Forgotten Elements

After they filled us in on what happened and we explained how we severed the ties, we met Ander, Starling, and Ari at the base of the volcano. Ander had Ari in his arms, but at least she was awake. She was still pretty out of it, and when she tried speaking, it was incoherent mumbles.

“We should get back to our realm; she needs a healer,” Koa said, rubbing Jade’s back in a comforting gesture.

When we returned to the field, the glowing rift was there once again. I gave the field full of vibrant grass one last glance before I left the realm behind for good. I didn’t care that I was leaving the rite of passage early or that I hadn’t completed it. If I never saw this realm again, I would be more than okay. It was still a beautiful realm, the elements easy to tap into, and I’d never felt stronger or more in control of my magic. But this stunning land was now tainted in my mind, and all I could picture were the dead bodies.

Parker had gone through the rift before me and was there to catch me when my legs gave out, as what little strength I had fled my body. Our realm was filled to the brim with magic, but even so, the loss of the connection to the Land of plenty had my body feeling weak. Even Reed and Magnus were feeling the effects.

Gemini and Alora stood off to the side, out of the way. Gemini held Alora’s upper arm, keeping her in place, and was standing so she was partially in front of her. As soon as my gaze landed on the four figures standing at the entrance to the clearing, I finally understood why.

All of the kings and queens of the elemental courts were here. Sky, Blossom, and Ember were dressed the part, with the women wearing flowing dresses that showcased the elements they favored. Ember’s dress had flames on the hem, the warm color complementing her dark skin tone. Blossom’s dress was floral print, with vivid colors. Caspian was the only one dressed casually, his hand resting in the pockets of his jeans. While he might not wear clothes you’d expect from a king, he exuded the strength and an aura of power that told you exactly what he was.

Once upon a time, I would’ve been drooling at the sight of him, but that was no longer the case. He was still undeniably gorgeous, but he no longer held my attention as he once had, not with Parker standing next to me with his arm wrapped around my waist.

I turned my head and pressed my face against Parker’s chest as I held back my groan. The last thing I wanted to do was explain everything that happened or deal with Sky’s wrath as soon as he found out we killed one of his advisers. I had a feeling he wouldn’t care that the asshole deserved it.

“Is the problem dealt with?” Blossom asked, her voice musical and lilting.

“Yes, my queen,” Magnus said, inclining his head. He kept his shoulders back and his head held high, despite his weary expression and heavy breaths.

“My advisor?” Sky demanded, his tone strident and lacking any warmth. He could’ve been classified as handsome if he didn’t seem to have a permanent scowl on his face. His deep copper skin made his blonde hair appear even lighter, and his light blue eyes stood out, drawing your attention straight to them. Too bad this man’s awful personality was the biggest turn-off of all time.

“He was tethering—” Wyatt trailed off, frowning as he tried to think of a name for our elemental-turned-monster.

“Acheron.” While Magnus’ voice had been void of emotion, I swore I could see a hint of sadness in his eyes. He’d known Acheron. It was the only explanation I could think of. Killing him seemed to affect the older elemental, and even though he hid it well, I could see it weighing him down. Even though Acheron had become a monster and did horrible things, I imagined it was hard to kill someone you once knew.

“He was tethering Acheron to the realm and aided him in his spell,” Wyatt said, crossing his arms and widening his stance as if he were preparing for battle, or to weather a storm. His tone held the authority of someone who grew up in a royal family and could’ve easily become Emperor. “He worked in tandem with groups of necromancer’s creatures and abducted Mythics. Two of them were killed as sacrifices for the spell, along with nearly all the elementals from the retreat. Should Acheron spell have succeeded, the realm would’ve crumbled, and all the elementals living there would’ve died.”

He was referring to the two elementals that had survived casting Acheron from the realm. Acheron killed them before we arrived on the island. Their deaths were the catalysts that put all of his spells into motion and would’ve made a poetic revenge if he’d succeeded.

“Were they—” Blossom began, her hazel eyes widening when Magnus nodded.

“That’s preposterous.”

“No, it’s not,” Caspian said before Sky could say anything else. His words were soft, but our focus shifted to him nonetheless. He stroked his jaw as his gaze quickly scanned over our group. “Once I heard about the possibility of something coming from the empty space, I went to the bridge between the Convergence point and the Crescent Moon district. The scar from the attempted rift is now healed, but Neven took advantage of it while it was still healing. He did a good job at hiding the spell and his presence. Had I not been looking, I would’ve never found it.”

“Preposterous,” Sky repeated. Jade once had made a comment about how he acted like he had a giant stick up his ass, and that comment was never a more accurate description than right now.

“This guy needs to learn a new fucking word,” Jade muttered, but Sky still heard, his gaze shooting to her.

“We’ll explain everything,” Parker quickly said before Sky could say anything as Koa shifted in front of Jade, attempting to pull Sky’s attention from her. “But a few of us need to see a healer. I can tell you everything you need to know, as I was there for his death.”

Sky opened his mouth, most likely to refuse when Caspian said, “I think that is more than fair.”

While Sky looked downright pissy and ready to throw a temper tantrum, the queens agreed.

I clutched Parker’s arm, feeling a spike of panic at the thought of him getting in trouble for his part in helping kill Neven. I needed to remain with him to make sure nothing happened to him, and I opened my mouth to say so, but he beat me to it. “I’ll be fine,” he murmured, looking down at me as his thumb brushed over my cheek.

I shook my head, ready to tell him I wouldn’t leave him to deal with this alone, but he cut me off for a second time. “Your energy is so low your arms haven’t healed, and you can barely stand. This meeting will most likely be long and boring.”

When I opened my mouth to voice my many arguments, he pressed his lips against mine, silencing my protests. All thoughts on why I needed to remain here fled from my mind as I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back. Before I had my fill of him, he pulled away and met my gaze.

“That was a dirty move,” I murmured, my lips tingling from the kiss. A grin lit up his face and had my core clenching.

“I’ll feel better knowing you’re home, safe and resting.”

My instinct was to argue with him and insist I was fine, but he wasn’t wrong. I was exhausted, and all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep for several days. I let out a long and tired sigh as I dropped my forehead to his chest. “Fine, but only because I’m tired. Not because you told me to.”

His low chuckle as he wrapped his arms around me had a small smile lifting my lips as I glanced up at him.

I overheard the others discussing who should stay and who should go. Obviously, Gemini would leave, not only because she’d be the one to heal Ari but because she hadn’t been in the realm. Alora would also join her in an attempt to keep her under the radar. We didn’t need to put her in Sky’s cross-hairs. Ander won the argument with Starling, and I once again wondered what was going on with them. He’s always been overprotective, but recently, it was like he kicked it up a couple of notches. Clearly, I had missed something while I was away.

Koa was currently trying to get Jade to join us. “Why am I noticing a pattern that only the women are the ones being sent away?” Jade asked, crossing her arms and cocking her head to the side as she stared up at him.

“Don’t you want to stay with your sister to make sure she is okay?”

Damn, that was a dirty move on Koa’s part, using Jade’s sisterly loyalty to get her to do what he wanted.

Jade’s indecision was clear in her expression as she glanced between Ari and Koa, gnawing on her bottom lip. Ari and Jade have always been close, and I knew she must’ve been terrified when she found out Ari was missing. But she also loved her mate and didn’t want to leave him behind to deal with this mess and possible repercussions alone.

Koa let out a small sigh as he stepped closer and cupped Jade’s face, his voice dropping to a whisper. “You’re not choosing between either of us. I promise we’ll be fine; the dangerous part is over.”

My focus drifted to Ari, where she was now resting a hand against Rowan’s back. I hadn’t seen the spirit familiar up until now, but I shouldn’t have been surprised she was here or that she’d been hidden up until now. Jade had left Rowan behind to help protect Alora. Not only would Rowan remain close to Alora because Jade asked her to, but because she’d become protective of the necromancer. Over this past year, she took it upon herself to keep everyone in our household safe.

“Make sure you don’t create a portal until you’re out of the village,” Sky all but snapped at us, even though this wasn’t his territory. Blossom’s head snapped toward him, and it was clear she wasn’t happy about him overstepping, but she let it go.

I could visibly see Jade struggling not to make a smart-ass comment back, so I hooked my arm through hers. I’d rather not test the limits of Jade’s self-control and tugged her alongside me, following the dirt pathway. With how pissy Sky was acting, we shouldn’t risk pissing him off further.

Since Alora and Gemini weren’t drained like the rest of us, they propped Ari up between them and helped her stay upright.

I hadn’t been tortured—like I assumed Ari was—but even I was struggling with the knowledge that this was at least a fifteen-minute walk to the edge of the village. I couldn’t wait to get home, take a nice long bath, and fall into a deep sleep.