Furious Flames (Elemental Book 3) (18 page)

*          *          *

Henry woke with a massive headache and soreness in
his muscles. He knew before he opened his eyes that he was covered in blood.
His parents were sitting at the breakfast table without a care in the world.

“No,” Henry said. His mouth was dry despite the blood
leftover.

His father gave him a disapproving glare. “You knew
what would happen if you left.”

“No.”

“We tried to stop you from killing them, but we were
too late. After you killed that woman, you turned on us.” Yet their clothes
were flawless.

“No,” Henry repeated, choking on his tears. He didn’t
remember hurting Zoe, but he remembered the hatred and anger of his jaguar. “I
don’t believe you!”

His mother gave him her best offended look. “We have
never lied to you! Besides, you should be kissing our feet in gratitude for
saving–”

“Luana!” Matheus barked, cutting her off.

“Oh, yes, sorry,” she said.

“Saving… Where’s Scott? Even my jaguar wouldn’t have
killed my baby!”

“You tried to, but when you turned on your father, I
saved your nasty little half-breed.”

Henry gasped with the pain of losing his wife and the
relief of not losing his son. “Where is he? I want to see him.”

Matheus glared. “Why? So you can kill him too? Luana
didn’t save him just so you could finish the job.”

“I wouldn’t hurt him!”

“You tried to.” Luana shrugged. “I’m sure it wasn’t
your fault. Your jaguar has always been stronger during the full moon. I hid
him to protect him because we love you. Because we are the only ones who love
you, I gave him to a very nice family of shifters who are not freaks like you.
I
tried
to give him a good life by getting him away from you. If you
want him back, I’ll tell you where he is, but don’t ever try to come home.
You’ll be on your own and the next time your jaguar takes over, don’t come
crying to us when you kill the kid.”

Henry couldn’t catch his breath over the tightness in
his throat and chest. He didn’t want to believe them, but he knew his jaguar
was too powerful. “Don’t tell me where he is. I wouldn’t be able to–” His
throat shut, cutting off his air. That was fine; he didn’t want to breathe
anymore.

His mother knelt on the floor and put her arms around
him. “Good. I knew you would see reason. Every time you leave us, someone ends
up dead. As long as you never leave and never try to turn us in, the child will
live a long and happy life. He’ll never know his father is a freak who killed
his mother.”

Henry’s throat opened just enough for him to throw up
before he passed out.

The next two days, he couldn’t even move over the
heaviness of depression. On the third day, and every day after until the full
moon returned, he was just numb.

*          *          *

For a few seconds, I held still, kept my eyes closed,
and clinched the ring in my hand. I was sweating, shaking, and nauseated.
Slowly, I opened my eyes and saw Darwin. “Are you okay?” he asked. I barely
managed a nod, which wasn’t enough for him. “Do you know what happened? Do you
know where you are?”

“We’re in Henry’s house,” I said, letting him help me
sit up. “We need to find Henry’s parents.”

“Are they in trouble?”

“They will be when I find them. I’m going to skin
them alive and feed them to the kappa. They need to suffer.”

“What did they do?” When I didn’t immediately answer,
he knelt in front of me. “What did you see?”

“Henry didn’t kill them. First of all, they’re not
his parents; they kidnapped him when he was a baby. Second, they made him think
he was a freak and that he killed everyone he loved. Then they took his son.
They threatened the life of his newborn.”

“Henry has a son?!”

*          *          *

When we returned to the school, the first thing we
saw was the swarm of students in the courtyard. I parked haphazardly in the
middle of the driveway and addressed the closest student; Becky. “What’s going
on?” Her expression was of shock. Most of the students looked horrified, sick,
and shocked.

“They’re dead,” she said, her voice a little too
vacant.

“Who?”

She just shook her head, so Darwin and I pushed
through the group and went to the infirmary. The first thing I noticed when I
entered was Mack unconscious on one of the tables. The second thing was that
Watson and Nightshade were there, placing cool packs on Dan and Mack.

“Where are the others?”

Dr. Martin’s expression was grave. “Len, Kristen, and
Conner died. We put Caleb and Nathan in a cooling unit, but only to make their
last moments more comfortable.”

“What?!” Darwin screeched. “You can’t just let them
die!”

“We kept trying to cure them of an illness, when we
should have been trying to keep them cold long enough to find the culprit
before the fever killed them.”

“Where is Hunt?” I asked.

“We don’t want him down here. For some reason,
everything goes wrong when he’s down here.”

“Dan and Mack have a week at the most, now that we
know to keep them cool,” Watson said. “You, Logan, Vincent, Keigan… Get
everyone you can on this. You have to kill the wizard who did this, or more
will die.”

“We don’t know who’s doing this!”

“Then figure it out!” 

I realized I had never seen this man angry, and it
wasn’t something I wanted to see again. There was something very powerful about
him. “Show me Len’s body. He was the first to show symptoms, so maybe my
instincts will pick up on something.”

The morgue wasn’t meant to hold many bodies.
Nightshade took me across the hall and into the morgue, where the bodies of
Len, Kristen, and Conner were on exam tables.

“I thought you would have them in the coolers.”

“We haven’t had the chance. We started cooling treatments
right before they died.” She handed me some gloves, which I put on.

Len was a quiet guy who always picked up whatever
lesson we learned and was happy to tutor anyone who was having trouble. He
never meddled with anyone. Unfortunately, whatever happened to him was not
natural. His arms and chest were charred. His face wasn’t as bad, but it was
very red.

“Why does he look like he caught fire?”

“He did… from the inside.”

“His clothes?”

“Burnt. We already checked and there was nothing odd
in or on them, no chemicals or metals. The students just burned to death from
the inside out. They died of a fever.”

There was nothing I could find on him or the other
two. No defensive wounds, needle marks, scabs, cuts, or bruises… No one
attacked them. “This is way too clean.” I took off the gloves. “Maybe fear will
make people talk.”

Darwin and I returned to our
room to discuss who might have a motive for killing students. At this point, we
were willing to consider that someone with a motive might have hired someone
with the skill to pull this off.

The knock at the door was anxious, or at least as
anxious as a knock could be. “Come in,” Darwin said.

Astrid entered and I stood. “I don’t mean to keep
disappearing on you,” Astrid said.

Regina was a jealous and suspicious woman and I
always thought she hadn’t trusted me to be faithful. In reality, she was
deflecting her own guilt, which I probably knew subconsciously. Astrid was a
different matter. She would never cheat on me, never lie to me, and never try
to hurt me. She might eat a neighbor or two, but nobody was perfect. Although
Astrid had flaws that were inexcusable and unforgivable, they didn’t change the
fact that Astrid made me who I was.

“You have blood on your lip,” I said, not realizing
until I pointed it out.

 She wiped it off and licked her finger. “The bags
are messy. Do you suspect me of making those students sick? You were asking me
about them the other day.”

“I can’t see how you would have a motive. Besides,
you weren’t near Nathan, Caleb, or Dan, were you?”

“I don’t recognize the names. I might have come into
contact with them, but I never questioned them. What about Henry? The vampires
talk as if Henry was arrested for standing up for shifter rights. They’re
talking about unjust laws.”

“The fae and other shifters are saying the same
thing,” Darwin said. “As far as they know, Henry spent all summer keeping the
council from kicking the shifters out of the country.”

“Why would they think–” I stopped myself as I
realized who I was talking to. “You told them that, didn’t you?”

“Of course.”

“Do you want me to break him out of the council’s
hold?” Astrid asked.

“Not just yet. We have until Monday. If we can, we
need to find his parents and find Gale’s angle.”

“Are we sure Gale is to blame?” Darwin asked. “We
know the council is evil.”

“We don’t know, no. But we don’t have enough
information to take down the council, so we might as well work on taking down
Gale. We know he’s going to try something if he hasn’t already. Speaking of…” I
went to Astrid. “We don’t know what Gale might try next, so I’m going to kiss
you,” I said evenly. Darwin gaped, but Astrid smiled brightly.

“Okay.”

“I have a legitimate, scientific reason.”

“I don’t care. Do it anyway.”

I leaned down and she put her arms around me. I
stepped forward until she was trapped between me and the door. Through her thin
shirt, I felt her heart skip a beat, which seemed odd to me. I knew she had a
beating heart, so maybe it was the fact that she was affected the same as a
human was. Her mouth was two inches from mine, but it was her eyes, not her
fangs that I focused on. The brown was almost completely overcome by multiple
shades of rich green.

“If you don’t stop thinking and kiss me, I will bite
you.”

“Making threats isn’t the best way to–” She cut me
off by pulling me down to close the gap and kissed me. The softness of her lips
was the first sensation, followed closely by warmth that sent a current running
through my body.

My instincts always warned me when I was in danger,
in the presence of a dangerous person, or about to miss an important clue. I
was often exactly where I needed to be when I needed to be there in order to
solve my case. It usually came on like a relentless urge to go, only to fade
away when I was in place. Never before had I felt like everything was perfect.

I forgot everything and got lost in the moment for
some time. Hell, it was long overdue.

That taste
. Not only did she smell like
strawberries, but she tasted like them, so I figured she must have eaten them.
That wasn’t all, unfortunately. I also tasted blood.

I pulled away slowly, hesitant to give up the moment,
and was rewarded with a small moan in protest. While she was savoring the heat
still lingering between us, I pulled a black marker from my pocket, hiked up
the sleeve of her left arm, and marked a small ‘X’ on the inside of her upper
arm.

“What’s that for?” she asked as I capped the marker
and tossed it at my desk.

“Gale can take someone’s form if he has their DNA and
he might be after you next. Don’t let anyone see that, and he won’t know to
replicate it if he tries to trick us.”

She grinned. “And you’re a hundred percent sure I am
me because I’m that good a kisser?”

“I guess that may take further study. We might need
to do that a few more times. Don’t you have work to do?”

She made a mockingly unreal cough. “Oh, no, I must be
coming down with something. I should probably stay in bed all night. And since
you’re on a day schedule, I guess you should too. Might as well share one bed.”

Darwin interrupted with an audible gag. “Please.
That’s so cheesy I think I got cavities.”

“That isn’t the saying,” Astrid argued.

*          *          *

Saturday morning, a heavy knocking woke me. “It’s
Saturday!” I yelled.

“The council is here for Darwin’s test!” Addie yelled
back through the door. “He needs to meet them in the auditorium in half an
hour!”

Darwin groaned and climbed out of bed without being
told. “I’m going to get coffee,” he said, walking out with just his boxers on.

I sighed and got dressed. I knew Darwin could do it,
I just worried that something was going to go wrong. He returned a few minutes
later and got dressed in his usual t-shirt, hoodie, and jeans. With a small
flash of light, his hoodie turned a sickly yellow.

“Did you get the amulet?” I asked. He pulled it out of
his desk to show me and then slipped it into his pocket.

“I decided not to do it.”

I groaned. “Don’t do this now. We worked really hard
to get you prepared and now that we can finally get this over with, you’re
getting cold feet?”

“People are dying. Who cares about the test?!”

“They aren’t going to suddenly get better if you get
expelled. Right now, Henry is locked up and Astrid isn’t very reliable. This is
a lot to handle on my own. If you want to give up and run back home with your
tail between your legs, I can’t stop you, but don’t blame their deaths on your
fears. The best way you can help them is to pass your test so you can stay
here.”

After a moment he nodded sadly.

On the way to the auditorium, I thought I saw a
flickering fire in the forest to our left, but it was gone when I looked again
and Darwin said he hadn’t seen anything. We arrived at the auditorium a few
minutes later.

Logan Hunt, Asrik Watson, Remington, and twelve
members of the council sat behind a long table set up in the front of the room.
Just like the school board, the wizard council was designed for thirteen
members. Also, just like the school board, the council was missing members.
According to Darwin, James Chambers was replaced within a month, but they were
very hesitant about replacing John Cross. They acted like John’s chair was
cursed.

The youngest man in appearance was Kale. The oldest,
I’m pretty sure I saw being uncovered on a mummy documentary. If the ancient
wizard’s chest wasn’t moving along with the slow, wheezing breaths, I would
have thought it was an early Halloween prank.

My uncle sat to the right of the frail man. In his
lap was Ghost, who was apparently entertaining himself by flicking and pawing
at the mummy’s robe sleeve.

“Darwin Mason?” Grayson asked. My roommate nodded.
“Your father wanted to attend this meeting, but there was a last minute
complication regarding his pack, so he will not be able to make it.”

Darwin’s mood sunk further, yet the wizard didn’t
seem to notice or care. Instead, he introduced the rest of the members of the
council. Most of the wizards were forgettable because there were so many. The
thirteenth member still hadn’t been decided on.

Kale sneered at Darwin and me. “Did you think this
was a team test or were you afraid to leave your babysitter outside?”

“Ante gamisou,” Darwin responded.

Kale looked at Vincent, who ran his hand through his
hair. “It’s Greek,” my uncle said, answering Kale’s unspoken question. He
opened a black folder in front of him to reference. The other members of the
council each had a folder, but they didn’t bother to open them. “We need to
finish this up quickly. Mr. Mason, please confirm aloud who and what your
parents are.”

“My father is Alpha Maseré Mason, wolf shifter. My
mother is Anya Mason, forest fae.”

“What can your mother do?”

“Everything a typical forest fae can do. Her
specialty is camouflage.”

“Okay. We are meeting today because it was determined
that you inherited no paranormal adaptations necessary to live in our
community. Please confirm this aloud.”

“I have been labeled a throwback, yes.”

Vincent continued reading from the folder instead of
looking up or acknowledging the term. “You attended Logan Hunt’s school for
paranormal children, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Headmaster Hunt’s children’s school and orphanage
were designed with safety measures to be a supportive and structured
environment for children of paranormal citizens, no matter what skills the
child may or may not have. The university, however, lacks these safety
measures. It states that you were allowed in based solely on your intelligence,
yet where it asks for your I.Q.…” my uncle trailed off to give Hunt a glare. “…
It simply says, ‘staggering.’ I trust this means your intelligence has never
been measured.”

“I beat a computer chess match when I was three. I
tested fluent in twenty languages before I was accepted into the sapling at
fifteen. Is life not a better test than a few silly questions?”

“Why didn’t you decide to go to a human university?”
the ancient council member asked. “With your history, it shouldn’t have been a
problem, and you have no magic to interfere with electricity.”

“I like traveling. When I graduate, I want to do what
my dad does, and there’s no point in spending years and thousands of dollars on
a degree I don’t need. I read and learn for enjoyment; I don’t need a
classroom.”

“Then why are you here?” Vincent asked.

Darwin took a moment to consider it and finally
shrugged. “My parents went here. My friends are here. If it weren’t for this
place, I would probably be lost in my computer. I was always ready to leave.
Since I could remember, we were moving. Nobody but my parents liked me and that
was okay; I didn’t really like anyone else, either. Do you know how much it
sucks to feel like you’re surrounded by idiots? It wasn’t until I got to the
sapling that I learned about talent. No matter how much knowledge I have,
everyone can do something I can’t, whether it’s drawing, pacifying others,
magic, or whatever. I’m glad. I’m no less weird or awkward, but I’m not as
lonely here.”

They were silent for a moment until Grayson leaned
forward with discomfort. “Your reason for being here is obviously sincere and
entirely worthy in our opinion. Unfortunately, the issue is your safety. Your
intelligence alone cannot protect you from an attack. Furthermore, even if it
could, allowing you in based on skills that have nothing to do with magic or
shifting would be unfair to others in your situation.”

Hunt cleared his throat. “I am going to point out
that it is actually my decision, as it is my school.”

“We talked about this, Logan,” one of the wizards
said.

“You talked, I considered. Darwin Mason has been
reported to show non-human traits akin to his parents. Thus, I am giving him
the opportunity to prove his skills. Whether he passes your test or not, I am
not expelling him from my school.”

Half of the wizards on the council looked worried,
including Grayson, while the other half looked outraged. Vincent and Watson
stared thoughtfully at Darwin as Remington smiled proudly at her father. “If
you allow throwbacks into the school, we will remove all wizards,” Kale
snarled.

I recognized the joyful glint in his eyes from other
unsightly characters I had to deal with on my cases. He wanted this. He wanted
the council to pull the students, since the loss of more than a third of the
student body would force the school to close. It would also give him what he
needed to convince the council that Hunt was trouble.

I noticed Hunt specifically not looking at Vincent.
Ghost yowled furiously and vanished. I had a sinking feeling something was
going down, either with Gale or the shadow walkers. Hunt shifted restlessly and
leaned over to whisper something to Watson, who nodded.

“If that’s the case, then I will quit so the wizards
don’t have to lose out on their education,” Darwin said.

All eyes focused instantly on him. “You haven’t even
been tested yet,” Grayson said. “If you have magic or can shift, then there’s
no need to–”

Darwin shook his head. “I can accept my fate. Thank
you for your time.” Darwin turned to walk out, but I blocked his path.

“You’re not quitting.” I pushed my way into his mind
and, though he scowled at me, he didn’t fight it.
“We went through all this
work for you to be here. You can’t quit now.”

“I don’t want to use your power; all I would be
doing is proving to myself that I’m a cheater. I’m not going to risk getting
the school shut down. But I’m not quitting, either. I’m going to go home, hug
my dad, log into my computer, and destroy the wizard council. Every damn one of
them.”

He shot Kale a glare. Although the wizard was looking
away, he shuddered. Since I was already facing their direction, I saw Vincent’s
purple eye lighten an instant before both his eyes widened and he stood. Black
smoke surrounded my uncle as he shouted something to Hunt, who immediately
stood as well. They both vanished, leaving everyone at the table except for
Watson looking confused.