Elemental Earth (Paranormal Public) (3 page)

I could just see his eyes in the
moonlight as they lit with amusement. “Would that be so bad? Are you cold?”

“Cold?” I said. “No, should I be
cold? It isn’t winter or anything, is it?”

“Let me help you with that,” he
said. I might have expected him to take my mittened hands in his, but he
didn’t. Instead, he just kissed me soundly again.

When he pulled away I made a deep
noise of protest in the back of my throat, which made him chuckle again.
“Sorry,” he said. “I told you I didn’t want you to be cold, and your lips
looked like they were freezing.”

I smiled at him. “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too. Contact
Stones aren’t the same as being there. Thanks for asking me to go with you.”

“Thanks for going with me,” I
said.

“Do you really think this will
get you closer to finding out what happened to your mom?” He used his fingers
to rub my spine, and I closed my eyes for a heartbeat.

“I hope so,” I said. “I just
really don’t remember what’s up there, except that it’s an old graveyard and my
stepdad insisted she be buried up there like he’s never insisted on anything
else.”

“Are you sure that’s not because
he’s stubborn and wants what he wants?” Keller asked.

I bit my lower lip. “Maybe, but I
don’t think he’s like that.”

Keller snorted. “Maybe it just
runs in the family.”

That earned my boyfriend a glare,
but he just grinned. “Come on, you’re right. We should get going.”

“Tell me about your vacation,” I
said.

Instead of letting me go, Keller
swung me easily into his arms. I once thought I’d feel childish in this
position, but with Keller I never did. One of his arms looped under my knees,
while mine went around his neck.

“Ready?” he asked, our faces
inches apart. His lips were a little red and I was glad he couldn’t see the
major blush I must have going on.

“Huh?” I asked.

He rolled his eyes. “I’m your
boyfriend, and still when I speak you pay no attention.”

I giggled. If only he had known
why I was distracted.

“Sorry,” I said, smiling.

He kissed me quickly. “I love
your smile,” he whispered. “Come on.”

I barely felt him push off, I
just had a sense of the air moving as his dark wings unfurled. Fallen angel
wings were always pictured as white and pure, but that was a common misconception.
They were actually dark and strong and there was nothing delicate about
protecting health and goodness. There was only kindness and strength.

We soared. The wind blew around
us, brushing my neck and rushing over my ears, but I wasn’t cold.

I looked out over the dark
treetops. Some still held snow, while others were bare. I searched for my
house, but it wasn’t visible from here. I could see the main village, though,
and past that the school Ricky attended. It all looked perfectly quiet and normal.
I wondered if all the sleepers would be terribly upset if they knew that at
that very moment a fallen angel was soaring high above them. Probably, in fact.
They’d probably be very upset.

“Over there.” As I said it I
pointed in the direction of Mountain. It wasn’t anywhere near the tallest peak
around, but I remembered it by heart.

Keller turned in that direction,
holding me tightly. It was too loud to talk while he flew, we’d have had to
yell, but I was content just looking around and having Keller there.

With no flowers blooming or
blueberry bushes growing wildly in winter, the cemetery was starkly visible.
The old gravestones stuck out from the snow.

Keller landed on the edge of the
tree line, careful not to disturb the dark peace. Gently, he set me down. I
slid out of his arms and pulled my coat back into place, then straightened my
hat. Keller eyed me. “Procrastinating?” he asked.

“Maybe,” I huffed, twisting my
mittened hands together nervously.

“You didn’t tell me about your
Christmas,” I whispered, my eyes fixed on the graves.

“I will later,” said Keller,
rubbing the back of my neck with his own gloved hand. “It was very boring, but
luckily my siblings have all started behaving worse than I do, so that helps
distract my parents.”

I smiled a little. “All of them?”

“Well, no,” said Keller, his eyes
twinkling. “Not the youngest. He’s annoyingly perfect, but I just pretend we’re
not related.”

I gave Keller’s chest a playful
shove. “Keller!” I cried. He smiled, but his hand never stopped touching me, he
just kept trying to comfort and protect me. I couldn’t have done this without
him.

“I should have brought flowers or
something. What kind of a daughter am I to come to my mom’s grave for the first
time and not bring flowers?”

“I’m sure she won’t mind,” said
Keller, looking around. “You came. That’s what’s important.”

I sighed. “I guess.” I looked
nervously at the gravestones. This was going to be harder than I thought.

“I remember this place so
differently,” I confided to him.

He wrapped one arm around my
shoulders and pulled me in to his side, where I nestled, wishing I could stay
there forever.

“I know,” he whispered. “But
you’re strong. You have to do this and you can. I’ll be right here with you.”

I nodded and stepped away from
him, reaching up to take his hand. “Come on, then,” I said.

I moved slowly. Somehow every
crunch of snow beneath our feet made me flinch. It was totally quiet out here
except for us.

“Do you think demons watch this
place?” I asked. I wasn’t sure which one was my mother’s plot, so I stopped at
every headstone. Some looked older than others, but there were enough so that
finding Mom was going to take a few minutes.

I didn’t recognize any of the
names I was reading, and I had to assume that most of the people buried here
were from the little hamlet I had grown up in, but from generations ago.

“I think demons are watching
everything at this point,” said Keller quietly, still following behind. I
glanced back at him, which made me come to a halt. He shrugged. “This is going
to get worse before it gets better.” His blue eyes looked black, but I could
still tell they were filled with worry.

“I know,” I said. “I wish I
didn’t, but I know.”

Taking a deep breath, I glanced
down at the grave I was standing next to.

“It’s unmarked,” I said with
surprise. “Why would such a cemetery have an unmarked grave?”

Keller bent down to examine the
headstone, which looked relatively new. He brushed away the snow at the front,
just in case the letters were covered, but there was nothing. No name and no
date.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Could
it be your mom’s?”

“No,” I said, stepping around
him, “because she’s right next to it.”

There was the simple gravestone I
remembered. Carl had tried to talk to me about what to write on it, but I had
thrown something at him, I couldn’t remember what. Maybe a book. I took a
shaken breath and knelt down next to Keller.

“Are you okay?” he asked. He was
no longer looking at the unmarked stone, but instead at me.

“Yes,” I whispered. I knew tears
were streaming down my face, but I didn’t care.

“It just says beloved mother,”
said Keller. “That was nice of your stepdad.”

I shrugged. “He knew Mom didn’t
love him. I think he might always have known.”

Keller whistled. “I’m not sure I
could do that.”

“What?” I asked.

“Marry someone who didn’t love
me,” he said.

“Well, you won’t have to worry about
that,” I said, my voice hoarse. “You have a fan club several hundred strong.”

Keller arched an eyebrow at me
and said, “We can talk later about how much I like the fact that you’re
jealous.”

I laughed. “Me? Never.”

His white teeth flashed in the
night. “Oh, yes you are. Charlotte Rollins, jealous.”

I smiled, but we both knew that
this was a serious moment, and that there would be time for joking later. I
rubbed at the front of the stone again.

“Hi, Mom,” I whispered. “Sorry I
didn’t come sooner. I wanted to, but I just didn’t have the strength. Carl gave
me your box today and I’m trying to open it. I need to find out who Dad is.
Ricky wants to know too.” I took another shaky breath. “Carl isn’t Ricky’s dad,
is he, Mom?” I was crying harder now.

Keller quietly got up and moved
away, knowing I needed to be alone there for a few minutes. It was enough that
I knew he was nearby, that for once I didn’t have to be looking over my
shoulder, because he was watching out for me.

I touched the top of the
gravestone. There were flowers there, dried, but not that old. Frowning, I
picked them up and examined them. I recognized the label from the local flower
shop. Sighing, I put them back. Carl hadn’t mentioned coming up here, but maybe
he did.

“How do I open the box, Mom?” I
whispered, staring down at the flowers through my tears. It was hard to see
between the water and the night. I closed my eyes and let the hot tears
continue to trickle down my cheeks.

There was no answer.

“I know there’s stuff you keep
from me,” said Ricky. “Lots of stuff. I know, because I remember Mom too. I
might have been young, but there were, there are, strange things that happen.
When are you going to tell me?”

I took a deep breath. There
really wasn’t much left to explain.

“This summer,” I said. “I’ll tell
you this summer.”

Queen Lanca, ruler of the Rapier
vampires and commander of the Blood Throne, was annoyed. Not only had she spent
the past few months reading Mound’s nonsense in the newspaper, but now she had
received a letter from him. It was about Lisabelle, saying that the darkness
wanted her, that she would give in to their pressure at some point, and that it
was foolish to leave such a powerful darkness mage so close to the last
elemental. Ridiculous.

But it was another letter, from
Caid, that changed everything.

She read it, then tossed it on
the floor in frustration. Caid was asking all senior paranormals, which
included her, to gather at Stronghold, where he had his offices. He said he had
something to discuss. Of course he did, Lanca thought angrily. We’ve been at
war without declaration. Now he wants to declare battle against the Nocturns.

“This is ridiculous,” she said to
Vital, who was standing at the other end of the long room, talking to a guard.

He glanced at her, his face
smooth and unreadable. “When do we leave?” he asked.

“Dawn,” she said. “Although I
hate to leave Vampire Locke unprotected.”

“You’re not the only one who can
protect Locke,” he said, taking three big strides closer to her.

She lifted her delicate shoulders
in a shrug. “Are you staying here?”

“Not for all the gold in the
world,” he said quietly, his eyes intense.

Lanca cocked her head. “You and I
are the only two I trust to take care of the place.”

Vital nodded, then sighed. “Then
it will be vulnerable.”

“Yes,” she said, “Exactly what
I’m afraid of.”

“I don’t mind winter,” Lough
grumbled as snow crunched under our feet. “I just don’t like the cold weather,
all the clothes it takes to stay warm, the dry air, and the short days.”

“So, um, what do you like about
it?” Sip asked. She was wearing a purple knitted hat and matching gloves. The
rest of us were just as bundled up in coats and scarves.

“Well . . .” Lough started.

“While he’s thinking about that,
can we discuss why we’ve all been called to Oliva’s?” Lisabelle said. “We need
to sleep. We’re leaving first thing in the morning.”

It was already dark outside, and
just our first and only night back at Paranormal Public. I was relieved to
return, because being away, even if it had been to see my little brother,
hadn’t felt right. Now we were trudging through knee-high snow that had only
barely been cleared from the school paths. The moon turned the snow from white
to silver. A black blanket of darkness sprinkled with a wash of stars completed
the cold picture.

Sip’s breath puffed out in front
of her as she spoke. “For once your cheeks are redder than Lough’s, Lisabelle.”

The darkness mage was the only
one of us not wearing a coat, scarf, or gloves. Her black eyes sharpened when
she looked at her long-suffering (Sip would say) roommate.

“That’s not true. I wear makeup
and throw parties when you’re not around.”

“I doubt it,” said Sip. “No one
would come.”

“I would,” said Lough, raising
his hand in the air as if we were in one of Zervos’s classes.