other road out. It was just a tiny strip of dirt, too small for the Bronco. Even the Mustang barely fit. I pushed a button on my phone, and Mac answered immediately.
“Yes?”
“One step ahead, big guy,” I said, enjoying the cocky tone I heard in my own voice. “We’re always gonna be one step ahead. Let us know when you’re ready to talk.” With that, I hung up, confident I’d gotten the last word this time.
CHAPTER 5
“I don’t care if you duct tape him and trap him in the house. Simon stays.” I whispered, but my vehemence was perfectly clear.
Sera adjusted her position, giving herself a slightly better view of the room below. “Is this because of how much you’ve come to appreciate his company?”
I felt myself slipping and clutched the tiles more tightly. “What other reason could I have?” Cautiously, I inched forward. My body scraped across the tiles, and I winced, certain those below could hear. A moment passed, and then another, but no one looked upwards to find two elementals gazing curiously through the skylight.
“For the record, this wasn’t on the bucket list.” She was smiling, though, and it seemed likely she was rewriting the list to include “climb stranger’s roof for the hell of it” even as we spoke.
“Spying on a bored housewife because she might have some connection to a missing teenage bear shifter? I can’t imagine why not.” The object of our pursuit sat below us, reclining elegantly in a white armchair and surrounded by several more women on equally white sofas. They all held copies of the same book on their lap. “Let’s agree that, no matter what happens from here, we never admit we successfully ditched Mac only to observe a book club meeting in a planned community outside Reno.”
“Hell, let’s agree to never admit to being in a planned community and call it good.”
I nodded my enthusiastic agreement. “And agree to drug Simon, lock him in the closet, and leave all future roof-climbing expeditions to him.”
“I’m in. Our karma’s solid these days. I’m pretty sure we’re due at least one excessive display of power.”
Any retort I might have made died on my lips. My karma might be somewhat more flawed than Sera’s, given the bodies I’d left in my wake. Even the memory of those deaths was enough to cause something in my core to stir. I felt it stretch and grin, that fiery side of myself. It was eager, and it wanted an outlet.
Several deep breaths later, I forced it down and mentally locked it away, scared of how easily it kept springing to life. I reached for the only magic I wanted to call my own, looking for the water that defined me. There was less of it in the air here than in Tahoe, but I still found enough.
Sera watched the entire process, obviously drawing her own, accurate conclusions about my sudden distraction. “You with me?” she asked.
I blew out a gust of air, imagining the tension leaving my body with it. It was a technique Vivian had taught me, and while most of the time it felt like New Age nonsense, it still beat exercise.
“I’m here.”
She nodded, watching me carefully. “He might be wrong, you know. Or lying. You must have considered it, cause I have.”
She meant Josiah, the man so certain I was a ticking time bomb. “Of course. You think that wasn’t my first impulse? Life would be so simple if he were just lying. But it’s him, and my mother, and Brian and Trent Pond. More than any of that, there’s me. I don’t know how to explain it, but something’s changed since I discovered my fire side. All the time, I feel a little unbalanced. Something is a tiny bit off, and I don’t know how to fix it.”
Her face was thoughtful. She believed me, but she wasn’t giving up, not yet.
“Tell me, what’s it like?” I asked. “Accessing fire, I mean. I find physical water and talk to it, manipulate it. There’s no fire around right now, but you could still burn down this entire neighborhood.”
She sat up
“Yes?”
“One step ahead, big guy,” I said, enjoying the cocky tone I heard in my own voice. “We’re always gonna be one step ahead. Let us know when you’re ready to talk.” With that, I hung up, confident I’d gotten the last word this time.
CHAPTER 5
“I don’t care if you duct tape him and trap him in the house. Simon stays.” I whispered, but my vehemence was perfectly clear.
Sera adjusted her position, giving herself a slightly better view of the room below. “Is this because of how much you’ve come to appreciate his company?”
I felt myself slipping and clutched the tiles more tightly. “What other reason could I have?” Cautiously, I inched forward. My body scraped across the tiles, and I winced, certain those below could hear. A moment passed, and then another, but no one looked upwards to find two elementals gazing curiously through the skylight.
“For the record, this wasn’t on the bucket list.” She was smiling, though, and it seemed likely she was rewriting the list to include “climb stranger’s roof for the hell of it” even as we spoke.
“Spying on a bored housewife because she might have some connection to a missing teenage bear shifter? I can’t imagine why not.” The object of our pursuit sat below us, reclining elegantly in a white armchair and surrounded by several more women on equally white sofas. They all held copies of the same book on their lap. “Let’s agree that, no matter what happens from here, we never admit we successfully ditched Mac only to observe a book club meeting in a planned community outside Reno.”
“Hell, let’s agree to never admit to being in a planned community and call it good.”
I nodded my enthusiastic agreement. “And agree to drug Simon, lock him in the closet, and leave all future roof-climbing expeditions to him.”
“I’m in. Our karma’s solid these days. I’m pretty sure we’re due at least one excessive display of power.”
Any retort I might have made died on my lips. My karma might be somewhat more flawed than Sera’s, given the bodies I’d left in my wake. Even the memory of those deaths was enough to cause something in my core to stir. I felt it stretch and grin, that fiery side of myself. It was eager, and it wanted an outlet.
Several deep breaths later, I forced it down and mentally locked it away, scared of how easily it kept springing to life. I reached for the only magic I wanted to call my own, looking for the water that defined me. There was less of it in the air here than in Tahoe, but I still found enough.
Sera watched the entire process, obviously drawing her own, accurate conclusions about my sudden distraction. “You with me?” she asked.
I blew out a gust of air, imagining the tension leaving my body with it. It was a technique Vivian had taught me, and while most of the time it felt like New Age nonsense, it still beat exercise.
“I’m here.”
She nodded, watching me carefully. “He might be wrong, you know. Or lying. You must have considered it, cause I have.”
She meant Josiah, the man so certain I was a ticking time bomb. “Of course. You think that wasn’t my first impulse? Life would be so simple if he were just lying. But it’s him, and my mother, and Brian and Trent Pond. More than any of that, there’s me. I don’t know how to explain it, but something’s changed since I discovered my fire side. All the time, I feel a little unbalanced. Something is a tiny bit off, and I don’t know how to fix it.”
Her face was thoughtful. She believed me, but she wasn’t giving up, not yet.
“Tell me, what’s it like?” I asked. “Accessing fire, I mean. I find physical water and talk to it, manipulate it. There’s no fire around right now, but you could still burn down this entire neighborhood.”
She sat up
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