Read Online elemental 07 - lonely hunger by Larissa Ladd - Free Book Online Page B

kissed, he had been intrigued by her. Dylan knew that he was treading on dangerous ground; if Leigh had been involved in any way with the group of elemental terrorists who had decided to kill other people in order to get to Aira, she was not someone he should place any trust in. But the fact that she was bound, that she was clearly a captive, seemed to indicate that at least at the present moment, she was not on the extremists’ side. “I’m not getting even the faintest trace.” Aira smiled ruefully, running her hands through her hair and picking up her bottle of water again. 
    “We’re getting close,” she said, her eyes slightly unfocused. For the first time, Dylan almost envied Aira the skills and traits that came along with her alignment. He wished that he had as great a certainty that they would find the isolated house in the middle of the desert that Aira had. He wished that he knew exactly where Leigh was, how she was doing. He shook his head. He had been able to locate the earth elemental first. He had been crucial to breaking through the blocks that the group holding the younger woman had established. If the three of them hadn’t worked together, they would still be trying to find a way to locate the group. 
    “I think that’s it,” Aiden said, pointing to a dot on the horizon. Dylan closed his eyes and followed the direction with his mind, seeking out any sign of the woman he had started to become obsessed with. 
    “A surprise attack won’t work—it’s too open,” Aira was saying. Dylan opened his eyes. He could—dimly—feel the flicker of a familiar essence. Leigh at least was still there, but the faintness of the imprint on his mind troubled him. She had been in the keeping of the extremists for almost a week; if they had kept her bound the whole time, that would explain a great deal of her failing energy. 
    “Get ready, then,” Aiden said firmly. They were moving closer and closer to the house. Dylan could see that it was barricaded around the outside, with earthen ramparts ringing the property. Dylan bit his bottom lip; there was so little water in the air around him. There was almost nothing that he would be able to use to attack the outside of the building. As they approached, there were a few people coming out of the house—obviously alerted to the arrival of strangers. Dylan felt the crackling in the air as Aiden and Aira both focused down on their energies. The wind picked up, propelling the car forward more quickly than simple acceleration would provide, blowing sand towards the people who were standing on the other side of the ramparts. 
    Dylan watched as the ramparts grew in size, climbing up slowly to almost obscure the house, and certainly the people within it. There was not a lot that Aiden could do about it—not much that Aira’s wind could do either. Aira opened a window in the air-conditioned car and whistled out, trilling and letting out a few eerie calls. In a few moments, as they came to the limit of the property held by the elementals and to a stop, a flurry of activity surrounded the car. Vultures, owls, desert birds of all kinds and sizes hovered in the dusty air, calling out to Aira in response to her command.
    The moment the car was turned off, Aira opened the door and unlatched her seat belt, repeating a few raucous cries to the assembled birds. The birds replied in shrieking cries and launched themselves towards the ramparts, rising up and then plunging through the air. The elementals on the other side of the barricades let out shouts of alarm. “Shit, she’s here—it has to be her. Get everyone out!” Dylan closed his eyes and pulled all of the water energy that he could towards himself. He couldn’t do much in the arid atmosphere, but he could at least try to do something. 
    Dylan felt the wind around him rising; he gathered the faint traces of water he could and opened his eyes to grab for Aira’s hand. “Think we can bring on a storm?” he yelled