elemental 04 - cyclone (8 page)

Before she, Aiden, and Dylan could come to any kind of conclusion about how to rid her of the problematic energy, Saoirse had showed up, stating that she had to take Aira to the elders. The message she had brought with her had underscored the urgency while at the same time not giving Aira any hint as to what the purpose of the meeting would be. She had asked Aiden and Dylan to follow her, and Saoirse had not—for once—even attempted to argue with them, simply saying that Aiden and Dylan would have to wait outside while Aira spoke to the elders on her own.

Saoirse led Aira not into the arena-style room where the battles had taken place in, but a much smaller space in the court building, where the solemn-looking elders were already seated. A chair sat in the center of the room and Saoirse gestured that Aira was to sit there. She swallowed against the dryness she felt in her throat and sat down in the seat, thinking she couldn’t have felt more intimidated if she was being interrogated by the FBI. For a long moment, silence weighed the room down and Aira felt each one of the elders’ intent gazes on her, watching her as if they were waiting for her to unravel right in front of them. Aira, in spite of her pounding heart and dry mouth, forced herself to remain silent, to not give in to the impulse to communicate which her air-aligned energy brought to the surface immediately. She had learned the hard way not to be the sort of chatterbox that Saoirse tended to be—although the younger woman was less talkative the more often she came up against the combined will of Aira, Aiden, and Dylan. Aira felt a stab of guilt, hoping that her attempts to subvert Saoirse hadn’t done something to damage the girl.

“Aira,” the spokesperson for the elders finally said, standing surprisingly quickly for his age. “Part of the role of an elemental ruler, as I’m sure your grandmother told you, is to determine the fate of elementals of your own alignment—and sometimes those of other alignments—when they pose a risk to the survival of our community as a whole.” 

Aira nodded. She forced herself to remain quite in spite of the nervous energy bubbling through her that would normally have prompted her to speak. 

“Part of your testing—not an official part, but something we feel is necessary—will be to make such a decision.” 

Aira started. If she was not the elemental ruler, why would the elders require this of her? The man had said it wasn’t an unofficial part; was this a particular test for her, in light of her situation? Aira pressed her lips together and counted slowly to five to forestall the hasty and alarmed questions that came to mind.

“I am afraid I don’t understand,” she said calmly, taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, as surreptitiously as possible. “I thought there were definitive rules about how such a decision could be made—wouldn’t incorporating this decision into the selection process be in violation of that?” 

The elder looked at her sharply. “You are on a short list of only three contenders for the elemental throne,” he said, almost brusquely. “In any case, this particular situation has been hanging in the balance for a long time. A decision has to be made, particularly since this family—and a few elementals who belong to it in particular—have engaged in some particularly risky behaviors in recent weeks.” Aira furrowed her brow, resisting the urge to cross her arms over her chest. 

“I don’t believe this is being brought to me in a way that I have much of a choice in the matter,” she said, hearing the flippant tone in her voice and almost—but not quite—regretting it. She took a deep breath once more to stall any further retorts that rose in her throat. “But if this is a requirement of my testing, of course I will comply with your wishes.” 

The elder nodded. “Bring him in,” he called out. 

Aira glanced around the room and saw a door on the other side opening up. She was not prepared for the sight of the person who came through the door. Aira truly hadn’t known what to expect—she didn’t know enough air elementals to have suspected any one person or family. But the man who walked through the door, held and steered by two other men, was Alex. He had clearly gotten the worst of a struggle, with cuts and a bruise marking his face. He was chained in iron, grimacing as he shuffled into the room. She flashed back to her brief imprisonment, the time she had been locked in iron cuffs and shackles, the victim of a kidnapping masterminded by an earth elemental who had wanted her to join his family. She saw with relief that the iron trapping Alex, zapping away his elemental abilities and probably causing him pain was at least not pressed directly to his skin. 

For a long moment, Aira simply stared at him in shock. She had known the situation Alex’s family was in. Her own grandmother had explained it to her. The family was known to be unstable, to be a risk to the community. Aira’s grandmother had abstained to vote on whether or not the family should be eliminated or whether particular members should be executed while the rest of the family was left to survive. She had put off the decision, knowing Aira might be the one to have to make the choice herself, if she became the ruler of her element. Aira felt a flash of resentment towards her grandmother. It apparently would not even matter whether or not she became the ruler of her element—she was apparently going to be responsible for Alex’s fate no matter what. The resentment burned away Aira’s shock and she turned to face the elders once more. 

“I am sorry,” she said, looking particularly at the elders’ spokesman. “But I do not believe that this is a good idea for a test.” She swallowed against the knot in her throat remembering her sense of betrayal. Even knowing in advance that he had an ulterior motive in pursuing her, when she found out that he specifically had wanted to seduce her and impregnate her, to force her to marry him and therefore preserve his family, she had still been bitterly angry. 

“Why is that?” the elder asked in a mild voice. Aira felt her face flooding with heat as she blushed deeply.

“Because,” she said, feeling her heart pounding. “I have been romantically involved with this man. I have a history with him. I do not think I could judge impartially.” 

The elder smiled slightly. “Aira, as ruler of your element, it would be rare for you to be in a position of complete impartiality. We are perfectly aware of your history with Alex—and we want you to judge him anyway.” 

Aira shivered slightly. “Am I required to make my judgment right now, with no additional information?” 

The elder shook his head. “You will take Alex in with you for three days, and you will make your decision upon the end of that time. You are responsible for keeping him from escaping while you are gathering information to make your choice. He may only be freed if and when you inform us that you have decided he should be, in this chamber in three days’ time.” 

Aira glanced at Alex.

“I need to know what additional crimes he has committed to make this such an urgent matter,” she said firmly. “I know for a fact that I cannot count on Alex to necessarily be forthright with me.” The elders chuckled as if they knew exactly the degree to which Aira’s statement was a wry understatement of fact—and probably, she thought, they did know.

“He has been using his abilities unethically, particularly his abilities of persuasion, among regular humans,” the elder spokesperson said. “He has demonstrated an increasing instability that we feel endangers the elemental community as a whole—but if you determine that he is able to achieve stability, that he can learn to control his abilities and adhere to the ethics of your element, then he can be released with certain safeguards. If you determine that he cannot, then he must be put to death, and the question will arise whether other members of his family are an equal risk.” 

Aira’s throat constricted and she decided for her own sanity in the moment, that she would have to get the meeting done as quickly as possible.

“I understand,” she said simply. “I will take him into my house for the three days and return with my decision.” Aira felt almost numb from the combination of shock and dismay, as the elders concluded the proceedings and dismissed her. She knew Aiden and Dylan would be waiting outside. She looked at the two men who had control of Alex. “Lead him out after me,” she said to them, composing herself and assuming an air she had seen her grandmother use successfully on more than one occasion—a regal, almost haughty air that commanded a kind of instinctive obedience. Aira thought if she could avoid looking at or speaking to Alex for as long as possible, it would be easier to make her decision. The life or death of this man rested in her hands.

Saoirse rejoined Aira and they walked out of the building, followed by the guards and Alex. Dylan and Aiden stared with undisguised shock as Aira made her way to them. 

“So,” she said. “We’re going to have a guest sleeping on the couch for three days.” She looked at Aiden and then Dylan. “I have to make a judgment on Alex, as to whether he is capable of being rehabilitated, or if he should be executed.” Dylan’s dark eyes were full of instant sympathy. Aira knew he understood how she was feeling. She glanced at Aiden and saw anger fill his bright blue eyes, before he shuttered the emotion, blinking and clearing it from his face. 

“Who is he riding with?” Aiden asked brusquely. 

Aira hesitated; she hadn’t considered that. She looked at Saoirse. She knew that she was supposed to ride with her fellow air elemental both to and from her meetings with the elders. Dylan and Aiden had driven their own car. Aira also knew while she was deliberating over the three days the unspoken rule was that she was responsible for Alex’s safety, not just his continued incarceration. She glanced at the two men who were still holding him. 

“He’ll ride with Saoirse and me,” she said firmly. It was the only safe way. Aira only hoped that Alex would do the right thing and keep his mouth shut during the drive back to Aira’s apartment. 

C
HAPTER
10

AIRA SAT ON THE FLOOR of her living room, staring at Alex as he sat on the couch. Dylan and Aiden created a cordon made of rock salt, which confined Alex to a small segment of the apartment. He could use the bathroom, he could sit on the couch, but he couldn’t move around much more than that. Aira had to stay a fair distance away from the salt. As an earth element, it would sap her abilities just as readily as it would Alex’s. They had kept the ankle shackles on him—locked not with a traditional lock, but with a spell—but had given him the freedom to use his hands. Aira felt apprehensive about keeping Alex contained, but she knew she had few choices. 

Alex met her gaze and Aira shifted backward slightly. His bright eyes were clouded over—not just with the fatigue and pain of the iron that sapped his abilities, but with something deeper. Aira felt an odd sort of empathy for the other elemental, in spite of her resentment towards him. He was clearly struggling, clearly having difficulties maintaining his own touch with reality. 

“I remember you and I don’t remember you, all at once,” he said. “I know that I tried to seduce you, to sway you on my family’s behalf.” 

Aira’s jaw tightened. “If I remember correctly, your plan was to get me pregnant so that I would have to marry you, so that my grandmother would have to decide not to have you executed and to keep your family safe.” 

Alex nodded. “You would at least have had a lot of fun getting pregnant by me,” he said with a faint ghost of the charming grin she remembered from their time together before. “And I wouldn’t have been a bad mate for you. I could still be a good mate for you, in fact.” 

Aira shook her head. “Not the way you are right now,” she said firmly, suppressing the instinctive attraction she felt for him. In spite of the iron working away at his abilities, there were fundamental aspects of his personality as an air elemental that made him attractive to Aira, even knowing and feeling how he had betrayed her in the past. “If the iron wasn’t on you, you’d be trying to use your persuasion against me.”

“Not that it ever worked before,” he commented with exasperation. “You figured me out, don’t you remember? You’re the one person I’ve met so far who hasn’t been swayed by my ability.” 

Aira almost corrected him; she remembered the injunction Dylan had made on Alex’s mind when they had defeated him and his cousin, Dolores, at the last moment. Alex was still unaware of how close he had come to succeeding. 

“I’ve been obsessed with you ever since,” he said, his voice tired. “All I can think about—all I can dream about—is attracting and keeping you.” Aira brought her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, uncertain. 

“I think that’s probably more of an indication as to why I shouldn’t choose you as a mate,” Aira said, tightening her arms around her knees. She took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. It would be far too easy for her to fall for Alex’s charms once more; she didn’t understand why she had become an object of obsession for him—but she knew it ultimately didn’t matter. She was not going to even remotely entertain the possibility of allying herself with Alex’s family. Even if Alex hadn’t done what he had to her, her situation was precarious enough as it was. 

“Wouldn’t you like to have a mate that thinks about you constantly? I mean, I wouldn’t smother you, of course,” Aira felt she warming up to the sound of Alex’s British accent, and told herself firmly to stop it. She was supposed to be deciding the man’s fate, not letting herself be drawn in by him. “But you know as well as I do that air elementals make the most spontaneous, engaging lovers.” Alex’s gaze latched onto hers and Aira shivered slightly. She took a deep breath, forcing back the memory of what it had been like in her bed, the night she had come into her powers completely, with Alex making love to her. 

“I don’t know,” she forced herself to say, though to her own ears her voice didn’t sound quite as flippant and nonchalant as she could have hoped. “Fire elementals are pretty spontaneous and engaging too.” Alex’s eyes widened and Aira felt herself blushing. She tightened her hands into fists. “We need to stop this right now,” she said firmly. “You’re here because I have to decide your fate. Give me a good reason why I shouldn’t just let them put you to death?” Alex stared at her for a moment longer and Aira steeled herself against the intrusion of his will—even knowing that he should be incapable of exerting his influence, his persuasive ability, with the iron binding his energy.