Page 32 of The Lost Elemental

I shrugged. “He deserved it.”

“I don’t doubt that. Just know that as hard as Riven can be on others, he’s ten times harder on himself.”

I studied the man across from me, tempted to ask more about why Riven was the way he was. But I bit my tongue. At the moment, I didn’t want to feel sympathy for the prickish prince of air.

Instead, I focused on more urgent matters. “What do you think happened with my binding?”

Quincy set his mug down on the table and leaned back in his chair. “I’m not entirely sure.”

It wasn’t a complete lie, not that I could tell. But there was something he wasn’t sharing. “What’s your best guess?”

He studied me for a moment, as if he was trying to decide if I was worthy of the truth. “There are two likely options. One, your binding spell has broken down over time for one reason or another.”

“Two?” I asked.

Quincy lifted his hand and air swirled around the outside of the room. Some part of me knew he was blocking out any listening ears. His gaze locked with mine. “I’ve read of something before. A second binding put in place to shield those with great power from being discovered.”

My hand stilled on Patch’s fur. “Discovered?”

“Some are threatened by those with powerful gifts. Some want to use those gifts for their own gain. Young elementals can’t protect themselves when that strength is discovered too early.”

“But that second binding…it would have to be done after birth, right?”

Quincy nodded slowly. “It could be done at any age, but it would likely take a while for anyone to realize that power was manifesting. Which means you would’ve had an elemental in your life. One who was protecting you.”

18

“Where have you been?”

Kerry’s voice burst through our dorm room as I stepped inside.

I let my bag fall to the floor and flopped onto my bed. “Day from hell,” I mumbled into my pillow.

“There’s no way it was the day from hell if you sat with the freaking royals at lunch. The whole school is talking about it.”

I groaned, pushing my face deeper into the pillow. Great. Just great.

“Tell me everything.”

I rolled over onto my back, staring at the ceiling. “There’s really not much to tell. I sat where I shouldn’t have, and Kai made me stay.”

Kerry bounced on her mattress. “That’s not what I heard. I heard that Kai and Phoenix fought for you to sit there. And Atlas was whispering in your ear.”

“I think fought is too strong a word.”

She raised a brow. “Kai and Phoenix voted for you, didn’t they?”

How the hell did everyone know so damn much about the inner workings of my lunch hour? “Do they have bugs in the tables or something? Hidden cameras?”

Kerry grinned like a cat who just got the canary. “I’ve never heard Phoenix take up for anyone but the royals. And Atlas—he barely talks to anyone at all.”

There was a prickle of something under my skin at what sounded a little like judgment.

She sighed, flopping back on her bed. “Honestly, they both terrify me a little. Atlas could crush you like a bug, and Phoenix would slit someone’s throat for looking at him the wrong way.”

I stiffened, turning to face Kerry. “Metaphorically?”

She grimaced. “I heard he caught a guy about to take advantage of a woman in his kingdom. He burned the guy alive. And made it as slow as possible.”