Elemental Dawn (Paranormal Public) (27 page)

“So, we’re alone,” I said
matter-of-factly.

“Yeah,” said Keller, his voice
colder than I had ever heard it before. “We’re alone against a darkness army.”

“Are there demons here?”
Lisabelle asked. Her voice sounded almost eager, while the other paranormals
around us gave stirs of concern.

“They’re never far away,” said
Zervos. “They’re probably staying very close by to protect their investment.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.
“What investment?”

“What do you think happens if you
die?” Zervos asked. “They smell blood. Of course they will surround the place.
Faci has helped tip the scale.”

I swallowed a lump in my throat,
unable to look at Keller.

“Maybe you should take better
care of yourself,” said Zervos, without emotion. “It’s not just about you.”

I stared at him. I knew that what
he had said was true; of course I knew that. I wasn’t planning on doing
anything reckless, except, was I? I had just grabbed Dobrov and told him to
expect me. Would I go back on that after this chiding from one of my
professors, even one who hated me?

Without so much as a word I
turned around and walked back deep into the crypt. I had to think - and plan.

I don’t know how much time
passed, but Lisabelle finally joined me. I had known that she and Sip would
come eventually, and I also knew that if I planned to do anything rash, like
search for the Fang or exact revenge for Lanca’s death, they would come with
me. I could slip past everyone else with Dobrov’s help, but not Sip and
Lisabelle.

“What’s the dealio?” Lisabelle
said. Her long black hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail and she had
used magic to repair the rips in her dress. The tattoo of her wand was also
clearly visible. She was ready for battle.

“Who says dealio?” Sip demanded.
Her eyes blazed. At her waist was tied a small knife, and her ring pulsed with
unused magic.

Sip crouched down next to me. She
rested her arms on her knees and braced her chin against them. “You can’t let
Zervos get to you,” she murmured. “But you do need to keep yourself safe.”

I lifted one shoulder, my eyes on
the ground. “I want to find the Fang First,” I said. “We’re the only ones Lanca
told about it. Her dad entrusted it to her and she entrusted the secret to us,
so with her gone it’s our responsibility. She knew that if something happened
to her she would have us as backup. It’s what she would have wanted. I can’t
let her down.”

“Alright,” said Sip slowly,
gently rocking back on her heals. “We can do that . . . as long as you do it
from the safety of this crypt.” She pointed to the protective rock walls of the
mountain.

I narrowed my eyes. “No. It has
to be me. Us. We’re the ones who know, and the protections around the Fang
might need an elemental’s touch. We can’t do it from here. We have to go.”

“What if they need a fallen
angel’s?” Lisabelle asked softly. “It’s not like we can enact the Power of Five
with just the three of us.”

I looked at her sharply but
didn’t say anything at first. Then I said, full of reluctance: “Keller doesn’t
want to come. So, he won’t. We just have to hope we won’t need the Power.”

“What are the rest doing now?” I
said, looking to see where Zervos, Keller, Saferous, and all the other
paranormals who were stuck down there were.

“They’re having a team meeting,”
said Lisabelle, pumping her fist mockingly. “Go team!”

“We have a team?” I asked
skeptically. “I sort of thought none of us got along.”

“At least you realize that,”
Lisabelle muttered, leaning her shoulder against a rock. “I hate positivity.”

“You’re allergic to that and
smiling,” said Sip.

“I smile,” said Lisabelle. “Just
not when I’m with you. Think about it.”

“I would think about it,” said
Sip, “but I just don’t care enough.”

“You two need a TV show,” I said
with amusement, standing up slowly. It was time to go.

“What a mess that would be,” said
Sip. “We would argue endlessly about who got first billing blah blah.”

“Like that’s an argument,” said
Lisabelle. “Anyhow, we can’t think about it now because Dobrov is waiting for
us over there by the doors.” She pointed, but all I saw was a wall.

“Lisabelle,” I said. “Did you
have enough water today?”

Lisabelle rolled her eyes. “I’m
fine. Believe me. But see, there’s a secret exit and entrance to this place,
and Dobrov knows about it because he’s half vampire. Or something. He told me
we should meet him over there.”

“Are we sure we trust him?” Sip
asked, glaring in the direction toward which Lisabelle had pointed. “How do we
know he isn’t just going to take us outside and slaughter us?”

“Slaughter you,” said Lisabelle.
“I can take care of myself.”

“Don’t let the short stature fool
you,” Sip cautioned. “I can be plenty mean myself.”

“Yes,” said Lisabelle. “I know.”

“How did you get him to agree to
let us out?” I said to Lisabelle.

“He said that’s what you wanted,”
said Lisabelle, shrugging. “And he will do it if that’s what you want.”

“So, you didn’t threaten him?”

“No, I just used my scintillating
personality,” said Lisabelle.

“Really?” Sip said.

“No, that was sarcasm for ‘I
threatened his life.’”

I hadn’t really looked at the
walls of the crypt, but now I could see that they were fashioned from the very
walls of the mountain - solid black rock, as only vampires would choose. The
ceiling was close overhead and I wondered how it didn’t fall in on us.

“Are you ready?” Dobrov
materialized out of nowhere, right next to the wall.

“Are you going to blast us out?”
I asked. “I don’t see a door here.”

Dobrov turned to the wall and
reached out with one hand, lightly running his fingers along the jagged edges.
While we waited, Lisabelle turned to me.

“Are you and Keller going to be
okay?” Lisabelle whispered to me, glancing back toward where the meeting was
taking place.

I couldn’t hide my surprise. “Are
you and Lough?”

“What does that mean?” Lisabelle
demanded. Before I could tell her that it meant Lough was going to be furious
with us - especially Lisabelle, with whom he was not so secretly in love - for
leaving him behind, Dobrov turned around.

“Let’s go,” he said. Even the
back of his neck was red and burned. His hand still rested on solid rock. He
didn’t appear to have done anything at all.

“Maybe you don’t realize how this
works,” said Sip. “Understandable, you are just a Starter and probably didn’t
have Inanimate Moving Magic yet.”

“Have you?” Lisabelle interjected
with amusement.

Sip shrugged. “Details. I
borrowed Micky’s book when he took it and read along with him for fun.”

“You should put fun in quotation
marks when you say that,” said Lisabelle.

“Ladies,” said Dobrov, “as much
as I enjoy your banter, we really must be going.”

Both my friends looked at him
with surprise. I felt sure no one had ever called Lisabelle a lady before. At
least not without getting punched.

“Put your hand over mine,” he
told me. I started forward, but Lisabelle’s arm in my chest stopped me.

“No, no,” said Lisabelle, her
eyes cold. “She’s not doing that.”

“I know our classmates think my
touch is poisonous,” said Dobrov softly, “but surely you don’t think they’re
right.” He was doing his best not to show it, but I could tell the idea hurt.

Lisabelle did her best eye roll.
“No, I know better. I just mean that Charlotte isn’t going first. I am.”

Understanding dawned on Dobrov’s
scared face. “You don’t trust me.”

“I only trust two people,” said
Lisabelle. “They are to my left and my right.”

“Actually, I’m behind you,” said
Sip, standing up on her tiptoes.

“Bless the darkness WHATEVER,”
said Lisabelle with exasperation.

“Put your hand over mine,” said
Dobrov, Lisabelle’s insult not ruffling him in the least. “We don’t have much
time.”

He was right. The sound of voices
behind me was dying down and I wondered how long it would be before Keller or
Lough came looking for us.

Lisabelle didn’t hesitate. I had
to stifle a gasp. She disappeared into nothingness.

“Now you,” said Dobrov, nodding
to me. “She’s fine. I promise.”

“We know,” said Sip, moving to
stand next to me. “You would already be dead, otherwise.”

Sip and I quickly followed our
friend. We found ourselves in a dark passageway, but we didn’t have any time to
take in the details because Dobrov immediately set a punishing pace.

“Just don’t look to your left or
right,” he advised as we moved. “They’ll know we’re gone soon enough anyway.”

“Why?” Sip asked, but the
question quickly answered itself. Strewn along the dark hallway were bodies.
Every type of paranormal was represented, except that there were few pixies. My
stomach rolled and lurched. I hadn’t realized how many were dead.

“Don’t look at the faces,” said
Dobrov quickly from over his shoulder. “I think they tried to get down here to
attack you. At least some of them. Others were probably killed by darkness
mages.”

“No problem,” Sip muttered,
covering her mouth and nose. The stench as we passed each body made my stomach
turn.

“What if one is Dacer?” I asked,
almost too weak to speak. “I should find him.”

“It’s not,” said Dobrov. “If
Professor Dacer were dead we would have heard about it.”

“Dacer probably would have told
us himself,” said Lisabelle, walking in front of us next to Dobrov. “Complete
with a list of floral arrangements he wanted at his funeral.”

“Where are we going, anyway?” Sip
asked me. Dobrov seemed to already know.

“Lanca’s father’s study,” I said
grimly. “If there are clues to where the Fang is, they will be there.”

“Oh, good,” said Sip. “I was
worried that we’d be looking for a secret room that no one knew the location
of.”

“I know how to get there,” said
Lisabelle. “Lanca knew I’d be able to find my way back. Remember that the next
time you hide my Tattoos For Beautiful People Magazine.”

“It really should read, Tattoos
for Beautiful People And Lisabelle,” said Sip, and then giggled uncontrollably
at her own joke until we passed the next body. That sobered her.

“See what I have to deal with?” I
asked Dobrov jokingly. The hybrid’s shoulders shook with laughter. “I don’t
envy you.”

It didn’t take Lisabelle long to
get us to King Daemon’s study. The entrance was hidden in much the same way as
the door Dobrov had taken us through to get out of the crypt.

“Do you think they’ve noticed
that we left?” I said, thinking of how furious Keller would be when he realized
I had put myself at risk this way. I imagined his blue eyes blazing and his
lips in a thin white line. I felt awful causing him any pain, but it was
necessary.

“Yup,” said Lisabelle with
satisfaction. “Fireworks will shortly follow.”

Lisabelle went through the hidden
doorway first. Dobrov seemed to know how to break us through solid walls. Once
again he didn’t hesitate, helping Sip and me through next. The minute I was in
King Daemon’s study, though, I knew there was something wrong.

“Lisabelle,” I said in the
darkness. “This is bad.” The air felt stuffy and I could smell sweat and the
tangy aroma of dirt, as if unwashed bodies had spent too long as time in this
space. I turned my head back and forth, trying to catch any light, but there
was none. I couldn’t see my three companions or anything else.

Then I felt the press of metal to
the sensitive part of the skin under my chin.

“What tipped you off?” Lisabelle
asked, her voice soft, as if she was trying not to move. “The knife at your
throat?”

“Lisabelle?” Vital’s voice came
out of the darkness. “Of course you would. Don’t you understand the concept of
privacy?” He sounded more exasperated than angry.

“Just her own,” said Sip, dryly.
“Can whoever has a knife at my throat please, you know, not? Unless you are
trying to kill us, in which case I am afraid I’m going to have to beat you up.”

“Oh, goodness, I am so sorry,”
came another voice, somehow feminine yet still male.

“Dacer!” I cried. Ignoring my own
captor, I flung myself in the direction of my mentor’s voice. As I tumbled
through the air the lights came on to illuminate King Daemon’s study, but I
didn’t bother looking around. Instead I simply buried my face in Dacer’s
shoulder.

The knife he was holding fell to
the floor with a hard clatter and Dacer wrapped his arms around me, murmuring
incoherently in my ear.