Origin of Angels: Elemental Legacy Book 1 (20 page)

He slapped my hand away. “It
don’t grow past a certain point, so it’s easier to take care of.”

I’d long since gotten used to Gibbit’s unique scent, so hugging him was easier than at first. “I really appreciate your help.”

He wiggled out of my grasp, making grunts the entire way. “If you keep manhandling me, all the Elementals will be gone by the time we land.”

I was not looking forward to drifting, but at least I’d learned to do it myself. I no longer needed Heath or Gibbit for the task, which would be much more convenient should a need to flee arise. I let him go and stood. Heath watched me while still talking to Levi. He sent me a telepathic question which was clear in his beseeching eyes. I gave him a nod. It was all he was getting right now.

Cassie made her way to me, followed by Amy. Neither appeared particularly well, and I wasn’t sure who was pastier. I called our group in for a huddle. Natalie and Lacey bounced around and seemed to feed the other’s nerves. Shifting and mumbling, the pair looked at me eagerly. “I want to make certain we are all sure —”

Natalie cut me off. “You’ve asked us before. We’re in. Now, let’s go.”

I shrugged, not coming up with a reason they should stay. “Heath?”

He came to stand beside me,
then clasped my hand in a comforting gesture. “Are you ready?” he whispered, his expression full of concern.

Was I? Returning to the mortal realm had been my one and only goal before I accepted my role in this war. Now, I wasn’t sure I wanted to face the problems again. Lambert most certainly was still experimenting and who knew what else with Elementals. I couldn’t even begin to guess what Valen was doing.

It was all so soon for me, but for the women still trapped in the Order system and those trying to avoid it, time was running out. I took a deep breath and allowed myself to say, “Yes.” My heart refused to steady itself. Because our group was relatively small, we were one of the only teams drifting the instant we took a foot on human soil. Partly because there wasn’t a direct access to our destination from the borderlands, and partly because Heath didn’t want to risk the time it would take to travel by human means once we crossed the borderlands. Heath knew where we were going, but none of the rest of us did. I eyed him, offering a coy smile. “You still aren’t going to tell me?”

His brows shot up as he tucked a piece of hair behind my ear.
“Too risky.”

I let it lie. Besides, any moment I’d find out anyway. I brushed his arm to reassure him I was okay. “Then, let’s get moving.”

With hands still clasped, we walked out of the borderlands. Only moments later, our group joined as if in prayer. We drifted side by side, and even though I was surrounded by people, the disorientation and nausea came on full force. Thankfully, I managed not to throw up when we hit dirt. My mind couldn’t process what I saw fast enough stop the scream already climbing up my throat.

We stood outside the pig farm in Castlerock, Utah. My body shook as I took in the scene.

The place had been leveled. Red bricks littered the ground as if the whole thing had gone up in an atomic bomb. My stomach roiled as I thought about the people who had still been here when the attack came. “How many did they kill?” I asked whoever would answer.

Heath wrapped me in his arms.
“None that we can tell. It appears they took everyone, including your family, alive.”

Aunt Grace hadn’t mentioned murder when she told me about the destruction of my hometown, but it was hard to believe looking at this devastation that everyone survived. When I spotted a few piles of smallish bones, I realized the pigs hadn’t fared well. Either way, they would have bit it, but I cringed at the thought of them starving to death. Without people to take care of them, they’d been doomed from the moment the Order stepped foot here. How could Lambert be this depraved? He’d lived here for years. He’d attended football games and church socials. He’d donated to the local school. He’d paid for my education
— my stomach flipped when I thought about my home.

Without thinking of those around me, I took off. What had they done to it? Even though I didn’t want to see it tumbled to the dirt, I had to know if the place still existed. There was a deep part of me screaming to turn back, but I had to keep going.

The thud of footsteps followed me, but no one said anything. It took ten minutes to get home, not a bad time considering I hadn’t had much to give to running lately. The old Victorian came into view. I stopped short, nearly knocked over by Heath.

“Hey,” he complained, but I waved him off.

He’d been around me long enough to know I was amazingly unpredictable. And if he didn’t, we hadn’t been together long enough. He laughed, apparently reading my thoughts. I’d long since gotten over his eaves dropping since it was the way his people communicated most often. I wished I could lighten my spirit, but the closer I got to the house, the more disturbed I became. When I’d last seen it, the lawn had been overgrown and the building needed some TLC, but this was like looking into the future and seeing the end of the world.

The yard was nothing more than patchy weeds with dry grass matted here and there amid tufts of dirt. The screen door, which had barely been hanging from one hinge, was now discarded to the side of the front door. I took a moment to ready myself before I stepped inside.

From the tiny foyer, I surveyed the damage. Someone had looted my home. Aunt Grace’s prized floral couch, which she got in a hand-me-down from Amy Lambert, was upturned with the cushions all over the place. The lamp was broken and the entertainment center felled to the carpet. The kitchen wasn’t any better. A few of the chairs still remained, but most had been taken — to who knew where was anyone’s guess.

Heath stayed back, but Cassie came to stand by me. Her arm wrapped around my shoulders. “I didn’t want you to see this,” she said in a soft tone reserved for church.

Tears came to my eyes, but I brushed them away. Even though it felt like it, no one had died. “I’m okay,” I said. “This really shouldn’t bother me. I didn’t even like it here.”

She pulled my head close until our ears touched. “You can’t lie to me, Rayla. Best friend, remember?”

I hugged her, letting the tears fall. “I hate them, Cass. I know I shouldn’t, but I do.”

She ran her hand over my hair. “They’ve stolen our lives. What do you say we take them back?”

Righteous indignation filled me from hairline to toenail. “Hell yeah.”

A PAIR OF NEARLY BLACK EYES watched me through pudgy fingers. Blade jerked his hands away as I yelled, “Peek-a-boo!”

He laughed before covering his face again. He wasn’t much of a warrior, but he was fierce in his determination to make me smile. Each day he became more of a joy to me, and I wanted to think I would have him always. Taking a quick glance at Nigel Lambert shot my hopes to dust. Resolved to ignore him, I focused on my son. The man encroached on our family time more and more with every new sunrise. It was as if he wanted to replace Travis. I’d finally found out his name
… the man who gifted me the tiny life I so treasured. Nigel Lambert couldn’t begin to understand what it was to be a man.

My father could have given him lessons, but I doubted I would ever see Dad again. My worth was fading, and I knew it. I had been interrupted on many occasions when I’d set out to tell Blade about his father. What Lambert didn’t know was I had been secretly slipping information to Blade in small ways. He already could repeat he had his daddy’s eyes. His hair was mine, though. It had grown in the two years we’d been here. Un-fortunately, I didn’t know where here was. The landscape was filled with trees for miles on end, and the one time I’d managed to climb onto the roof of the small palace we occupied, no other dwellings were visible. It didn’t get particularly cold or hot, so we could very well be in a controlled climate the fae maintained.

Mother had told me what she remembered from her time in the fae realms, which wasn’t particularly much. She’d recited a vague recollection of beauty — stunning beauty, but details were out of her reach. Ironically, she’d argued with Dad about bringing me to the compound. She’d said the fae weren’t what people thought, and the fear mongers Lambert controlled only wanted to get gain from us.

Unlike most human families, I’d inherited my mother’s maiden name. A male joined an Elemental clan only when he’d proven his worth. My dad was a good man and hadn’t minded the switch. Personally, I preferred Black to Hooker. He most likely did, too. We didn’t talk much about the family name, but he’d adopted it without much fuss, from what I’d been told.

The Order kept much of the shady dealings made to gain members from the Elemental clans, but I’d learned a few things since being here. First, fear was the way members were kept in line. Everybody had something to hide, and the Order kept meticulous files. I’d been in Lambert’s office once when he’d been called into the hallway. He was only gone for thirty seconds, but it was enough time for me to catch a few details on a Mr. James Kearny. For whatever reason, he’d been targeted. His big secret? He’d stolen a car when he was young and ended up being bailed out of jail by one of Lambert’s flunkies. He was a goner after that. When you’re wealthy and an honor student, such a misadventure could ruin your life. I hadn’t caught what else the man had done since his first offense, but I was sure each one ratcheted up the crime ladder. I’d barely made it back to my seat before Lambert returned. I hadn’t had a moment since to steal information, but one could gain much by simply observing.

I lifted Blade’s belly to my lips, tugging his shirt out of the way to blow raspberries on his tummy. He laughed and laughed, holding onto my hair. The joy in my heart swelled until tears brimmed. I vowed to memorize every detail of my son because I was sure I wouldn’t be allowed a picture, if I were even allowed my life when this was finished.

The moment the fae entered the room, I stiffened. He didn’t come often, but with each visit, his power wore down my defenses. I concentrated on Blade, looking into the eyes so like the man I hoped to find one day. Blade patted my cheeks, then poked my lips at the corners until I smiled. I went back to our play, but I kept close watch on the location of both men.

They started a conversation too far away to hear. Nonetheless, I tried. There had to be something I could do to extricate myself and my child from this situation. The fae looked at me. He’d instructed me to call him Valen, but I’d rather cut out my own tongue than utter his name. My mother had told me the chilling details of how important names are to the fae. Names are essentially power. Each one holds meaning but also a link between the speaker and the holder of the name. The concept was slightly out of my grasp, but I wasn’t about to push boundaries I didn’t care to move.

To my horror, the man excused himself from Lambert’s side and came to mine. He stared down at us with his emotionless eyes. He should have been beautiful to me, and if I let myself ponder it, he was. Yet, I would not yield to temptation, no matter what kind of package it came in.

“Your resolve is firm,” he said in a low tone. My spine prickled with meaning. He could hear my thoughts. I was as sure of it as I was of my own racing heartbeat. “Little
will your resistance mean in the end. I have left you be because of your child, but I will not always.”

I tipped my head back until our eyes met. His were deep pools of glacial waters, his hair a mirror of night. The memory of Blade’s birth flashed through my mind. Valen had been kind to me then, if he had the capacity. He’d saved my life and Blade would have never survived if it weren’t for this man, yet he was fae, and he was evil.

His lips curved into a beguiling grin. “Evil does not exist, young one. Only different sides to the same coin.” He was wrong. Evil certainly did exist, and he propagated it on a regular basis. From what I’d heard, he’d made a deal with the maser of Evil, himself. He tipped his head to the side, studying me. “Tell me, child, what would you do to save your son?”

Horrified, I clutched Blade to my chest. He stiffened, crying and wriggling to get out of my arms. If this fae were threatening me
—

“I have only sought to protect you, Emily. The question I asked of you is a reflection of what I have done. I have protected my family, as you attempt to protect yours. We both face forces much stronger than we hold.”

My lungs refused to expand. His gaze, so demanding, held mine, refusing to let me go. I’d thought since Blade was born, the man was interested in him — my existence only a needful thing to keep my child happy and alive — but now, looking at Valen, I realized I was the source of his interest.

He smiled, giving a slow nod. Emotionless as the stars glittering down on us from the sky, he waited for my response.

The only thing I could think to say was, “Why?”

MEXICO WAS RELATIVELY UNEVENTFUL. WE FOUND a few Elementals who we sent back with a team of five fae, mostly the women because they were bored. I’d asked Lysanne to lead them because she was more than capable. The rest of us continued our search into South America.

My nerves edged tighter with each passing sunset. Despite the intel we’d received, I’d expected to locate many families in the areas we’d scoured, but there was no sign of larger groups. Those we did extract had been outside the usual Order/Elemental relationships. Normally, we would have found the stragglers in the wild hunt. Yet Rayla had been the last catch we’d found.