Billow (40 page)

Hand wrapped around the back of my neck and his mouth met mine in a hot, hard kiss.

A kiss of desperation. A call for me to remember.

A truth that broke through every lie we both told.

Because the kiss we'd shared all those months ago wasn't blown out of proportion inside my head.

It wasn't a mistake. It was everything.

The weight of our fates and lives. The assurance of a powerful seal guiding me through the depths of the water. The entrusting of the most intimate memory.

Both the wild winter of the waters and the calm summer of the tides. It encompassed all the things that were said. Everything left unsaid.

Connection seared.

Warm fingers caressed the sensitive skin of my nape, then tangled and twisted into my hair and he pulled me closer.

Heat burst in electric waves, shaking me from the inside. Lips scorched, every nerve ending exploding with his taste, his touch, his smell.

My fingers curled between us. Absorbed the strength of his chest and felt it hitch in response. Like the rush of magic, I wanted to take in all of him. Draw what I found with him inside my veins, inside me.

His hard beauty and fiery gentleness. The intense quietness and passionate solace.

He let me go.

Our breaths came in rough gasps. My hand fisted in his shirt and soaked in the pounding of his heart.

Life and energy and understanding crackled.

We both knew.

He was going to stay and fight. Just as I was.

We'd put an end to this because this was who we were.

His expression hardened for battle and I knew mine did the same.

We stepped back at the same time.

"How many?"

"Five. No other lights. Power switch on the far eastern wall."

Tristan led the way and we cautiously entered the darkness. Light from the open door behind us provided enough illumination to see the basement's front half.

Large industrial pipes lined the ceiling. Years of dripping water and chemicals stained the bare, concrete floor. Shadows of abandoned equipment created strange, primitive outlines against the walls.

A lot of places to hide.

Unnatural stillness choked. The silence grew oppressive.

Eyes swept for any sign of movement. I couldn't hear anything. We neared the last edge of illumination.

Tristan tensed.

A shrill squeak of hinges tore through the thick air. Heavy entrance door slammed shut, cutting off our only source of light.

The small golden glow of my dagger provided enough brightness to see up to my elbow. But not enough to cast outward. Tristan's
kouperet
was the same.

It was like being entombed in a coffin.

Anxiety and fear awakened.

My flaring aura and the light of our weapons meant they could see me.

But I couldn't see them. Couldn't sense them.

"There are many ways to see." Calm strength infused his whisper. "You're an elemental. You know what you need to do."

I did. But the thought of doing it frightened me more than the overwhelming darkness.

Screech. Screech
.

Something dragged along the walls. The reverberation bounced off metal pipes and equipment, blending with the clamor of shut valves.

"
Sondaleur
,
sondaleur
. She shines so bright. Won't you come out and play tonight?" Callan's sing-song voice made my skin crawl. "I
see
you!"

Laughter ricocheted, the cacophony flinging around. They were toying with us.

Tristan and I positioned ourselves back-to-back. Echo after echo rang and I couldn't pinpoint which direction they were coming from.

Blackness closed in.

"You can do this," he murmured.

"But I might hurt you —"

"I trust you."

The words wrapped me in a cocoon of safety. Like the cool shelter of the cove or the fragrant shade of the gardens.

I could do this. No. I
would
do this.

I shut my eyes and breathed. Stilled everything inside. Felt the solid strength of Tristan's back against mine.

And I stopped fighting the pain.

I let go.

Of the need to control. To shove aside every fragmented part of me.

Concrete walls crumbled. The flood of emotions burst through the dam, its power freed.

And I accepted all of it.

Shoulders trembled. Oh
God
, it hurt.

The agony chilled to the bone, ripping through me in a bitter cascade.

If I hadn't said those last words to my mother before she went out on patrol, she wouldn't have lost focus and died. If I hadn't used Ryder to make myself feel better, he'd still be here.

Being near me cost Chloe her mother and father. Because of me, Cam lost his best friend since childhood.

I destroyed Marcella and Gabe's family because I wasn't strong enough to break through the darkness.

The icy deluge continued, the stinging pain of loss slicing every part of me as I finally allowed myself to grieve.

I missed my mother's hardness because I now knew why. Missed Ry's mischievous wink, Marcella's gentle perfume. I missed Gabe's fierce care.

The fear consumed. Of what might happen. Of what I might still lose.

That I couldn't do what everyone expected from me.

The river of what is true will never fail you.

There was no stopping it. All the ugly, jagged shards continued to gush in a raw torrent.

Regrets. Yearnings. Doubts. Envy.

The emptiness I felt alone in my room at night.

The aching need. To be held, to be touched. To be told I was enough.

And still, I let it flow.

Because I had to trust it. Trust it wouldn't destroy. Wouldn't weaken. It was a part of me, something I could no longer hide from.

As the initial onslaught subsided, other pieces began to emerge.

The rich sound of Julian's laughter. Watching bad television and eating junk food with Nexa. Jeeves' funny little polite bow.

The billows of emotions slowed, warming now.

Goofing around with Cam and Alex in the Training Center. Ian's shy grin. Chloe's warm arms. Aubrey's clever eyes.

I took a deep breath.

The swirling, jumbled pieces settled as I finally understood what was true.

Things changed. Life changed.

And I could accept it.

Because I also could change.

My Virtue patiently waited and a different kind of control took hold.

I didn't have to dig for my magic, tug at it. With a gentle release, it emerged slow and easy.

It added to the river of who I was. There was no need for the flood of power, the current of forced strength. Just enough to support what now naturally flowed through me.

The energy pulsed in balance with the trust and certainty in myself.

For the first time, my Empath touched Tristan.

His back slightly moved. He felt my magic. Felt me.

Filaments of strong, pure emotions buoyed and held me up.

A focused alertness that came from being a warrior of land and sea. A calm patience that grew from resilience. A warmth of continuous belief in me because he could see when I couldn't.

And a thread tied to that kiss.

Something so deep I couldn't reach all of it. In the same way I couldn't touch the entire timelessness of water in the Summoning Pool.

Like the moment I touched that water, something old reawakened. An ingrained awareness, tied to the core of what it meant to be an elemental.

And it knew I needed its help.

Senses surged and everything heightened.

The screeching sound continued to echo. But now I traced its bouncing movements back to its origin. Southeast corner.

Nose twitched, catching the sharp burn of pressure building in the vents. The air was almost tangible, its comforting moisture surrounding me.

Just as our Virtues and elemental magic fit together in an intricate framework, the world around us interlocked in the same way.

This was what elementals knew. What we protected and maintained.

The air shifted, whispered. It carried forward the cadenced sound of water dripping from a leaky pipe across the room. The dank smells of the basement drifted, pushing its own way through space.

Constantly moving. Changing. Adjusting.

Energy stemmed from a vibration. And it all wove together into the rich, complex harmony of life.

My breath and Tristan's breath worked as one.

Inhale. Exhale.

Heartbeat and heartbeat.

Air fluttered.

"Get ready." His words were a mere ripple.

The screeching abruptly stopped.

There was only silence. But I now recognized the eternal pulse behind it.

My hands came up.

I'm ready.

A shifting of air to my left.

Feet danced across the floor, dagger in motion. Resistance as flesh gave way under the blade. A demonic cry near my ear.

Tristan moved behind me, the golden glow of Essence from our weapons flashing through the air in perfect counterpoint.

A bend in the air. The trace scent of skin.

On the right.

I whipped around, blade slamming into something hard. A shoulder.

Sensitivity sharpened.

It didn't matter if my Virtue couldn't sense their void. Didn't matter if I couldn't see them.

Because everything else saw for me. Guided me.

The Shadow's blood was the absence of everything that connected us.

The Aquidae fell and the air moved. Pulling away from its abhorrence.

There.

A small point where the air cringed away most. The Origin.

Arm arced, dagger sliding straight into the center of that unnatural spot. Thickness spurted over my hand.

My head cocked. Feeling.

Listening.

Tristan gracefully spun, partnering with his
kouperet
in an intricate ballet of fluid strength.

Empath carried threads of his calm and intense concentration.

One breath. Two breaths.

A disturbance in the atmosphere. Steel arms crushed me.

"You shine so brightly,
sondaleur
," Callan hissed in my ear.

I shoved my dagger back, razor-sharp tip ravaging his gut. In one continuous movement, I pivoted and continued the assault.

Air and smell and sound presented me with a clear negative image.

Arm flew left to right. Up and down.

Every blow efficient. With true intent. True control.

Arm. Neck. Cheek. Chest.

There was only the blaze of Essence. The constant rhythmic spatter of blood against my skin, my face.

With one last turn, I thrust up into his chest.

Callan bellowed and crashed to the floor. I landed on top of him, fingers still wrapped around the dagger.

Basement door swung open and a swath of light burst through.

I blinked rapidly as pupils adjusted to the harsh brightness. Four silhouettes stood at the entrance.

With another surge of crackling power, the main lights turned on.

Senses shifted back to normal. Elemental instincts retreated and sank back inside. Waiting to emerge the next time I needed them.

I sat on Callan's chest with my blade embedded deep in his heart.

A pool of black blood spread, blending with those of the other four Aquidae.

Julian and three chevaliers were at the door. His shirt was torn in several places and a nasty bruise bloomed on his cheek.

"Everything okay?"

Callan stirred. He was starting to regenerate.

I nodded. "Make sure Aubrey, Ian, and the other victims get out."

Tristan walked toward us from the power switch. The amount of blood on his face had increased, just as it probably had on mine.

But I only saw what shone in his eyes. He knew what I'd done.

His expression turned questioning and I nodded.

I had to be the one to end it with Callan.

He followed Julian and the others up the stairs.

I shifted my gaze to the demon beneath me and waited. Remembered all the people he was responsible for hurting.

Nick. Marcella. Gabe. Me.

All the promises I'd made.

And when his eyes finally opened, I understood why I was doing it.

"This is for my friend," I said softly. "Your son."

Dagger cleanly slid in and out of his Origin in a detached movement.

The violence was gone from his eyes. His slightly parted mouth gave him an almost startled appearance.

I stood. We'd shut it down.

A rumble shook the walls and pipes trembled. The pressure was building fast.

Wiping my blade on my shirt, I headed for the stairs.

Air pushed and sent a tingle up my spine.

Frowning, I turned.

It was a subtle change in energy.

Something malicious. Undefinable.

I looked down and my breath came out in a rasp.

The blood moved.

THIRTY-TWO

Thick liquid undulated, rippling like black mud.

A strange polluted sensation built, infecting the air and pushing in on all sides.

"
Sondaleur
." It came from every part of the room.

Nausea scraped under my skin and I took a few steps back.

Like Jourdain's, this voice was too ancient to be male or female and defied any real body or form. It reverberated as if it came from energy itself.

But it was threaded with something repulsive. A corruption so unnatural, it made my entire being cringe.

"For over two thousand years I waited," it continued. "When you were simply an idea whispered in the waters. Now everything is shifting into place. The
sondaleur
. My true match."

I straightened and kept a tight hold on my Virtue. The tainted energy made magic instinctively pull away.

My voice was hard. "Come out and show yourself."

The Shadow laughed and the sound was equivalent to ten thousand demons.