Caution to the Wind: Book One of the Elementals Series (17 page)

“Let’s find Avery and leave.”

Loren silently agreed and pulled herself to stand.

The room was plunged into total darkness. At first, she thought someone had shut the lights off—until she remembered no one had turned them on. The inky blackness was consuming. She couldn’t see anything.

“Callum?” She stretched out her arm. Her fingers touched something solid and she grasped. Books thudded to the floor.

She tried to quell the growing panic inside her.

“Callum!” she called again. She had a moment’s relief when he answered. She moved to the sound of his voice. Her hand brushed against the coolness of his arm where she held tightly. “What’s happening?”

“It’s called shadow play, dear.” Somewhere in the fathomless darkness, Ruth spoke. “You’re not the only ones who know a few tricks.” Her voice echoed around them.

Callum’s arm moved around her. “Do you remember the path to the backroom?” he whispered.

She couldn’t remember. She hadn’t paid attention to which aisles she’d taken. The darkness made it impossible to see. “I’m not sure.” Her voice trembled.

“Take the chance and try.” With that, he pushed her away from him.

“Callum, no!” Loren stumbled, tripping over her skirt. She pulled herself up and reached out, hoping to find him. Instead, her fingers found the sharp edge of a shelf.

“Seize them!”

Having no choice, Loren followed along the edge of the shelf and blindly sought for an exit.

Chapter Twenty-Two

    Her hand groped for the shelves. Books toppled to the floor and she tripped over them. Kicking volumes aside, she forced herself to keep going. She saw nothing in the blinding darkness. What was happening?

Quick rushing steps came toward her. Loren’s hand closed on open air. She’d run out of shelves to hold. Her breathing quickened.

She was reluctant to let go, but she had no choice but to fumble in the dark. Loren released the shelf and held out both hands to feel around. There was nothing in front of her, only dark empty space. She had no clue where she was.

A fist connected with flesh loudly somewhere close by. Loren heard a groan of pain. Callum was blindly fighting them off. She bit her lip and kept moving. She had to find the backroom. She had to get to the stones before Ruth did.

There was another groan. Callum cursed.

“Callum.” She spun in the darkness.

That was a bad idea. What little direction she’d had was completely gone now. “Callum!”

She tried to move as quickly as she could. Each step forward was a risk. She could walk into a shelf or a wall, or right into an assailant’s waiting clutches.

Loren gasped when ice water sprayed her face. She froze in her spot, spluttering out a mouthful of water. She tried to make sense of it. When she heard the rush of running water, she realized Callum must’ve used his powers. She shivered and took another step.

A cold, wet hand closed around her wrist and she let out a startled cry.

“Loren, run!” Callum pulled her along. Her feet slid on the wet floor. She nearly fell but managed to stay upright as she followed him. Her fingers clutched his damp shirt.

The shadows were cold, pervasive. They drew close around her, smothering her. She shivered and stepped closer to Callum on instinct.

And then she was alone. She could feel the coolness from where he touched her wrist, but he was gone.

“Callum? Callum!”

There was no answer. Loren’s chest heaved with labored breathing. She turned and a gust of air accompanied her movements. She directed it away from her and there was a loud crash.

The air swirled. “Callum!” She fought off panic, but her power grew stronger. Shelves knock over with the wind. She didn’t care.

“Callum!”

“Loren!” Avery yelled over the roar of the wind. “Cal’s here! I have him! Turn off your power!”

It wasn’t so easy to do. She tried to concentrate. She sucked in her breaths. “I’m trying!” It took a few moments, but she managed to reign it in. The wind died down and she gasped.

“Step forward, Loren.”

Everything was pitch black. “I can’t see. How can you see?”

“Because you’re the only one who still thinks you’re in shadows.” Callum’s voice was calm when he spoke.

“What?” Loren took a tentative step.

“Trust me,” Avery said. “Keep walking to my voice. You’re not far.”

She did so with small steps. She stretched her arms out. A warm hand closed around one wrist while a much cooler hand took the other. They pulled her to safety.

“Open your eyes,” Callum said.

“They are open.”

“No, they’re not. Open them.”

Loren struggled with it. “I can’t see.” She shivered and forced her eyes open. There was a faint sliver of light. The darkness receded.

The light blinded her until she blinked a couple times. She saw Avery first, then Callum. “Oh, oh God. What was that? What happened?”

“A trick.” Callum’s mouth set in a thin line. “Mal gave her his power.”

“What? What power?”

“The power to control shadow and darkness.” Callum stepped back. He moved books from his path with a sideswipe of his boot. The shop was destroyed. “Like Castle dividing up his powers with us. Mal did the same with his daughter.”

Loren drew closer to Avery. His arm went around her. She brushed wet hair from her face. “Why couldn’t I see?”

“A hallucination. I guess that’s how it works. She focuses the darkness on someone and makes them believe they’re in the dark. I couldn’t see either. It was only when one of them hit me, I snapped out of it.” Callum rubbed the red mark on his jaw.

Loren frowned. “Are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“What happened to Ruth? And the men?”

“Gone. Gone for a while.” Avery rubbed her arm.

Loren looked at him. “A while?”

“You were in the shadows for some time.”

She tried to make sense of it. “Wait. Did I lose time? What did I miss?”

Avery looked at his brother. “I came back in. Callum was out cold. Ruth and her assholes had you surrounded. You just stood there, in a trance.” He stopped and his mouth turned down. “Fire took care of them. For the most part.”

“For the most part?” Loren clutched Avery’s arm for support.

“No one died. They got away, but only because—” Avery cut himself off with a sharp shake of his head.

She looked questioningly at the brothers. She swayed slightly. “What? Because of what?”

Callum’s lips stretched into a thin line. “Ruth got the box. They have the stones.”

“Oh.” The room tilted. “That’s not—” She wavered again. Avery called her name. Why did he sound so far away?

~~*~~

“Try not to move much.” Avery made sure Loren was comfortable. The chair where she sat wasn’t much in the way of comfort, but the dizziness had ebbed.

She hadn’t been out for long. Callum told her the same happened to him shortly after coming out of Ruth’s shadow spell. It had to be one of the side effects.

Loren felt sick to her stomach and she agreed moving wasn’t the greatest idea. She closed her eyes to gather herself.

“I’d rather you didn’t come down here.” Callum spoke into his phone, pacing. “Things are about to get ugly, Eva.” He paused as he listened to his sister’s response. His gaze flickered to Loren and Avery. “We don’t want you to get caught up in it. You should stay at the manor and handle any fallout that may occur.” He turned his back to them.

“Do you need anything?” Avery asked Loren softly. “Water?”

“No. I think I’m fine.”

“Good.” He rubbed her arm.

Callum continued to speak into the phone. Loren leaned her head against Avery’s arm. “This is so bad.”

“I know.”

“Well, that’s settled.” Callum sighed as he hung up and put his phone away. “Eva will meet us downtown. She refused to listen to reason.”

“Just like a Morgan.” Avery scoffed.

“Meet us where?” Loren asked.

“The parking lot of the shopping center across from the municipal building.”

“That’s awfully public.” Avery frowned.

“Public, but smart. They won’t make a move in a public place.”

“How can you be certain?” Loren asked. “How can we be certain of anything?”

Callum shook his head. “As of right now, the only certainty is that disaster is soon to strike.”

Avery nodded. “When will she be there?”

“In an hour. We’ll have to go on foot. Once we get there, we’ll come up with some plan. We should leave soon.” Callum looked at Loren for a long moment before he turned. “I’m getting some fresh air.”

When he left the small office, Loren let out breath. “I can’t believe this is happening.” She put her head in her hands. Avery placed a comforting hand on her back.

“We’ll make it through.” His words weren’t reassuring.

Loren stayed silent. What else could she say? Callum wasn’t off the mark when he said disaster was coming. “Avery… This is my fault.”

“What? No.”

“But it is. Everything is my fault. If it wasn’t for me, the stones wouldn’t be missing. They wouldn’t have them. We wouldn’t be in this mess.”

He crouched down in front of her. “I don’t want to hear you say that. It’s not true.”

“Avery… no.” She shook her head. “I know it is. I know.”

He brought his hands up to cup her face. “Loren. Loren, look at me.”

Her eyes met his.

His thumbs moved lightly over her cheeks. “You are not to blame for this. We’re all in this together. Every one of us. You are not in this alone. We’re a team.”

“Avery, I don’t think I can do this.”

“You can, Loren. You’re strong. You can do this.
We
can do this.”

“No, I can’t.” Her voice wavered.

“Yes. Yes, you can.” He placed a soft kiss to her lips. He murmured against them. “You can.”

She closed her eyes tightly when he kissed her again. She moved and her arms slipped around his neck as she returned the kiss. He kissed her slowly at first, but then with growing passion. His tongue traced over her lip and hers parted to welcome him.

The heat of his mouth fueled her and a small moan slipped out before she could help it. This wasn’t the time or the place, but Loren couldn’t stop. She lingered in the kiss before Avery drew back.

His forehead rested against hers. “We can do this,” he said softly. His breath was hot against her lips.

“Okay.”

His lips brushed across hers once again. “When this is all over, I promise you a real date.”

“We had a real date.”

“A
real
date. Movie and dinner. A nice, fancy dinner at some place you’ve never been. Wine. Cheesecake. Extra cheese.”

Loren’s lips pulled into a smile. “Do you swear?”

“I do. I swear it.”

“You’re amazing.”

“I’m glad someone sees it.”

She exhaled a small breath and opened her eyes to look at him. “If I’m strong at all, it’s because of you.”

“That’s really cheesy, you know.”

“Maybe, but it’s true. You make me stronger.”

“I think you get your strength from somewhere else. Inner strength.”

“Now who’s being cheesy?”

“Hey, you said you liked extra cheese.”

She laughed. “Did I say you were amazing? I meant terrible.”

Avery grinned at her. His thumb rubbed over her cheek again. His grin softened into a smile. “I didn’t say that to be cheesy, you know.”

“Yeah. I know.”

“I mean it. You have it. I can see it.”

“You see a lot, don’t you?”

“Yeah. I do.”

Loren smiled. “Thank you.”

The door to the office opened and Callum paused in the doorway. Loren drew back from Avery quickly as he stood. He ran a hand through his hair, throwing a glare toward his brother.

Callum cleared his throat. “I’m sorry to interrupt.” His tone was flat. “We need to leave now.”

It was now or never. Loren nodded and rose. She smoothed out her dress and kept her eyes cast down. “All right. Let’s go.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Loren felt exposed, waiting in the open for Eva to arrive. It was dark out. She guessed it was close to dawn. She shivered and folded her arms around herself. She rubbed her arms to keep warm.

Avery offered his jacket to her. “Take it,” he said. “I’m naturally hot.”

If that was meant as a joke, no one laughed. The jacket was warm and smelled of him. She slipped into its comfort.

Callum paced the pavement and stared out at the road. They must’ve made a strange sight to the passersby at this hour. Loren couldn’t concern herself with that. There was too much weighing on her mind.

A vehicle pulled into the parking lot. Loren didn’t recognize the car, but it looked fancy and expensive. It had to be a Morgan vehicle. It came to a stop next to them and Callum stepped over. He got into the passenger seat while Avery and Loren climbed into the back. Loren was grateful for the heater. She rubbed her hands together.

“Do we have a plan?” Eva asked. She glanced in the rearview mirror as she started out of the lot.

“No.” Callum looked at Eva.

“What do we know?”

“Ruth and Mal have the stones,” Avery answered.

“Have they put them together?”

Callum rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I imagine, if they had, the portal would’ve opened and they’d be in the other world by now. We’d have no way of knowing for certain.”

“Yes, we do,” Loren said.

Eva lifted an eyebrow.

Loren licked her lips and continued. “They haven’t put the stones together. They wouldn’t do that without me.” She looked down at her hands. “They want me to go with them into the other world. To Kahsh. Mal said I’m the figurehead.”

“He wants to kill her,” Callum finished. “In a public display to secure his control.”

Avery squeezed her hand.

“He wouldn’t put the stones together to open the portal unless I was a factor.”

Eva pursed her lips. “That’s troubling.”

“Even so, this doesn’t mean he hasn’t put the tablet together. We don’t know the mystical properties. Once the stones are together, does the portal open immediately, or does it need to be activated? We don’t know.” Callum looked to his sister.

“Let’s focus on what we
do
know,” Eva suggested.

Loren fell silent and sank down in her seat. The others talked among themselves, formulating a plan of action. She didn’t listen. Her thoughts were too heavy. She gnawed on her lip as she thought.

If they could destroy the stones before the tablet was together, it would prevent chaos. Even if they couldn’t destroy the stones, they could get their hands on one. Without the tablet restored, Mal and Ruth would be at a loss—until they hunted them down for the missing stone.

Loren didn’t like their options.

She came out of her thoughts when Avery squeezed her hand again. “Hey, are you all right?” he asked quietly.

She didn’t even try to lie. “No. I’m not.”

“We have a plan now.”

“What uh what is the plan?”

Callum looked back at her. “They’ll come after you,” he began. “Putting you out there is a dangerous move, but it’s the quickest way for them to find you and lead us to them. Once we get there, we follow through like before. With force. Now that Eva is with us, physical strength will be doubled.”

“Or tripled.” She gave a tight-lipped smile. “I’m not one to brag.”

“Unless the inhibitor is used,” Avery included.

“That’s another factor.”

They wanted to use her as bait. Loren drew her lips together tightly. Something turned in her mind, a half-baked idea that didn’t quite click yet. She tried to think through it as she chewed her lip.

She stared out the window, watching the buildings pass. She remained in her thoughts as she sought to piece together her idea. She leaned against Avery. His arm draped over her shoulder.

He said she was strong. She had inner strength. She was important. Her brow furrowed slightly. Then it came to her. The solution to all of this. The one thing she knew she could do.

She knew how to stop the portal from opening. It was so simple. But there was no way she could explain it to the others. They wouldn’t understand.

Loren leaned up as she pulled Avery in for a kiss. His lips pressed to hers. It was a brief before she drew back and smiled gently. “We can do this.”

She
could do this.

“Are you ready?” Eva asked softly, glancing at Loren through the rearview mirror.

She lifted her head. “I’m ready.”

~~*~~

“How easy is it for you to lie?” The question had been in the back of her mind for some time. She drew Avery’s jacket closer around her, once again grateful for the loan.

The question surprised him. Avery rubbed the back of his neck. “Pretty easy, I guess.”

She rephrased the question. “Is it easy for you to lie to
me
?”

There was a chill in the air. She stood close to him for warmth. Soon, he’d have to step away and leave her on her own. In the meantime, she wanted to be as near to him as possible.

“No. No, it’s not.”

“When you said you knew I was special, when you saw me in the flames, did you know I was the heiress?”

Avery sighed. “Loren, we don’t need to go over this again.”

“I want to know. I
need
to know.”

He hesitated. “I wasn’t sure. I had my suspicions. I never see anything in the flames that’s not important in some way. There was a connection. I could feel it.”

The sun had risen over the horizon. The sky was pink and purple, chasing away the night. She looked toward the sunrise. “But it’s complicated.”

“Hey, you’re catching on.” His fingertips brushed across her neck and swept back strands of her hair. Slowly, she looked away from the horizon to study him.

“My feelings are usually never wrong,” he told her. “And right now, I’m feeling something very strongly. Something big is about to happen. Our lives are about to change.”

“This is the biggest thing I’ve ever done. The most terrifying. This whole week has been one wild, terrifying experience. And I’m glad it happened.” She attempted a smile. “I
am
glad you found me. Glad you brought me back to the manor. I never would’ve met you otherwise.”

“I think we would’ve met. Maybe under different circumstances.”

“We can do this.”

“We will do this,” he assured her. His gaze drew away from the horizon. “It’s time.” He stepped back.

“Wait.” She stood on the tips of her toes to kiss him. Her fingers tangled in his t-shirt, holding him there. He kissed her back. The contact was too brief.

“We’ll come for you soon,” he said. He held her for a moment more before he released her and walked backward a few steps. His gaze stayed on her.

She didn’t say anything. She didn’t want him to hear her voice tremble. She nodded.

She couldn’t watch him walk away. Loren inhaled sharply and looked to the street. People were waking up, beginning their day. It was just another average morning.

But it wasn’t.

Loren stepped forward. The others followed in the car. It was the best plan they had. She would walk directly into the lion’s den. Avery, Callum, and Eva would storm in and save the day. She was to be the distraction that allowed them entrance.

But Loren wouldn’t be the distraction. She hadn’t told others. They wouldn’t like the change in the plan. She only hoped after it was all over, that they would understand and forgive her.

She saw the building looming tall before her. She cut into the alley. The window was still broken, three stories up. She sidestepped the shards of glass at her feet and returned her focus to the main door.

One of the masked men opened it. He took one look at her before he grabbed her arm and jerked her inside the building. He kept the tight grip on her arm as he dragged her through the hallway, up the stairwell, and into the living quarters.

Ruth’s eyes narrowed in annoyance at the intrusion. The second she saw Loren, they widened in surprise. “You found her.”

Levi looked up from his laptop to glare suspiciously at Loren.

“She came willingly. She knocked on the door.” The masked man pushed her forward. Loren nearly stumbled but caught herself. She straightened and lifted her head. Ruth sported a swollen and bruised nose. Loren hadn’t broken it, but she was satisfied she’d done some damage.

“It’s a fucking trick.” Levi set his laptop aside. “She would never come willingly, not unless she found out a couple more of the Morgan’s deep dark secrets. So many skeletons in that closet, you could fill a crypt. But even then, I don’t think so.”

“It’s not a trick.” Loren’s voice sounded small. She didn’t look at Levi and instead kept her eyes on Ruth. “I uh I did some thinking. I realized something.”

Ruth stepped toward her slowly, cautiously. “And what was it you realized?”

“I don’t belong here. I’ve never belonged here.” She moistened her lips. “I’ve always felt it. I could never figure out why. Now, I know. I belong there. I belong in Kahsh. I can feel it.” She lowered her gaze. “And I know I’m the heiress, but I’m not meant to rule. I could never rule. I don’t have it in me. And even though—” Her voice caught there. She had to pause and breathe deeply. “And even though I am meant to die for Mal to take over, it’s how it has to be. It’s a sacrifice that has to be made. I understand it now.”

Levi scoffed and Ruth silenced him with a sharp, foreign word before she addressed Loren. “Do you now?”

Loren nodded and brought her head up. She held it high and stared straight into Ruth’s cold, dark eyes. “Yes. I’m ready to go home.”