Under A Blood Moon (Elemental Enchanters) (19 page)

“You’re reaching. I believe he’s a
n Enchanter, but I don’t think he’s making them.”

“Then how do you explain Kristen and Link, all of their personality changes?”

“Maybe they got a taste of popularity. You know how kids are. They get wrapped up in that stuff.”

Ava sighed. She wasn’t going to argue with him. She needed to gather proof. Maybe she should follow Xavier or Kristen around.

“What did you do to get rid of this pain?”

“I took some medicine. But then when I was—.” Around Peter, she never felt pain. “When did it start hurting?”

“As soon as we got to the hallway. Why?”

“You didn’t feel any pain when Peter was there?”

He furrowed his eyebrows. “I don’t think so.

Did being around Peter relieve pain?
It sounded so ridiculous, since he was an Ephemeral. Unless Xavier got to him early, and used him to spy on Ava. No, no. her imagination was running wild. But could it be true?

“We have to
spy on Xavier, Jeremy.”

He sighed. “I’d rather not until we know for sure.”

“How much more proof do you need?” she yelled.

“Should we tell the others?”

“Maybe. Just in case things get out of hand. But we can’t tell Savina or Colden.”

Jeremy shook his head. “This isn’t good.
We shouldn’t be keeping secrets from them.”

“I don’t want this anymore than you do. But Savina and Colden told us there would be spies. That’s what we’ve been practicing for isn’t it?”

“Are you doing this to protect us or strictly for Peter’s sake?”

“Does it matter?”

He met her eyes. “No, I guess not.”

“We’ll watch him and follow him
over the break.”

He took a deep breath. “Okay.”

Ava would find out exactly what Xavier Holstone was up to. She would do whatever it took to keep Peter safe.

Ava and her friends returned to Blackhart manor the next night. She passed through the gate, and admired the immense garden lit by the orange light of the torches lining the walkway.

Colden greeted them, and stood aside so they could enter. “We’ve much to do,” he said, and then closed the door.

He led them through the conservatory. The purple velvet rug was gone, and only a few candles were lit. They crossed the bare hardwood floor to the outside.

He opened the wide door and Ava was amazed to see
rolling hills that seemed to go on forever. She could only imagine how beautiful it must be in the daylight. The sliver of moon barely lit the charcoal sky, but torches lined the small area where Savina and Aaron stood, and around the edges of the mansion. Brown leaves embedded into the ground from the rains. A mix of empty maples and southern pine trees surrounded them on either side of the field.

Savina was waiting for them and did not greet them like she normally did. She stood assertively in her usual black robed dress. Her long hair swayed in the small breeze. “This is Aaron,” she said. “To those who do not know. Now, what can you do with your powers?”

“I can create fire,” Thomas replied.

“Show us.”

He stepped forward and raised his palms, and emitted flames from his hands.

“What can you do with that?”

“Um.” He attempted to hurl the fire but it extinguished.

“Too late,” Savina told him. “You would be dead by now. Melissa, your turn.”

“Wait.” Jeremy held out his arm in front of her. “Do you hear that?”

Ava looked at him. “Hear what?”

“Stay focused, Jeremy,” Savina warned.

“What does it sound like?” Lance asked.

“A woman is singing. It’s beautiful.”

Gillian fumed. “She said focus.”

“I can’t. It’s too distracting.”

Lance’s face lit. “I hear it too. Do you hear it, Thomas?”

“Yeah. It’s so beautiful,” he said.

Ava looked up at him, and he was completely mesmerized with the mysterious sound. “What is it?”

“Am I missing something?” Melissa looked at Ava.

She shrugged. “I don’t know.” She looked at Savina, Colden, and Aaron who stood patiently as if they knew what the sound was.

“Look, do you see her?” Jeremy pointed a finger to the north of the woods, and a tall, elegant woman slowly, almost seductively emerged. Her slicked-back bobbed black hair crowned her round face, and her olive skin glowed against her orange chiffon dress. She crept closer and closer towards them.

The woman captivated all three of the guys, almost as if they were in a trance, but Ava watched her warily. Her full red lips held a sultry grin as she walked up to Jeremy and held his face between her slender hands. Black makeup shadowed her hazel eyes. It seemed as though there was no one else but that woman in Jeremy’s eyes. Then, he collapsed.

Ava gasped, and glanced at Savina, Aaron, and Colden, who still stood, watching, not helping. Why weren’t they doing anything? Was this a test?

“Jeremy,” Gillian screamed, and started to run toward him, but she froze as if someone pressed stop on a movie.

“Gillian?” Melissa shook her but received no response. “What’s wrong?”

Ava quickly envisioned the mysterious woman underwater before she did anything to Lance and Thomas. Soon, the woman fell to her knees gasping for air. Ava kept her focus until a blunt force knocked her to the ground. It was as if a train had hit her. But when she opened her eyes, her breath caught in her throat.

Snow covered the ground, the trees, everything. She groaned, and sat up. Where was she? Where were Thomas, Melissa, and everyone else? Her fingers dug into the snow.

“I’m sorry about that,” someone said, with a gravelly voice.

Ava looked up and saw a man with short disheveled black hair with bangs that stood up on end. His crystal blue eyes locked onto hers, and his thick eyebrows pulled down toward the center of his smooth face, giving off a serious look. His nose was straight and narrow on his pale square face. He wore a necklace just like hers.

He held out his hand, but she didn’t take it. Instead, she scrambled to her feet and backed up against a rock. They were inches from a cliff.

“Are you okay?” he asked. He was tall with broad shoulders and had a relaxed, but confident, stance. For some reason, he intimidated her.

“Who are you?” she asked. “Where are we?”

“I’m Gabriel. And we’re in Russia.”

Ava refused to let him out of her sight, but the beautiful landscape captivated her. They were surrounded by mountains so tall she couldn’t see the tops of them. Be
low them was an aqua lake. “You teleported us?”

He cleared his throat. “I meant no harm. We’re supposed to be practicing with you all. I’m a part of the coven.”

“Why did you do that?”

“You were drowning Natalia. I had to do something.” He smirked.

“How did you know what I was doing?”

“You’re Ava, right? The Water Enchanter
.”

She didn’t like that he knew. What else did he know about her? “Take
me back, now.”

He held out his hand. “Okay. Let’s go.”

She looked at it, then his eyes. Something about him made her trust him. She took his hand, and a second later, she was back in the field.

“Ava,” Thomas shouted and grabbed her.

“You shouldn’t trust strangers so quickly,” Gabriel told her.

“Who are you?” Thomas asked, and then shot a fireball right at him, but he disappeared and reappeared.

Thomas held Ava back behind him, protectively. Gabriel only smiled in a mocking manner. Then, he reached out, and grabbed something.

“You should really work on being stealthier,” he said, and Melissa came into view, struggling against his grasp.

Ava tried to imagine him underwater, but someone grabbed her by the shoulders, breaking her concentration.

Just as Thomas turned around, a man, much shorter than him, overtook him and wrestled him to the ground.

“Let me go,” Ava shouted and struggled against whoever held her.

Colden clapped his hands once. “Excellent.”

“What’s going on?” she demanded.

“This is the rest of our Aureole,” Savina said, and the person holding Ava released her.

She turned around and saw a brunette man. He looked as if he were Aaron’s younger brother or son with the same russet eyes. His twin fought with Thomas, but when she looked at Thomas, there was no one else around.

“I’m Eric,” he said.

Thomas got to his feet. “There were two of you.”

Eric laughed. “Gets them every time.”

Ava backed away and joined Thomas. “What do you want?”

Eric
cocked an eyebrow. “It’s okay. I can duplicate myself.”

“We are all friends here,” Aaron said. “We wanted to see what you all could do after a couple of
months practice. You’ll need more.”

Jeremy came out of his trance, as did Gillian. Lance held onto Melissa, just as Thomas did with Ava. She didn’t know what to think. One minute she feared for her life, and the next she was supposed to act as if they were friends.

“In the meantime, I would like you to introduce you all,” Savina said. “Natalia.” She waved her hand to the woman who apparently could sing. Her hazel eyes looked impatient as she crossed her arms in front of her small chest. “Gabriel.” The teleporter. “And Eric, Joss, Kira, and Maggie.” She introduced them to a group of various aged and ethnic people. Kira and Maggie were Asian, and both had brown eyes. Kira had thick white hair that came to her lower back. Maggie’s thick black hair parted off-center and covered her left eye. Her red lipstick stood out from her pale skin. She looked about Savina’s age while Kira looked to be in her twenties.

The petite woman with light caramel skin and violet eyes came forward with a bright smile. “It’s so nice to finally meet you all. I’m Joss,” she said, cheerfully.

Ava wondered if she wore contacts. Her dark hair was pulled back from her small head in a ponytail. Eric stood next to her, and they held hands.

“Good to meet you all,” Gabriel said.

Ava peered at him out of the corner of her eye. He was watching her, and then she quickly returned her eyes to Savina.

Thomas clutched her hand, and Ava thought it served as a reminder to Gabriel that he was still there.

“I brought them here to help you,” Savina said. “We needed to show you all just how fast and focused you need to be. Ava reacted quickly to Jeremy, but you didn’t realize anyone else was out there. When you attack, you need to listen for others. You need to protect each other. If one of you is incapacitated, do not run for them, you must keep your focus until all danger is gone.”

“As for our beautiful Siren here, boys
, you must ignore the sounds,” Aaron said.

Jeremy shook his head. “I had never heard anything like it.”

“What was so special about it?” Gillian demanded.

“It is a song that fills men’s ears and all they see is her
and all they hear is her song,” Colden said. “It’s an attack method. It allows Natalia to get close enough to touch so she can kill them. When she touches them, it is no longer a beautiful song, but can induce pain by a high-pitched sound so intense you fall unconscious or you die.”

“But we never heard anything,” Gillian said.

“It only works on men,” Natalia said. “If I need to kill a woman, I use my high-pitched sound.”

“And Gabriel can stop time for someone, as he did for Gillian, or teleport,” Savina said.

“Whoa,” Thomas said. “Is that what happened with you? One minute you were here, and the next you vanished.

“Yes,” Ava replied.

“Aaron can diminish powers, or enhance them,” Savina said. “As he did with you Thomas. Which is why you weren’t able to do much with your fire. Kira induces poison with a single touch. Maggie can transform her body into a weapon.”

Maggie gave a one-sided grin, and her arms and hands slowly transformed into metal
Sai, a metal dagger with three prongs.

Ava shuddered.

“Eric has a duplication ability. And Joss can manipulate or create electricity.”

“Now, Thomas could have thrown fire at Savina, but he was nervous,” Aaron said. “In order to ignore outside distractions, clear your mind and do not let anything interrupt your focus. When dealing with someone like Gabriel, you must be quick.”

“Ava can drown people, but also can pull the water from within herself and create it.”

“What?
I can’t create it.”

“In order to practice this, it helps to be around water. But once you learn, you will be like Thomas. Now, Melissa…”

Ava tuned Savina out. She didn’t know how to create water in the palm of her hand. “How do you do it?” she asked Thomas.

“It’s simple,” he said. “Just think of it.”

She hated his arrogance, but was also jealous that he could do this so simply whereas she couldn’t.

“I can help,” Gabriel said.

“She can handle it herself,” Thomas told him.

Though she despised his controlling attitude, she agreed with him. She wasn’t sure she wanted Gabriel’s help. Especially after he said not to trust strangers.

But she could feel him. He was incredibly calm.

“As we do with every practice,” Aaron began. “Since there are so many of us, we pair off into twos. Whomever you are paired with, will be your permanent partner for now. We were hoping to have you all practice more with each other, but that failed.”

Ava was embarrassed that they’d disappointed Aaron. He seemed like a person who was not afraid to punish. But instead of fighting, they really needed to focus.

Savina paired everyone, Ava with Gabriel; Jeremy and Maggie; Thomas and Natalia; Melissa and Eric; Lance with Kira; and Joss with Gillian.

Ava didn’t dare show any frustration at being paired with Gabriel in front of Aaron. Soon the field rang with the sounds of combat training. Strong winds grew around Jeremy and Maggie. Fire exploded into mid-air from Thomas’s hands. An invisible Melissa taunted her opponent. Natalia put Thomas in a trance. Joss created electric arcs between her hands. Ava had never seen anything like all this. Some laughed as if they were truly having a good time. But Ava wasn’t afraid, she was ready, at least she thought so.

A hard and brute force knocked her to the ground, leaving her breathless as she landed hard.

“I wish you’d stop doing that,” she said, and got to her feet.

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “I will once you fight me.”

She pictured him in a pool of water, but nothing happened. He waited. She clenched her fists and thought of him drowning in the ocean. But he still made no movement. He only laughed.

She ran toward him and punched him the stomach. He fell to his knees, coughing, not laughing.