Elemental Dawn (Paranormal Public)
Read Elemental Dawn (Paranormal Public) Online
Authors: Maddy Edwards
Elemental Dawn
(
Paranormal Public, Book IV)
by
Maddy Edwards
Copyright © 2013 by
Maddy Edwards
Cover Design ©
Sybille Sterk
This novel is a work of fiction
in which names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real persons, places,
or events is completely coincidental.
All rights are reserved. No part
of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without the written
consent of the author.
My
blog:
http://maddyedwards.blogspot.com/
My
goodreads page:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5288585.Maddy_Edwards
Table of
Contents
“Christmas break was a bad
idea,” was a sentence that no school-aged student had ever uttered ever until
the moment, when I, Charlotte Rollins, became the first. It was insanity to
think such things; I knew that. Christmas break is a time that students look
forward to all fall. No school, sleep in, movies with friends, presents. Not to
mention all the good food. If I had still been at my old high school, I would
have been ostracized and possibly kicked out for even thinking something so
horrible.
Of course, maybe if all students
had gone to Paranormal Public, been attacked multiple times by demons, the
undead, and hellhounds, and had friends die, they might feel differently.
Then again, maybe not.
But seriously, I should have just
stayed on campus over Christmas.
Instead, I left the protections
of Public.
I had to.
My little brother needed me.
Of course, that’s not where the
trouble started. Or at least not the big trouble. The big trouble started with
a murder.
“I don’t mean to alarm you,” said
Ricky calmly, “but you know those strange happenings I talked about?”
“Yes?” I said warily.
A prickle of fear trickled down
my spine.
“I think one of them is here
now,” he whispered. Instantly I checked my ring. It indicated that I was safe;
we were protected. I had been assured of that since my first semester at
Public.
This fall I had insisted that I
be allowed to visit Ricky over the holidays, even if only for a little while. I
had finally gotten permission, and the senior paranormals had assured me that
they would do everything possible to keep me safe while I was outside the walls
of Public. So far, I had come and gone from “home” without incident.
I had been visiting Ricky for
nearly a week and it was almost time for me to leave him and go to Sip’s. On
the one hand, I couldn’t wait to see one of my best friends. I was used to
seeing her all day every day, and though we had kept in touch by phone it
wasn’t the same. On the other hand, seeing Ricky was like breathing: necessary,
and hard to do without. I loved every minute I spent with my brother, and every
moment I was with him only made me more sure that I had to protect him in the
months and years to come.
“She’s coming closer,” he
whispered hoarsely. “She looks scary.”
Images of Malle, the former
president of Public and the leader of the demons, flooded my mind.
She had come for me while I was
with the one person in the world who mattered most. My little brother Ricky.
My mind raced as I tried to think
of a way to protect us. My breath quickened. But for some reason, Ricky didn’t
look scared at all. It was the first time I had truly felt that I should tell
him what was going on. Maybe he’d be scared, but that was probably healthier
than being oblivious given what was going on out in the world.
“Ricky,” I said frantically. “Get
behind me.”
We were sitting on the cold
grass, facing each other cross-legged and eating our homemade lunch. Well,
Ricky’s homemade lunch. He was still convinced I couldn’t cook, which
apparently included making sandwiches.
He stared at me, his big gray
eyes growing large. “So it is true?” he breathed.
“Now is not the time to argue,” I
insisted. Ricky still looked unconcerned.
“She’s pretty,” he murmured,
staring over my shoulder.
I glanced up at the sky. The
clouds were darkening and lengthening. I felt a cold front coming in, where
only a few minutes before I had wanted sunglasses to block the glare of the sun
shining warmly on my face.
“Ricky,” I gritted out. “This is
no time to check out girls. Get away from here. I’ll hold her off.”
“She isn’t coming any closer,” he
said thoughtfully. “She’s just staring at us. Strange thing to do. Pretty girls
are usually too cool to stare.”
“Oh, like you’re such an expert,”
I muttered. My heart felt like it was jumping in my chest.
“If guys could major in girls
we’d all get As,” said Ricky. “At least for studying, maybe not for execution.”
“Ricky!” I sputtered, momentarily
shocked. I scowled at him, forgetting the danger.
He rolled his eyes at me. “I’m
not saying I’m good at asking a girl out, but the only way I’m ever going to be
is if I practice.”
“Great,” I choked. “My brother is
already planning on romancing every girl in the county. Get away while you
still can!”
“I was thinking more like the
state,” he said, ignoring me. “Maine’s big, but there aren’t a lot of people.”
I wondered if it was a demon, or
a darkness mage. It couldn’t be Malle if Ricky thought she was pretty; Malle
was middle-aged and not likely to appeal to my little brother. But I didn’t
dare turn around to find out.
Could I fight off a senior
darkness mage who had gone over to the demons? I didn’t think I could on my
own, but I had to save Ricky at any cost.
“It’s always a good time to check
out girls,” Ricky informed me, still holding his sandwich. “I thought you were
kidding, but you aren’t, are you?”
“Ricky,” I said, exasperated.
“Move!” My little brother did not budge. Now both our lives were in danger.
“I mean, she’s dressed all in
black, with long black hair, but that doesn’t mean she’s going to kill us.”
My heartbeat slowed a little.
That description did, in fact, sound like a darkness mage, but maybe not a
darkness mage who wanted to kill me. The only person she ever wanted to kill,
besides demons, was her short blond roommate.
Scarcely daring to hope, I slowly
turned my head around. Ricky still hadn’t moved, so fascinated was he by my
changing facial expressions.
A grin spread across my face. Out
of the corner of my eye I saw Ricky frown in confusion. I had gone from
terrified to delighted in a matter of seconds.
Lisabelle Verlans, standing a few
feet away from us, also broke out smiling. Quickly she made her way over the
snowy ground to where we sat.
“There you are,” she said, like I
had somehow been hiding from her. “I recognized that one’s gray eyes, but I
wasn’t sure it was you.” She pointed to Ricky, who raised his eyebrows. “I try
to stay far away from small children whenever possible.”
“I have a name,” he informed her
loftily, not entirely sure what to make of this strangely dressed girl who
appeared to be friends with his sister. “And I am not small.”
“Sure you do,” said Lisabelle,
not even bothering to look at him. “And yes you are.”
Before Ricky could say anything
else I made introductions, glad when Lisabelle stretched her hand out to shake
Ricky’s. Unfortunately, that exposed the new tattoo on her arm.
“Nice to meet you,” he said.
“So you think,” said Lisabelle
tartly.
“Why wouldn’t it be nice to meet
one of my sister’s college friends?” he wondered.
“Give it five minutes,” said
Lisabelle dryly.
With the base of her tattoo
revealed, Ricky couldn’t take his eyes away from my friend’s pale arm.
“Wow, is that a real tattoo?” he
breathed, looking at Lisabelle with wonder.
Her eyes shone with a deep light
I couldn’t read. “Yes,” she smirked. “I have witnesses to prove it.”
I flinched a little at
Lisabelle’s evil grin. The tattoo was still a sore subject with my other best
friend, Sip Quest. She had had a fit when Lisabelle tattooed herself, and ever
since then she had taken every opportunity to make snide comments about it.
“I want a tattoo,” said Ricky
eagerly.
“Oh? Of what?” asked Lisabelle
with a sly glance at me.
I gave her a dirty look in
return.
“Not sure,” said my little
brother. “I’m thinking a dragon.”
“You’re way too young for
tattoos,” I informed him.
“I’ll be eighteen before you know
it,” he said, puffing out his chest and giving me a mulish look. “I’m not a
baby anymore.”
I wanted to laugh. I had never
seen this side of him before. If I hadn’t known better I would have said he was
trying to impress Lisabelle. I glanced at her sideways, pondering this new side
of my little brother.
Then I raised my eyebrows at my
friend. “I didn’t know you were coming,” I said, the question hanging between
us. It wasn’t that I didn’t want Ricky meeting my friends, though left to my
own devices I’m not sure I would have picked Lisabelle to be the first one he
met. No, it was something else. Lisabelle would never cut her vacation -
granted, her idea of a vacation was firewalking on the Dead Sea, but whatever -
to come here and see me unless something was terribly wrong.
“Sip’s okay, isn’t she?” I
breathed, terror suddenly clutching at my heart. Lisabelle looked calm. I did
think that if something had happened to one of our friends she would show some
emotion, but it
was
Lisabelle after all.
Sip and I had once discussed that
a good way to get killed quickly was to accuse Lisabelle of being emotional.
She did not appreciate such insinuations.
“Until tomorrow,” said Lisabelle
quietly.
The fear returned to close around
my heart.
“What happens tomorrow?” Ricky
chirped in, unable to contain himself.
A smile sliced Lisabelle’s face.
“Charlotte and I go visit her.”
“You’re going too?” I asked
excitedly. It had always been the plan that I would visit Sip at the end of
winter break. I liked her parents, and her house was warm and inviting, but the
idea of Lisabelle's visiting had been axed because of her aforementioned
tendency to think of things like firewalking as fun.
“Yes,” Lisabelle sighed. “Is
there somewhere we can talk? Privately? So that pipsqueak can’t hear?”
“Who you calling small?” Ricky
asked, glaring.
Lisabelle looked down her nose at
Rick until he stopped glaring and gulped. I hid a smile. Ricky had definitely
never met anyone like Lisabelle before, but I had a feeling that after he got
over his initial shock the two of them would have a lot of fun together, not
that Lisabelle would ever admit she liked him.