Elemental Dawn (Paranormal Public) (14 page)

“Not at the rate you get angry,”
Sip muttered.

Our magics pooled among us. Mine
was a sparkling silver and blue while Lisabelle’s was black and Sip’s was a
furry sort of brown.

I saw, fascinated. We had been
given lectures about how mixing different magics, when not under the rules
governing the Power of Five, was a very bad idea, but we never seemed to have a
problem. Our powers amplified each other. Lisabelle had once lent me strength
to save Lough from a burning tower.

“That’s a lot of power,” said
Sip. “It’s as large as Lisabelle’s head.”

“Not as pretty, though,” I said.

“On three,” said Lisabelle. My
eyes returned to focus on our magics streaming together, black and silver
tangling, being surrounded by brown and tangling again, but always staying
tightly together.

“One,” Lisabelle said, taking a
deep breath.

“Two,” Sip said. I shut my eyes
tightly.

“Three,” all our voices chorused
together as our powers did the same. I felt the whoosh as our ball of magic
expanded and burst and a slight prickling on my skin as the spell Lisabelle
cast blew through me.

I opened my eyes and snapped my
neck around, craning to see, but still keeping hold of Sip and Lisabelle.

Once the power was released it
swept through the room, almost invisible. I heard a pop, a smack, and then
several more pops, quickly followed by the smell of smoke.

“That can’t be good,” said Sip.
“Does the smell mean there were bugs in our room?”

“I mean, bugs is such a
rudimentary term for paranormal listening devices,” said Lisabelle, releasing
our hands and getting off the bed.

“So, that’s a yes?” Sip pressed.

Lisabelle disappeared into the
other room as Sip rolled her eyes at our friend’s back.

“Let’s check that out,” she said,
pointing to my dresser. The third drawer from the bottom was smoking.

“I might have seen it if I had
had any clothes to put away last night,” I said.

“There’s no way you would detect
a listening device without an advanced spell,” said Lisabelle, coming back into
my room.

“How did you know how to do it
then?” Sip said. “I had no idea.”

“Risper,” said Lisabelle. “We
should try it in Lanca’s room.”

“Don’t you think she has people
to do that?” Sip said.

“Do we trust them?” Lisabelle
countered, still out of view in the other room. “And no, not according to what
Lanca told us last night.”

“We trust Vital,” I said. “At
least I do.”

“Agreed,” said Sip.

Lisabelle’s silence spoke
volumes.

“We have to trust someone,” said
Sip. “He found Lanca’s hiding place and didn’t tell on her. That has to mean
something.”

“Sure, whatever you two say,”
said Lisabelle. She was pacing around the room, examining every nook and
cranny, even those that were obviously too small for listening devices.

“Can I get that in writing?” Sip
asked dryly.

“No.” Lisabelle paused to look at
something on my shelf, then continued her examination of the room.

“I didn’t think so,” said Sip,
carefully opening the drawer. The release of smoke into the air made us both
cough.

“Careful,” Lisabelle called over
her shoulder as she disappeared into the main room again.

“Thanks,” said Sip, her voice
sounding hoarse and strangled.

“Let’s see,” I said, peering
inside once enough of the smoke had cleared. All I could see was a tiny scorch
mark on the bottom of the wood.

“Is that it?” I asked. “I didn’t
look in these drawers last night, so I don’t know if it was there before.”

“Yeah, I think that’s it,” said
Sip, leaning closer. “The spell totally destroyed it.”

“The spell did no such thing,”
said Lisabelle, coming back into my room. Her face was grim as she braced her
fists on her hips.

“What do you mean?” Sip asked. “I
can see the scorch mark, and there was a pile of smoke.”

“I mean the spell was supposed to
find the listening spells,” Lisabelle explained, patient for once. “It was not
supposed to destroy them.”

“So, the listening spells
destroyed themselves?” Sip asked. “Fascinating.”

“Yes,” said Lisabelle. “Someone
really didn’t want to be caught spying.”

“If I were spying on you, I
wouldn’t want to be caught either,” said Sip.

“You live with me,” said
Lisabelle, rolling her eyes. “Pretty sure when you forced that to happen I
surrendered all hope of privacy.”

“I remember the course of events
very differently,” Sip sniffed.

“Besides,” said Lisabelle, “you
are also a formidable opponent. It’s Charlotte over there who doesn’t scare
kittens.”

“Thanks, Belle,” I said jokingly,
but I knew it was true. I was small and shy. I tended to blend, and when new
students or paranormals learned that I was the only living elemental, I could
sometimes see the disappointment register on their faces. In that I was totally
unlike both Sip and Lisabelle, who burned brightly no matter what setting they
were in.

“How many spells did you find?”
Sip asked. “We just had the one in Charlotte’s room, but I’m sure it was enough
to do damage.”

“It would have done damage if we
hadn’t found it,” said Lisabelle. “As it is I think we’re okay.” Her lips set
back into a thin line, as if she was thinking over what to say next and it
troubled her.

“So,” Sip prompted, “how many
were in the rest of the rooms? Three? Four?”

“Nineteen,” said Lisabelle, her
face grim. “At least I found nineteen places that were smoking.”

“Wow,” said Sip, her eyes
flashing in concern. “That’s all kinds of bad. I’m not sure I even know how to
express that kind of bad.”

“Lucky for you I’m here,” said
Lisabelle quietly.

“Lucky is one word,” said Sip
dryly.

Before we could get any further
there was a knock on our apartment door. I jumped out of bed and the three of
us raced out of my room.

“One guess as to who that is,”
said Lisabelle, pretending to bat her eyes and swoon.

“One of your many suitors?” Sip
said. “HA. Sorry. Forgot who I was talking to.”

“Keller!” I cried, and bounded
past my friends into the common room. It was the first time I had seen the
common room in the light, and though I was nearly frantic to wrap my arms
around Keller’s strong chest, I did manage to register some details. The
furniture was a muted brown, the rugs a blood red. It wasn’t a pretty space,
but it was functional and comfortable and from what I could tell all the
furniture in the room was the best possible quality. Sip threw herself on one
of the couches while Lisabelle lounged against the jamb of my bedroom door.

There was another knock on the
door and I nearly ripped it off its hinges to get it open.

My heart sank when I saw who it
was.

Vital.

“Good morning,” I said, breathing
hard from excitement and letdown all mixed together.

Where was Keller?

“Morning,” said Vital, nodding
once. “Obviously I am not who you were expecting. Sorry to disappoint.”

“No, I mean, you’re fine, I mean,
well never mind.” My face burned.

“Ignore her,” Lisabelle called.
“She’s not a morning person.”

“What’s her excuse the rest of
the time?” Sip asked.

I rolled my eyes at my friends
and stepped aside so that Lanca’s bodyguard could come in. I was supremely
conscious of the fact that if he wanted to move me, or even kill me, he could
do it without much trouble. He didn’t look as tired as he had the night before,
but there were still bags under his steely eyes.

“Thank you,” he said. “I came to
escort you to breakfast.” Mention of our first morning meal brought the memories
of the scene with dog in the night flooding back into my mind. I quickly shoved
them away, not wanting to think about the tortured animal just then.

“What about Lanca?” Sip asked
from the couch, where she had picked up a red-bound book and was randomly flipping
through pages.

“She has been in meetings for
several hours now,” said Vital. “I was with her, but I took it as a good sign
that she entrusted her dear friends, and Lisabelle, to me.”

“You’re funny for hired help,”
said Lisabelle, shoving away from the doorway and perching on the arm of the
couch next to Sip.

“Lisabelle!” Sip cried, throwing
the book down and glaring.

“What? He knows I’m kidding,”
said Lisabelle.

“You don’t know what kidding
means,” said Sip.

“Sure I do,” said Lisabelle. “I
think of it every time you talk.”

“Did you know about the listening
devices in here?” Sip asked. “See those scorch marks?” She pointed to the
corners of the common room that were now marked in black, as if someone had
taken a pencil and drawn lines on the walls.

Vital ran short, blunt fingers
through his hair. “I worried about it, but my job is Lanca and she didn’t tell
me where she was putting you three. She didn’t trust me to know, so I couldn’t
check out the rooms before you arrived. You were also supposed to come by car.
It is my understanding that that didn’t happen.”

“We had a minor incident on the
road,” said Lisabelle.

“Just your run of the mill
someone’s trying to kill us incident,” said Sip. “No big deal.”

“Let’s go,” said Vital, clearly
in a hurry and uninterested in the banter.

But we didn’t actually leave for
another ten minutes. None of us had really gotten ready, because the first
thing we had done was to destroy the listening devices. I felt like we had
stepped onto a roller coaster and I couldn’t get off. I just wanted an hour to
sit in my room and think about everything that had happened. But I wasn’t going
to get it.

“How is Lanca?” Sip asked once
the four of us had stepped out into the passage.

The passage had only been lit by
a lantern the night before, revealing a black carpet that didn’t really help
with the lack of light problem, and walls that looked like black concrete but
that Lisabelle said must be a kind of rock, since we were in the middle of a
vampire mountain. The hall was devoid of any adornment.

Vital grimaced. “She is alright.
Last night Castov overstepped his bounds.”

”What is she going to do?” I
asked quietly, wondering what exactly she could do.

“She cannot act until after the
coronation ceremony. She must be queen and wield the power that comes with her
crown in order to deal with Castov, Faci, or even Daisy,” Vital explained. “It
will not be long now.”

“Aren’t they worried about her
retaliating?” Lisabelle asked. She was walking next to Vital, while Sip and I
followed behind.

“They probably think she will not
have the guts,” said Vital. “But I think she will.”

“Once she’s queen she’ll be able
to use the ancient powers of Locke,” Sip explained to no one in particular.

When Vital’s face registered
surprise Lisabelle snorted. “Sip knows everything about everything. You’ll get
used to it. Or just do what I do and tune her out.”

“You have to listen to me - we’re
roomies,” said Sip, patting Lisabelle on the shoulder.

“Ah, the naiveté of the
werewolves,” said Lisabelle, shaking her head sadly.

“Are the royal families of the
other two sects here already?” I asked.

“Oh, yes,” said Vital, although
he didn’t sound happy about it. “They showed up right after King Daemon was
murdered and they haven’t left. They are power hungry, and now that the Rapiers
are weaker . . .”

“You really think they’ve
underestimated Lanca?” Lisabelle asked, her voice devoid of emotion.

“I know they have,” said Vital,
his eyes steely. “Because they think she’s too young, and because she’s
female.”

We didn’t go far before Vital
stopped at another door. He rapped once and barely had time to put his hand
down before the door was yanked open. There was Lough, his blond hair tousled
and his eyes a little frantic. He wore a button down blue shirt that he was
just finishing buttoning.

“Morning,” he said. “Dobrov
stopped by.”

Dobrov Validification appeared
behind him and lifted his hand in greeting. He wasn’t much of a talker, but
after he had been on put my Tactical team last semester he had started to hang
out with our group instead of his sister. After last night’s display by Daisy,
I had to think his choosing to distance himself from her when he could was all
to the good.

Dobrov’s skin was still a painful
and burnt-looking red, while he was now missing a couple of patches of hair. I
was relieved to see that his eyes were clear, even if they were still mostly
trained on the ground.