Read Online The Elementals by Annalynne Thorne - Free Book Online Page B

possible, tip toeing through the house, Terra took the car. Hating the loud noise the engine made, she drove to an offside dirt road a good five miles from the house. On either side of her were yards of yellow grass, the changing of the weather stripping it of its green color. In the distance she could see houses, statuesque against the light hue of the sky.
                She parked to the side and killed the engine with the turn of her key. She jerked the handle at the bottom of her seat and laid back pulling her cell phone out of her jean pocket. She set the timer for her to pick up Marissa and then she pitched it to the dashboard.
                Wiping the strands from her forehead, she truly relaxed, the tense muscles in her back and shoulders unwinding. Sleep was immediate.

                A large metal pot hung on a hook over a fire. Dangling, the water inside sloshed and spilled over, the fire hissing in anger, the water boiling in retribution. Bubbles built in climax popping.
                A candle in a tall votive flickering with life, licking the air. The cover came down by an invisible hand and the small fire shrunk, attempting to re-spark, to survive, but it died, curling smoke in its place filling the top in an illusion of fog on the glass.
                Grass, a sea of it, swaying in the breeze. Dirt, rock, worms, dirt, and more dirt. Further and further down... Fire.
                Blackness. A ticking. Ticking... Tick... Tick... Tick...
                "Terra..."
                Tick... Tick... Bang!
             
               “Terra!”
               Wheezing, she shot up, her hands seizing the wheel, her hair flying over her face.
                "Terra?"
                Out of the window was Bryne, lowering his fist from the window. It seemed as though he tried to smile kindly, but if he was, it was pretty terrible and unpracticed. Hadn't he ever been a child? At least he was dressed in jeans and a wrinkled button up plaid shirt.
                She motioned for him to come in and he did, heaving himself into the seat, his knees hitting the dashboard. Grumbling incoherently but probably curse words he slid the seat back releasing his cramped legs.
                "So," he finally said. "You're the ring leader."
                "What?"
                "I told Mari to get you all to leave the state, or at least the country, but oh no, you're still here."
                "What's your problem, Bryne? Why do you want us to leave so badly?"
                "Think about your life, flower child. Has anything bad ever happened to any of you?"
                "Yeah…”
                "Death, grief…”
                "My parents are dead. Era was an orphan."
                There was sympathy, for a second, but then his eyes were guarded once more. "Continuously," he corrected.
                She thought, but nothing came to mind. "No..."
                "That's right, because the danger is with me. My parents died, my brother died, and now my grandmother is dying. I have scars over my back to remind me not to cross the line. I'm risking everything to talk with you right now. Your sister pushed it farther than it should've ever gone last night. Stay away from here."
                "We can help you. Together as four we're stronger. Did Marissa tell…."
                "She told me everything, the prophet, the elements, everything. Listen." Bryne grimaced, "please. You have to move. It's for your own safety. As long as we're apart it will not harm you. I swear on my families graves that it won't."
                "Why?" Terra asked as she touched his shoulder. It felt as though he was running a temperature, but she held on. "Because it's here with you? It's hurting you, isn't it?