Exhale (40 page)

Lots of crust in her hair, but the scalp wasn’t even tender. “What happened? I mean after…” She cut her eyes to the disaster, then returned to Gavin. He let go of her hand.

He seemed to measure his words before he spoke. “Jack sent an Erthe Elemental over. She found my necklace and broke an Elemental out of the elephant. They…put you back together.” Gavin picked up the necklace from the coffee table. He strapped it around his neck. Only the footprint and bird charm remained.

“Where did you find it?” Zoe nodded to his neck.

“That bastard Sinnder stole it from me the night before I met you for the first time. He must have let the Fyre Elemental out. Probably didn’t have any use for the others, so he left the necklace here.”

Broken pieces of memories returned to Zoe. She tried to reorganize them. “Wait a minute. Sinnder was the guy who brought me here, right? He could have killed me, but he didn’t.”

Gavin flinched.

“Why didn’t he kill me?” she asked.

A tight ridge of skin formed between Gavin’s eyebrows. “Because Fyres feed off hot emotions. He knew what Scarlet was up to. Throwing you into the bag with her must have given him some sick pleasure.”

Zoe shook her head. “I don’t think so. He was tense. And he didn’t come inside. If he’d wanted to feed off either of us, he wouldn’t have dumped me at your doorstep like he did. He’d have followed me in.”

Yeah, that guy was bad news, but not for her or Gavin. Maybe Scarlet was playing him, and he was on to her.

Didn’t matter.

Jack’s puzzled gaze settled on Gavin. “What did Scarlet do?” An air of defensiveness haloed his tight shoulders and the grim set of his mouth. Like he didn’t really want to know.

“Nothing,” both she and Gavin said at the same time, but they didn’t look at each other.

This was between them. No need to make Jack angry at Gavin for cheating with his ex-girlfriend. In front of her. Most likely without a condom.

Had Gavin finished inside of Scarlet? She squeezed her eyes closed for two seconds and shut the pain down. Nope. Now was not the time to ask.

Jack tilted his head to the side. “She did
something
.” When neither of them spoke, he continued. “Fine, it’s none of my damn business. I’m just glad you’re okay now.” He patted the back of Zoe’s arm.

Okay?
Hardly.

She could have lived with knowing the man she loved killed her. It was an accident. But the rest…

Had he been so fooled that he’d done stuff with Scarlet he’d never done with Zoe? She feared the answer was yes.

Guilty innocence aside, things would never be the same between Gavin and her. That hurt as much as the act itself. Yeah, ‘I love you’ was a powerful elixir, especially coming from Gavin, but she wasn’t sure there was enough Water in the world to reassemble the pieces of the heart he’d inadvertently minced and flambéed before her eyes.

Pushing aside the memory of Scarlet riding him like an over-exuberant horse jockey on her final lap, Zoe wound her arms over her chest. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. What’s done is done.”

She met Gavin’s eyes. He looked away.

“It’s time to focus on the future.”

“Agreed,” Jack said, mirroring her cross-armed pose and aligning his feet with his shoulders.

“Scarlet killed a mother whale and left the baby to die in Sydney Harbour. The Fyres are out for blood and fully engaged in searching for the Wæters’ Archelemental candidate. What are we going to do to protect
her
?”

Jack rocked back on his heels as if in thought. “Do you even know where she is?”

“I have a pretty good idea. I spoke to her last night, but we got cut off. I’m not sure what happened, but I think she’s safe for the time being.”

Hoped
she was safe. God
damn
that Scarlet.

“We need to get
her
instated to the Archelemental position. Until the Wæters present a united front, Balance will never come. We can’t afford to wait. Too many people are getting…hurt.” Jack glanced at Gavin, who began pacing and rubbed at his lip. “And from a Sentinel standpoint, how do we get to the door into the Dreaming? Whetu is still unconscious and shows no signs of coming out of it. I’ve got an Aer working with her, but…”

“We either find someone else who knows, or we abandon stealth and go after the big guns directly,” Gavin said, his voice low and cold. “We can’t fuck around any longer.”

“You’ll need a hell of a lot more allies to take on Eidan and Scarlet.”

Zoe lifted her chin, determination bubbling a slow, consuming path from her toes to her head.

Scarlet had murdered at least one of her whales, screwed the man she loved, and gotten her killed. Randy was using extortion and bribing her with the position she’d lusted after for years. Gavin had inadvertently crushed the life out of her heart—both physically and emotionally.

Her life upended in devastation, Zoe was
done
.

No more taking shit off anyone. There was no one left to trust but herself. Nothing much to live for other than the whales, who were the only constant in her life. She would take care of the Fyres. Thanks to her intimate brush with death, she now knew exactly how.

“I have the allies you need. Give me a few weeks to bring them together. If you guys can lure the Fyres to the Dreaming, I’ll command the army that takes them down.”

Gavin snapped his head up and turned to her with ice in his eyes. “I’m gonna kill Scarlet.”

The cold fire of vengeance swooped down and landed on her shoulder. A moment of understanding passed between Gavin and her. Murder was their only hope, the only action that had a chance of keeping the rest of the world breathing.

An eye for an eye?

So be it.

“No. We’ll take Scarlet out together.” Zoe twined her fingers with his and squeezed. “And we’ll make it hurt.”

Glossary of Terms

Aer or Aer Elemental
noun
—An Elemental whose body is composed of at least 50% Elemental Air. Aers tend to be intelligent and manipulative. Their auras are mostly yellow.

Aero
noun
—God of Air. The youngest of the four Elemental gods who rule Earth. He is made of pure Air and represents intelligence, creativity, concentration, manipulation, and focus.

Air
noun
—The Element that keeps humans mentally stable, focused, and attentive. A shortage of Air can cause information processing difficulties. A severe deficit can induce a vegetative state or death. Air manifests as yellow in auras.
Note:
When referring to the Element itself,
Air
is capitalized, not to be confused with atmospheric
air
in general.

Aqua
noun
—Goddess of Water. The third of the four Elemental gods to appear on Earth. She is made of pure Water and represents fluid emotions, healing, intuition, introspection, and wisdom.

Archelemental
noun
—A powerful Elemental who rules a region of the world. There are seven Archelementals affiliated with each Element (seven Wæter Archelementals, seven Fyre Archelementals, etc.). An Archelemental collects and delivers Element tithes to his/her god on the equinoxes. Advised by a Council of Elemental bishops, the Archelemental mediates disputes, administers punishments and rewards, and is the final authority on all Elemental matters in his/her region of the world.

ascension
noun
—An Elemental’s rise to eternal communion with his or her god. Ascension is the ultimate state of perfection that most Elementals strive to attain.

aura
noun
—The colorful energy that surrounds Wyldlings, Sentinels, and Elementals. The hue of an aura provides clues to mental, emotional, psychological, and physical states. Sentinels are trained to interpret auras.

Balance
noun
—The concept of equilibrium within a living thing. Balance is achieved when Earth, Air, Fire, and Water co-exist in equal parts. Sentinels must be well-Balanced to perform their duties. They can shift their Elements to maintain Balance in stressful situations.

breach
noun
—Jumping behavior in which some or all of a whale’s body clears the water. Chin breaches, tail breaches, and full breaches are common among humpback whales.

calf
noun
—A baby whale.

Dreaming, the
noun
—A parallel world that exists alongside the realm of reality
(Realis)
where people go while sleeping, unconscious, or in an altered state. Though the Dreaming is the collective unconscious of the human race, events that transpire there affect people in real ways. Most Wyldlings are unaware of the Dreaming, but some
(see lucid dreaming)
are able to influence objects while asleep. Sentinels consider the Dreaming their home. They fight to protect it and its Wyldling visitors from damaging outside influences such as Elementals.

Dreamsense
noun
—A kind of sixth sense possessed by Sentinels that makes them aware of Element shifts in the surrounding area.

Dreamsong
noun
—The ancient language of the Sentinels.

DTAG
noun
—
A Digital Acoustic Recording Tag
is a device used by marine biologists to collect information on whales and their environment. The DTAG fits in a human hand. Using a carbon fiber cantilever pole, researchers attach the suction-cupped tag to a whale’s back. The DTAG remains in place up to 24 hours. It records audio and tracks the whale’s depth, pitch, roll, and heading. When the tag pops off, it emits a radio signal so researchers can locate it. Data is downloaded to a computer and analyzed.

Earth
noun
—The Element that keeps humans physically stable, grounded, and healthy. A shortage of Earth in humans can cause sickness or disease. A severe deficit can induce outright death. Earth manifests as green in auras.
Note:
When referring to the Element itself,
Earth
is capitalized, not to be confused with
earth
in general (dirt or land).

eclipse
verb
—To exert destructive power of one Element over another. Earth eclipses Water, Water eclipses Fire, Fire eclipses Air, and Air eclipses Earth. Eclipsing Elementals can cause serious harm to shadowed ones. Intense exposure results in death and returns the Elemental to his/her god.

Element
noun
—One of the four basic building blocks of life on Earth. Every living thing contains Earth, Air, Fire, and Water Elements in varying degrees.

Elemental
noun
—A half-corporeal, half-magical being. Elementals can take earthly and pure Element forms, or a combination of the two. They siphon their Element from Wyldlings for sustenance. Any human (or animal) can become an Elemental once his/her body acquires 50% or more of a single Element.

Erthe or Erthe Elemental
noun
—An Elemental whose body is composed of at least 50% Elemental Earth. Erthes tend to be physically strong, dependable, and rigid in their thinking. Their auras are mostly green.

Fire
noun
—The Element that keeps humans psychologically stable, passionate, and lively. A shortage of Fire in humans can cause psychological disorders. A severe deficit can induce psychosis or cause the spirit to die, which leads to physical death shortly after. Fire manifests as red in auras.
Note:
When referring to the Element itself,
Fire
is capitalized, not to be confused with
fire
in general.

fluke
noun
—A whale’s tail. When pumped up and down, flukes propel the animal forward through water.

Fyre or Fyre Elemental
noun
—An Elemental whose body is composed of at least 50% Elemental Fire. Fyres tend to be passionate and short-fused. Their auras are mostly red.

humpback whale
noun
—The fifth largest whale in the world. Humpbacks are baleen whales—filter feeders that eat small fish and krill. They average 40-45 feet in length and weigh about 40-45 tons. These highly intelligent whales are known for their acrobatics (breaching, pec slapping, and lobtailing) and the haunting “songs” the males sing.

Incendius
noun
—God of Fire. The second eldest of the four Elemental gods who rule Earth. He is made of pure Fire and represents passion, chaos, lust, hunger, and violence.

Law of Balance
noun
—Rainbow Serpent’s mandate that the four Elements on Earth remain Balanced. Sentinels are charged with upholding the Law of Balance.

lobtail or tail slap
noun
—A behavior in which a whale hangs upside down in the water and slaps its tail flukes at the surface, creating a loud noise. It may be sign of aggression, a means of stunning prey, or even a way to communicate with other whales.

lucid dreaming
verb
—A state of awareness and ability to control one’s actions while dreaming. Many lucid dreamers remember events from dreams when they wake up.

pec slap or flipper slap
noun
—The act of slapping a pectoral fin hard on the water, creating a loud, gunshot-like sound. Whales may exhibit this behavior to show aggression or to communicate with other whales.

pectoral fin or pec fin
noun
—One of two front, arm-like appendages on a whale. Also called flippers.

Rainbow Serpent
noun
—Though depicted in Aboriginal Australian Dreamtime stories as male, Rainbow Serpent in Sentinel mythology is the mother of life on Earth. She not only shaped the land and seas, but she also helped create humans and continues to watch over them. She employs Sentinels to help her enforce the Law of Balance among the gods and Elementals.

Realis
noun
—The waking world of reality in which people carry on their daily activities; the real world.

scrimshaw
noun
—An art form in which pictures or words are carved into the teeth of slaughtered whales. In pre-industrialized times, whalers often practiced scrimshaw to pass the time on whaling expeditions.

Sentinel
noun
—A “super human” who can control dreams and manipulate his own Elements to either defend against or attack Elementals with Elemental magic. A Sentinel’s purpose is to maintain the Balance between Elements, which requires him to protect humans from excessive Elemental interference. Sentinels are mortal, but they tend to live longer than the average human.