Read Awaken the Elements (Elemental Trilogy) Online
Authors: Ellie Potts
Awaken the Elements (Elemental Trilogy) (44 page)
“Well, let’s get this over with,” Collin said.
“Yeah, Nathan doesn’t like us late,” Patrick agreed.
The energy had seemed to surround her. Leslie knew her eyes had gone a dark gray almost black because the two men each stepped back when they noticed. Her skin vibrated with the energy coming from the hall. Then, calm came over her, a new power, Nathan’s power. A fatherly hand smoothing all his bears' anxiety and fears, it touched her like a sensual caress sliding over her naked skin. She shivered, closing her eyes. She didn’t know why she seemed so in tune with the bears, or why Nathan had such an impact on her.
“Leslie?” Patrick asked.
She breathed in and out, controlling herself, and finally opened her eyes. “I’m okay,” she finally whispered, her voice a bit strained.
“You sure?”
“You looked a little scary there for a moment,” Collin said.
“I bet,” she said, letting out a shaky laugh. “Let’s get in there.”
Patrick took lead, since he was the bear, Leslie followed with Collin at her back. Collin never fit in. He was half wolf. And so the bears hated that, but they didn’t fully understand he hated both sides. He hated his vampire and wolf side as much as they hated that he was half wolf.
All the Bears stopped talking as the three Supervisors walked in. The anger in the air almost choked Leslie, making her stumble over her own feet. “I knew this was going to happen,” Collin whispered from behind into her ear with a firm hand on her back.
“Me too,” she whispered back.
“It’s not just you two,” Patrick murmured as he eyed the crowd. “They’ve been angry since I decided to work for the Supervisors.”
Leslie heard them murmuring, she heard the words witch, wolves, and witch again, repeating through the crowd. Nathan walked over, and she had to avert her eyes. He stood six foot two and did construction for a living, so his shoulders, arms and back made him look like a wrestler. Not in a gross, muscle bulging way, but in a wide, evenly proportioned way that made her heart skip beats. She had seen him with his shirt off once, and it nearly gave her a stroke. Patrick’s twin brother only in looks, Nathan let his brownish blond hair grow out so that it touched his shoulders when he did not have it in a ponytail. She liked the slight curl it had. She used this time to wrap her aura around her. Every person in the building had good scent, and she didn’t want them all to know that she got aroused whenever she got close to him.
“Sorry about all the hostility, Leslie,” he said making her give him a puzzled look. “Richard was seen talking to Carlotta.”
Patrick and Collin both made a small noise. Leslie grimaced. “Why are they angry with me then? I don’t work for the wolves or have anything to do with Carlotta.”
“If the wolves are recruiting blood witches, they will tip the power scale, and it will be war.”
“I’m a Supervisor. I’m trying to prevent any wars from breaking out.”
“But you weren’t always a supervisor,” he said his green eyes watching her. She loved his eyes they weren’t your normal green eyes, no; the green seemed to be a mixture of living green with a goldish tinge.
She was always reminded of how stupid she had been when she came to her powers. No one had been there to teach her what she was, and when Rich had showed up telling her what was going on and explaining to her about the Opposite side of the normal world, she had clung to him until he used her.
“I was naïve,” she said. It was always the response she fell to.
“You still are.” Their gazes met, and his green eyes burned into hers.
“Nathan, please don’t,” Patrick said, seeing Leslie’s eyes go dark. “She’s already been through enough today.”
He nodded. “The burns?” He reached out and ran a gentle finger along her jaw line. Wereanimals were okay with touching each other, but just the small movement made her want more. Her skin tingled.
She sighed, nodding, hoping the red had faded enough. It didn’t hurt after the salve Fred had applied on her skin had sunk in and dried. “Troll blood.”
He shook his head. “Messy, I take it?”
“You have no idea,” Collin replied.
“Can you ward the doors?” Nathan asked, looking at his watch. “We gotta get this started.”
She went to the door they had walked into and placed her hand on it saying something under her breath, her power building. The power hit the door with a small creak, and the ward stuck like glue. She noticed the bears had fallen quiet as she worked on the side door, watching her. She only used a small amount of power, but they had felt it. It called to them, blood. Her eyes went to Nathan who had stopped on the stairs of the stage to look at her. His eyes burned with curiosity, and she wondered if she looked the same way when she felt his power. She turned away before he could see her face flush.
She motioned to Patrick; he shook his head, frowning, and nodded to his brother. Collin followed her to the back. They went into the back room, an unused kitchen. This meeting was for bears only, and if they wanted her and Collin to take part, they would have asked.
Leslie hopped onto the counter, her feet swinging lightly, heels banging against the bottom cupboards. Collin slid himself next to her. “I don’t think I would enjoy being with a bear, especially in bed. Too macho, I heard.”
“Who told you that?”
“Patrick.”
Leslie laughed. “Well duh, he prefers men, silly.”
“I think the women would be the same. Look at Patrick’s mom,” he said.
“Well she’s used to being a leader, since she married a leader.” Of course, she didn’t know one of her sons was gay. Leslie assumed it was something she wouldn’t understand, and be deeply ashamed of. Weres had one goal, family. You were raised to have your own family so you could keep the bloodline going. So Patrick’s secret was only shared with few people, a group which pretty much included her and Collin. Even Nathan didn’t know, and Patrick liked to keep it that way.
“What about you; care for a Bear?” He eyed her as he asked. He and Patrick noticed how she acted around Nathan they just never said anything out loud.
She shook her head. “It’s his power. It seems to call to me, its enticing. I don’t know what it really is, but it’s got something to do with my own magic. It’s different then the other’s blood magic. They all taste of death, but I have some kind of life in mine. I know Fred noticed, and for some reason it’s very attracted to the bear’s power. What I think I need is just a normal human. I think some normalcy would be nice although my luck sucks.”
He stared at her with his light blue eyes. “You can’t date a Normal.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “And why not?”
“How would you explain your job?”
“Night security,” she replied easily.
“And all the bumps and bruises?”
“Crackheads?” She frowned.
“Is that what you tell your mom?”
“Yes, to a point. I can’t just tell her I’m a special police officer. Too many questions. She is still wondering why I gave up on the job at the college, and why I insisted on moving out. Of course, she doesn’t believe that I decided to move out because it seemed time. Then of course, shacking up with two guys doesn’t help. Whenever I call, she thinks it’s the call that will be me asking to move back in.”
Their phones all beeped with a text message. Before they checked, they knew it was a nine-one-one. Patrick was already walking in the room as Collin called headquarters. They exchanged a look before looking at Collin, watching him as he closed his cell phone.
“Remember that murder we had that looked sort of ritualistic last week?”
Leslie’s stomach knotted as she thought of the scene. “That was bad.”
“Well it looks like we have another. Simms and his team noticed it looked like ours so we get the privilege of working it.”
“Joy. The meeting is boring as hell, so I have no problem leaving,” Patrick said as they headed for the back door.
“Did he just say joy?” Collin asked.
“Is Nathan going to be mad?” she asked.
“Na, business is business. He is doing what he can to save the family his way, being leader, and I’m doing the best I can do for the family by being a Supervisor. They will get over it one day. Anyway, what is wrong with me saying joy?”
“It’s something so unmanly and more something Leslie would say.”
She just shrugged as Patrick beeped open the locks, and they all got in. “I’m very manly,” Patrick said, looking at Collin with darkened eyes.
“Collin, stop or he’s going to be pouting all night,” Leslie said with a smile.