Just Breathe (4 page)

“Scarlet,” the voice said. “What news have you?”

“Zoe Morgan is dead, by Gavin’s hand.”

“Interesting.”

Scarlet snorted, then bent over with giggles. “You should have
seen
the Fire rolling off him. It won’t be long before it pushes him out of Balance. Might even tip him enough to turn Fyre Elemental. The Council will have no choice but to relieve him of duty, and you’ll take your rightful place at its head.”

“Excellent. Pressure him with your Fyre minions. I eagerly await his fall from Yileen’s precious little perch. Our only remaining task is to prevent the ascension of the whale to Archelemental. Without her, the Wæters have no hope of stopping us. And without Zoe to translate, the Wæters will be forced to promote a weaker Elemental to the position—one who should be easy to dispatch, should the need arise.”

Scarlet twisted a curly red lock around her finger. “The Fyres are out in force, scouring the ocean from above for the whale. Gavin won’t be a problem. I almost turned him after I killed Serena. Zoe’s death will break him. If it hasn’t already.”

“Contact me when he gets closer. And relieve him of that bloody necklace. I need it.”

“I’ll be in touch soon.” She ended the call.

Let’s go back to bed. What’s left of it
, her imaginary lover said.

Another orgasm to round out her morning might be just the motivation she’d need to track Gavin down later.

“If you insist, darling.”

The phone vibrated in her hand. Damn it. A text from Archelemental Eidan: ‘The Equinox approaches on 23 September. I need more Fire for the tithing ceremony to Incendius. This will be our last chance to take control of the Balance until March. Let the Fyres loose in and out of the Dreaming. And get rid of that whale.’

Her Fire flared.
More
.

She tossed the phone aside with a shrill cackle. “Oh, I’ll get more. For you
and
Eidan.”

Chapter Four

“How’s Zoe?” Jack Weaver asked, chomping a little louder than necessary on an apple.

Since the accident, Gavin had flinched every time Jack mentioned her name. Zoe’s father, recently reconnected with her after a lifetime apart, had developed a healthy appetite for chewing up and spitting out anything that might threaten her.

Jack’s aura pulsed deep blue-green—guarded, suspicious. Not surprising. He had every reason not to trust Gavin after he had accidentally murdered Jack’s daughter.

“She’s on her way back to Hervey Bay.” Another wave of guilt crashed the bow of Gavin’s sinking heart. He folded his frame into a chair. He would have opted for the fetal position had Jack been absent.

He sifted through the low light in the hotel room to the bed. The frail, burned form of the nine-year-old girl they’d rescued from Fyre Elementals in the Concord Hospital Burns Unit lay surrounded by clouds of thick white pillows. Her gaunt face had a pale yellow tinge. Covers pulled up to her chin, she barely breathed.

Before he died, Iri, Whetu’s Aer Elemental father, claimed to have secreted the location of the door into the Dreaming within her unconscious mind. No one had been able to revive her.

Without access to the information hiding inside of Whetu, the Sentinels’ ramshackle plan to take back the Dreaming from the Fyres had zero chance of success. Just this morning, Gavin saw headline on the news about another fire in Port Douglas that had left thirteen dead and twelve others in critical condition. It was the third arson in Queensland this week.

Wyldling suffering weighed on him, heavier than lead.

Gavin startled out of his reverie and glanced over to his Sentinel trainer.

Ankle resting on top of his knee, the bloke sat on the far side of the bed, gaze targeted on Gavin like a rifle. An accusing shock of neon yellow knifed through his aura. Long strands of gray hair framed his deceptively relaxed face.

Caught in his sights, Gavin was totally exposed, with nowhere to run.

The two of them had been pretty close mates until he introduced Jack to Zoe, and all three of their respective paradigms made a collective, unexpected inter-dimensional shift into another galaxy. Friends, turned boyfriend and father, turned murderer and father of the victim…

Gavin was pretty sure he now ranked near the top of Jack’s list of most hated enemies. And Jack didn’t even know the part about Scarlet. He’d probably castrate Gavin and feed him his own balls if he did.

“Do you love my daughter?” Jack’s lips moved, but the rest of his body remained as calm as Gavin’s was paralyzed. Hell of a question.

Gavin squeezed his brows together, and he straightened in his seat.

“Either you do or you don’t. Not so hard to answer.” Jack ripped into the apple again.

“Yes, I love Zoe. I told her so the other day.” And a few hours ago. Though she had yet to say it back.

The intensity in Jack’s aura eased a bit. A release of tension collapsed Gavin’s back into his chair.

“You ever hear that expression, ‘If you love something, set it free. If it doesn’t come back, it wasn’t yours to begin with?’”

Gavin sighed. “Yeah.”

Jack leaned forward. “I’m in no position to give anyone advice on romance and shit, but it’s as plain as day she loves you, too. You don’t deserve her, but women are funny like that.”

He pressed his lips together and nodded—perhaps reassuring himself—and slapped his knee. Then he stood and paced the small room. Yellow Air masked the emotional blue Water that always snuck into his aura when he talked about Zoe.

Jack the father exited stage left, and Jack the Sentinel took the cue to resume his place in the spotlight. “We gotta transport Whetu to Hervey Bay. I spoke with some Aer Elementals this morning about sneaking inside her head, but they refused to touch her. They think she’s too big of a Fyre target, and they’re probably right.” He stopped pacing and faced Gavin. “The Aer on my Librus Group team wants a crack at her.”

Gavin gestured at Whetu. “How the fuck are we gonna take her anywhere? No way we can put her on a plane. She’s totally out of it. The kid needs a hospital.”

Jack stroked his gray beard. “Jet healed her body. Physically, she’s fine. Mentally…well, we won’t know until my Aer Elemental has a look at her. But if anyone can reach her, it’s Vexx.”

Gavin snorted. Vexx. That was a good one. “What is it with these over-the-top Elemental names?” He’d always wondered but never bothered to ask.

Jack took a huge bite of apple and spoke between chomps. “When they go through the change, a lot of Elementals consider it the beginning of a new life—a resurrection or rebirth—what-the-fuck-ever. So they take on a name that suits them and honors their god or goddess. Not all of ’em do it, but most.”

“Why’s your Aer friend called Vexx?”

Jack swallowed and chucked the apple core into the garbage bin. A wry grin spread slowly across his face. “Dude, it’ll make total sense when you meet her.”

“Oh, I can’t wait.” If she was anything like most of the other Elementals he’d met, he’d probably need to stock up on heartburn medicine.

Jack walked around Whetu’s bed, and stood before Gavin, hand extended. The crusty yellow edges of his aura softened.

Gavin wiggled the lip ring with his tongue, got to his feet, and met Jack’s eyes.

Zoe’s dad had returned, the periwinkle blue of acceptance tingeing his aura. It couldn’t have been easy on Jack, not knowing
exactly
what had happened at Gavin’s house. But here he was, offering his hand.

Fuck, Gavin had so much respect for this bloke. And felt so much shame for himself.

Nose tingling with the threat of another regret-fueled meltdown, Gavin clasped Jack’s hand hard. Jack leaned into him, bumped his chest, and slapped him once on the back. All four Elements ping-ponged between them, but Water dominated the others.

“I know her death was an accident, and I believe you love her. You’re not remotely worthy, but for some reason, she digs you. And you’re better than that dickhead boss of hers. If she deigns to keep your sorry ass around, you have my blessing.”

“Thanks, mate. I’ll leave it to her to fill in the details if she wants, but I’ll be honest. It was ugly.” Gavin shook his head and swallowed over the catch in his dry throat. “I don’t expect her ever to forgive me.”

“Come on man, don’t think like that. She’ll come around. She has to. I wanna see her married one day. What better son-in-law could I ask for than a fuck-up like you?” Jack grinned and cuffed his arm.

Son-in-law? Fuck, he and Zoe didn’t even know how to be boyfriend-and-girlfriend. Marriage? Talk about an unattainable dream.

But it was good to have his friend back. Zoe might not forgive Gavin, but at least Jack seemed to be in his corner. Grudgingly.

Jack smacked his hands together and rubbed them in circles. “I have a plan for how to get Whetu to Hervey Bay without arousing suspicion.”

Gavin crossed his arms. This oughta be good. “I can’t wait to hear it.”

“Easy as a gold-digging hooker on Rodeo Drive.” Jack snapped his fingers. “I’m gonna steal an ambulance.”

Yep, it was back to business as usual with his trainer. At least
one
thing in his life didn’t totally suck.

Chapter Five

With very little air traffic, Hervey Bay Airport was closer to the size of a small bus station than a plane depot. You could sit alone in the place for hours without encountering a single soul. Luckily, Zoe’s ride was already waiting for her.

“Over here!” A hand waved from the window of a familiar Land Rover. Zoe’s fellow researchers, Dani and Elizabeth, sat in front. Her best friend, Adriene, opened the back door and patted the empty seat beside her. Zoe tossed her bag in the trunk and slid in next to Adriene.

“Where’s Gavin?” Adriene asked as Dani pulled away from the curb.

Zoe rubbed her forehead. “You gonna start the lightning round before I even get a chance to concoct a good story?”

Adriene turned on her—as much as she could with her broken leg stretched straight out, eating up half of the backseat real estate. “Don’t start that mess with me. I know you’re upset about the calf, but you better not have pissed off your boyfriend. I’ll never speak to you again.”

So
not spilling the rotten, ugly truth. “He’s coming back to town tomorrow.”

Adriene narrowed her eyes and frowned. “There’s something you’re not telling me. Your cheek is doing that twitchy thing. What happened?”

Zoe glanced at the rearview where Dani snagged her gaze. “Nothing. Everything’s fine. How many tags did you get today? Anyone heard from Iri?”

Elizabeth turned around. “Haven’t seen or heard a peep out of him. But guess who scored two tags while you were gone?” She flashed a grin and pointed at herself. “This chick.”

Zoe laughed and high fived her. “Kick-ass, girl. Where were the whales?”

“Every one of them was heading north, same location as before—in and around Platypus Bay,” Dani piped in.

Something big was happening up there. All the data they’d collected over the last few weeks had indicated an unusual migratory pattern for this time of year. The whales were heading north instead of south where the food was. And Zoe
knew
it had to do with Lily.

“Yeah, same travel trends we’ve been tracking,” Adriene said. “Weird shit. I guess shifts in currents, upwellings, or water temperature could be influencing the phytoplankton blooms to proliferate farther north. If the phytoplankton have moved, the zooplankton and fish have no choice but to follow.”

All true, but the real cause of the whales’ unexpected detour had nothing to do with science. At least not the kind that governed the Wyldling world.

Zoe nodded. “Maybe. It
has
been insanely hot this winter.”

As the girls chattered about some of the behaviors they’d seen on the water that morning, Zoe dove deep inside her mind for answers to the Wæter Archelemental dilemma. Once she caught up to Lily, maybe she’d get some ideas about how to help the whale rise to the position. All Zoe knew was that her ‘translating’ ability would be needed. Beyond that, she was flying blind.

She’d head into the Dreaming tonight and see if she could find answers there. She needed a goal to focus on anyway. If she gave herself plenty of mental busy work, there wouldn’t be any time to think about Gavin.

Zoe was mentally and physically exhausted by the time Dani pulled into the drive at the research house. Tired of deflecting Adriene’s questions about Gavin, she claimed she had a headache and needed sleep, which was sort of true.

Adriene relented, but that wouldn’t be the end of it. She’d wheedle the story out of Zoe sooner or later.

For now, bed was the only thing on Zoe’s mind.

Bed.

She cringed at the memory of walking in on Gavin having sex with Scarlet dressed in Zoe’s flesh. The rumpled sheets on the bed
she
was supposed to share with him haunted her almost as much as the actions that had put them in their state of disarray. But the
worst
part—the unforgettable snapshot that taunted her brain on a never-ending loop—had been their hands. Out of all the images from that gut-wrenching scene to fixate on, her subconscious had chosen Scarlet’s—not Zoe’s—long, elegant fingers woven between his big, tanned ones. And him squeezing.

Should have been
her
, damn it. She pawed at the tear slipping down her cheek.

Enough of that. You’re gonna have to deal with it at some point. Get the lame-ass crying out of your system now.

Lame was right. But the hurt little girl inside just wanted the bad stuff to disappear. To wake up tomorrow and realize this had been nothing more than a nasty nightmare. Maybe even laugh about it with Gavin over a pot of coffee.

You know I’d never do anything to hurt you, Zed. I love you
, he’d say with that sparkle in his eye.

She’d lay a hand on his rugged cheek and kiss him.
Of course you wouldn’t. I trust you.

She scrubbed her face. Trust was a luxury she could no longer afford. It cost way too much.