Hungry Earth (Elemental Book 2) (2 page)

Her light complexion was flawless, her facial
features were perfect in proportion and shape, and her dark burgundy eyes
looked more exotic than unnatural. Her long hair was dark purple the last time
I saw her, but she had changed it to dark blue since. She wore a blood-red top
with black leather pants and a fitted black leather jacket.

If Regina was a snake, Clara was an atomic bomb. The
woman was not only a vampire, but a regal one. She could slaughter an entire
city and nobody would stop her. And she was in charge of the vampire division
of Quintessence.

“Aren’t you going to invite me in? Or do I need to
knock first?”

She knew about Astrid. “I would invite John Cross
into my apartment before you,” I growled.

“Oh, you sweet talker.” Her voice lowered
seductively. “Come on, Devon, you know you want to.” She looked me in the eye,
completely unafraid of my power.

“Leave him alone, Clara,” Remington said, pushing the
vampire aside. Remy entered my apartment easily and eyed Regina like a cat
would a flea. “Who is this?” she asked me, obviously not impressed with my
company.

I wanted to make a comment on hers, but I held back.
“Regina.”

She sneered. “Your ex-wife? Really?”

Regina stood, her face reddening with anger. “Devon,
I will not be looked down on by your floozy friends. You will explain to them
that I am still your wife, and then we will go home and put this stupid game
behind us.”

“What part of our divorce did you not understand? I
am no longer your husband and you will never be my wife in any way, shape, or
form again.”

“How can you talk to me like that in front of these
people?!” Regina screeched.

“Devon, are you really not going to invite me in?”

“Why are you even here?” I asked.

She sighed. “I really didn’t want to burst your
bubble.” She stepped inside, paused, and then walked up to Remy. “It’s a myth
that we need an invitation,” she explained with a smirk.

I eyed the hallway. If Clara attacked, I didn’t have
a chance to reach my gun. I had seen how fast a vampire could move. “Where is
Hunt?” I asked.

“My father got hung up talking to your landlord,”
Remy said. “Clara and I heard you had a visitor and thought we should see if
you needed a hand. Rosin has to take care of the school since Rebecca is gone
and April is in hiding from the council, so Clara had to come with us.”

I didn’t know Clara enough to predict what she would
do. I knew it wasn’t likely that she would attack me or my ex-wife right in
front of Remy. However, I could never have predicted what she actually did;
Clara grabbed Regina’s shirt collar, pulled her close, and kissed her.

Regina moaned and grasped Clara’s leather jacket
weakly, not pulling the vampire closer or pushing her away. It was probably
rude to stare, but it wasn’t often that two gorgeous, evil women kissed right
in front of me.

Remy cleared her throat. Clara pulled a few inches
away from Regina until my ex opened her eyes. Clara grinned. “Now, you are
going to go home and not bother Devon or his mother again.”

Regina blinked vacantly, turned, and walked out
without another word.

“That will never stick,” I said.

“A stubborn-minded person can sometimes overcome the
thrall of a vampire, but no one can resist me when I kiss them.”

“Why is the thrall not a myth, and needing an
invitation is? That doesn’t seem fair to humans.”

“It’s not really any different than your unique
power,” she said.

I shuddered at the thought that all vampires had the
same power as John.
Did Astrid ever use her thrall on me?
“Does the
person remember it?”

“Not unless we want them to.”

Hunt appeared at my door. “If you are all done
playing around, I suggest we head out,” he said.

My bags were already packed. I couldn’t find
Vincent’s book, but I didn’t worry because it periodically went missing. Ten
minutes later, we piled into a black SUV. Oddly, I wasn’t concerned at all when
Clara got in the driver’s seat. Surely vampire reflexes made her an impeccably
safe driver. Of course, after being exposed to April Nightshade’s driving, I
couldn’t imagine anyone could scare me. When Clara pulled out onto the road
carefully, stopped too long at stop signs, and went five miles an hour under
the limit, I settled in for a long, safe ride.

Then she got on the highway.

She went at least sixty miles an hour over the limit.

*          *          *

By the time we arrived at the paranormal university,
I felt like I had been on a roller coaster for hours. Since Clara made the six-hundred
mile drive in just over five hours, I felt a little shaken.

“Does your father know how fast you drive?” Hunt
asked when Clara shut the engine off.

She grimaced. “Yeah, sorry. I know that was a painful
trip, but Dad had been on my case, begging me to slow down. Normally, I’m twice
as fast. He just has a lot on his mind right now, so I’m trying to be
accommodating.”

Hunt held out his hand and the keys shot into his
grasp as if pulled by a magnet. He tried to pass them to Remy, who sat across
from me in the passenger seat, but she just looked at them like he was handing
her a snake. “You will be our new driver,” he told his daughter.

“I can’t drive.”

I sighed and took the keys from Hunt. “I can drive.
Do any of you even have a driver’s license?”

“Why would we have a driver’s license?” Clara asked
innocently.

Pocketing the keys and grabbing my bags, I got out of
car.

“You will receive your class schedule in the morning
from your new elemental mentor. Remember that you need eighteen credits to pass
from now on,” Hunt said. “Your room is the same.”

“What about Henry and Darwin?”

“They are still your roommates. If you would prefer
different–”

“No, they’re good. I just didn’t want to get someone
like Jackson or a vampire.” 

“Actually, the vampires are going to be sleeping in a
renovated area underground,” Hunt explained. “For their own safety, we decided
they should not be asleep around other students.”

“And what does the wizard council have to say about
that?”

“The wizard council does not need to know
everything.”

I sighed and turned to the castle. “Hey, wasn’t there
a tower right there?” I asked, pointing to a part of the roof.

“Was there?”

It was around two in the afternoon, so the castle
didn’t look as dark and foreboding as it could have. In fact, the snow patches
in the shadows on the roof and courtyard almost made it seem picturesque.
Almost
.
If the eccentric structure of the castle wasn’t enough to figure out that this
wasn’t a normal school, the fully grown male lion napping out on the grass
between the castle and dorms was.

“I’m going to put my stuff away.” I headed to the
dorms, in a hurry to get away from the vampire. I opened the entrance door and
stepped back barely in time to avoid being run over by two tigers. Zhang Wei
was chasing Li Na, but I knew he was just playing.

When I got to my room, I saw Henry’s collection of
books already immaculately organized on his bookshelf. The jaguar shifter was
fairly OCD with his organization. Darwin sometimes moved one of his books or
pencils just an inch or two and when Henry returned, he always fixed it before
doing anything else.

I unpacked my bags and went down to the dining room,
where I saw the tables pushed aside and a dozen students forming a circle.
Assuming it was a quarrel, as they happened often at Quintessence, I nearly
turned to return to my room. However, I was curious. I reached the group and
was confused as to what I was seeing; a black snake writhing in fire. There was
a clear liquid on the floor that was on fire, while the three-foot long snake
flopped around in it.

“What the hell is going on?” I asked.

“He’s not hurt,” Becky said. I hadn’t noticed I was
standing right next to her until she spoke to me. “It’s not real fire; it’s an
illusion.” Right then, the fire died and the snake shifted into a small,
black-haired guy. Most of the students in the group started clapping.

I went to get a tray of food and sat down at my usual
spot, though it had been moved a few feet closer to the wall. To my surprise,
Becky sat next to me, but she adjusted her glasses and focused all her
attention on her food, which was no more than a couple strawberries and a bit
of broccoli.

“Not very hungry?” I asked.

She shuddered. “My father is worried about the
vampires, but since he believes they don’t like the blood of vegetarians, he
has ‘allowed’ me to continue with my schooling so long as I don’t eat meat.”

I studied her for a moment. Although her large, thick
glasses blocked much of her face, I figured she had to be at least nineteen or
twenty. “Does he pay your tuition?”

“No, but since my father is Grayson Adams, high-standing
member of the wizard council, I really don’t have a say in the matter.”

“I thought the council was trying to make peace with
the vampires.”

“They are, but that doesn’t mean they trust the
vampires. I was told that you were supposed to be keeping the peace between the
other students and vampires.”

“I was under the impression that was confidential.”

“Nothing is confidential in this school.”

Henry sat across from me with his own tray of food.
He didn’t comment on Becky’s presence. Because the shifter was usually so
put-together, his appearance was a little surprising. His black hair was longer
than normal, his black t-shirt was wrinkled, and there was a cut on his right
ear. It was no surprise that he wasn’t wearing a jacket in the middle of
winter; most of the shifters weren’t.

“Did you enjoy your break?” I asked.

“Not particularly.”

Before I could ask him anything else, one of the
C-Five women sat next to him. She was in her mid-twenties, attractive, and
obviously interested in Henry. She pulled her long auburn hair over her
shoulder and leaned close to him, almost touching him. “I heard you and Addie
were having problems. Want to go out with me?”

With his usual aloofness, he studied the woman for a
moment before returning his attention to his food. “Ask me on the second.”

She smiled brightly. “Will do,” she said, then turned
and walked away.

“I’m not sure if she just treated you like a toy or
if you treated her like one,” I said.

He shrugged. “I didn’t offend her. That alone is an
improvement.” He sighed. “I hate disappointing women.”

“Can you fake it?” Becky asked.

“No.”

I had seen the change in him during the four full
moons of our first semester. Each time, he and Addison got back together for
the moon, and then spent the rest of the month arguing. By the end of the
second month, when he had been physically exhausted, I knew it was not by
choice in any way. It was also something entirely unique to Henry, although
most of the shifters had some sort of reaction to the moon cycle.

We played cards for a while after eating and were
just getting up when we heard a commotion outside. Along with the two dozen
other students in the dining room, Henry and I went outside to see Jackson and
a vampire fighting.

The vampire was a young man no different in appearance
than any other person in his early twenties, with medium brown hair and hazel
eyes. He was on the thin side and a good six inches shorter than me, so there
was nothing threatening about his looks. However, I could sense what he was.

Astrid was the first vampire I knew, and I had felt
there was something off about her before I knew what she was. The sensation was
subconscious; I couldn’t smell a vampire, they didn’t look any different, and
there wasn’t a subtle hiss in their voices. I just recognized a vampire when I
saw one. Shifters, on the other hand, were a different matter. Since I could
remember, I was able to communicate with animals. I could feel the animal side
of a shifter in my mind. Wizards and fae could still throw me for a loop.

Jackson was throwing fireballs at the vampire, who
was dodging them easily. Jackson, no bigger than his opponent, was not a
particularly bright or talented wizard. Vampires were far faster than everyone
else and this one was toying with the man.

“Aren’t you going to stop them?” Becky asked.

“Fighting is not against the rules,” I said.

She sighed. “If the council sees vampires and wizards
fighting after making their peace treaty, they’re going to go down hard on the
wizard. It’s not worth it.”

Knowing she was right, I turned to the pair. The
vampire was apparently getting irritated, because he punched Jackson in the
stomach. He wasn’t even moving as fast as I knew vampires could, yet he was too
fast for the wizard. Jackson screamed with pain. When he formed another fireball,
I reacted instinctively. Water was the only element I had “mastered” so,
without allowing myself any doubt, I focused on it.

Water was gentle and trusting, but it was adaptable.
I focused on the idea of water over the actual liquid itself. At the same time,
heat was building in my chest. I imagined water forming out of the air between
them and constructing a wall. It wasn’t remotely dangerous, but I wanted to
stop a fight, not hurt someone.

The heat in my chest released at the same time water
formed between the vampire and Jackson. Unfortunately, the heat was released
into the water, which exploded into steam. Both the vampire and wizard jumped
back with surprise. Everyone, including them, looked at me.

“Jackson, if you want to pick a fight, you can’t
blame him when you get bit.”

“I didn’t start it!” he exclaimed. It made me think
of a six-year-old screaming that it wasn’t his fault.

“You ambushed me!” the vampire argued.