranormal Public.” His tone was gracious, but
his words were something else.

All I could do was nod.

“Will Sip and Lisabelle be
joining us?” I asked. Sectar’s mask of politeness didn’t slip. He must have
expected me to ask about them.

“They’re being . . .
interviewed,” he said, keeping his tone light. “Ms. Quest has to answer to
several activities relating to a war group known as the Sign of Six.”

“It’s not a war group,” I said.
“She started a group to help protect paranormals.”

Sectar shrugged.

“She advocates coming together to
fight. It sounds like a war group to me.”

I clutched at my silver goblet.
Golden Falls thought so well of itself, but the problem was that it put its
desire for peace ahead of having a heart. I said as much to Sectar. As I
expected, the man threw his head back and laughed.

“I am sorry you feel that way,”
he said amiably. “You of all people, having lost your mother so young, I would
expect to think differently.”

“My mother died protecting me,” I
said. “I don’t know what would have happened if the demons weren’t trying to
start a war, but I certainly don’t think she could simply have avoided dying by
living ‘peacefully.’”

Sectar sighed and shook his head,
as if he was talking to an errant child. “I see you maybe haven’t learned as
much this semester as we would have liked.”

The party continued, but I didn’t
feel like it was a party. Keller, Sip, and Lisabelle were all gone and I was
having a very hard time remaining calm about it.

The evening came to a head when
Lough was ordered not to take any more food. When we’d first arrived we could
each take as much as we wanted of whatever we wanted, but now one of the
Enforcement Officers had taken notice and told Lough to calm down.

“It’s just a shame,” said Pearl,
coming up to me. She held a small plate with several pieces of cheese and a green
glass of liquid.

“What is?” I asked.

“Lough,” she smiled sadly. “I
really like him, but he’s leaving soon.” We had all seen that she really liked
him. It had been especially interesting to watch Lisabelle’s reaction to a girl
having a crush on Lough. She had ranted and raved, but Sip would hear none of
it, explaining that if Lisabelle wasn’t going to date Lough than she couldn’t
be mad if other girls wanted to.

“I guess,” I said. “We have to
get back to Public.”
I can’t wait
, I thought, but I didn’t dare say it
out loud.

“Jewel and I are really glad you
came this semester,” she said. “It was wonderful to see an elemental in action.
Just like in the stories. It’s just important that you stay safe.”

I tried to smile, but it was
hard. Without Keller and my friends there I didn’t have much to be happy about.

“Is Lough single?” Pearl asked,
finally coming right to the point.

I grinned and nodded. “Yup, he
is.”

She smiled. “Maybe I should ask
him to hang out.” She bit her lower lip. “I’d like to spend some time with him
before he leaves.”

I nodded, not really paying
attention. “Definitely.”

After Pearl wandered off I looked
around again, and Lough came back and started talking about our tests and how
hard they were.

Over on the other side of the
courtyard Faci was smiling at us for the first time all semester. Come to think
of it, ever since I had returned without Keller he had been pleased.

“Did you hear about Vampire
Locke?” he asked, coming over to our table. He could barely contain his glee.

My mouth went dry. Vampire Locke
was the home of the Rapier Vampires, Lanca’s stronghold and the location of
Blood Throne, which she ruled.

“Heard what?” I asked softly.

“Well, you know, the darkness
needed a place to congregate and call their own,” he explained easily. “My dad
wanted to help them out any way he could, seeing as how the paranormals are
dying off.”

“Because you’re killing us,”
Lough said coldly. “We could get along if there weren’t vampires like you out
there.”

Faci’s smile stayed firmly in
place. He was still smiling. I wanted to scream and grab him. This had to be
very, very bad.

“The darkness has overrun Vampire
Locke,” said Faci. “Malle rules it now.”

But we couldn’t pursue Faci’s
horrifying news right then, because something else claimed all our attention.

The very base of Golden Falls was
shaking. Students - all the Falls students - were screaming. I watched in
amazement as I felt the magical upheaval. Leonie, sitting next to Sectar, met
my eyes. We were both thinking the same thing. Next to me, Lough clutched my
elbow.

Lisabelle,” I breathed, slowly
pushing myself into a standing position. “She’s furious.”

“That only means one thing,” said
Lough, his eyes filled with panic. “They did something to Sip.”

There was a massive commotion as
the earth started to heave and roll beneath our feet. Lough grabbed me and then
grabbed the wall, bracing us. I felt as if the dirt under our feet was on fire.

“Where did they take them?” Lough
yelled over the screams and shrill whistling that filled the air.

The Happiness Enforcement
Officers were rushing away, probably to go help their friends with an angry
darkness mage. But what about Sip?

“I have no idea,” I said,
grabbing Lough’s arm, “but come on.” The two of us darted toward the exit,
fighting through the throng of Golden Falls students.

“We’re all going to die,” one
girl screamed.

Lough grinned at me. “I guess
they aren’t used to being attacked. Weird.”

Rough hands grabbed my arm and I
glared at Devlin. He was mostly quiet and had always been nice, but now his
eyes were hard.

“Run!” he cried. “You’re the last
elemental. Run!”

“You know,” I said, “people keep
telling me to run and I keep avoiding battles, but I get into them anyway AND I
still lose everyone I love. I’m done running.”

Devlin looked at me like I was
crazy, but I brushed him off. The wind had started to whip around us as I
searched for the source of the explosion.

Now, reversing what had been
happening just a few moments ago, Happiness Enforcement Officers were streaming
into the courtyard from every direction. The faeries, who mostly worked in the
background anyway, had disappeared. Golden Falls students were trying to get
away, but there weren’t enough exits. Another tremor shook the ground, causing
Lough to grab hold of the nearest table to steady himself.

Public students had started to
look to me, of all the paranormals there, for some clue as to what they should
do. Zervos was standing nearby, still nursing injuries from the last demon
attack. He moved to stand in the circle that was forming around me.

The trouble was I had no idea
what to do, and the chaos churning around us made it hard to think.

“Hey, she isn’t a cripple,” said
Lough accusingly, as if his best friend had just betrayed him. I glanced in the
direction where he was pointing and smiled.

Duchess Leonie had come sprinting
out of Golden Falls, holding her jeweled cane like a mallet. She hit
indiscriminately at all the Enforcement Officers in her vicinity. Now I saw why
she had the title of Unforgiver.

“The earth is coming apart,” one
of the Golden Falls students cried frantically. Indeed, it was true. I tried to
harness the power, but my own elemental magic was being shoved away by
something much stronger, and much more angry.

“Get back,” Lough yelled. He
grabbed my arm and pulled me away. I protested all the way, but Lough was firm.

Glasses fell, tables toppled,
trees swayed, and the sky drank in the screams of students and professors
alike. Lough pulled me behind one of the decorative trees as the earth split in
two. Brown dirt went flying everywhere, covering those standing nearest. Lough
whimpered as I kept my eyes fixed on the new hole in the ground.

The sky had darkened to an inky
black just as the torches that were always lit around the courtyard flared with
angry light.

“Definitely Lisabelle,” I said.
Lough still looked fearful.

Suddenly, with a great gasp of
wind, out of the ground sprang my friend. Her hair flew wildly around her.

At the same moment a voice cried,
“Enough!” This was Sectar, who had just stepped out of the castle. “I can see
that Ms. Verlans didn’t like our line of questioning. All she had to do was say
so, which of course her nature would not allow her to do.”

“Where’s Sip?” Lisabelle rasped.
Her eyes matched the fires raging around us. I looked from her to Sectar and
saw that it was true. Something had happened to Sip. I choked back fear. Keller
was gone and there was something very wrong with my werewolf friend. Lisabelle
would never have done something so drastic otherwise.

“We had further questions for the
werewolf,” said Sectar dismissively. “As it happens, I do not owe you an
explanation.”

“As it happens,” said Lisabelle,
“I think you do.”

Out of the corner of my eye I
watched Zervos. He stood with his hands at his sides, his red ring pulsing. I
tried very hard to read his expression, but I couldn’t. His jaw was set and he
looked worried, as much as Zervos ever did. But about what?

“Ms. Verlans,” Zervos started to
caution, “now may not be the time. . . .”

The darkness mage ignored him.
Igniting another large fire, she lashed it at Sectar.

“Lisabelle,” Duchess Leonie
commanded, “enough. This will not help Ms. Quest. We can figure it out later.”

“No, we can’t,” I said, stepping
forward. “I don’t think Sip should stay in the hands of the Golden Falls
Enforcement Officers for a moment longer.” I gave Zervos a pleading look.

“Why is that?” Sectar asked
quietly.

“Because you think darkness is
bad,” I said. “It’s obviously not all bad.” I pointed at Lisabelle. “Good and
bad isn’t a simple concept, and the paranormals around you will always get hurt
if you can’t see shades of gray.”

“Hear, hear,” said Lough
heartily.

Sectar’s face changed. He went
from anger to thoughtful and from thoughtful to amused. “You’re going to leave
without discovering what happened to your friends? Isn’t that why you snuck
into the Medical Wing?”

The surprise was clear on my
face, which deepened his amusement. “Oh yes, we knew about that. You almost
disturbed some very delicate experiments.” I saw some of the other professors,
Annabelle for one, come to stand around him.

“Did you know about this,
Professor Zervos?” Sectar asked. “Their violation of the sanctity of the
school?”