Elemental Release (7 page)

The next morning, I arrived at the city square as it opened. The merchants had been baking since dawn, and I knew, because the tantalizing scent of sweet pastries and warm breads had woken me.

I’d asked the air to stay away last night, and it had obeyed. When I paid for my raspberry scone with wild honey, I was practically whistling. Everything about the food in Hesterton was superior to what I ate in Tarpulin. The berries didn’t have to be packed or shipped. Simply picked from the bushes growing along the mountainside. The honey wasn’t clarified or bottled, but pulled right from the hive.

I’d never eaten anything so good, and as I wandered the market, I made a mental list of everything I’d eat that week. All of it came from the locality.

I bought a bottle of water, an apple, and a breakfast croissant and headed into the mountains. The sun beat down on my shoulders after a couple of hours, and nothing had felt so glorious. By noon, I’d hiked to the waterfall the innkeeper had told me about, and I stretched out on the ground to relax.

Nobody else was at the popular site, which suited me fine. I faced the sky, closed my eyes, and just breathed. The air smelled like dew, and leaves, and dirt. The wind rustled around me. Birds twittered and sang. Everything in my life melted away, until only the blazing sun painting the backs of my eyelids red remained.

Suddenly, I saw Hanai’s face burning into the redness of my vision. Before I could snap my eyes open, he held up his hand. His mouth moved, but I couldn’t hear him. He smiled. He put his hand over his heart, and bowed his head.

The mountain breeze that had been playing in my hair stilled. The birds silenced.

I’m sorry
, I thought.
I tried to save us all.

Again, he spoke without sound. I found I didn’t need to know what he was saying, because I already did.

It’s not your fault, Adam.

When I opened my eyes, tears ran toward my ears. I could’ve blamed it on the brightness of the sun, or the sudden gust of wind that blew right in my face, but I’d be lying.

I was crying because I’d finally let go of my guilt. I was crying because Hanai was dead, even though that wasn’t my fault.

I was crying because I didn’t have the weight of his death on my soul anymore.

The fall festival started the next morning with firecrackers. I watched from the open windows of my room as the parade wove through the streets of Hesterton toward the city center. The entire city had the day off work, and everyone had clustered in the marketplace.

I waited to join them, somehow unwilling to destroy the peace I’d achieved yesterday in the mountains. But finally, my stomach demanded food, and I headed to the celebration. I drank spiced coffee and ate eggs fried in bear fat. The traders had their furs displayed; the leatherworkers had finished clothes, boots, and hats. Seamstresses had their dyed cloths prettily sewn into dresses, bonnets, and aprons.

Stalls boasted pressed wildflowers, live floral bouquets, necklaces made from polished mountain stones. The tradesmen had clearly brought their best work to Hesterton. I browsed the art, the clothing, the jewelry, everything.

I bought Cat a vial of honeysuckle essence that would soothe burns. I acquired a new pair of boots for myself, and a pair for Isaiah too. Liz was much harder to shop for, as I’d only just gotten to know her. In the end, I found a tube of lotion that had been infused with beeswax. She’d told me of her work in the laundry facilities in Crylon, and how her hands still suffered from chapping and drying.

Gabby was the hardest to shop for. I didn’t want to get her something trite, but I couldn’t get her something overly romantic either.

She’s your Councilman
, I told finally myself after wandering through the shops twice.
What would you get your Councilman?

I bypassed the clothing booths as being too practical. She wasn’t my sister. The jewelry assortment felt too personal. The creams and perfumes also felt like something a beau would give her.

Which left me with food. Gabby loved to eat. Satisfied, I decided to wait and purchase her gift on my last day in town, so it could be as fresh as possible. Throughout the next several days, I sampled as much as I could from the food vendors. I ate bison burgers, and candied ginger, wild sassafras dumplings, and enough aled coffee to keep me buzzed for weeks.

On the last day of the festival—also my last day in Hesterton—I returned to a bakery stall that boasted the best breakfast pastries in town. Cream cheese existed in abundance, and everything was glazed.

I bought Gabby a wild cranberry fritter with cinnamon glaze. I asked the baker to wrap it for travel, and I set my sights toward the southern gate. If I flew on my air, I could make it back to Tarpulin by nightfall.

I’d be returning a day earlier than anyone expected me, but I didn’t care. I felt more rejuvenated now than I ever had.

Weaving through the streets, I nodded and smiled at several people. Nearing the southern gate, the crowds thinned, and the people became locals. Up ahead, a tall man with broad shoulders hulked down the street. His clothes were well-worn, dirty, and frayed on the edges. He stopped to speak to a woman sweeping the sidewalk in front of her shop, and I slowed my pace.

Not sure why, but knowing I needed to see the man’s face, I casually walked past him, stopping to examine the display in a shop next door.

I looked at him, sudden recognition flooding me. My blood ran cold at the sight of Theodore Wellington—Alex’s Airmaster.

I stifled the gasp and spun away from him. He’d recognize me too, no doubt. I hadn’t aged enough to look that much different than I had a year ago. I practically ran to end of the street, ducking behind the building just as I heard Theo’s footsteps resume.

He passed directly in front of me, and there was no mistaking him. The previous Supremist’s Airmaster was in Hesterton. Davison had said he’d dispatched her Council—all of them.

So how was Theo alive?

I touched down in Tarpulin weary and windburned. I’d spent the better part of the morning following Theo, trying to figure out his purpose for being in Hesterton. When I couldn’t learn the reason, I created an air cushion and headed for Tarpulin as fast as I could stand the wind whipping my face.

Airmaster Rusk met me on his balcony and helped me to the chair in his office. “Tell me everything,” he said.

I’d sent an air message ahead of me, claiming I’d seen a presumed-dead, potentially dangerous Airmaster in Hesterton. I told him about Theodore Wellington, and how I knew it was him.

My mentor listened, his eyes rapt, just as he always did. When I finished, he helped me stand. “I will take this information to Davison. You need to rest.” He escorted me back to my quarters, where we thankfully found Isaiah sleeping alone.

My bed felt uncomfortable and unfamiliar, though I’d been sleeping in an strange bed for over a week. I tossed, unable to make my thoughts settle. They circled around Theo, and what his existence meant. Finally, I got up, collected the pastry I’d bought for Gabby, and soared to her balcony.

The blasted door was locked. Of course, I wasn’t set to return until tomorrow. I employed my sentry skills and picked the lock, entering Gabby’s apartment a moment later. Immediately, the sound of her deep breathing helped the tension in my shoulders ease. I settled on her couch and fell asleep in seconds.

I woke when someone touched my forehead. I jerked to a sitting position, my eyes searching for the culprit, my hand reaching for the knife I kept in my boot.

“Just me,” Gabby said, jumping back. “At least I know how not to wake you up now.” She stood before me, showered and dressed. She held the bag with her pastry. “Is this for me?”

I took a deep breath to calm the frantic pulsing of my heart and ran my hands through my hair. “Yes,” I said. “I bought that in the annual fall festival. They had the best food ever.”

She took a bite, and her eyes rolled back in her head. “Mm.” She didn’t need to say any more. I watched her eat, and then she said, “What are you doing home? I thought you weren’t coming home until tonight.”

I didn’t want to tell her about the Airmaster sighting. She’d only worry, and this situation wasn’t something she could help. Still, I’d been working on full disclosure with her—it was one of my diplomacy lessons. Because the Airmaster and the Firemaker counseled together so often, we needed explicit trust.

“I saw someone,” I said.

“Someone who?”

“Alex’s former Airmaster.” I didn’t look at her. “He was reported as being killed, but…well, he was very much alive in Hesterton.”

She wiped her fingers on her jeans. “What does that mean?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I reported it to my mentor, who’s counseling with Davison.”

She nodded as she stood. “I have a meeting with Liz and her mentor this morning. She’s getting the details of her internship to Rhyss.” She reached her hand toward me. “Do you want to come?”

I took her hand, half tempted to pull her onto my lap and continue what we started before I’d left. Instead, I allowed her to help me stand. “Sure,” I said. “Let’s go.”

I tried to
pay attention during Liz’s meeting, but my mind kept wandering to Airmaster Rusk and if he’d learned anything new about Theo. The sharp worry kept squeezing my stomach until when we took a break, I pulled Liz aside.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “But I need to go see my mentor.”

She didn’t hear the fear in my voice, or notice the way my eyebrows pulled too tight. She hugged me, said she was glad I was back, and turned back to the room. Gabby, however, saw everything.

She slid her fingers between mine and squeezed. “See you at lunch?” she asked, and her eyes enticed me so much I suddenly didn’t need to see my mentor. She held worry and compassion in her expression, and I pulled her into an embrace.

“See you at lunch,” I confirmed, my voice only catching on the last syllable. I turned and left before she could hear any more weaknesses.

I found Airmaster Rusk in his office, the balcony wide open to the air outside. “Ah, Adam,” he said as if we hadn’t met in the middle of the night. “I believe we agreed we wouldn’t start lessons until Monday.”

“I know,” I said. “I’m just wondering what Davison said about Theo.”

He reached into the pocket of his robe. “He said he would find out what he could.”

“How is he going to do that?”

My mentor looked at me with caution in his eyes. I wanted to read his mind, but I knew it would be fruitless. “Tell me,” I pleaded. I didn’t know why the issue of Theo mattered so much to me, only that it did.

“Another of Alex’s former Councilmembers is still alive,” Airmaster Rusk said slowly. “He is a mentor here at the Academy.”

I flopped into the chair, momentarily stunned. “Here?” I managed to say, followed by, “Who?” Already my mind spun around the idea of meeting with him and asking what Theo was up to.

“Davison has already done that,” my mentor said, reading my thoughts. “You are a partially trained Airmaster. Your focus should be on Liz as she prepares for her internship—and on completing the list you provided me.” He turned his back on me to gaze out the window. “This is not your concern.”