Read Online elemental 08 - elements of war by Larissa Ladd - Free Book Online
Authors: Larissa Ladd
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the only dry chair in the room—somehow preserved against the downpour that had started outside and then came into the apartment itself. “You just totally wet yourself.” Dylan rolled his eyes and glanced at Aira. His sense of humor finally came around to assert itself.
“Well,” he said, smiling wryly as he took in the sight of Aira drenched from head to toe. “You can’t say Aira and I have no chemistry anymore, Aiden. I totally just got her wet.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
AIRA STARED THROUGH THE WINDOW as the car sped down the road, lost in thought. She took a deep breath and exhaled, forcing herself to relax. She was more than a little concerned about the battle coming up—in spite of doing their due diligence on gathering information about Hestia and Aidan’s safe house operation, she couldn’t help but feel like they were missing a key component. There was also the added complication of Leigh in their midst. For all that the earth elemental had been forthcoming, honest—even helpful in their investigations, Aira was still trying to decide just how she felt about the woman, and how she would fit into their merry band of bounty hunters.
She had consulted her cards the day before, while Leigh had been working to track the renegade elementals in their mountain fortress; without any design, without any particular aim, Aira had laid the cards out, a dozen questions swirling around in her head. Of course, she thought wryly, it always worked better when she had a specific question in mind, somewhere to direct the air-based intuition she had inherited. The results had been predictably jumbled.
When the first card she pulled and placed was the Wheel of Fortune, Aira had nearly called it a wash. Of course things are changing, she had thought angrily in the cards’ direction. You’re supposed to be telling me something I don’t know. The queen of pentacles pointed to Leigh—with several cards surrounding it indicating danger, though whether to or from the elemental was unclear. The Moon card represented Dylan, coming into his abilities, reinforced by the King of Cups; he was surrounded by choices—and Aira hadn’t been able to quite suppress the grin that twitched at her lips at the presence of the Lovers card appearing in his end of the spread.
Overall, things were—not bleak, but uncertain. The cards told her that hidden forces were at work, hidden plans brewing; where she looked to find out more about the situation with the earth and fire elementals working against them, she saw The Chariot—indicating the intent direction of their plans, along with Death, Judgment, and The Tower. There were things she couldn’t see, things she couldn’t make plans around. Something about that—her failure to perfectly read the situation, and Dylan’s later failure to glean anything from his scrying bowl—made her edgy. She didn’t want to run up against any surprises, but she knew there was no way around it. No matter how many times she cast the cards, there was never a hint at what she should expect, only danger, coming judgment, the potential—but not the promise—of justice. Everything hinged on what happened next.
“Okay, we’re almost to the mountain,” Aiden announced next to her. Aira stretched and took another deep breath, tearing her gaze away from the flowing scenery to look back at the two other members of their team. She would have preferred for them to all go in together; their alignments combined, they would be formidable. Aira could understand Aiden’s thought process—Leigh and Dylan were both better-suited to breaking down the fortifications that the earth and fire elementals they were up against would have established, while she and Aiden were better for aggressive counter-action. “We’ll stop a couple of miles short of the safe house.”
“You don’t think they’ll have people out in the woods?” Leigh, small and lithe, looked as if she could easily enjoy getting
“Well,” he said, smiling wryly as he took in the sight of Aira drenched from head to toe. “You can’t say Aira and I have no chemistry anymore, Aiden. I totally just got her wet.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
AIRA STARED THROUGH THE WINDOW as the car sped down the road, lost in thought. She took a deep breath and exhaled, forcing herself to relax. She was more than a little concerned about the battle coming up—in spite of doing their due diligence on gathering information about Hestia and Aidan’s safe house operation, she couldn’t help but feel like they were missing a key component. There was also the added complication of Leigh in their midst. For all that the earth elemental had been forthcoming, honest—even helpful in their investigations, Aira was still trying to decide just how she felt about the woman, and how she would fit into their merry band of bounty hunters.
She had consulted her cards the day before, while Leigh had been working to track the renegade elementals in their mountain fortress; without any design, without any particular aim, Aira had laid the cards out, a dozen questions swirling around in her head. Of course, she thought wryly, it always worked better when she had a specific question in mind, somewhere to direct the air-based intuition she had inherited. The results had been predictably jumbled.
When the first card she pulled and placed was the Wheel of Fortune, Aira had nearly called it a wash. Of course things are changing, she had thought angrily in the cards’ direction. You’re supposed to be telling me something I don’t know. The queen of pentacles pointed to Leigh—with several cards surrounding it indicating danger, though whether to or from the elemental was unclear. The Moon card represented Dylan, coming into his abilities, reinforced by the King of Cups; he was surrounded by choices—and Aira hadn’t been able to quite suppress the grin that twitched at her lips at the presence of the Lovers card appearing in his end of the spread.
Overall, things were—not bleak, but uncertain. The cards told her that hidden forces were at work, hidden plans brewing; where she looked to find out more about the situation with the earth and fire elementals working against them, she saw The Chariot—indicating the intent direction of their plans, along with Death, Judgment, and The Tower. There were things she couldn’t see, things she couldn’t make plans around. Something about that—her failure to perfectly read the situation, and Dylan’s later failure to glean anything from his scrying bowl—made her edgy. She didn’t want to run up against any surprises, but she knew there was no way around it. No matter how many times she cast the cards, there was never a hint at what she should expect, only danger, coming judgment, the potential—but not the promise—of justice. Everything hinged on what happened next.
“Okay, we’re almost to the mountain,” Aiden announced next to her. Aira stretched and took another deep breath, tearing her gaze away from the flowing scenery to look back at the two other members of their team. She would have preferred for them to all go in together; their alignments combined, they would be formidable. Aira could understand Aiden’s thought process—Leigh and Dylan were both better-suited to breaking down the fortifications that the earth and fire elementals they were up against would have established, while she and Aiden were better for aggressive counter-action. “We’ll stop a couple of miles short of the safe house.”
“You don’t think they’ll have people out in the woods?” Leigh, small and lithe, looked as if she could easily enjoy getting
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