Elemental Fire (26 page)

I realized with a sinking feeling
that we were never going to make it. The other boat was too fast and too new.
Even though we had a head start on them, once I’d revealed the hidden
passageway we had already lost.

My teammates did everything they
could, but it wasn’t enough. Just as we reached the entrance the Faston boat
pushed past ours. In a shower of sparks the two boats scraped together. Theirs,
built of new metal or whatever the boats were built of, moved past without a
scratch, but ours, much older and less sturdy, started to sink.

“No,” Sip yelled, pounding her
fists against the sides in frustration.

“Bye-bye,” Faci called, his eyes
bright with triumph. He was lifting his hand to wave smugly when he caught
sight of Lisabelle’s face. Quickly, he dropped his hand. The party had been
only two days before and he hadn’t forgotten the beating he’d taken. How could
he when there was still a purple welt on his cheek from where she’d struck him?

The Faston boat shot through the
tunnel and was gone. I removed my hand from the water, ordering my last
reserves back into my ring so I wouldn’t waste them. There was no point in
rushing now.

The outlet from the underground
waterways dumped us into the Cruor moat. At first I was disgruntled, because
that wasn’t a very fabulous ending, but when it finally sank in that I was wet
and covered in mud and bruises, and on top of that we had lost the first of
three Ultimate Tacticals, Cruor felt like the least of my problems.

Anyhow, whoever had said we’d
come out at Aurum had been wrong. I would have preferred Aurum. I had a feeling
most of us needed healings.

The whole school stood on the
banks waiting for us. I vaguely wondered when they had found the time to file
over and watch the conclusion of the Tactical in the early morning light, but
then I realized that as with so many things that had been happening recently, I
just didn’t care. All I wanted to do was sleep. From the look of my teammates,
they were thinking the same thing.

Airlees hurried to meet us, while
Cruor students rushed to Rake. Vanni, a trembling mess, was embraced by what
looked like every fallen angel on campus. Most of their faces were inscrutable
and they avoided eye contact with me. I wondered what had happened to Betsy.

Meanwhile, the Glories were being
congratulated by President Vale. She had strode over the bridge while we were
pulling in, having obviously been elsewhere. A stab of fear penetrated my
nerves as I remembered the Mirror Arcane. Before I could sleep I had to check
on Sigil. I was heartened to notice that Vale did not look pleased, despite her
daughter’s victory. I exchanged glances with Sip and Lisabelle, who had both
seen the same thing I had. Maybe the Mirror was still safe.

It was hard getting out of the
boat. I hadn’t realized how close I felt to the elementals while I was in the
water. Living in Astra was one thing, but living my powers was another. I
rubbed my ring absently, wondering if Vale was going to address us, but she
wasn’t. She merely motioned for Baxter to lead the winning team away, and the
brothers did.

“Let’s go home,” said Sip
wearily, rubbing her forehead. Her finger left a brown streak. “I need to rest
before I do my homework tonight.”

“And my homework,” said Lisabelle
cheerily.

“Yeah, you keep thinking that,”
said Sip. “I’ve never had such a lazy roommate before.”

“That’s because the only other
roommate you’ve had is Little Miss Hard Worker over there,” said Lisabelle,
pointing with her chin at me.

“Ladies, it’s been lovely,” said
Rake. “Until class tomorrow.” His eyes lingered on Sip, who turned around and
grinned at him, then threw her arms around his neck in a big hug.

“Thanks for your help with the
hellhound,” she said, releasing the shocked vampire. “We make a good team.”

“If you’re into that sort of
thing,” Lisabelle muttered.

“What sort of thing?” asked Sip,
for once bewildered.

“Teams,” said Lisabelle, rolling
her eyes.

Before Lisabelle could get out of
the way, Sip had hugged her too. “We make a good team too, Crabby.”

I trudged back to Astra. I had
better dream of Keller tonight, or else, I told myself. I’m not sure who I was
threatening, maybe the god of dreams or my own head. But I wanted Keller.

Before I could sleep, though, I
had to make sure the Mirror Arcane was alright.

Sigil was in the ballroom waiting
for me. I had expected him to be reading, but he wasn’t. He was examining every
inch of the space in minute detail. He had made it all the way up to the
ceiling.

“Did I know you could fly?” I
asked him, bending my neck backward when I got over the initial shock of not
seeing him in the room at first.

He tittered a bit. “Ghosts are
hard to know. There are so few of us.”

Seeing Sigil flying was fun, but
I was so tired my eyes were starting to go unfocused. I couldn’t get to my bed
soon enough.

Before I escorted Sigil back to
the library I took one look at the Mirror Arcane, just to make sure it was
still there. I breathed a little easier when I saw that it hadn’t moved.

Now I could sleep.

Keller’s warm breath on my neck
was comforting. Seeing the grateful shining in the eyes of Betsy when I’d
placed her on the rock outcropping, barely alive but not dead, had reminded me
of him, and he had kept me company in spirit ever since.

“I don’t like that you’re in
danger,” he murmured softly.

“Hum?”

“Do you ever listen when I talk?”
he laughed.

“Sure,” I protested. “I like the
sound of your voice.”

“Just not the words coming out of
my mouth,” he teased.

“I like your mouth,” I countered.

“Oh, do you?” he said, bringing
his lips to my ear. I sighed happily as he kissed the base of my neck. I turned
my head and let him kiss my cheek. Carefully, his arms tightened around me.

“Thanks for the rose,” I said,
rubbing my hands over his, which were firmly laced on my stomach.

“You’re welcome,” he said. “I was
saving it for a special occasion.”

“You didn’t want me to die
without knowing you cared,” I said softly.

He was silent for so long I had
to turn around and check to see whether he was still awake.

He was and he was smiling. We
stayed like that until I woke up.

Chapter Twenty

I visited Betsy in the infirmary
the next day. Vale had branded her a traitor to her team and was sending her
home. Betsy was distraught. She was supposed to be the first paranormal in her
family to graduate from college, and she didn’t want to disappoint her mother
when she was ill.

She was lying in a room by
herself, on a white cot. A thin sheet covered her frail body and she looked
nothing like she had before we started Tactical. I felt certain that if I
touched her she’d break. My heart ached. Her face was pale and drawn and there
were little white lines crisscrossing her skin. She must have been tortured by
the Fire Whips and then healed and then tortured again. As the realization
dawned on me a slow fury pounded at my temples. Next to her bed was one tiny
candle, flickering gaily.

Gingerly, I sat on the edge of
her bed and took her hand. At first she didn’t open her eyes, she didn’t even
acknowledge my touch, but eventually her eyes fluttered open and she smiled a
little.

“Charlotte,” she murmured. I
squeezed her hand and her smile solidified. Her watery eyes flicked to the
candle and her face darkened. “I wish they hadn’t put that in here,” she
murmured. “I don’t like it.”

“It’s just to light the room,” I
murmured reassuringly. She turned her haunted eyes back on me.

“Betsy,” I said, my voice soft,
“what happened to you?”

“Oh, nothing,” she murmured.
“Truly, I’m okay. Don’t blame yourself.”

I gave a heavy sigh. The trouble
was that I did. I shouldn’t have saved her.

“They said I was supposed to die,
but you got in the way, but you weren’t supposed to get in the way.”

“Then they should punish me and
not you!” I cried.

Betsy gently shook her head. “I’m
okay,” she said. “It’s okay. I promise. Help me sit up a little.”

I put my hands on her back and
felt her shoulder blades protruding through the thin fabric of her gown. I
tried not to flinch or cry, but it was difficult. She was so thin.

Betsy sat and stared into the
flames. Her eyes were haunted and her voice shook as she said, “So many
paranormals have abilities with fire. It is the strongest element, you know.
Malle believes that. Fallen angels have no such power. Neither do pixies. Only
a very few Airlees have the power. Well, Lisabelle.

“Of course, the vampires would
like to have talents with fire, but they don’t. That just leaves elementals.
You were always so strong. Don’t waste it. You must fight with fire. That is
the medium they have chosen to challenge the paranormals on. You can either
rise to meet the flames or be consumed by them.” She paused, staring at her
clasped hands. “No one thinks about fire, because they always see it. Fire is a
part of everyday life, just like air. It’s warm and necessary. No one thinks
about fire.”

I let her ramble. I hadn’t
expected her to want to talk much, but apparently she did. Until this semester
I hadn’t known Betsy all that well. Lisabelle thought she was a silly girl, but
I had come to like her.

Betsy turned to me and grabbed my
hands. Hers were cold and felt like dead fish. I tried to pull away, but she
just gripped me tighter. She leaned forward, and I could smell the alcohol on
her breath, hear the despair in her voice, and see the wretchedness in her
eyes. I didn’t look away. Somehow I knew I had to hear what she had to say. I
had to respect that she had chosen to say it to me. “You must pay attention to
the fire. Don’t let it consume you. Fight fire with fire and you’ll do just
fine. Lisabelle will help. She always knows what to do. Once you explain things
to her, once she sees the truth, there won’t be a paranormal in the world that
can stop you three. What a wonderful three.” I stared at her, letting the words
sink in as she leaned back onto her pillows.

“I would have liked to see my mom
again,” she murmured. “I would have liked that very much.” Then she closed her
eyes.

I closed the door to the
infirmary and rushed back to Astra. The tears spilled down my face as I slammed
into my home. I didn’t know where to go, I didn’t know what to do with myself.
I was simply overwhelmed by sadness. Flailing, I darted for the ballroom. Even
though it would never be MY own room, I somehow always felt most at home there
among the artifacts. I needed to see them, see the Mirror and know they were
safe.

Betsy was battered and bruised.
Who knew when she would wake up again.

I entered the room and everything
was just as it always had been. The windows streamed in sunlight and the
impressive thrones sat waiting. I rubbed my cheeks, trying to get rid of the
tears, and headed for the glass case with a heavy heart.

The Mirror Arcane was gone.

Chapter Twenty-One

I can’t say that it was
pandemonium after that, because it wasn’t. A strange calm settled over me,
almost like a cool mist.

I stood in the ballroom for a
long time, turning round and round. Maybe if I kept looking I would see, not
missing, but misplaced. I knew it wasn’t like that, but in my heart I wanted it
to be.

Carefully, I touched the glass
case. The other artifacts - a scepter that shone in rainbow colors when I
touched it, parchments, jewelry, and even a rock - were all still there. Only
the Mirror was gone. My whole body was trembling; I had failed. I’d been so
busy with Tactical and my friends that the Mirror had slipped away. We had
thought Vale would come for it while it was dark and the students were at
Tactical, but the Mirror had been taken in broad daylight.

Unless I was watched all the
time, how could the thief know I wasn’t at home? It was a question worthy of
Elam.

One thing was sure, I needed
help.

I quickly went through the list
of senior paranormals I could ask. There was always the option of sneaking off
campus and talking to Dacer, but I needed to talk to someone now and I had no
idea where Dacer was or how to go about finding him. On campus there was Korba,
but he had kept his head down all semester and I could only guess that he
wouldn’t be much use. Erikson and Dove both hated me, as did Zervos. Mrs. Swan
was now listed as “missing.” I chewed my lip, deep in thought.

Not for the first time that
semester I wished that Risper hadn’t disappeared. I had barely seen the other
committee members, but now I needed to talk to them, or at least to Oliva, who,
I knew, cared about what happened to the paranormals despite the fact that he
was a pixie. He wasn’t perfect, but he would have to do.