Origin of Angels: Elemental Legacy Book 1 (9 page)

“I want to leave here.”

“I do, too.” My dad gazed out the side window toward the high mountain peak in the distance. It seemed as if he had something else he wanted to say, so I stayed quiet. “Rayla wants to keep you safe.”

“Hiding isn’t my thing, Dad.”

His head whipped to face me. “Preparation is not hiding. What do you think would happen if you were to go back to the human realm now? How long would it take for Lambert to find you with those dark fae on his side?”

I grunted. “You sound like Rayla.”

As if he’d read my thoughts about my girl, he said, “You won’t do her any good if you can’t free her. Learn to fight. Learn control. Only then will you be able to face your enemy and stand a chance.”

FINE FEATURES CAME INTO VIEW. I stood there, frozen. Relief took a moment to sink into my veins, but eventually my heart slowed. Heath didn’t say a word as he came to me, his eyes eating me up in an instant and then again. I smiled.

In a flash, he caught me in his arms, burying his face into my neck. My skin tingled from the rush of his breath. I embraced him, intent to never let go.

When his lips found mine, I lost the sense of standing. Dizzy and giddy, I let him guide me closer. The warmth of his fingers gliding along my skin scattered chills all over me. My thoughts jumbled into a haze of passion
— until the front door thudded shut.

He stiffened, ever alert to threats. I frowned, realizing I’d forgotten Cassie. “Who’s here?” he asked, voice filled with resentment.

“Cassie,” I whispered near his ear. Even though I wanted to forget her and melt into him, I couldn’t right now. My fingers traced over his strong chest. “Later, okay?”

His warm eyes found mine and held them. The passion hadn’t receded, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if he yelled at my best friend to go away. With a look of resignation, he grasped my hand and pulled me into the living room. He paused, taking her in. She was paler than usual, and I didn’t have to read his mind to realize he’d noticed. “Are you unwell, Cassie?” He
asked, his voice full of concern.

She waved him off and took a seat on the sofa. The leather gave an unbecoming blurp when she sat. Normally, she would have blushed, but she only shrugged. Seemed she was getting comfortable with Heath, and I was grateful. The worst thing ever is when your best friend doesn’t like your guy. She waited a little too long to answer him, her words conflicting with the airy tone.
“Just dying.”

Heath strode to the overstuffed chair close to the sofa, pulling me along. Not taking his eyes off her, he lowered onto the cushion,
then lifted me onto his lap. While we got situated, Cassie gazed out the giant window toward the garden. The dark brown couch contrasted against her ghostly skin, not offering much comfort. My husband didn’t give her mollifying condolence or any manner of softness. Instead, he pinned her with a stare. “What are you going to do about it?”

She bristled. I couldn’t really blame her, but Heath rarely did things to cause drama. “What do you suggest, oh wise and noble one?”

He laughed, relaxing into the seat. “If I were you, I’d take a trip to the mortal realm, see if you can find Hy-Brasil.”

It amazed me how much Heath and I thought alike. His mind had take
n the same journey mine had. Tabitha. She really was our only chance, but without a physical form, I wasn’t sure what she could do for Cassie. Tabitha was one of the island spirits protecting the mystical land of Hy-Brasil. In essence, it was utopia, but only the most honorable were allowed to live there. In medieval times, the high king of the fae had occupied the place with his people, but Valen had set his sights on conquering Hy-Brasil and ruling the fae nation. I’d uncovered the whole story when I’d named one of the borderland creatures, who, as it turned out, was Braesal himself. He was a wraith come to protect me against Valen. The creature had eventually transformed back into his previous state. It was only a matter of time before someone recognized him.

I honestly thought, given his prior status, he would have wanted the throne, but when I asked him, he said all he desired was a quiet piece of land to live with his lost love. Tabitha had occupied Carissa’s body for a very long time. Carissa had been Creed’s lover when he was king of the world. He was probably the only fae around looking forward to the day they would all lose their previous memories. None of us knew when the time would come. I’d made a deal with the creator that if the fae didn’t live up to their end of the bargain, I would lose my chance to progress after this life. In the process, I’d become immortal. The truth was I didn’t want to move on without Heath.

One of the ways we would know we were on the right track was if and when the fae could have children. Heath was only too happy to try to be the first couple to accomplish the deed, and I had to admit the process wasn’t horrible for me, either. In fact, I was eager to get Cassie out the door and home to her bondmate, so I could focus on mine. Well, technically Heath wasn’t my bondmate, not yet, anyway. For whatever reason, I hadn’t bonded with him. Sometimes I wondered if it was actually him preventing it, not me, but it could be, as in everything else, I was a freak who couldn’t actually fully bond with anyone.

The bond was still a mystery to me. In some ways I was grateful I hadn’t
experienced it. For most Elementals, bonding consumes her world. Everything else disappears, and what is left is the devotion to her bondmate. I wanted to think bonding was deeper than love, but I couldn’t, not when compulsion was at the base of the union. Truth be told, I wouldn’t be too disappointed if Heath and I never bonded. Love was enough for me, and from what I’d seen, it was plenty for him.

It took Cassie a while to answer, and when she did, her voice filled with conviction. “I have no desire to ever see Tabitha again. There’s no way she would help me, anyway. She warned me not to bond with Finn. If anything, she’d rub it in my face.”

I shook my head. “Tabitha isn’t evil, Cass. She may have had hidden motivations, but I truly believe her heart was in the right place.”

“Good for you.”

“Cassie!”

She stood, shaking her head. “I’m a goner, Rayla. We need to face facts. It’s Mom I’m worried about. You need to come see for yourself. It’s like she’s going through withdrawals.”

“She probably is,” said Heath, giving Cassie a steely look. “And stop being so dramatic. For one so eager to spend eternity with Finn, you’ve given up rather easily.”

Her jaw clamped shut, and she spun away. Without another word spoken, she headed for the door. I jumped up and beat her to it, blocking her path. Now that she was leaving, I couldn’t let her go. Not until we could devise a plan.

“Get out of my way,” she said, deathly serious.

With how fragile she was, I didn’t want to make things worse, but I couldn’t stand to see her decline any further. “I thought you wanted to discover how to fix things.”

“You two have other things to occupy your time. I know when I’m in the way.”

I hadn’t even heard Heath get up, but his voice sounded over my shoulder. “Don’t be absurd. Sit down. I have some things to tell you, anyway, and I don’t want to have to find you later.”

Cassie huffed past us and plopped on the couch again. Her chest lifted sharply with every breath. Once again, we took our spot on the chair. After a moment, Cassie said, “Well?”

Heath gave a sly smile. “I think I know where your father is. He’s done much to hide his presence, but he’ll never be able to conceal Order activity. They’ve been gathering as many Elemental families as they can find. Word has spread and the resistance is working equally hard to send those families underground. I have reason to believe the Order has gained over half of the Elemental population. The thing is not many remain unshielded. We need to talk to Grace, but there seems to be a vast rebellion network I never knew about.”

Cassie straightened. “What does this have to do with me?”

Heath’s hand found mine. The warmth of his touch failed to dampen the shock of his words. “I followed an Elemental, hoping to track down the rebel base, but she met up with a woman who looked rather familiar. She had your coloring…the same eyes and build. The weird thing was she had no power of her own, but once the Elemental came within a few feet of the other woman, her signal vanished. I was
staring at her, but her power disappeared. Not long after, the two rounded a corner. When I made my way through the crowd and around the building, they were gone.”

“Where were you?” I asked, a pit forming in my gut.

“England. The strangest thing is I waited for the Elemental’s energy to reemerge, but she never did. Neither did anyone else. I’d gone to the area after finding a group in Louisiana claiming to have origins in Liverpool.”

“Isn’t that where the Beatles were from?” I asked, hearing “Yellow Submarine” in my head.

Heath’s brows furrowed, as if he didn’t know what I was talking about. Cassie shot me a look before she gave a quick, “Yes.” Apparently eager to hear more, she turned her attention back to Heath.

I’d always wanted to see Europe, and the quick run-through I’d gotten hadn’t been enough. We’d made our way to Ireland by car, train, and boat from India, and I hadn’t been able to stop at all. It was almost as frustrating as getting to see the Louvre for only a few hours when Jett took me. One day I would go to all the places on my list, and I’d bask in the culture for as long as I could stand it. First, the Order had to be dealt with, and we had to act fast if we had any chance of saving Elementals from Lambert and Valen. It didn’t take much to imagine the horrors the poor girls were going through.

Travis was right. We needed to act now. It was easy to get caught up in the problems here, but what we re-ally needed to focus on was fixing the Elemental problems before we could ever truly address fae issues.

Heath stared at me, nodding. I used to hate it when he punched his way into my head, but lately, it was nice to be able to communicate without having to explain. Thoughts translated way better than words. Context was never in question where telepathic conversations were concerned. My body tightened thinking about where he was headed with this. “You aren’t actually implying that the woman who looked like Cassie shielded the other girl, right? Maybe she had a machine.”

He kissed my cheek. “Either way, she accomplished the same thing. I couldn’t find them again, and I stayed in the area for an extra week to give them time to get complacent.”

“So you think Lambert is there?” asked Cassie.

“He’s still stationed in Ireland, but given the proximity to Liverpool, it isn’t too far. By ferry, it’s a good eight hours. By plane, it’s less than an hour. By drifting … under a minute.”

I shuttered. “How could Lambert drift?”

“He’s got his own entourage. It’s really quite comical to see previous lords chauffeuring him around.”

My breath stuck in my throat. “You followed them?” He gloated. I punched his arm. “You promised you’d be safe!”

He seized my hand and kissed my knuckles. “I was.”

“Wait,” said Cassie. “Are you implying that Lambert is trying to find these women? Why? Doesn’t he have enough?”

A serious veil fell over Heath’s features. “He’s trying to capture every living Elemental. It’s the only way he’ll have leverage against us. If he can strengthen the fae who went with him, he’ll have the advantage when we face him again.”

I HATED WAITING, BUT DAD WAS right. If I stumbled into the mortal realm without the ability to defend myself, I would get caught again. How could I free anyone if I was a prisoner myself?

It didn’t take long in the hovercraft to reach the family abode, but I wasn’t ready to pretend everything was back to normal. After what I’d done, I wasn’t sure I could ever look my mother in the eye again. She’d raised me to be strong. She’d told me how important Elementals were, and she taught me to protect my sisters at all costs.

So much for that.
I wasn’t getting out of this one. I couldn’t let Dad unload all the gear and his loot when I could help. I took the fish because they were really heavy, and I didn’t want the old man getting a hernia or something. It was bad enough when Lambert told me my father was dead. He’d been trying to replace my dad from the moment he brought me to my first compound. No matter what he did, I hadn’t confided in him. I couldn’t. He had no idea what it meant to be a man. At no point, not even at my lowest, did I ever consider wanting to be like him. He was a disease on the human race, a blight I intended to stamp out.

The Order was much like the military, drilling routines into the members until one couldn’t take a piss unless it was the right time of day. And the women
— I couldn’t stand how obedient they all were. Even those in important roles would rarely speak up when they didn’t agree with a plan. Lambert liked to hire female physicians. Most were returned Elementals who thought they were making progress to eradicate the fae from Elemental life.

They were delusional. The only strong women I’d ever really known had come from my own family. May-be it was why I’d been drawn to the mystery girl. I couldn’t go on not having a name for her. I hated thinking of her as my girl or whatever else my brain came up with to call her. But every time I settled on a name, it didn’t fit her. I didn’t have a single moment longer to think about it, because my mom intercepted me when I’d barely passed the threshold.