Elemental Darkness (Paranormal Public Series) (17 page)

In the front of our little line Lough stumbled, and I felt Sip go down with him. If I wanted to stay connected to my friends I had no choice but to go down as well.

What I saw when I was a little below the worst of the wind-driven, icy rain staggered me.

The demons were in swarming formations, intense clusters of black that moved around like beehives. Some were definitely hybrids, no longer just demons, but something more awful and more deadly. The people on this deck, mostly senior paranormals, were clinging to the railings for dear life. As I watched, at least two lost their grip and slipped away. The water below was choppy with white caps. It seemed to me that the demons shouldn’t be winning; there just weren’t that many of them. But they were. What was going on?

“It’s magicked,” Sip yelled. “They put magic in the wind. We can’t fight and we can’t run.”

Indeed, a quick glance at the sails showed that we were barely moving. The wind was whipping around us, but it was more of a weapon than anything natural. I saw Dacer and Risper, Zervos and Oliva. I saw Saferous and several others. Caid was nowhere to be seen. Neither w
as Gussy.

“W
hat do we do?” Rake had crawled over to us, his pale skin covered in a sheen of sweat mixed with rainwater. “I’m better when I can get my hands on one of those demons.” He made a strangling motion with his massive hands.

“Can you fly or float at all?”

Rake shook his head. “Not in this wind. You’d think we’d be able to run.”

“Look!” Sip pointed. “That’s where the magic’s coming from.” Through the sheets of rain I saw another ship. It looked black and tattered, as if the wood was barely holding together.

“So, they don’t like the sea, huh?” I yelled over the noise. “Why aren’t the water spirits helping? Why didn’t they warn us?”

“They’re probably under attack too,” said Rake, his eyes on the ship. “By the paranormals, I’d like for that thing to get closer.”

Sip shook her head. “No way. If they get closer we’re done for.”

“But as it is right now, you can’t fight,” Lough yelled. “You’re a werewolf. Don’t you want to sink your teeth into something?”

“All I’ve wanted to do for weeks is fight,” Sip growled. Her eyes were scanning the clusters of demons, and now I could see that their movement in formation was smart, smarter than anything I had seen from them in any of our other battles. I wished Lisabelle were there. She would know immediately what was happening and what to do about it.

“They’re protecting the ship,” said Lough, pointing to how the clusters would attack and then dive backward.

“I don’t see why,” I said. “It’s not like any of our senior paranormals can reach that far anyway.”

“They could,” said Sip, her voice nearly taken away by the wind, “if they weren’t busy keeping us from sinking.”

I felt water trickling down my cheeks and nose and rubbed it away, trying to get a clear view.

“I have to talk to Dacer,” I yelled. Rake shook his head. “He’s another vampire. There’s not much he can do.”

“There might be,” I said. Vampires had magic that mostly dealt with darkness and sleep, and I was frantically trying to think how we might put it to good use in this situation.

“Queen Lanca?” Lanca hadn’t been at the dinner the night before; she and Vital had gone back to assist in the siege at Vampire Locke. But I remembered her calling to the power of the Blood Throne when she was under attack at her coronation, and I wondered if there was anything similar that the vampires could do here.

Before I could even ask the question, though, I saw Saferous stand up. He was a fallen angel, so he could fly, and given his age and standing he was surely very powerful.

“There’s no way I could stand up in the wind like that,” said Lough, shocked.

As we watched, Saferous launched himself into the air. Followed by several other senior paranormals, he shot like an arrow right at the nearest cluster of hybrids. They must not have been expecting any of the paranormals to do something like that, because they instantly scattered. All around the deck I heard pockets of applause, quickly followed by silence. Any paranormal who let go of the railing for longer than a moment was sure to go over the edge and into the water.

“Let’s get closer to Dacer,” I said. Sip nodded, and the four of us, Rake now bringing up the rear, made our way over to the Museum of Masks curator.

It was slow going. Dacer wasn’t very far away, but in this storm it felt like miles. Lough led the charge, trying to block most of the wind from striking us. Every time Saferous and those helping him attacked another group of demons there was a smattering of applause, barely audible above the noise of the storm.

“How long do you think they can keep that up?” Sip asked from in front of me, sounding breathless.

“Not long,” I said grimly. I knew that the black ship, still trailing us but getting slightly closer by the minute, was eventually going to strike back at the senior paranormals who were trying to defend us. I had a bad feeling about what would happen to the paranormals when it did.

“I still don’t understand how they found us,” Rake muttered, just as we reached Dacer. My mentor glanced at us and nodded.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” he yelled.

“You don’t say,” said Sip, without a trace of humor. Dacer made a face.

“We can’t stop them,” he said. “This has been going on for an hour and the ship just keeps getting closer.”

“Do you think Malle’s on that ship?” I asked, worried for Keller.

But Dacer shook his head. “I don’t think we would recognize any of the paranormals on that ship. Malle finished her obvious attacks at Queen Lanca’s coronation. She’s now working from behind the scenes to destroy us, letting other people do the hands-on dirty work.”

“And Caid’s letting her,” I said bitterly. Dacer looked sad, but he didn’t argue with me.

“We have to stop the ship,” said Sip. “At least get away from it.”

“We’ve been trying,” said Dacer breathlessly. “Every time we create any separation the wind pushes us back against them. We can’t do anything unless they stop controlling the wind.”

“I can help with that,” I said. “I am an elemental mage, after all.”

Dacer vigorously shook his head. “Out of the question. It’s far too dangerous for you.”

I glared at him. “When are you people going to stop using that as an excuse and accept that I’ve been in danger my whole life? And not only in danger, but in danger because of who my father was, which you can’t even be bothered to know!”

It was the first time Dacer had ever actually looked hurt by my words, but he held firm. “I will not watch you risk your life,” he said. Then, leaning closer and speaking so that only I could hear, he added, “Especially after what happened at dinner last night.”

“If you don’t let me risk my life now, pretty soon none of us will have lives left,” I said, trying to make Dacer understand.

We were interrupted by a series of cries, quickly followed by a ripping sound. We all looked to the sky and saw, hurtling toward us, something that looked a lot like the black power Nick and Nicole had attacked me with. It was a massive black fireball, and it was heading right for us.

My mind went blank with terror and my magic did the work for me. I didn’t even have time to think, and if Rake hadn’t been hanging onto my upper arm I surely would have tilted over the side of the ship.

I felt the ship rock precariously as other paranormals scrambled to defend us.

“It’s gaining speed,” Lough cried frantically, as our defenses tried and failed to stop the ball of fire hurtling at us.

I closed my eyes and sank deep into my magic. I forgot about Caid’s accusations and plans for Lisabelle, I forgot how excited I was to return to Public and how much I missed Ricky. I even forgot that Rake was desperately hanging onto me, and that without his strong hands clutching me I would surely slip overboard.

I slammed my magic through all the resistance outside me, forcing it outward in every direction. I demanded the wind’s attention and filled it with lightning. I took a breath and breathed as the wind. I pushed the ocean back. No, I ordered it back, mine to command. I felt its pain at its fiery shackles and encouraged it to break free. All around us was wind that wasn’t controlled by the Nocturns, and that wind I swept toward us, through us, clearing the air, tossing out the Nocturns’ spells like I would toss an empty milk carton into the trash.

I was so lost in my magic that I barely noticed that the rain wasn’t pounding so hard on my face and the screams of my fellow paranormals had died down.

“Can you direct some of that wind to the sails?”

Dacer’s voice broke into the magical trance I had entered, and I tried to do what he asked. I searched for the sails with my eyes still closed and found them easily enough, because the wind was pushing against them, still using the sails to drive us closer to the black ship.

With one massive push I used the wind to direct us away. I didn’t care where we went, so long as we got no closer to the Nocturns. High overhead, I heard cheering. When I opened my eyes and looked up I saw that Saferous and the other paranormals had stopped fighting the demons, because the demons were scurrying back to their masters. I had used the wind to knock them off course, disrupting their battle, but I had avoided doing anything to interfere with the paranormals.

I didn’t acknowledge the cheering. I was too angry.

“That’s enough,” Dacer called, his voice filled with just a touch of wonder.

I took a deep breath and gently let the winds go. Now that I had released them from the darkness magic, they freely flowed into their normal patterns. I nudged them just a bit to get them to carry us in the direction where Dacer wanted us to go.

“We must hurry and get to Public,” Dacer said. “We will be safer there.”

“That’s funny,” said Sip tiredly. “I thought we were safer here.”

I had thought we’d get yelled at, or Caid would come out and make a speech, but neither of those things happened. All the paranormals were too shocked. Saferous landed on the deck and clapped me once on the shoulder, then wearily followed his companions inside. Dacer and I continued to sit on the deck with Sip, Lough, and Rake, watching the sky clear and the clouds form. The wind had propelled us far out of the black ship’s reach. To Sip’s glee, it just couldn’t keep up with us.

“Take that, you nasty Nocturns,” she yelled, jumping to her feet.

Despite the battle there was still a hum of activity around us. I would have been happy to simply sit there and stare around in shock, but other paranormals were rushing around busily.

Soon Dacer excused himself, muttering something about talking to Caid. We spent a brief time talking to the Quests, and I met the rest of Sip’s brothers. They all told me not to worry and assured me that they were on my side.

But the problem, as I saw it, was that there were sides at all.

“We should get our sleeping bags ro
lled up,” said Sip, when the crier up above finally gave notice of land. “We don’t want to be stuck on this thing while everyone else is headed to Public.”

We made our way down to the galley, and as we went I quietly asked Sip, “Who do you think was on that ship?”

“Honestly,” said Sip quietly, “I don’t think it was anyone important. Like, not the premier or anything. I have a feeling these groups of demons are just going around and attacking paranormals. It’s not very elegant, and Malle definitely likes elegant, so it doesn’t seem like she would have been the one in charge.”

“That’s probably why they want all the objects on the Wheel,” said Lough thoughtfully. “If they get them, they’ll have a better handle on controlling the demons, and all the rest of darkness for that matter.”

“While simultaneously destroying any chance we have to fight back,” I said.

“That’s not true,” said Sip, turning to look at me. “You were brilliant today. We still have you.” I gave a small smile, but I didn’t feel very good about it.

Before we could reach the galley, Risper intercepted us. He was standing in a corner, off to the side, as if trying to blend with the wall. He motioned to me and I nodded.

“We’ll pack up your stuff and make sure it gets off the ship,” said Lough. I thanked him and hurried over to the former Public committee member.

Without a word I followed Risper down, lower and lower, until we were in the very belly of the ship.

“I didn’t think there were rooms down here,” I said in surprise.

Risper chuckled a little. “I appropriated a space from a very flustered captain. He wasn’t about to argue with me,” he said.

“Yes, sir,” I said.

I felt strange seeing Risper. The last time I’d seen him I’d been about to expose him as the renowned thief Elam, who possessed the Map Silver and was after the Mirror Arcane. He had gotten away before I’d done that, and he hadn’t returned to Public. As far as we knew, he had been spending his time since then looking for the last object on the wheel, the Globe White.

Which we still didn’t know the location of.

“You are becoming quite the little fighter,” Risper said as we walked. He wasn’t being ironic, he clearly meant it.

“Thank you,” I whispered, blushing slightly at the compliment.

After a short silence during which we entered one of the engine rooms, he said, “Here it is.” The room was spotless, but it was also dark and small, not a place where I would want to sleep. But Risper seemed at home.

“There’s a trap door,” he explained, pointing. “Well, I created it from magic so that if I should be trapped in here, I can always get away.”

“You mean if they figure out who you really are?” I asked.

Risper looked at me sharply. “Who I am is a darkness mage, a bounty hunter, a brother, and an uncle.”

I sighed. “Right. I miss Lisabelle.”

His eyes softened and he nodded sympathetically. “I do too. I came as soon as I heard.” He looked more tired than I remembered him, and there were more lines around his eyes.

“You’ve been here all summer, then!” I cried, angry that I had missed so many chances to speak with him.

“I traveled back,” he said shortly. “It took nearly a month and would have taken longer if I hadn’t already been planning my return.”

All else was forgotten when the weight of his words sank in. “You know where the Globe White is?” I asked eagerly.

Risper, who had busied himself packing up his own things, started to pace.

“Yes, Charlotte, I do, but it’s worse than I thought.”

“How could it possibly be worse than we thought?” I demanded. “We can’t even get back to Public without being attacked.”

“I’ll know more in a week or so,” said Risper. “I’m going to try and get it myself.”

The way he said it made me think it was incredibly dangerous, but he looked relaxed despite the risk to his life. Lisabelle often projected much the same look of deep calm.

“What if you need help?” I asked. “Please let us help you.”

Risper shook his head. “I have another task for you. It’s a key to unlocking your family’s past.”

This silenced me. Sigil, the ghost who lived in the Astra library, had done what he could to help me learn about elementals, but whoever my family had been, the information seemed irretrievable, even by Sigil. He had found Grace Lancing in the records, but it hadn’t helped; the trail was cold.

“You mean, to find out who my father is?” I asked quietly. “That would be glorious.”

Risper paused in his pacing to nod. “Yes, to find out who your father is. He was elemental. There weren’t many of them. I mean, hundreds, but really, that’s not many when most can be accounted for. Somehow, what happened to your parents and what happened to Grecko Malle are linked. That’s the other connection I’ve been exploring.”

Grecko Malle was Cynthia Malle’s brother. He and their parents had been tortured and killed by a rogue band of pixies, and many people believed that her family’s death was what had put Cynthia Malle over the edge and tipped her to the side of darkness.

“You’re lucky to be friends with a werewolf as smart and talented as Ms. Quest,” said Risper. “She has unlimited access to the archives, into which I do believe you have never been allowed?”

“I barely knew they existed,” I said softly.

Risper nodded, as if this confirmed something for him. “Of course not,” he said. “Malle was president there, and now, after her there’s Oliva, who’s a pixie.”

“Wait,” I said, trying to take in what he was implying. “You think that Oliva is working with the Nocturns?”

“I honestly don’t know,” said Risper, “but I doubt it. I just mean that we paranormals tend to protect our own. He wouldn’t want you snooping in the archives any more than Malle would.”

“Do you think the same band of pixies that killed Grecko Malle also killed my parents?”

“Grecko died well before your parents,” said Risper, “and it is assumed that your father died before your mother.”

“Assumed?” I asked incredulously.

“You believe that your mother was killed by elementals, correct?” Risper raised an eyebrow at me.

“How did you know that?” I gasped.

Risper waved his hand. “Charlotte,” he said, clearly trying to be patient, “it is clear that whatever we thought we knew about the elementals and their relationship to darkness was false. Therefore, everything is open to question.”

I mulled that over. It was true that when I had first arrived at Public, I had just assumed that my mother had been killed by demons. When I had discovered that it wasn’t demons at all who had killed her, but elementals, who should have protected her, everything I thought I knew and everything I thought I wanted, like a relationship with my history, had been thrown into question.

“There are only three motivations anyone would have had for killing your mother,” said Risper quietly.

I looked desperately at the bounty hunter and thought about how much I trusted him. I trusted him almost as much as I trusted Lisabelle.

“What are they?” My voice was barely above a whisper. I’d no idea Risper would want to talk about this.

Risper ticked them off on his fingers. “There’s your brother Ricky. Maybe because he’s a dream giver or maybe because he’s an elemental, but someone wanted him exposed and without protection. Then there’s you,” he continued, pacing once more. “Maybe so that exactly what happened could happen - you, confused and isolated.”

“You mean that first night when the hellhound was stalking me?” I asked.

Risper nodded. “Anything like that. As I said, we do not know what really happened.”

“What’s the last reason?” I barely dared to ask.

“The last reason,” said Risper, “is the key to it all.”

He turned to face me. His eyes were hard and I suddenly realized I knew what was coming.

“The last reason was your father,” he said. “Did your father love your mother? Did he not? He must have once upon a time. But what happened later? It’s easy to assume that he was dead when your mother married your stepfather, but what if he wasn’t? What if your mother was attacked to try and draw out your father? What happened there? Who was he loyal to? I’d posit that above all he was loyal to your mother.”

I was staring desperately at the man standing before me. My father still alive when my mother died? How could he have left her alone like that? What about Ricky and me?

I sat down on an old crate and put my head in my hands. Risper gave me a minute while he rifled through a stack of papers. When I looked up he paused and raised an eyebrow at me.

“You can do this, Charlotte,” he said. “All the answers you want are there. They have to be. Look in the archive. I’ll go after the Globe White.”

I nodded, feeling numb. “Alright,” I said finally. So much was happening that I couldn’t seem to absorb it all at once.

He nodded approvingly. “Now,” he said, coming to sit on his own rickety box, “tell me about Lisabelle.”

In the end I spared no details in telling him about Golden Falls. I started with the battle we fought at the end, after the Happiness Enforcement Officers had come to take Lisabelle away, but he wanted to hear what had led up to that moment. He wanted to hear about the entire semester, in fact, including the hybrids. So I told him.

When we reached the final battle, Risper looked angry. His hot temper was in stark contrast to the placid calm I always saw from Dacer.

“Luc should have done more than send his mother,” said Risper angrily. But then, after a moment’s reflection, he smiled. “Although the Unforgiver. . . .” He shook his head, appreciating something I didn’t know about.

“She helped,” I said quickly. “Lisabelle was able to make sure I got back to Public safely.”

“But at that point it was already too late,” said Risper. “It was too late by the time the Officers came for both of them. Lisabelle could fight her way out - magic is more malleable than werewolf abilities - but Sipythia would be at the mercy of her captors.”

I nodded. “Are you going. . . .”

Risper help up his hand and cocked his head, listening. “I do believe we’ve arrived at our destination. Come on,” he said, standing. “Enough questions for today.”

“I don’t want you to leave again,” I blurted out, surprising myself as much as I’d just surprised Risper. He was a Public professor, after all. What I wanted should be irrelevant to him.

“It cannot be helped,” said Risper kindly. “If it makes you feel any better, Luc is a far better mage than I am.”

“But he’s a vampire,” I said incredulously.

“Yes,” said Risper, “he is. But his father wasn’t. I wouldn’t ask him about it, though; it’s a touchy subject. But Luc has powers beyond what most of us dream of. It is only by happenstance that he enjoys channeling them into masks. And speaking of masks,” he continued, as though he was
remembering one last thing he wanted to speak to me about, “do you still have Alixar?” How he even knew I ever had it was beyond me.

Dacer had given me a mask at the end of the previous summer, when we had failed so miserably to find the Globe White.

“Of course,” I said. “It’s at Astra.”

Risper nodded. “Good,” he said. “I would keep it handy if I were you.”

I had no idea what that meant, but I promised to do what he suggested.

“Public is going to be different this year, isn’t it?” I asked softly, thinking of the accusations Caid had thrown out with so much confidence the night before.

“Yes,” said Risper, “it is, and it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Let us just hope that the demons do not already possess the Globe White.”

“Even if they do,” I said, “what about the Mirror Arcane?”

Risper glanced back at me, anger sparking in his eyes. He looked just like his niece now. “What indeed?” he asked softly. “What indeed.”

We joined the streaming mass of students heading off the ship. We were next to a stretch of woodland that I recognized, and with that I knew that we weren’t far from Public.