Page 21 of The Lost Elemental

Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I moved without considering the wisdom of it. My bare feet padded along the dark hardwood as I slipped out of my room.

My lungs burned as I struggled to remember which direction the stairwell was. I went left, hoping I was right. A frisson of relief trickled through me as I caught sight of the back stairs. Voices sounded from below.

No. I couldn’t see anyone. Not like this. I couldn’t give a single soul a chance to see this level of weakness in me.

I darted up the stairs instead of down, praying there would be some sort of escape at the end of my path. My fingertips tingled, the telltale sign I only had moments before I’d pass out. I pushed my muscles harder. Everything was on fire. It only made the panic set in harder, my body unable to differentiate between memory and reality.

A door came into view, and I hit it full force. It broke open onto a roof. The cool night air slammed into me with a welcome jolt, the drop in temperature taking off the slightest bit of my feral edge.

I dragged the air into my lungs in ragged breaths. I wanted to keel over, but I knew folding in on myself would only kick the panic up again. Instead, I threw my head back, staring at the sky.

Stars glittered more brightly than I had ever seen. Like little gemstones scattered across the sky. I tried to count them. To give my brain something to focus on other than the horror haunting me.

One. Two. Three. Four.

There were so many, I lost track after twenty-seven, but the exercise had already done the trick. My breathing had calmed, my pulse slowed. It was then I realized tears streamed down my face. I made no move to stop them or wipe them away. I simply let them flow.

I needed this outlet. If I didn’t let the overload of emotion free sometime, it would surely drown me. And I didn’t have the luxury of letting it out anywhere else around here.

The tears tracked down my face, falling from my chin and jaw, landing on the roof. I let it all go. The anger, the fear, the grief. I cried for Charlie and Mom. For everything we’d been through. For everything that still lay ahead. I cried for all the unknowns that circled around me. For the armor I’d have to don tomorrow.

My fingers stroked the burn on the inside of my arm. That soothing comfort. The one that reminded me I’d made it through hell before. I could make it through this too.

With each pass of my fingers over the raised skin, my crying eased. Finally, it ceased altogether. But there was still a gaping hole in my chest.

A flicker of movement had my head jerking to the right. “Who’s there?”

The shadows shifted. It was so dark I wasn’t even sure it was a person I was seeing. It moved the way the smoke did, stalking forward in long, languid swirls. I bit the inside of my cheek, struggling to keep myself from bolting.

A figure melted out of the shadows, but it was as if some still clung to him, circling his legs and arms. I swallowed hard as I took him in. Broad shoulders and a hulking frame. Muscular arms covered in intricate tattoos. Dark hair buzzed close to his head. A jaw and cheekbones so sharp they could’ve cut glass.

But his eyes.

Those eyes were so dark there wasn’t a color to describe them. They were only the absence of light. And I knew instantly they were assessing me for every weakness I had.

I could only imagine how many they found. That thought had anger surging through me. I couldn’t have one moment alone to fall apart? Not a split second to let my guard down?

I glared at the guy across from me. “You could’ve told me I wasn’t alone.”

The only hint of a reaction was a slight lift to one of his brows. “You’re the one who invaded my spot.”

His voice was liquid smoke. As if he’d had a pack-a-day habit since he was five.

My back teeth ground together. “Do you own this roof?”

A flicker of amusement lit in those fathomless eyes. “As far as you’re concerned, I do.”

“What is it with pompous pricks at this school?”

A husky chuckle passed through the dark. “Maybe we just don’t like when our one moment of solitude is interrupted by a clueless girl in the middle of a nervous breakdown.”

I bit back the retort that wanted to fly from my lips because he had one point. He’d been here first. Likely trying to escape the same way I was. The fight went out of me on a single breath. “I’m sorry I intruded.” I turned to head back for the door.

“Wait.”

There was a command so strong in that one word I had no choice but to halt in my tracks.

“Stay.”