Elemental Omen (Paranormal Public Book 10) (5 page)

From my lonely spot in a dim corner, I watched him go. My hands were still bound, and I knew better than to expect Spark to untie me.

I had missed home a lot as I wandered alone in dangerous times, because being on the run was not what I had thought it would be. I had imagined that if I stayed away long enough, if I could stay anonymous effectively enough, then someday I’d be able to settle down and have a farm and a family.

That had been a silly dream; I knew it now. I had probably known it all along, but one part of me had to prove it to the other before the knowledge could be operational.

Until this disastrous day, sleeping hadn’t been hard. Maybe I should have had awful dreams of the last three years. Maybe I should have been upset about the people I had left behind. But instead, until now, I had remained calm, I had locked the worry away and refused to think about it. In my most rested moments I had even had some fond memories of home, but I knew deep down that they weren’t real. I was in close enough touch with reality to know that.

Now, every time I tried to sleep, all I saw was Greta’s shocked brown eyes, frozen at the moment when she died. Breathing was difficult and painful and my eyes shot open every time I tried to close them. As I lay there with just an old rag for a pillow, I listened to this ragtag clan settling the children again and trying to sleep. No one settled very close to me, although there were two rough-looking fellows who were clearly keeping guard. They both looked malnourished, and the light in their eyes when they looked at me made me uncomfortable. I shifted until my shoulders weren’t cutting into the rock and closed my eyes again.

It was still useless; the image of Greta would not leave me. Opening my eyes again in frustration, I used the dying light of the fire to count the stones above my head, the formations and twists and turns: One solid entity, but still so complicated. I wondered if that’s what my life was like. One me, but many parts. I was less and less sure of where I was supposed to be with every day that went by.

For the first time since I had set out on the road, all I wanted was to go home.

I must have slept, because I was awakened by a kick to the sole of my boots. I opened one eye, still lying on my back. Sparell stood there glaring down at me, breathing through her nostrils. “Get up,” she ordered. “We don’t have any food for you, but maybe you have some in your magic bag. Pity, if you open it we’ll kill you.”

“I’d like to see you try,” I muttered. Sitting up with my hands bound and my body stiff took some time. While I struggled, Sparell walked away.

With both hands I dragged my bag closer. I had several pieces of rice cake in there, my constant traveling companion, but I wasn’t hungry enough to eat them yet or awake enough to fight with Sparell about it.

“You dreamed?” The voice startled me, then I realized that one of the nearby heaps was Spew, Spark and Sparell’s mother.

“No,” I lied.

She gave me a toothy grin and moved closer. “My son wants to be a famous Bounty Hunter, catch paranormals on the list. He has no idea what that really means. We barely have magical powers. It just keeps lessening and lessening with each generation.” She shook her head sadly. “I do not want my children mixed up in the difficulties of the paranormals.”

“If they’re paranormals, then they’re mixed up in it by definition,” I said.

“Said the boy who’s running away,” she said, smiling at me when she saw that she’d hit a nerve. “We do silly things when we’re young. You shall return.”

“Not if your son has anything to say about it,” I said.

She shrugged, her eyes suddenly sad. “If you can avoid hurting him, I would very much appreciate it.”

“How do you know I could hurt him?” I asked.

We were both keeping our voices low as if we were at least united in not wanting to be overhead. Spew shrugged thin shoulders, her eyes intent on mine.

“You do not walk like you’re afraid, even when you should be. Even the Bounty Hunters who walk through here move as if they fear something. You swore on the name of the darkness premier. Like. You. Knew.”

Conscious that it would be very bad if she found out who I was, I said, “I’m sorry. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Spew, knowing that her chance was over, nodded sagely. “We’re going to the Black Market today. There they will be able to identify you, and if you make them do it, I promise you, you won’t like the methods they use.”

I was only passingly surprised that they hadn’t already identified me; I figured it must be because there were very few pictures of me in existence, my friends had made sure of that. What’s more, all the ones that
were
in circulation were from at least three years ago, when my hair had been shorter and my shoulders weren’t as broad.

Even so I had spent most of my time covering my head with a hood and keeping my chin to my chest.

“By the way,” I said to Spew, “my name’s Joice.”

She smiled. “Sure it is.”

We moved out not long after that. I was glad enough, because I didn’t want to talk to Spew for much longer. I knew that if I did I would start to feel too sorry for her. This clan on the outskirts of paranormal society was playing with a fire that, little known to them, was raging out of control. I wanted to warn them, I wanted to help them. I hadn’t been able to help Greta, but I still had to try with these paranormals.

“Look,” I said, trying one last time as we stood in front of the cave, “you want to let me go. If you take me to the Black Market, you aren’t going to like the consequences.”

“You’re mine,” said Spark, stepping forward and getting in my face. “We aren’t just going to hand you over.”

I was really tired of this guy’s bravado. I stepped forward, getting in his face in turn. “I am not yours,” I said. “You have women and children to take care of and feed. I get it. Part of taking care of them is not getting them killed, or you either.”

Spark looked amused, like I’d said something funny.

“You have no idea what you’re messing with,” I said quietly. “You have no idea who’s after me, or who will come.” I was actually sure of the first part, less sure of the second as time went on, but Spark didn’t have to know that.

Spark didn’t look impressed. “There are Bounty Hunters after you,” he shrugged. “We can deal with them.”

I bit down on the inside of my lower lip, forcing myself to keep quiet.

“You’re going to get them all killed,” I said, inclining my head to the rest of the clan members, who were now shifting with worry. My words were scaring them? Good. They should be scared. They should not be trying to take strange paranormals unawares.

“Shut UP,” Spark yelled, suddenly shoving me in the chest. Caught off guard, I stumbled backward. Twisting in order to try and catch myself, I failed miserably and ended up sprawled on the ground, my face slamming into the dry earth. I lay there for a second, breathing in dust and trying to catch my breath.

“Get up,” Spark bellowed, sounding crazed. I sighed and rolled my eyes, pushing myself to my feet. I hoped that made him feel better, but it wasn’t until I was standing that I saw what I had left behind. My inability to further secure my ring meant that it must have been slowly working its way out of my pocket. My heart in my mouth, I saw it there on the ground, half buried in dirt but out in the open so that I surely wasn’t going to be the only one who could see it.

I tried to fall back down again, but Sparell had already spotted the ring.

When it was clean, my ring was a rose gold that my sister had chosen for me. The jewel was the color of rainbows, and it made me smile every time I looked at it. My sister had searched through the heap of elemental rings we still had in our possession to find the right one for me, and she had been so excited when she presented it to me that she had cried.

Now, with the ring lying there on the floor of the cave, all the adults in the clan would know who I was. Sparell darted forward gleefully and snatched it up, her eyes alight.

“Aha!” she cried. Her thumb worked frantically to clean off the gemstones, but instead of becoming clearer as she looked at it, her face only became more confused.

“It’s colorful,” she murmured, turning to her brother. “What does that mean?”

“Um,” said her brother, glaring at the ring and turning it over in his hands. His sister tried to take it back from him, but he wouldn’t let her. The entire clan was watching us, and Spark was bound to do something stupid.

“It’s not a real paranormal ring. It’s not for one of the types, I’m sure,” said Spark, overconfident as always.

Luckily, the stone stayed entirely dark as Spark turned it over in his fingertips, but glancing past him, I saw his mother’s expression. Her eyes were on the ring and fear was etched in every line of her face.

When she turned to look at me directly, I knew she knew what the ring meant, what the colors of the rainbow told her about who I was. It wouldn’t be hard for her to confirm her suspicions if she had seen the list of the most sought-after bounty targets. I had known something like this was a possibility when they finally figured out that I had left my sister’s care and struck out on my own, but I was also impressed with how long my friends had managed to keep it a secret. Then again, maybe I shouldn’t have been, considering who my friends were.

Spew raised her eyebrows just a little and I nodded, ever so slightly, once. She licked her lips as her knees buckled a little, and I knew she was near collapse. The devastation that would be visited upon anyone who had me was probably unimaginable for someone like her, but she was trying.

“Maybe this isn’t the best idea,” she said, sounding strangled.

Spark stopped dead. Slowly, he handed my ring back to his sister. With his hands on his hips he carefully turned around to glare at his mother.

“Excuse me?” he whispered. Even Sparell looked surprised. None of the rest of the clan seemed to connect Spew’s sudden reluctance with the appearance of my ring. It was probably just as well, because I didn’t want anyone else to think too hard about it.

“This is foolish,” she said. “We’re finding rings in his clothing. We don’t even know who he is. We could be walking into all sorts of trouble.”

“We know he’s a paranormal,” said Spark. “We know we can sell him and make lots of money. That’s all we need to know.”

“But . . .” Spew started, but it was useless. Spark’s mind was already made up.

“Mom,” Sparell yelled. “Stop it! You’re old and foolish.”

Her daughter’s reproach seemed to upset her more than her son’s had. At Sparell’s yelled reproach, Spew stopped dead.

“Let’s move out. Mother, if you’re going to keep this clan from getting food and feeding its young, you can just stay here,” said Spark. His mother made a strangled sort of cawing noise, but in the end she came along, trailing along behind the rest of the group.

Off we went to the Black Market. The land was barren and dry. Part of the problem was that the darkness power had swept over it, killing trees, grass, and everything in between. Crops died and paranormals went hungry. All the fights leading up to the last great battle had demolished lands far and wide, and for the most part they still hadn’t recovered. It rarely rained, and it was difficult to move food around the country, even with brooms and other methods of flying. Many of the clans, like the one that had taken me hostage, didn’t trust the government. They didn’t trust anything but the Black Market, which was about the last place I myself would ever look for honesty.

The conversation on the way to the Black Market was mostly about gossip and crops, but there were a few interesting tidbits.

First, the paranormal council was forming to start a formal search for a better president than the current one. They had tried to govern through various means since the Nocturn war, and nothing had worked. Various factions were rising up, hoping to be elected, but the outcome remained uncertain.

As always, news of darkness was rife. Many of the ills being visited upon the paranormals were being blamed on Nocturns who were still on the loose (there were very few of these, most had been killed) or on demons running amok.

As we walked, I kept thinking I could see flits of light, as if a fleet-footed dog with a silver coat was dashing through the woods. I’d look, and then it would be gone. I blinked and shook my head, trying to clear my vision and my thoughts, afraid that I was now definitely starting to see things.

“What’s wrong with him?” I heard Sparell ask. “He keeps shaking his head like he’s confused.”

“I don’t know. Why do you think
I
can explain what’s wrong with paranormals like that?” Spark demanded. The leader of the ragtag clan had chosen a handful of other members to travel with us, leaving most of the group behind. The children had run along with us until Spew had angrily sent them home. They had wanted to come, to see the Black Market, and they hadn’t liked hearing that they couldn’t.

“Are we walking all the way there?” I asked.

Spark sniffed. He seemed to be in a much better mood now that we had left the cave behind.

“We have a boat,” said Sparell proudly.

“Who’d you have to steal that from?” I asked.

Sparell rolled her eyes. “They gave it to us.”

“Who gave it to you?” I asked. If they were going to keep answering my questions, I was going to keep asking them.

“The Appraiser,” she said. “They came down the river and gave every clan a boat, just in case we ever wanted to bring any paranormals in.”

Something inside me twisted, but I tried to remain calm. It didn’t really matter anyhow; Sparell didn’t notice my reaction, she just kept talking.

“They said that since there were so many valuable paranormals on the loose and they wanted to help all the clans, they thought this was the best way to do it. It’s how we knew we’d make a lot of money with you in the first place. They said that anyone coming through here must be valuable.”

“When did they say this?” I asked weakly. Spew looked at me, her eyes filled with concern. I wanted to tell her it would be alright, but at this point I wasn’t so sure. How could I have been so stupid? How could I have thought I could run? No specific price had been set on me because I was priceless. Something a vampire I knew had said rang in my head: “Everything has a price. It might not be one that can be paid, but everything has a price.” My mind went to my family and I wondered if I’d ever see them again. I had always thought I would, but the Appraiser would surely know who I was, and once he did . . .

“Yeah, so we have a boat, but it’s small, so not many of us can go,” said Sparell.

“They’ll kill you if you bring me,” I said. “They. Will. KILL you.”

“They won’t,” said Spark. “If they do, then no more clans will come with anyone else. Besides, they have plenty of food, and we can defend ourselves.”

I felt sick. Once they had me they wouldn’t care about catching any of the other paranormals on the list. Well, maybe Halland the Hallow, but he was never going to be caught, let’s face it. Lisabelle Verlans’s name was also on the list, but I sort of thought that was just a joke.

“Nice try, though. You’ve made a good effort, but this time tomorrow we’ll have sold you to the highest bidder and we’ll be back home eating steak,” Spark said, licking his lips.