Page 27 of The Lost Elemental

As my eyes met his, he instantly released me. “Are you all right?”

A laugh bubbled out of me. “All right? Let’s see. I had no idea I was an elemental until approximately twenty-four hours ago. I made the power at the testing go boom. This school has some seriously murderous bitches. I have no idea what I’m doing. And your prince of air is a serious asshole.”

My chest heaved as I finished my tirade.

Those hazel eyes danced with amusement. “Feel better?”

“You know? I think I do.” My cheeks heated. “Sorry to unload on you. And run into you.” I patted a wet spot on his abs where I’d collided with him. As soon as my hand rested on the defined muscle, a buzz reverberated in my palm. It had to be my magic reacting with other elementals.

I pulled my hand away. “Sorry for that too.”

He shrugged. “It’s just a little water. I’m sorry it’s been a rough few days.”

The guy’s voice was deep, fitting his massive form, but there was something incredibly gentle about it too. I had the most bizarre urge to climb into his arms and dissolve into tears. I shook my head, trying to clear the image. “It’ll be okay. It has to be, right?”

His mouth thinned. “I can fix one thing at least.”

“You can murder the prince of air?” I shouldn’t say things like that, I could probably get beheaded or something.

A bark of laughter escaped the giant. “There are times I’d like to, but that wasn’t what I meant.” He held up his hand. “May I?”

“May you what? Snap my neck? Because I’m pretty sure you could do that with your little pinky.”

His face closed down in an instant, and he jerked his hand back. My heart stuttered in my chest. Shit. I’d said something wrong. I reached out on instinct, grabbing his hand. “I’m sorry. I was joking—”

As our fingers touched, the ground rumbled beneath us. My eyes widened as I held on. After a moment, the rumbling stopped. “Why does no one warn me about the stuff I need to know? Earthquakes?”

The giant stared down at our joined hands. “Not usually.”

I released my hold on him. “Sorry for grabbing you and for the bad joke and for—”

His large hand patted my shoulder. “It’s okay. I was going to offer to dry your clothes. But not everyone likes me touching them.”

Endless questions filled my mind, but the hurt in those hazel eyes made me silence them all. “Dry clothes would be great.”

The giant’s mouth curved. “All right.”

His hand hovered just shy of touching me. A moment later, warm air circled my body. It was like being in the world’s most soothing wind tunnel. A buzz rose up everywhere the air touched, his magic reacting to mine.

A few seconds later it all died away. I missed it the second it was gone. It was the most comfort I’d felt in the past twenty-four hours. Probably longer.

My eyes burned. “Thank you. For being kind. For helping.”

The giant’s face softened. “If you ever need anything, come find me. I’m Atlas.”

“I’m Aura. Also known as the hot mess express.”

He chuckled and I wanted to roll around in the sound. “I don’t think you’re a hot mess. Just having a hard day.”

I heard the faint ringing of a bell. My head jerked in the direction of the academic building. “Crap on a cracker.” I was going to be late for my second ever class at Kingwood.

15

I followed the sea of students towards Winthrop Hall, the main building on the Kingwood campus. I tried my best to keep my gaze unfocused on the backs in front of me, but I didn’t miss the whispers swirling.

Air class had been a disaster. I hadn’t been able to get even a flicker to pass my fingertips. And Professor Caelyx, who headed up that class, had been far from encouraging. He’d simply sniffed and turned his attention to other students.

How the hell was I supposed to improve if I didn’t have any help?