Elemental Shining (Paranormal Public Series) Read online

  “Good,” said Lanca dryly. “That means that if demons do attack us we can enact the oldest form of protection known to paranormals just to deal with them.”

  “Hey, we don’t mess around,” said Cale, laughing. “We go right for the kill.”

  Lanca grinned at him. “Now you’re thinking like a vampire.”

  “Are you guys sure we’re in the right place?” I asked, looking around nervously. I hadn’t been in the woods for a long time. I hadn’t even walked my friends out at the end of last semester, I had said goodbye to them up on the hill. Over the past couple of months I had forced myself to forget that for all of last semester the woods had been teeming with demons, and the only thing that had kept them out was a weakening force field. Now that I was there, the memories were flooding back.

  “It’s alright,” said Lanca, glancing around. “I don’t see demons anywhere.”

  I tried to smile at her joke, because obviously there were no demons; I had destroyed them en masse. But I couldn’t help worrying.

  Again I felt Cale’s hand brush against my arm, sending shivers up my spine. I ignored them. Old crushes die hard.

  But we were obviously alone in the woods, outside the protections of Public, waiting for friends who were not there.

  Chapter Three

  “Well, look who it is,” said a familiar, sarcastic voice. Startled, I spun toward Lisabelle. Relief flooded me and I threw myself into her arms. Laughing, she wrapped her arms around me in return. My darkness friend was at the head of a small group of students. With my head pressed into her black coat, I vaguely caught a glimpse of Lough behind her. Well, of course he would come with her. He always wanted to be where she was. She was just too dense to notice, which was funny because she wasn’t dense about much else.

  I wrapped my arms more tightly around Lisabelle, ignoring that she felt a little cold.

  “How are you?” I asked her, pulling away just enough to search those black eyes. She wore her customary black dress, with her long black hair falling over her shoulders and brushing against the crook in her arms.

  She nodded. “I’m good. We had a long walk, but it’s nice to be home.”

  The word lodged in my mind. Lisabelle thought of Public as home. She wasn’t the only one.

  “Hey, Lough,” I said, stepping forward to greet my other friend. I didn’t recognize anyone else. There were just three other students, but the girl greeting Lanca had to be her sister. They looked identical, but if possible this girl was even more delicate and more beautiful.

  “Hey,” said Lough, wrapping his chunky arms around my thin shoulders. “Long time no see. Miss me?”

  “Of course,” I said grinning despite my dislike of the black woods. “Couldn’t wait to see you.”

  “I must say,” said Lisabelle, eyeing Cale, “I expected more from this whole thing.”

  I gave her a look that said, “Now is not the time to cause trouble,” but to my discomfort she ignored me and continued to glare at my escort.

  I moved over to Lanca. “This must be your sister,” I said, smiling at the girl now holding Lanca’s hand. Up close she was a little smaller than Lanca, but with the same small straight nose and pale features: the other Vampire Princess. Her jaw was softer, giving her less of an intimidating look, but I had a feeling she wasn’t to be trifled with either.

  Lanca beamed. “Yes, one of them, anyway.” The girl stuck out her hand in greeting.

  “I mean,” Lisabelle continued, starting to pace, “we were gone all summer, and here Cale is, actually hanging out with Charlotte. It’s just not appropriate after everything that his girlfriend did.”

  Lisabelle walked in a circle, forcing the rest of us to move out of her way. Everyone else had stopped their greetings. The other two students who had come in with Lisabelle and Cale were pixies, and Cale seemed to know them, but they weren’t talking. We were all staring at Lisabelle, who was walking faster and faster, throwing in hand gestures and tossing her head.

  “We’ve had a good summer,” I said in Cale’s and my defense. Something very strange was going on here. The darkness was starting to become suffocating; the cold was pressing in on my skin like icy fog.

  Lisabelle glared at me. her eyes blazing. “You had no right to have a good summer with a pixie. Sip would say the same thing.”

  “Actually,” I said, “Sip would say we should all get along.”

  In the year—really, had it been that long?—that I had known Lisabelle, never once had she questioned my judgment. She had questioned my sanity several times, but she had never told me not to speak to someone when I wanted to. Now I hadn’t seen her for months, and suddenly she was coming back full of fury and spitfire. Something was very, terribly, wrong. I could feel it in my bones.

  “Is everything alright?” I asked cautiously.

  Lisabelle’s eyes flashed. She had no patience for my fear. Fury was clear in every line of her body. Her face was tight and her hands shook in anger.

  “No, it is not alright,” she spat back. “As long as the demons know where you are, everyone else is in danger. The demons haven’t stopped wanting to get to you, and yet here you are, traipsing around the woods like it’s nothing, like it doesn’t matter if they come.”

  Involuntarily I had drawn closer to Cale’s warmth. He was big for a pixie, and I felt safer next to him. Lanca—with her sister, who had been introduced as Dirr—closed ranks on my other side. The two pixies who had come with Lough and Lisabelle looked like they wanted to join us, but they probably knew that if they moved they might draw Lisabelle’s attention, and no one wanted that.

  “Lisabelle,” I murmured. “What’s wrong?”

  I couldn’t bring myself to come right out and say that she was scaring me, but she was scaring me.

  “You think you’re so special,” she said venomously.

  Then she turned cold eyes on me and I gasped. They weren’t Lisabelle’s eyes. They were the lifeless eyes of someone else, someone I didn’t know. Not my friend Lisabelle’s.

  “What’s happened to you?” I gasped. But I already knew the answer to my question. It was the demons. I wasn’t sure how and I wasn’t sure when, but at some point when she had tried to return to Paranormal Public, the demons had gotten to Lisabelle. I searched her eyes for any sign that she was still my friend. Looking into their depths I felt nauseous, and only when I looked away could I breathe properly again. I pressed my hand to my chest, trying to steady my racing heart.

  Demon eyes.

  “No,” I whispered, staring in horror at my friend, or what used to be my friend, who was now just a cusp of fire and hate and fear.

  Cale stepped forward. He was still Cale. “You can’t do this,” he said, his voice strong. “No way.”

  I didn’t know exactly what he was referring to, but I appreciated his stepping between me and certain death.

  “But I can do it,” said Lisabelle, her voice filled with amused malice. A smile devoid of all mirth appeared on her face. “I already have. Do you know how easy it was?”

  Slowly she walked forward, toward me. It hurt to do it, but I shrank away from my friend. All around me the shadows coiled, becoming denser, darker, sharper. Now there was nothing but darkness.

  “Who are you?” Cale asked, standing his ground between me and Lisabelle.

  “You know who I am,” said Lisabelle, her voice becoming clearer. “And if you don’t, that’s fine. You aren’t supposed to.”

  She turned her eyes to me. I was the one who was supposed to know her, because I’d had dealings with President Malle during my first semester at Public. It was, I realized, her voice coming out of Lisabelle now. Her sickly sweet voice had taken over my friend’s body and used it to come after me. I had stupidly gone out into the woods, knowing that the demons weren’t eliminated, just diminished, and this was what had happened.

  “She’s supposed to.” Lisabelle’s body pointed her finger at me.

  “Is Lisabelle dead?” I asked.
<
br />   The President/Lisabelle gave a thin smile. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

  If Sip had been there she would have said something perfect and sarcastic, but my werewolf friend hadn’t returned early. She was on vacation with her parents and her five brothers, and they had wanted her to stay with them for as long as possible. I now felt bad for trying to convince her to return to Public. She was better off away from this place of inky darkness, because she wasn’t about to die.

  “Where’s the closest fallen angel?” Lanca whispered to me.

  I shivered. The Vampire Princess was cold. I could see her hands shake slightly at her sides.

  “My sister is here,” she said feverishly.

  I knew Dirr’s life was more important to her than her own, but we needed a fallen angel to attempt the Power of Five and we did not have one.

  Lanca read my thoughts. “Alright, enough of this,” she said, stepping between everyone and Dirr. “We are on Public territory. You cannot possibly get away with what you are trying to do.”

  “Oh?” Lisabelle’s body asked coldly. “I already have gotten away with it. The one thing paranormals must do is protect their precious little elemental, who is—forgive the pun—elemental to their survival. Haha. Ha.”

  Lisabelle gave a twitter of laughter at her own joke and my stomach turned. Lisabelle didn’t laugh like that. The noise coming out of that thing’s throat sounded awful, like sandpaper on fire.

  Now Lisabelle/The President drew a knife out of her belt and spun it idly in her hands as she talked. It was a beautiful knife, all engraved silver and heated metal. Fear gripped me more tightly. Lisabelle was armed.

  “And yet it was so easy to get her out here, away from any help.” Her voice was smooth, almost melodic.

  “She has help,” said Cale defiantly. “She came with us.”

  “Oh, shut up,” said Lisabelle, and in one swift motion she stepped forward, pulled her fist back, and launched it into Cale’s face.

  Cale didn’t move. He probably didn’t believe Lisabelle would really hit him. But Lisabelle’s balled hand impacted with a sickening crunch, and Cale staggered, crying out in pain as his nose spewed blood everywhere, like the liquid in a soda bottle that had been shaken and then released.

  “Are you insane?” I yelled, darting forward. I was forced to stop when my neck came skin-to-metal in contact with the knife Lisabelle was holding. I halted, motionless. If I so much as swallowed, she could easily cut my throat. I hadn’t even seen her move. She was faster as a demon.

  I stared up into her eyes, trying to buy time to gather my wits. What to do? The cold feeling that I had tried to ignore earlier had started to spread over me as I stared at my former friend’s eyes, an unspeakable sadness overtaking my heart.

  All the good times we had had, the times in Airlee, the times in the dining hall, flashed in my mind’s eye. Lisabelle had been there through thick and especially through thin. She had put herself, her body, between me and harm countless times in just a year. She had done it for someone she didn’t know well in the beginning. Despite having her own problems, she had stood by me. But now, in a matter of seconds, our relationship and our world had come crashing down around us. For all I knew she was dead inside. Physically she was there, but her mind—her heart—were not. Unable to accept defeat, I pleaded.

  “Lisabelle, can you hear me? If you can hear me please stop this. The President has taken control of you, but you’re still in there somewhere. I know you are.” Feeling desperation claw at my chest I went on. “It’s me, Charlotte. I just want you back. You have to fight. Please fight,” I begged.

  I couldn’t remember just then what my professors had taught us about demon possession. I hadn’t thought it was possible, but obviously it was, either that or the worst had happened and Lisabelle was dead. But I refused to believe that, I just couldn’t. No, no, no. Lisabelle would never have let the President take her like that: the darkness mage would never go quietly. She would hate being used as a pawn in the President’s game to eliminate the elementals, and she would fight like mad to prevent it.

  Lisabelle’s mouth curled up in a sneer, her pale skin stretching over her bones. “Well, isn’t that funny? Here you are, almost cheating on your boyfriend with that pixie scum and begging me for another chance. Have you gone mad?”

  I glared up at Lisabelle. It wasn’t as hard as I would have expected it to be be. I wasn’t glaring at my best friend, I was glaring at an enemy.

  “You think you’re so clever, but you’ve accomplished nothing,” I told her. “You can’t win here. We are too well protected.”

  “I have a knife to your throat,” said Lisabelle dryly. “And it wasn’t hard. I win some, you lose some.”

  Before I could do anything else, like stop him, Cale lunged and my whole world came to a standstill. In slow motion I watched his body move forward as he crashed into Lisabelle, knocking her arm, the one holding the blade, away from my body. I saw Lough start forward, intent on stopping the attack, but Dirr was too quick for him. Before he could perform whatever dream he was preparing, Dirr had thrown herself between him and me, and his spell hit her instead. With a desperate wail she sank to the ground, her whole body a study in agony.

  Cale, meanwhile, had managed to knock Lisabelle over, but that was about all he could do. Blood covered the front of his face and dripped down onto his shirt as if it was a bib. His mouth hung slightly open, because he still needed to breathe, and there was a slight film of saliva on his lips. HIs shoulders hunched over slightly in an unnatural position. I assumed it was his reaction to the intense pain he was in. Or maybe it was fear.

  Before I could react or take in what was happening, Lisabelle had leaped up, plunging the blazing knife all the way up to the hilt in Cale’s chest.

  Chapter Four

  Cale’s eyes widened in pained surprise. He staggered away from Lisabelle, the knife still buried in his chest, a red circle forming around where it had plunged. His mouth opened, but all that came out was a gurgle. He leaned awkwardly to one side, unable to support his own weight. Then he crumpled as if he’d been held up by a string and it was suddenly let go. He fell to the earth in a heap, never to rise again.

  My mind went blank and my eyes filled with tears. Everything around me pressed inward and my head throbbed. I wanted to retch, but all that came out was gagging. Lisabelle’s eyes were feverish with glee, her arms covered in pixie blood. I still hadn’t stopped screaming yet, but Lisabelle had already turned her attention on Dirr. Instantly my throat closed up.

  The small Vampire Princess was no match for the President of Darkness. There had been talk over the last year of what would happen if Lanca and Lisabelle ever got into a fight, and opinion had been split. But Dirr was not Lanca, and Lisabelle was not Lisabelle. This was going to be quick and painful.

  “Get away from my sister,” Lanca screeched. Like a bird diving at prey she appeared in front of Lisabelle, even though only seconds before she’d been standing several feet away. But it was too late. Lisabelle’s hand closed around Dirr’s neck. The other girl struggled uselessly for the fraction of a second that passed before Lisabelle snapped her neck.

  Wailing, Lanca sank down and cradled her lifeless sister in her arms.

  I jumped to my feet. I couldn’t let Lisabelle do any more damage. I grabbed the wrist that had held the knife, which was still dripping with Cale’s blood where Lisabelle had stuck it in the belt of her dress in order to attack Dirr. There was now a red streak down her front, the blood giving the black of the dress a deeper texture. I would have given anything to cry.

  While we struggled, I heard someone yell my name. I looked around frantically, but there was no one still alive to yell. I tried to move my neck from side to side, but I felt something soft and thick keeping it immobile.

  My mind didn’t have time to identify the speaker, but my body gave an instant response and my heart leapt in joy.

  I started to breathe again.

  Keller c
ame crashing through the woods. I hadn’t been expecting him for another few days, and it shocked me how glad I was to see him in the flesh. Note to self, Skype just wasn’t a substitute for making out. Besides, computer screens sometimes did not do hot guys justice, and Keller was definitely a hot guy.

  His black hair was shorter; he had explained that he always cut it in the summer. His face was tanned, and at the moment it was also covered by a very grim expression.

  “Charlotte,” he yelled. “Call for help!”

  Now I was supposed to call professors on my best friend and have her arrested. Cale’s blood was soaking into the ground.

  “Lisabelle,” Lough said, his voice and eyes filled with pain. “Stop.” Lisabelle turned towards our friend. Lough, who had saved our lives last semester and had stood by us through thick, thin, and Lisabelle’s snide comments, was standing in front of her asking her not to commit murder again—or fight Keller. I blanched. She couldn’t possibly think she was going to fight Keller and win. He was too good. Like, that was his reputation on campus, good at everything, and as someone who was in love with him I had no problem admitting that it was true.

  But he might not be able to kill Lisabelle. There was a cold spark missing inside him, and I honestly wasn’t sure he could follow through with killing someone he considered a good friend. I took one look at Lisabelle, her burning eyes and grim mouth, and I knew that she would have no problem killing Keller. None whatsoever.

  I had to act.

  I raced forward, ignoring both Keller approach and Lough’s yelling at me.

  “Charlotte, stop!” Lough shouted. “Who do you think she’s really after?”

  Anger boiled through my veins. This was the same tired fight I had had throughout my entire freshman year of college, and I was sick of it. College is hard enough even for people who aren’t the only living elemental, with murderous demons and hellhounds in pursuit. That complicates midterms more than a bit.