Elemental Air (Paranormal Public Series) (34 page)

The senior paranormals didn’t
even notice when we left. I wanted to talk to Dacer, but now obviously wasn’t
the time; we could talk once Caid had left. Except that I didn’t want Caid to
leave with my Mirror, if he even still had it. I was afraid that he had given
it to Malle by this time.

“Hopefully they’re telling
Martha-slash-Public that she just made a poor life choice,” I said as we headed
out the door

“And to think Public was the last
solid thing I thought I could rely on,” said Lisabelle, shaking her head.

“Life’s tough,” said Sip without
sympathy.

Ignoring my friends, I broke into
a run. I could feel Alixar where I had safely tucked her inside my dress - my
poor, poor dress - but I wouldn’t use her, since Sip couldn’t fly.

My friends stopped bickering and
started to run along behind me. I tried not to look to my left or right,
because I didn’t have time to cry yet. First I had to make sure Lough was okay,
and there was somewhere Sip wanted us all to go. After that I might let myself
break down and grieve. Public was burning, and smoke hung heavy in the air.

To my great relief, Trafton was
at Astra with Lough. They were in the fire sitting room, which was fast
becoming my favorite. Sigil was hovering around, looking nervous.

“None of these paranormals are
elementals,” he said as he pushed his glasses up.

“I know,” I said. “It’s okay.
They’re friends.” The ghost nodded, but he didn’t look reassured.

“I saw Keller,” Trafton said
tiredly. His beautiful blue eyes were dull from lack of sleep, and there was a
streak of something dark, either dirt or blood, across his forehead. “He said
he would come to you as soon as he could, but they’re trying to save the
wounded. Between the demon attack and the explosion at Airlee. . . .” He paused
grimly. “It’s bad.”

“How’s Lough?” Lisabelle asked,
moving Trafton aside to sit next to our friend.

“He’s going to be fine,” said
Trafton, not sounding very concerned. “As we all know, he has a thick skull.”

“Better that than to look like a
male model,” said Lough, without opening his eyes. His face was very pale and
his lips were pinched. I was sure his head must still hurt. Sip knelt down on
the floor next to his couch and took his hand. Lough smiled.

“I’m fine,” he said. “What
happened?”

“Yeah, Charlotte,” said Trafton,
“what happened? You just ran away from Nolan.”

“I had to,” I said. “I’ll tell
you everything after I shower.”

“That would be good,” said Sip.
When I raised my eyebrows she said, “That will give everyone else time to get
here.”

“Who is everyone else?” I asked.

“You’ll know soon enough,” said
Sip.

Lisabelle met my eyes and gave me
a crooked grin. “Even I’m impressed. I didn’t know she had it in her.”

Sip stuck out her tongue at the
darkness mage.

Lough said, “Can I have a
cookie?”

I showered, not outside like
Martha had made me, but upstairs where I had always showered. I wanted to stand
under the water and let it soak into my skin for a while, but I was too eager
to talk to my friends. They still needed an explanation. I hoped Dacer and
Keller would get there soon.

To my surprise, there were a lot
more paranormals in the living room when I got back, and they were all eating
Martha’s treats.

Keller was there and so was
Zervos. I tried not to glare at him, but he noticed me stiffen anyway. Nolan
and Cyi were there, as was Rake. I gave Rake a quick hug. There were several
other professors I had never had classes with. Even Betsy Butter was there.

“Um,” I said when I came in, and
all conversation ceased except Sip’s quiet voice talking to Nolan.

“We’re just waiting for Dacer,”
she said, turning briefly to me before resuming her conversation with Nolan.

“Waiting for Dacer for what?” I
asked, totally confused.

But just then Dacer himself
breezed in behind me. He hadn’t had a chance to shower yet and his beautiful
clothing from the gala was in tatters, but he didn’t appear to care.

“Martha explained everything,” he
said, shocking me by giving me a one-armed hug. “Are you alright?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine,” I
murmured. “Just confused.”

After a pause for thought, I
asked the question that was foremost on my mind: “What happened with Martha?”

“Paranormal Public’s founding members
wanted fail safes,” began Dacer. “I also think they just wanted to experiment
with powers, having no idea that Public would manifest itself as Martha long
after the founders were gone. Martha is Public’s defense system, which came
into being when we couldn’t keep the demons from attacking. Unfortunately,
Martha would only exist insofar as Public was far overextended. We can’t punish
Martha, but she has seen the error of her ways. She is now set to disappear,
although I have a feeling she will return sooner or later, if for no other
reason than because, as she tells it, she has discovered a longing to bake
chocolate chip cookies.”

I rolled my eyes.

“They are really good cookies,”
said Lough.

“What about the Sign of Six?” I
wanted to know. The Sign of Six had been blamed for a lot of Martha’s damage,
because none of us could imagine who or what Martha really was. Now I wanted to
know what they really were and why they had kept quiet all semester.

“We’ll explain everything,” said
Nolan, ceasing his quiet conversation with Sip.

Lounging in a chair next to
Lough, Lisabelle said, “I can’t wait.”

“You better sit,” said Dacer,
steering me to an armchair next to the unlit fireplace.

I sat and waited.

“So, we’re the Sign of Six,” said
Sip, her eyes intent on my face.

“We are the group that has
appointed ourselves protectors of the paranormals,” Nolan added.

“You’re the Sign of Six?” I
stared at Sip, practically dumbfounded. “But how? When?”

Sip shrugged. “I met some
werewolves in LA over the summer, including Cyi, and we were all worried. After
some very long conversations, we decided to do something about the things that
were worrying us.”

“Okay,” I said. “So, what?”

“So, we came here,” said Nolan.
“The faeries came here and the dragons too. They’re all members of the Sign. We
don’t have any pixies yet, but there are a few, like your friend Cale, who are
on the list. He helps himself by putting distance between himself and pixies
like Camilla Van Rothson.

“Ah,” said Lisabelle sweetly, “a
group of pixies after my own heart.”

“What’s the goal?” I said.

“To defend the paranormals
against the Nocturns by getting the objects on the Wheel,” said Nolan, and his
eyes hardened. “By any means necessary. After the demon attacks, that we now
know were thanks to Martha, we put our mark out there so that other members
would know we had looked into the demon attacks. When we started to be blamed
for them, we realized that we were in no position to reveal ourselves just yet.
We have a couple of members in pretty sensitive positions, and we can’t afford
to put them in danger.”

“All of them?” I asked weakly.
Sip knew that Lanca had the Fang First, and for a long time I had been in
possession of the Mirror Arcane.

“We want them in paranormal
hands,” said Nolan, “and eventually it would be good if we could use them
together. But first we have to track all of them down and get them under our
control.”

I sat back in my chair.

“You’re all members?”

“Not technically,” said Sip.
“Lough just heard about it, as did Dacer. I only told Lisabelle when she found
out I had said I was at a gala meeting when there really wasn’t one.”

“Oh, so that’s why you had an
hour-long argument about which one of you was more clever,” said Trafton, his
eyes lighting with amusement and understanding.

I sat back in my chair, trying to
take it all in and to reorder my memories of the events of the past semester.
But even without having processed all of it, I was filled with relief. We
weren’t alone in our fight against the Nocturns. There was a whole group of
paranormals working together to fight them off. Martha’s approach had been
crazed, but this collective effort felt good. It felt solid. It felt a whole
lot like hope.

“What are you thinking?” Sip
asked worriedly, chewing her lip.

Slowly, I started to smile.

Much later I went up to my room.
My REAL room, the one Mrs. Swan had chosen for me. It was empty except for the
large bed, but I didn’t care, a bed was enough.

Except that there was something
on it.

“Bartholem,” I growled, “now’s
not the time to visit.”

The cat was sitting in front of a
package, his large purple eyes unblinking.

Just then Dacer followed me into
the room, a most unprecedented event.

“Ah, I had a feeling we’d find
him here,” said the vampire. “Like what I got you?”

“You mean the mask?” I said.
“Yes.”

Dacer chuckled. “I didn’t mean
the mask, but I’m glad you ignored my orders not to use it unless absolutely
necessary, and I’m glad it helped.”

“What, then?” I said as I headed
for the bed. Bartholem shifted just enough to let me get at the package, but I didn’t
need to open it. I knew exactly what it was.

I gave a squeal of joy and turned
back to my mentor, whose eyes were bright.

“Dacer,” I cried, “how’d you get
Caid to give it back to me?”

Dacer smiled. “That’s between
myself and the president. Suffice to say we both agree that it belongs in
Astra.”

I sat down on the bed and picked
up the Mirror Arcane. I felt it humming through the wrapping.

“What happens now?” I said.

Dacer looked grim. “Confidence in
Caid is at an all-time low. Senior paranormals are losing their confidence in
him after all that has happened at Public. He isn’t doing enough to fight the
demons, and I’m afraid it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

Dacer was saying exactly what I
had been thinking myself.

“What about Bartholem?” I said.
“He isn’t just a normal cat, is he?”

“Animals in the paranormal world
are rarely only what they appear to be,” said Dacer comfortably.

“He isn’t evil though, is he?” I
asked cautiously. “He’s not going to turn out to be another Martha, only with a
different focus for his energies?”

Dacer chuckled. “No, he is not,
but I think I’ll let Bartholem explain Bartholem.”

We both looked at the cat, who
simply stared back at us, unblinking.

“I guess not today,” I said,
still cradling the Mirror. “And that’s just fine with me.”

Every member of the Sign of Six
on campus was waiting for us downstairs. Dacer wanted to return to his house
for his own shower, while Zervos said he just wanted to leave. The students,
though, were not ready to be alone. Instead of going back to our respective
dorms we went outside. Keller kept an arm protectively around me and I snuggled
into his shoulder.

As we watched the sunrise I
called to the air, requesting a gentle breeze. If the air could have smirked, I
was sure that it would have. I had already asked so much of it today, but I
needed just a little more. With a gentle push, the breeze blew the smoke that
hung over my home away, revealing campus in all its abused glory. I put my free
arm around Sip’s shoulder and she pulled Lisabelle nearer, and we watched the
sun rise to greet another day.

The End

~

Also by Maddy
Edwards:

One Black Rose Series

One Black Rose

August

Autumn

Susan’s Summer

Paranormal Public Series

Paranormal Public

Elemental Rising

Elemental Shining

Elemental Dawn

Elemental Fire

Spiral Series

Spiral