Elemental Shining (Paranormal Public Series)
Read Elemental Shining (Paranormal Public Series) Online
Authors: Maddy Edwards
Elemental Shining
(
Paranormal Public, Book III)
by
Maddy Edwards
Copyright © 2012 by Maddy Edwards
Cover Design: Sybille Sterk
This novel is a work of fiction in which names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real persons, places, or events is completely coincidental.
All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without the written consent of the author.
My blog:
http://maddyedwards.blogspot.com/
My goodreads page:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5288585.Maddy_Edwards
Table of Contents
The dream was jumping around, ever-changing.
Black silver started to glow. The light was reflected and lost, wisps of dreams floated in the air above the glimmering water in front of the raging fire rolling over the sloping earth. Above it all was the Mirror Arcane.
Then blood dripped from a fang, as if the point had freshly plunged into an artery surrounded by sensitive flesh. This was no ordinary fang. This was the Fang First, power held in blood.
Moving again, the globe holding dreams bobbed up and down, lost in white space, waiting until the Globe White was reunited with the other artifacts on the paranormal wheel.
In one fluid motion a pair of delicate wings of every color green fluttered gently, the diamond-encrusted shapes taking pleasure in the barest movement. Pinion Wings could not beat themselves.
The Scepter Silver lanced out, striking nothing, fixing nothing. The most stunning object ever created—silver designs with silver jewels on a silver inlay—it was useless without the other artifacts.
A club lay useless on a bare floor.
“If we find them all,” former Paranormal Public President Cynthia Malle’s voice intoned to the waiting powers in darkness as she came out of the dream, “we can defeat the paranormals once and for all.”
All around her a deep groan started to grow into a roar, the demons voicing their approval.
“How do we find them all?” one dared to ask.
President Malle turned her black eyes on the offending speaker. With one stab of her finger in his direction he lit up in flame, screaming a thousand deaths as he burned slowly into nothing. When only ash lay where the demon had been, President Malle met the eyes of every demon in turn.
“We use the Map Silver,” she said, starting to smile. “The paranormals do not stand a chance.”
A little bit excited was an understatement. I was euphoric. Like, hello party my name is Charlotte kind of happy. Summer was finally over and Lisabelle and Sip were coming back to Public. I had been there without them all summer, working at the Museum of Masks with Dacer, and although I had learned a lot and found a lifelong mentor in Dacer, I missed my friends, and the quiet campus had becoming unbearably boring. I wanted the excitement and fun of friends and fellow students.
I had left the grounds of Public once to visit my little brother Ricky. He was still living with my stepdad, his father, and enjoying his childhood. It was difficult to get off the grounds, because we knew the demons were watching for me, but they didn’t have a sophisticated tracking system—yet—and I was able to do it. Once.
As usual, Ricky was in fine form. He was spending the summer at a day camp but was home in the evenings. My stepdad was the same as ever, doing the best job he could of pretending I didn’t exist. At this point he was a master at it. Ricky and I hadn’t had much time together, but one night we had gone for a walk. I wanted to tell him what was happening with me, specifically that paranormals existed and that I was the only living elemental. My mom had told me when I was young, and although I had thought her crazy at the time, her telling me had helped a tiny bit with my transition and with the idea that my mom loved me.
My worry about my little brother had grown as the days of the summer slipped past. We had the same mother. What if Ricky was Airlee? What to do then? I was told he was protected and I believed that, but if his magic manifested itself he would have a lot of questions, and I wanted to be the one to answer them. I didn’t want him to worry or be scared. The thought almost made me laugh.
“Why are you frowning?” he asked, as we walked down Main Street. It wasn’t dark yet and there were still people outside. I didn’t want a repeat of the night when I had been taken to Public the year before; that wouldn’t have been good at all. But of course Ricky knew nothing about that. He thought that we were in a very safe neighborhood in a very safe state and that things that went bump in the night didn’t really exist. I knew differently, but I didn’t want Ricky to know until it was absolutely necessary. I wanted him to enjoy his childhood first, like I had.
“Frowning gives you wrinkles,” he added. “How are you ever going to get a boyfriend if you have wrinkles all over your face?”
“I thought you didn’t want me to get a boyfriend. . . .”
“Not right now, but someday. You gotta have kids. I am going to be the best uncle ever.”
“You are going to get my kids in so much trouble with me. You’re going to tell them all sorts of terrible things.”
“Yes. You’re welcome in advance.”
“Anyway,” I said. “Sorry, I just wish I was here to take care of you.”
“You take care of me? That would be a first,” he said, grinning as he nearly skipped along next to me. I huffed a laugh, hot summer air pouring into my lungs. I loved the heat of the summer. Somehow everything felt better when it was warm, whereas it was hard to get past the bad stuff in the middle of winter, when everything was cold and dead and frozen.
“Thanks, Ricky. Please don’t worry about my feelings or anything.”
“You can take it,” said Ricky. “We’ve been through a lot, haven’t we? I can take it too. You don’t have to protect me.”
I stopped and put my hand on my brother’s thin shoulders. His large gray eyes, just like my own and what marked us as siblings, our mother’s children, stared back at me.
“Ricky,” I said seriously. “I will always take care of you. Today, tomorrow, and always.”
He wrapped his arms around my waist and held on tight. I closed my eyes, savoring my brother’s presence and knowing that I was with him and that he was safe.
As it turned out, I couldn’t tell him. Not yet. Everything else seemed a little less important than just being with him.
My summer had been quiet. Almost too quiet. I had spent it working to rebuild the Museum under the direction of the slave driver who was my professor. It hadn’t been all bad, just mostly bad. Dacer was devastated by the destruction that had happened in the spring, and we were forced to spend countless hours repairing the damage before I could even start using the masks again.
Even so, spending the summer that way had definitely been better than going home to my stepdad, as I periodically reminded myself when I was knee deep in charred Museum waste. NOT a good look for me.
But it was lonely without my friends, even though I wasn’t entirely alone on campus. One of the other students staying to conduct research was Cale. When I first heard that news I was worried, but without Camilla around I soon realized that Cale was the same kind and thoughtful friend he had always been.