A Time to Die (Elemental Rage Book 2)
Read A Time to Die (Elemental Rage Book 2) Online
Authors: Jeanette Raleigh
Elemental
Rage
Book 2: A
Time to Die
Copyright Aug 28,
2016 Jeanette Raleigh
All rights reserved. Written permission from the author must
be secured to use or reproduce any part of this book except for brief excerpts
to provide critical review or articles.
The characters and settings in this book are fictitious. Any
resemblance to real persons or locations is coincidental.
Also Available by
Jeanette Raleigh
Elemental Rage Series:
Book 1: A Time to Kill
Book 2: A Time to Die
When, Were, & Howl: The Collection (Books 1 - 5)
When, Were, & Howl: Book 1 Moon Struck
When, Were, & Howl: Book 2 Vampires Bite
When, Were, & Howl: Book 3 A Tryst of Fate
When, Were, & Howl: Book 4 A Grave Awakening
When, Were, & Howl : Book 5 Werewolf Wedding
When, Were, & Howl: Book 6 Fate's Dark Glass
When, Were, & Howl: Book 7 Fortune’s Deadly Gaze
Dark Visions (Book 1): First Love
Dark Visions (Book 2): Lost Love
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Crow on Tombstone D-25
Copyright:
Chapter 1
~~ Jade ~~
Jade detested
school. At least English class was tolerable, which was where she was sitting
at this very moment. She slid into her seat with her laptop. Everyone was
chattering or on their computers. Jade just wanted to be alone, to stop the
noise. Everything felt so loud.
Closing her eyes,
Jade heard the screams again. Maybe she needed a shrink. It was seven years since
she had accidentally killed her Dad, and somehow she had managed to block it
out. Until last summer.
A hand slapped the
desk in front of her.
Jade jumped.
“Wake up, Pippi.”
Danika’s perfume filled the room. She wore a bemused expression on her face,
standing over Jade while she waggled a finger painted to perfection in hot pink.
The class roared
in laughter.
Jade flushed. She
lifted her eyes to meet Danika’s, her jaw jutting out. Just once she wanted to
punch Danika hard in the face. Just once.
Fire agreed. But
Fire wanted more. Fire’s voice whispered,
She should burn.
As the most
unstable of the Elements, it took a strong-willed Elemental to guide Fire.
Very few Elementals were born with a gift for Fire, and those who did sometimes
died tragically young in mysterious blazes. Aunt Bertha had explained it
all…several years too late.
Jade calmed Fire.
It wouldn’t do to have Danika’s hair suddenly burst into flames in the middle
of English class. She narrowed her eyes at Danika, “Maybe you should work on
those burrs.”
Danika raised an
eyebrow. This was new. Usually Jade turned a thousand shades of red and
shrank away while the class laughed.
She said, “Burrs?
What are you talking about?”
“I can see why
you’d be so unpleasant having them shoved up your…”
At that moment Mr.
Tanner strode into the classroom. The class tittered and Jade maintained eye
contact with Danika, a staring contest that she decided not to lose. In the
past, she always looked down, down at her hands, down at her lap, and Danika
would walk by with her nose in the air like God’s gift to the world.
“Wow, Looks like
Pippi grew a pair,” Danika flipped her hair back and pushed by Jade with a butt
wiggle in Tom’s direction. He was always ogling Danika. Her short skirts and
tight jeans encouraged it.
Jade took a deep
breath and counted to ten. When she was still angry, she made a list of all
the reasons she was smarter than Danika. She couldn’t say prettier, as much as
she wanted to. Jade was realistic about her own prospects. With long
reddish-brown hair, a larger than average nose, strong jawline, and tall
figure, Jade couldn’t compete with Danika’s perky nose and huge eyes set in a
perfectly oval face. Danika had a classic beauty that she used to full
advantage. Jade had…nothing.
First period
ended. Finally.
Nothing terribly
exciting happened through second period either. Danika was back again in
Chemistry during third period. That was the worst thing about a small school.
You had class with the same group of people over and over and over. The kids
destined for college might take the tougher classes while the kids destined for
other things ended up in remedial classes, but for the most part, Jade had to
spend the day listening to Danika and her three besties blather on and flirt.
Jade felt that
sick thud in her stomach when Ms. Hunt said, “We’re going to choose Chemistry
partners. You’ll be partnered for the school year.”
It really hurt
being unpopular. Jade dreaded the moment when Ms. Hunt said, “Divide into
pairs.”
The moment never
came. Instead, the teacher started reading pre-assigned teams. The class
groaned as a whole, but Jade could only feel the weight of sweet relief wash
the tension out of her shoulders. Maybe Ms. Hunt understood. She was a mousy
woman with thin features and long, slender fingers. Her hair was completely white,
although for some reason she curled it and teased it as if she was still stuck
in the eighties. With oversized cardigans and long skirts, Ms. Hunt was
certainly unique. Jade liked her for it. The rest of the class might make
hurtful side comments, but Jade felt a bond with the teacher who had to suffer
the same unpopularity that she herself felt.
Ms. Hunt might
have a mousy face and small, round body, but her voice boomed. As she read the
list of names, Jade held her breath.
Please not Danika. Please not Danika.
No one was more
surprised than Jade when Ms. Hunt said, “Jade, you’re with Zach. Second row,
middle.”
Jade grabbed her backpack
and snuck a glance at Zach. He grinned at her with real warmth. For a moment,
she was surprised and then she smiled back. He was cute. Grey-blue eyes that
changed with the clothes he was wearing and a casual smile that didn’t care
what anyone else thought.
It was probably
the first real smile she’d had in a month.
They would be
partners for the year, Zach and Jade.
Jade’s finest
moment came at a time that could have been humiliating. She wasn’t a clumsy
person by nature, but as she set her vial in the refrigerator, another team’s
vial fell. She picked up that vial and set it down, only to have two more
fall.
Zach noticed and
started laughing. He said, “Here, let me try.”
Jade stepped back,
and Zach picked up one of the fallen vials. He very gently placed it on the
rack. With a superior grin and an infectious smile, he lifted his hands, “See?
It just takes a steady hand.”
He reached for the
last vial lying on its side and ever so carefully righted it.
Another vial fell
in its place. Jade giggled. She wasn’t normally a giggler, but Zach somehow
loosened the tightness in her gut that made school feel dreadful.
Chagrined but
hiding behind that teenage male macho fake confidence, Zach said, “Let me try
again.” Another vial fell.
Clapping her hand
to her mouth, Jade exploded in laughter. Zach couldn’t help himself, he did a
little dance and after a gale of laughter said, “Now, I’m really serious. This
vial will not beat me.”
As his hand
approached the vial, he was laughing so hard his hand shook. Soon he and Jade
were holding their sides with tears running down their cheeks.
“What’s going on
over there?” Ms. Hunt had given them a minute of laughter, but apparently
they’d made a spectacle of themselves.
Jade said,
“Nothing, Ms. Hunt.”
Zach said, “We’re
having trouble getting the vials to stand at attention.”
Zach reached in
once more, his eyes still gleaming with joy, and he gently placed the last
vial. This time, the vials all remained standing.
Jade wanted to say
something serious and deep to Zach, but she had no idea how to say it.
Thanks
for not being a jerk? Thanks for not making fun of me?
No. It would ruin
the moment.
They returned to
their table, and Zach quickly avoided any awkwardness by referring back to the
experiment. Jade couldn’t believe how much fun Chemistry had been. It would
have been perfect, but as they were leaving class, Danika said to no one in
particular, “I heard that Jade’s father died under mysterious circumstances.
Stabbed and burned alive. Maybe her family is mafia or something,”
Zach heard and
turned to look at Jade. He was puzzled, as if trying to figure her out.
Jade buried her
bitter anger and walked quickly to her locker.
~~ Raven ~~
Raven looked hot
in her leopard print dress with black leather boots. Her makeup was light,
eyeliner and lip gloss, but it was all she needed. If only she didn’t have
that scar along the top edge of her cheek, she would be a top ten.
At lunch Raven
hung with her usual friends. Of the group Shelly was her best friend. It was
painful to watch her sister grab her food and go outside. Last year Raven
stared at her napkin the few times her sister looked desperately in her
direction during lunch time. This was the first day this year that Raven had
really seen Jade in the lunch room since school started. Pushing up from the
table, she said, “I’ll be right back.”
She caught Jade at
the end of the line, “Hey, come sit with me.”
“Are you sure?”
Jade felt like a leper. Her sister wasn’t the most popular kid in school, but
she certainly wasn’t unpopular either. Shelly was a bit of a stoner, but they
had a mix of smart kids and jocks in their group, all in Raven’s class, of
course. Raven was much more popular than Jade.
Raven shrugged,
“We’re sisters.”
Jade wondered if
the Universe had tilted on its axis. She was actually having a semi-decent
day, if you discounted Danika’s regularly-scheduled nastiness. She followed
Raven to the table. There was no need for introductions. In a small school,
they all knew each other, even if they didn’t speak on an every-day basis.
There was an empty
seat next to Jade. She was even more surprised when Zach brought his tray to
her table and asked, “Do you mind if I sit here?”
Raven waved a
hand, “Be our guest.”
Jade didn’t even
manage a squeak. Raven wondered that her sister ever survived as long as she
had. She was such a straight-laced prude and much too shy for her own good.
She couldn’t wait to grill Jade on the hottie when they got home.
Zach was clearly
interested in Jade…and Raven would bet a hundred dollars that Jade was
completely oblivious.
Shelly got to
talking about a cool out-of-town party on Saturday. Raven seriously wanted to
tell her to shut up until class. Raven shared a room with Jade. Sneaking out
was hard enough when Jade wasn’t expecting it.
“Did you hear
about the couple they found murdered in Port Siena?” Shelly leaned forward, her
voice a loud whisper designed to carry to the ends of the table while yet
invoking mystery.
Zach looked
decidedly uncomfortable.
Jade couldn’t
remember hearing anything about it. Of course, she had no time for the news.
Mike answered, “The
rumor is the couple were husks, like something had cleaned them out from the
inside.”
Shelly waved her
arms for dramatic effect, “Husks. I heard it was wild animals. They were
half-eaten, bitten all over, completely ravaged.”
Raven nudged Jade,
her eyebrows raised. After their last brush with the supernatural, she was more
than interested in what might have killed the family.
Jade shrugged.
Raven sighed. She
thought Jade would have heard something from Aunt Bertha. She had been relying
more and more on Jade lately. Raven figured Aunt Bertha knew everything
supernatural that happened on the west coast. She surely would have heard
about that. Raven couldn’t wait to get home and ask what was going on. Not
that she wanted to go on a monster-hunt, but she
did
want to know what
was lurking two towns over.
Thank goodness
Aunt Bertha was a deep sleeper these days. Since the summer she hadn’t been
sitting in her chair once when Raven attempted to sneak out. Raven would
definitely sneak out for the party on Saturday night.
~~ Bertha ~~
Bertha thanked the
doctor and picked up her cane. Her back was on fire, but now it had a name.
There was a finality to the moment. Bertha would never see this doctor again.
The first in a string of lasts.
“Thank you,”
Bertha hobbled out of the office, thinking how odd it was for her to thank the
doctor for her death. Metastasize. What a horrible word.
The weight of the
diagnosis fell on Bertha like a giant stone. She didn’t have the strength for a
prolonged fight anyway. At eighty years old, she was past chemotherapy. The
cure would kill her as fast as the disease.
As she reached for
the car door, she dropped her cane. Bertha felt frozen. She didn’t think she
had the strength to bend down and pick it up. She had been great at ignoring
twinges. With her sister’s death and niece’s disappearance, it was no wonder she
pulled a muscle in her back…or so she thought a few months back. But that’s
not what happened.
What would she
tell the girls?
Bertha leaned
against the window of the car.
“Miss? Are you
okay?”
It was one of the
nurses, a sweet young thing, probably older than she looked. Everyone looked
like a child to Bertha, even men with gray hair. She straightened, “I seem to
have dropped my cane. Would you be a dear? I can’t bend like I used to.”
Just like that the
cane was back in her hand. Such a simple thing for a stranger. The woman
helped fit her keys in the door, “Are you sure you don’t want me to call
someone?”
Bertha thought of
Jade. If she called, Jade would wonder what she was doing in front of St.
Luke’s Center of Oncology. “I’m fine. Just dropped my cane.”
As Bertha buckled
her seatbelt, she wondered just how long it would take. The doctor said six
months. That was, Bertha supposed, a reasonable guess. The body did what the
body would do. Maybe she had a lot of fight in her. Maybe she could drag it
out a decade, go into remission, or maybe…
Who was she
kidding? Her hair was white. Her skin had turned into parchment over the
years. She had gotten old. She would die of something sooner than later.
She had to tell
the girls.
Bertha drove the
sixty miles home. The nearest hospice was sixty miles from the little town of
Wildwood Springs as well. Picking up the prescription in town at the small
store that housed the pharmacy, Bertha was glad for the laws that prevented
talk. In a town like Wildwood Springs everyone was into everyone else’s
business.