Elemental Earth (Paranormal Public) (4 page)

Overhead I heard a flapping. The
next second, black wings spread out above us. I craned my head back to watch my
boyfriend of nearly two years - wow, could it really be so long? - land
gracefully on the snow next to me.

“Hi,” I cried, leaping into his
arms despite the deep snow.

He laughed and swung me around.

When he had finished nuzzling his
nose into my ear - it tickled, but that was okay - he set me back on my feet
and smiled at me.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Of course. Why?” He looked
worried, and I didn’t like it.

He shrugged. “You don’t know what
Oliva wants?”

“Well, I know,” said Lisabelle,
her voice almost echoing over the expanse of empty campus. “I don’t think the
rest of them have figured it out yet.”

Sip turned to her indignantly,
bracing her purple-covered hands on her small hips. “Excuse me? Secrets?
Inappropriate.”

Lisabelle shrugged. “You didn’t
ask.”

“He’s going to tell us that going
is a privilege and that we mustn’t upset the balance, and to avoid demons while
we’re at it, and that if we run into President Malle - because don’t the most
crazy hang out in New York? - we are to avoid her at all costs.”

Keller nodded. “He’s also
probably going to tell you that I’m going with you.”

I gave a cry of joy and leaped
into his arms again. This time he wasn’t expecting it, and I knocked him over
into the snow.

“It’s entirely possible that you
could have caught yourself with your wings,” Lough said worriedly as Lisabelle
snorted and Sip giggled.

“And miss having my girl on top
of me?” Keller asked from where he was resting comfortably in the snowy pile I
had dumped him into. “Not on your life.”

“Don’t say that,” said Lisabelle
quietly. “The times are getting darker.”

As if in answer, we heard a
strangled noise somewhere out in the woods beyond the force field.

I started to push myself away
from Keller, but he was faster than I was. With the dexterity only fallen
angels can muster, he flipped us over and upright, steadying me as I wobbled.

“Wow,” I breathed.

“No one will accuse you of
sweeping a girl off her feet,” said Lisabelle.

Keller slung an arm around my
shoulder and pulled me close. I was grateful for more than the warmth of his
warm body next to mine.

We all looked around as Sip
sniffed, her purple eyes cloudy with worry. Lough started forward - he hated
the sound of anything in pain - but Sip stopped him. As another cry shattered
and pulsed through the trees she said quietly, “Don’t bother. It was just a doe
walking alone. The demons already got it.”

“The demons are hungry,” said a
voice from behind us. We all spun around in surprise.

Daisy was standing there with her
twin brother, Dobrov. As usual, he stared at the ground, while her black eyes
shot daggers at us. They were hybrids, a mix of darkness mage and vampire that
should never have happened. Their skin was an ugly burned color, and to this
day I had never seen Lisabelle look as sick and afraid as she had on the day
when Daisy showed up on campus.

Daisy Validification took a step
forward. When Dobrov didn’t follow her instantly she turned around and gave him
a vicious punch. He whimpered and rubbed the offended area. I had a pretty good
idea that if his body hadn’t been covered by layers of warm clothing we would
have seen bruises all over it.

“Daisy,” said Keller. “Do that
again and I’ll give you a reason to regret it.”

Her eyes flashed at him as her
mouth broke into a slow smile.

“Threats, fallen angel? You’re
one to talk,” she murmured. Keller stiffened.

“What does that mean?”

“Only that you talk awfully big
for a guy who lets his mummy and daddy dictate his life.”

“At least my mummy and daddy
aren’t categorically insane,” said Keller coldly. I had never heard him use
that tone before.

“Just let it go, Keller,” I said.
“She’s trying to make you mad and you’re letting her.”

Keller stood for several more
breaths, glaring at Daisy with his hands clenched at his sides. Finally, he
relaxed.

She was looking at me now, a sick
smile on her face. “Are you heading to Oliva’s as well? I would offer to walk
with you, but I see clearly that you’re afraid of me, and I would hate to
disrupt your evening with anything like the truth.”

“What’s the truth?” Lisabelle
asked as Daisy grabbed her brother’s arm and started to pull him away. Even
from where I was standing I could see her fingernails pressing down into his
clothes and digging into his body.

Daisy shrugged. “The truth is
that we’re all going to New York for the semester, and very few of you will
make it back alive.”

“I hope you’re including yourself
in that grouping,” said Sip, glaring.

Daisy shrugged again. I could see
Dobrov tug against her slightly, but she only tightened her grip. Her eyes had
gone another shade darker.

“I want you all dead. I will see
it happen. You are like the doe in the woods, sitting ducks. You have no idea
what’s about to hit you.”

Lisabelle stepped forward. Daisy
watched her, unafraid, and it was only after Lisabelle pulled her arm back,
then launched it forward, connecting her fist with Daisy’s face, that we all
woke up and realized that Lisabelle had just punched the hybrid.

Daisy staggered backward, letting
go of Dobrov and clutching her jaw. Lisabelle stood there, shaking out her arm
from the jarring impact of flesh-covered bone on flesh-covered bone.

Keller rushed to Lisabelle and
took hold of her wrist.

“Funny,” said Lisabelle, panting
a little. “You knew exactly what was about to hit you. Did that make you feel
better?”

There, on a cold night at the
beginning of January, as I stood with my friends on the way to listen to the
president of Public’s announcement, something happened that I will never
forget.

Daisy Validification, hybrid,
paranormal public student, darkness mage, and vampire, Nocturn and friend of
the demons, started to cackle. It wasn’t a laugh, because I equate laughter
with something light and happy, a joyous sound. It was a sound of evil triumph.

Lisabelle clenched her jaw as
Daisy stopped stooping and stood up. When she turned to us my jaw fell open.
There was blood dripping from the side of her mouth and nose where Lisabelle
had struck her. It was black. Like the night.

“Oh, paranormal gods, what will
become of us?” Sip breathed, as Daisy continued to heave and snicker.

“Golden Falls University is
world-renowned. They support light and they hate darkness. They do not take
lightly to slacking off, tardiness, rude behavior, or disrespect,” Oliva
continued.

“Why do I feel like he’s looking
at me when he says all that?” Lisabelle whispered to me.

“I have no idea,” I whispered
back. Sip did a face-palm.

“You will be on your best
behavior,” Oliva ordered, his jaw set.

Lisabelle raised her hand.

“What, Ms. Verlans?” Oliva
sighed. He did not look at all pleased that Lisabelle had a question, while
Zervos was staring daggers at the darkness mage.

“It’s just so hard to behave well
all the time. To string something together for an entire semester is going to
be so difficult,” Lisabelle complained. Oliva rolled his eyes.

“I’m sure you’ll find a way, Ms.
Verlans. I’ve never in my life met a paranormal so capable of controlling her
emotions.”

“She doesn’t control her
emotions,” said Daisy.

“She just doesn’t have them,” Sip
said at the same time. The two paranormals glared at each other.

“You, Ms. Validification, what
happened to your face?” Oliva demanded, pointing in the hybrid’s direction.
“It’s hardly appropriate for me to send you to another school looking like
someone smashed you into the pavement. You should see a fallen angel
immediately, or go to the nurse, or both.”

Daisy glared. “I won’t have their
filthy disgusting hands on my skin.”

“Wouldn’t want them to get
burned,” said Lough. Daisy elbowed Dobrov sharply while she glared at the dream
giver.

“Silence,” she hissed. “You dare
to talk to me like that?”

“And just who do you think you
are?” Dacer asked lightly. He was sitting with some of the other professors,
including Korba, Erikson, and Zervos.

Daisy looked like she was about
to burst. Her face was getting redder and her hands were clenched at her sides.

Dacer covered a yawn, looking
bored. Oliva stepped in and said, “If I may continue? I am the president of
this university.”

“You may continue,” said Daisy,
as if she actually had the right to give him permission. Oliva’s eyes sparked a
little, and for the first time I thought he might really dislike Daisy. But he
recovered quickly. As the president he didn’t have the luxury of hatred.

“The junior class will be going
en masse to Golden Falls, a university in the New York countryside. It is very
old, and because we are no longer allowed to conceal our buildings from humans,
this is one of the few safe places left. It is in a location so remote, so
stunningly beautiful, that we feel very comfortable sending our students there.
This is an exchange program that goes back hundreds of years between our two
schools. Last semester we had several visiting students from Golden Falls, whom
I know some of you have befriended. Now you will have a chance to see those
students again.”

All around us were murmurs and
excited looks, but a few students declined to join in the excitement. I could
see Daisy making a sour face. Apparently going to any place with a beautiful
name like Golden Falls made her look ill, or maybe her face was just set like
that.

Keller rubbed my shoulders, which
caused me to look at him and smile. I covered one of his hands with one of mine.
“Is this place really as happy as all that?”

He shrugged. “We make our own
happiness. You and I will be there. What else do we need?”

“Tea,” Sip interjected. “Lots of
tea.”

“And Sip,” I said, grinning.

“Which means peace and quiet is
out,” said Lisabelle sadly.

Oliva cleared his throat. “Local
students will be meeting you when you get there. They are our friends, and we
trust them implicitly. They will have already had a day or so to settle in, so
look to them for advice and guidance. You are to follow all the rules of Golden
Falls. It doesn’t matter if it was done a different way here, the way they do
it there is what matters.”

Lisabelle raised her hand again
as Oliva sighed wearily.

“Yes, Peanut Gallery?”

“No,” said Lisabelle, shaking her
head. “That’s Sip.”

Oliva didn’t say anything, but he
did give Lisabelle a look that she normally only got from Zervos, a look that
said he wanted to drop a brick on her head.

“What kind of protections does
Golden Falls have against demons?” Lisabelle asked coolly.

Dacer raised one perfectly
manicured eyebrow, but didn’t otherwise stir.

Murmurs went up around us as
students looked at each other and at Lisabelle. She had clearly touched a
nerve. Despite the fact that the demons were all around us, they were rarely
mentioned by Oliva.

The president of Public took so
long to answer that I started to shift nervously in my chair.

“Golden Falls has the very best,”
he said, his voice low and his eyes icy.

“Which means it’s as difficult to
get out of there as it is to get in?” Lisabelle asked, just as Oliva was
preparing to go on.

“I’m sure they would make an
exception for you, Ms. Verlans. All they need to do is meet you,” said Oliva
wearily. “Alright, no more questions. I will finish this talk and be rid of
you.”

My friend was determined to
settle a dark cloud over the proceedings, and I could tell that other students,
like me, were becoming apprehensive about leaving Public after the initial
excitement of the announcement. Now Oliva finished quickly and released us.

“It’s just that it sounds so
safe,” said Lough as we left the meeting. Keller had gone to take a call from
his parents, looking grim as he left. I asked him what was wrong, but he waved
me off. He’d been doing that more and more recently when it came to his mother
and father, and I didn’t like it. I still hadn’t met them, and I didn’t like
that either.

“Public?” I asked. “The Power of
Five is strongest here. Dacer already told me that while I’m at Golden Falls I
might be asked to help their professors strengthen their own shields.”

“That makes sense,” said
Lisabelle. “Are you coming to Airlee or are we coming to Astra?”

I was surprised. “I’m going to
bed,” I said. “What do you need to come to Astra for?”