Elemental Rush (Elemental 0.5) (5 page)

I found refuge in an abandoned warehouse that had cement footings, deciding to let nature blow itself out.

Mother Nature turned out to be as cruel as the Supremist, as unforgiving as Felix. The storm howled and ravaged Cornish for two days. When the wind finally calmed, I uncurled from my fetal position, my stomach clawing itself inside out.

I stumbled into the village, to the market. I had no money, and the Unmanifested weren’t exactly excited to see me. Finally a baker handed me a pork bun with the words, “Time for you to leave town, sentry.”

I agreed with him, so I nodded my thanks and headed back to the warehouse where I’d been hiding. I wasn’t sure what my next move was, but I knew I could get back to Tarpulin before Felix—if I decided to return to Tarpulin at all.

I tamed the westerly skimming the ground, making it coil and rise into the sky. It brushed my hair as it went, and I almost heard it whisper to me. I smiled, wanting to learn more about my Element.

“Adam!” someone called, and I froze, desperately hoping the man hadn’t seen me use my Element. I swallowed the last of my breakfast before turning.

Felix strode toward me, Cat in tow. “What are you doing here?” he asked.

I didn’t know how much of a lie I could tell. As sentries, we were trained to watch for signs of fibbing.

“I came to help you, but that storm hit and I was caught outside.”

“Helluva tornado,” Felix said. “Almost tore the roof off the house where we were staying.”

I cocked my head and listened to Cat’s thoughts. She hated Felix, but I also heard her think,
I’m grateful for that tornado. It saved me.

I took a deep breath, relief and gratitude singing through me too. Felix had always been arrogant and assertive. I just hadn’t realized how far he’d go to get what he wanted. I wondered what else he’d taken from people that they didn’t want to give.

I blocked his thoughts, unwilling to live inside his head anymore.

“Did you get a new mission?” Felix asked.

“I saw the smoke from the fire,” I answered evasively. “I was worried about you.”

“So you abandoned your orders.”

I shrugged, though my heart leaped into my throat. “I suppose so. But there were ten sentries with three Elementals. I felt like it was safe to leave them to come help you.”

“Hmm.” Felix squinted at me, like he was the one who could read minds and he didn’t like what he heard. “Well, let’s get back to Tarpulin. We’re behind schedule.”

“This is your
whole report?” Belfast asked, looking up from the desk in his office.

“Yes, sir,” I said, staring straight ahead. I’d repeated the report so many times, I didn’t need to look at it to get all the fabricated details right.

“Airmaster Shane Mendelson killed his own Firemaker?” Belfast’s scrutiny of me was beginning to erode the mask I so carefully wore.

“Yes, sir. Smothered him right in front of me.”

He leaned away, my peripheral vision catching him as he folded his arms. “Why would he do that?”

“I don’t know, sir. Have you asked him?”

Belfast shot to a standing position. “You dare to instruct me in how to handle prisoners? Of course I have asked him.”

I ignored the drops of spittle that landed on my hands. I didn’t move, not even a twitch. “Then you know why he killed his Firemaker.”

I knew what the report said. I just didn’t know why everyone on Reggie’s Council was going along with the lie. Shane had admitted to murdering Reggie, claiming that they’d all wanted to complete the orders to kill the Unmanifested in Trenton—all except Reggie.

So when they’d been caught, Shane decided to take matters into his own hands, killing the only person who’d really disobeyed. They’d fled after the murder, only to turn themselves in, claiming they wanted to return to Tarpulin for the opportunity to find a new Council, a new Firemaker, one who would follow the Supremist’s orders.

“I hear they have registered to be selected in the field trials,” I said. “As per the negotiations Commander Gillman orchestrated in Hesterton.”

Belfast didn’t grace me with an answer. He simply glared at my report like it was false. I listened for his mind and found him thinking exactly that.
I just don’t know how to prove it,
he thought.

I contained the smile I felt growing inside.

“And then you left your squad in the middle of the night?”

“It was dawn, sir,” I said. “And I felt that Felix was in trouble—which he was.”

“Yet his report does not detail anything he was unable to handle. How exactly did you help him?”

I hadn’t helped
him
, but I had saved Cat from a terrible fate. I hadn’t detailed that in the report, though. In fact, nothing that had happened in Cornish was official. No one knew; not Felix, not Cat, not anyone. And I was determined to keep it that way.

“Mr. Gillman?” Belfast asked.

“Well, he didn’t really need my help, but I was there just in case.”

“Then you got caught in the storm.”

“Yes, sir.”

He glared at me thinking,
There’s something not quite right, but I don’t know what it is.

I kept my attention on the wall, refusing to give him anything he could use to fan the flames of his thoughts. Because he was right, and the last thing I needed was him paying more attention to me.

“You’re dismissed,” he finally said, sweeping my report into a drawer.

I left quickly, without looking back. I didn’t feel safe until I made it to my quarters. Even with the door bolted, I couldn’t settle down. It wasn’t until I stepped onto the balcony and called to the sea breeze that I felt like I could actually breathe.

The next day, I was assigned to stand guard at the field trial interviews. Alex stood at the head of his conference room, his dirty blond hair shaved close to his scalp. His shoulders were broad, radiating authority. He had sharp cheekbones that framed ice-blue eyes that I’d seen fiery with anger on more than one occasion.

The Elementals who had registered for the open positions on Alex’s Council marched in, and I caught Isaiah’s eye. I needed to speak with him privately, but I hadn’t had time. And I certainly couldn’t be seen fraternizing with him openly.

Alex’s Earthmover had been reassigned to a supervisory Council that had been appointed to oversee the cities in the Northern Territories. His Watermaiden had gone to Lewiston to take a Council spot for a woman who had died. So Alex needed a new Earthmover and a new Watermaiden. He’d been holding registration, conducting interviews, and demanding demonstrations during field trials. He hadn’t found anyone satisfactory yet.

I’d never attended the demonstrations before, something I’d been grateful for, because I knew they lasted forever. I stood at attention near a door leading out the side of Alex’s conference room as he called the interviews to order.

He started with the Watermaidens, first calling them to the front of the room and grilling them with questions like, “How high can you throw water? Can you heat it?”

Of course, they all gave nearly identical answers. They’d attended similar training programs, even if they had come from all over the United Territories. Alex appraised each one after the interview, dismissing about half of them—Cat included.

I couldn’t tell if she was upset or relieved. She fled so fast, she barely had time to shoot a glance at Isaiah, who waited near the north wall. He looked calm and relaxed, even leaning against the stones like he was watching a concert in the park.

Alex began the process again with the Earthmovers, and I wasn’t sure what kind of answers he was looking for. When it was Isaiah’s turn, I held my breath.

“Can you burrow?” Alex asked.

“Of course,” Isaiah replied.

“Make sinkholes?”

“Yes.” Isaiah sounded tired.

By the fifth question, he stared straight into Alex’s eyes. “I can do anything and everything that involves earth. I’m not answering another question.” He returned to his casual position against the wall, his dark eyes practically glowing with contempt.

My heart pulsed erratically. He couldn’t speak to Alex like that—and I heard Alex think the same thing. His thoughts were wicked, all about wanting Isaiah on his Council only so he could ruin him more publicly.

My feet itched to move forward, but I forced myself to remain still. My gaze volleyed between Isaiah and Alex, who were still locked in a silent battle of wills. I couldn’t find Isaiah’s thoughts through all the people in the room, but his murderous look said it all.
What are you going to do about it?

Alex could—and would, I now realized—do plenty. I expected him to unleash a fury of flames toward the Earthmover, incinerating anyone who didn’t get out of the way fast enough. I mentally ran through my first aid training for burns. Every sentry completed six courses on how to mend everything from a broken leg to whiplash. I knew CPR, how to give another my breath underwater, and how to treat burns with only a bar of soap. Anything an Elemental could do to hurt another person, I knew how to fix.

But no flames were thrown. Nothing was said. Alex called the next Earthmover to the front of the room and interrogated him with identical questions. After the round ended, he dismissed all the Earthmovers except for three.

Isaiah was asked to stay.

We adjourned for lunch, and I wanted nothing more than to slide into a seat across from Isaiah and ask him what the tornadoes he’d been thinking. The Elementals ate with us in the Supremist’s dining hall, so I could’ve done it.

But one look from Felix, and I joined him at a table instead. “What will happen now?” I asked, pushing my food around on my plate. I couldn’t get my nerves to settle, and I couldn’t eat when worked up. Besides, the corn looked mushy, the beef overcooked. The only thing I even considered putting in my mouth was the pumpkin bread.

“Alex takes the chosen Elementals on field trials.” He shoveled food into his mouth, barely having time to taste and chew before swallowing.

I nodded, my airmaking Element coiling into a funnel inside. I couldn’t release it here. Or anywhere.

I ate my bread while I watched Isaiah. He sat with the other two Earthmovers, their heads bent close together. They looked like they were planning something, but at least thirty feet and thirty people sat between us. I couldn’t untangle his thoughts from those around us.