Furious Flames (Elemental Book 3) (30 page)

He studied it and shrugged. “It’s a reminder.” With
that ominous non-answer, he walked out.

*          *          *

I received so many visitors over the next week that I
thought Hunt was going to install a revolving door. He insisted I stay in the
office so that I didn’t have to go up or down stairs. Darwin and Henry only
left to go to class, during which time Vincent, Hunt, Remy, or Dr. Martin
stayed with me. After classes let out each day, I was visited by teachers, some
I didn’t even know, and too many students to count. Darwin even had to direct
traffic sometimes and make people wait outside for their turn. I didn’t even
have time to talk to Henry.

Vincent explained at one point that while we were
fighting, Hunt was attacked by Len, he was attacked by Kristen, and Langril was
attacked by Conner. Their bodies were found and returned to their families
after I was stable.

Caleb and Nathan were still recovering, but it looked
like they were going to make it after all. Mack, Dan, and Jackson were cleared
to return to class. Mack and Dan visited me every few days, but I was surprised
when Jackson dropped by to sheepishly thank me.

I even got a visit from Flagstone, who had returned,
but still refused to be the deputy headmaster. Officially, he had faked the
argument in order to leave and spy on the council. He couldn’t tell everyone the
truth; that he left because Vincent had a vision of him killing Hunt.

According to Darwin, he brought Nightshade back to
Hunt while Remy was in her father’s office going over medical stuff with
Darwin. Remy hadn’t known that Flagstone’s argument wasn’t sincere and that he
wasn’t really gone for good. When he appeared, she immediately punched him,
kissed him, and then smacked him.

Since I had absolutely no time to myself, I quickly
became fed up. I was polite as I could be until Amelia left. “You have no more
fans waiting out there for the moment,” Darwin said when he closed the door
behind her.

“I’m willing to go on a killing spree if it’ll get
everyone to leave me alone.”

“They’re thankful that you saved their lives.”

“They just want to thank me before I drop off.”

“Don’t start talking like an old man. You’re too
stubborn to let something like a weak heart kill you. I bet you’ll outlive us
all at this rate. One of these days, we’re going to have to make it an entire
semester without any deaths.”

Nightshade opened the door and stuck her head in.
Darwin groaned. “What?” she asked him.

“You always deliver bad news,” I explained.

“Oh, yes. Not this time. Henry, you’re in the clear.
The council found your parents alive and vacationing in Thailand.”

As soon as she left, Henry shifted and Darwin handed
him clothes. “Welcome back. Do you remember how to speak English?”

“How was being in your cat form supposed to protect
you from the council?” I asked.

“Have you ever tried arresting a jaguar?”

Yeah, right
. I figured he was just using it as
an excuse not to talk about what happened. Most likely, he was afraid he really
had killed his parents under the full moon and would never find out where his
son was. “You didn’t kill Zoe.”

“I asked you to stay out of my head. I know I killed
her.”

“You didn’t kill her or the family in England. Your
parents drugged you and you attacked your parents both times. You tried to
defend that family and your wife.”

There was as much hope as there was doubt in his
eyes. “You saw it?”

“Yes. Luana and Matheus Lycosa aren’t even your parents.
Your mother… I don’t really know what happened to her, but she wasn’t from
Earth.” I explained everything that happened with this sketchbook and
everything I learned about the tower from Vincent’s book.

“Langril said Krechea can hear us. What if he goes
after Henry’s son?” Darwin asked.

“We’ll have to find him and protect him.”

“What if you’re wrong?” Henry said.

“You’re not going to kill Scott. Your jaguar isn’t
out of control at all. He attacks Holli because she isn’t Zoe. He fights you
because you fight him.”

“Is that why you were all beat up the first day?”
Darwin asked Henry. “Did you find out something and confront your parents?”

“Henry didn’t attack his parents,” I said. They both
looked at me. “Your place had been broken into, all your stuff was destroyed,
and your blood was on the floor. Someone was angry. My first thought was Holli
attacked you, but if she’s as much like Regina as you say, then she sees what’s
yours as hers.”

“Holli still believes I will obey my parents and
marry her. I take it you have an idea who was angry enough to destroy my home?”

“Not the who, but the why. Who have you stolen from
recently?” I asked. He frowned. “Who did you steal from who would have the
resources to track you down and send goons or whatnot? The headaches and
missing memories are consistent with a really good hit to the head.”

“You could have been shot in the head,” Darwin said.
“If something doesn’t kill a shifter immediately, they will heal, as long as it
isn’t with silver. And a human wouldn’t know to shoot you with silver. Maybe
your parents never knew you were injured.”

“No, it’s more likely that they found me, thought I
was dead, assumed they were the next to be hit, and ran away. If I was
unconscious long enough, Holli probably found me, then saw my parents missing
and assumed I killed them.”

“Then why would she lie to the council?”

“Because if I was found guilty, she wouldn’t want to
get caught up in it, so she would have turned me in just in case. Plus, she
probably thought she could get my money when I was arrested.”

“Did she? Because we can legally nail her to the wall
if so for aiding and bedding, right?” Darwin asked me.

“Aiding and abetting,” I corrected. “And we couldn’t
exactly turn it over to the cops. If she did, we could argue that she helped
Henry’s attacker get away for money, but I doubt the council will care.”

“She did not get my money. I have much less than she
believes, since I must give most of it to my parents. But why did I remember
fighting my parents if someone else attacked me?”

“For the same reason I remembered Ceyax’s tests;
using the powerful amulet brought up old memories. You were remembering when
your parents drugged you and you were trying to defend your family.”

“Speaking of…” Darwin began. “Doesn’t that mean your
vision of Gale killing Astrid with the amulet was wrong?”

“No, actually, I think it already came true.” They
both frowned. Purposefully making them wait, I sat up in the bed, stood up, and
sat down on the couch. I was tired of everyone trying to keep me in bed. “The
vision wasn’t meant to be taken literally. I think it was a warning that Gale
would get the amulet back and it had to do with Astrid, not that Gale would
actually kill Astrid.”

“But if they are not literal, how can we trust them?”
Henry asked.

“Instinct.”

*          *          *

“I’m sorry I said you weren’t important,” Darwin
said.

I had enough sense not to reveal that I was awake. I
couldn’t exactly ask them not to talk their issues out around me when they were
trying to monitor me for sudden cardiac failure.

“You don’t have to explain,” Henry said.

“No, I do. There was absolutely no basis for me to
say that. I don’t know why I acted like that. That wasn’t some repressed
thought. I was truly not myself.”

“I know. Every species has a biological advantage; a
way to survive. Humans lack fangs, claws, venom, speed, and other predatory
attributes. Their skill is their mental capacity. Shifters are dangerous to
humanity because we have both our predatory attributes and the mental skills of
humans. In order to prevent us from overthrowing humans, nature gave us the
same weaknesses of our beasts as well as a weakness to silver.”

“Actually, the effects of silver on vampires and
shifters are due to ancient wizards trying to control other paranormals, but
never mind. Up until this point, I haven’t had any paranormal skills from my
parents.”

“Your intelligence is both a curse and a gift to you,
but from an evolutionary standpoint, it potentially puts you at the top of the
pack. If you had magic on top of that, the universe couldn’t take it. There is
a balance in magic. Wizards understand this and fae live by it, but shifters
and vampires tend to overlook it. We are magic, so we must have balance.”

“So why did I lose my mind?”

“You didn’t. You lost your humanity. That was a
combination of your wolf and your fae.”

“Then it’ll happen again if I ever touch the amulet.”

“Well, we’ll just have to make sure you never touch
the amulet again. Also, we have to start working on your shifting. Now that you
can shift, you need to be able to control your wolf.”

*          *          *

Sunday night, I returned to the dorm room despite my
roommates’ protests. I didn’t have any weird dreams or visions, which I was
glad about, except I really needed to talk to Heather. I got up Monday morning,
took my shower, and headed to breakfast without pain. Of course, the aspirin
probably helped. I also had to take a specialized healing potion once a week
for the rest of my life.

The cook frowned as I grabbed bacon, so I gave her my
grouchiest glare and put extra on my plate. When I sat down, I put the extra
bacon on Darwin’s plate. I knew moderation was the only way I would live long
enough to graduate, but I didn’t like pity.

When Darwin grabbed my coffee out of my hand and gave
it to Henry, I growled.

“You can’t have coffee for another week,” he said.

“I can have anything I damn well please.” I took
Henry’s coffee, making the jaguar sigh. I knew he was only staying out of it
because Darwin would insist on taking care of me so he didn’t have to.

“I’ll tell Remy!” Darwin threatened. I set down the
coffee, got up and walked away. “Where are you going?” he called.

“To find some baby seals to club and puppies to
kick.” The shifters all quickly got out of my way.

On the way to my first class, students stopped in the
hallway until I passed, as if they were waiting for me to collapse. Once I was
in Professor Nightshade’s class, I still got stares, but at least I could
ignore them and listen to the lesson. When it was time to go, I took my time
putting my notebook, textbook, and pen away.

“I assume you weren’t cleared to return to class?”
Nightshade asked once most of the students had left.

“I’ll be fit enough to return to dodging bullets and
jumping over car hoods by next week.”

“I knew he was a cop,” Lauren whispered to her friend
as she left.

I rolled my eyes. “I’ll be ready for fire training on
Sunday.”

“Why?” she asked.

I sighed. “I’m still a student here. If I don’t
attend classes and my elemental training, I might as well drop out now. If
sitting in class and lighting candles is going to kill me, there’s not much
point in living.”

“Thanks for the morose insight into your
I’m-not-a-fucking-cop life, but I meant that you already passed your fire
training, so you really don’t need to come on Sunday.”

“I’m sorry, but hang on. How the hell did I pass
fire?”

She rolled her eyes. “You communicated with fire
elementals. The only way you could have seen them is by understanding the
essence of fire. Asrik told me you even got a damn flaming sword.”

After last class, I headed to the library to get some
more books, where I found Brian and Becky kissing. I pretended like I didn’t
see them and headed back to my room with a smirk, because I knew they were
perfect for each other; the feminist tomboy and the boy who was afraid of
girls. Since Becky was the one who put him up to posting the letter about the
council all over the dining room, I figured he was going to learn real quick
how to stand up to women. Becky was tenacious about equal rights, so anyone she
dated was going to have to learn to stand up for what
she
believed in.

As soon as I entered the dorm, I heard screams from
the women’s showers. Hunt did make some new rules over the clubs due to the
pranks, but they were reasonable and meant to protect the students. Although
Darwin hadn’t officially made the band of pranksters into a club, I knew he
would. Halloween was coming and we would all have to watch our step.

I couldn’t help wondering what kind of excuses Darwin
would come up with to avoid shifting. I hoped between Henry and me, we would be
able to teach Darwin to accept his wolf, because I really believed Hunt was
right about it; the wolf attacked because he spent twenty-two years suppressed.
It wasn’t going to be easy.

When I opened the door to my room, I froze. “Does
this mean the engagement’s off?” I asked. Henry was sitting in his chair and
Amelia was in my chair with her face just a few inches from his and her hands
on his knees.

“It’s not like that,” Darwin said. Only then did I
realize he was sitting on his bed. “Amy is trying to break him of the moon
cycle.”

“Any luck?”

“Apparently, his heart is as stubborn as your head.”

*          *          *

Although Amelia said she didn’t make any progress,
Henry swore he felt better. At dinner, Addie sat next to him and ignored him as
usual. When Darwin asked her if she got a job as a teacher at the school, she
shook her head. “The headmaster didn’t have any teaching positions available.”

Henry’s face didn’t change, but his eyes showed
sadness as he stood up and walked away.

“You didn’t let me finish!” Addison yelled after him.

“It doesn’t matter.”

When Addie ran after him, Darwin and I followed,
worried they would fight. By the time we caught up to them, Addie had Henry
backed into the corner under the stairway. This was usually followed by a
physical fight.