Page 6 of The Lost Elemental

I couldn’t hold in my laughter.

Lainey burst around the corner. “Crap! Aura! I thought you were right behind me. What happened?” Her eyes flicked to the guys down the hall, widening. “Did you start a hottie harem without me?”

There was such betrayal in her voice I couldn’t help but smile. “Trust me when I say you don’t want either of them in your hottie harem.”

She pouted. “Why do all the pretty ones have to be jerks?”

I wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I think it’s written in the heavens or something. The prettier the face, the more trouble they are.”

Lainey snorted, squeezing my waist. “Then the heavens better prepare me for trouble.”

4

I shifted in my seat and glared at Lainey. “Did you really need front-row center?”

She twisted one of her black locks around her finger as she blew a kiss to one of the elemental guards lining the stage. “I didn’t want to miss our shot.”

“It’s required for everyone to be tested,” I said with an exasperated sigh.

The requirement had started the moment humans and elementals had begun mixing. Every elemental’s powers were automatically bound in utero. It was a self-protection thing for the mother even if she had no idea she was carrying a tiny terror. The last thing evolution wanted was an infant creating a tornado because they hadn’t gotten their bottle fast enough.

Now anyone with any real measure of elemental power was sent to one of the academies after high school. They were tested and trained, and eventually their powers were unbound. It was a safety precaution after a twenty-one-year-old had accidentally set an entire building on fire because she had no idea she was an elemental.

Hence the testing of every single graduating senior and even those who had dropped out. I’d heard that the guard stalked down anyone who didn’t show up and weren’t too kind about hauling them in.

Heat flared on the side of my face. I lifted my gaze, searching out the source. My eyes locked with those glacial blue ones. They were even more frigid than they’d been an hour ago. I guessed a shot to the balls did that to a guy.

Riven’s face was a completely blank mask. The only life was in those eyes. Even if that life was coming out in the form of hatred. I couldn’t help it, I stuck my tongue out at him.

There was a flicker of movement next to Riven as Kai did his best to contain his laughter. The way his eyes crinkled told me he did it often. But there was something else humming just below the surface, something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

Kai’s gaze locked with mine, those swirling blue-green orbs drawing me in. He winked at me. I scowled. I hated the air of cocky flirt when I knew there was true kindness beneath the exterior. It was as if he wore the flirty demeanor as armor and I couldn’t help but wonder why.

“Do you know him?”

I jerked at the voice, turning in my chair. I fought a groan as the perfectly coiffed girl I’d seen in line earlier filled my vision. “Who?” Opting for playing dumb seemed like my best option.

Her eyes narrowed on me. “You know who. Kai.”

I had such a visceral reaction to his name on her lips. The urge to rip her tongue right out of her damned mouth. I shook my head, trying to clear it. “No, I don’t know anyone on that stage.”

Relief passed over the brunette girl’s features.

“Told you, Drue,” one of her friends chimed in.

Drue lifted her hand, using the little air gift she was able to access through the binding spell to brush her brunette curls over her shoulder. “Of course, she wouldn’t. She’s clearly human.”

“Nice parlor trick,” I muttered, turning back around.

The girls gasped.

A faint wind brushed against me, making me shiver as Drue leaned forward. “It won’t just be a parlor trick for long. I’d watch your back, human.”

She said it like human was a dirty word. Only she didn’t realize that there was no shame for me in the moniker. The fragility of my humanity only made me appreciate every moment.

A woman in an expertly tailored suit stepped forward, raising her hands for quiet. “Welcome to The Revealing. I’m Marjorie Sinclair, the dean of Kingwood Academy. I know you’re all anxious to get started. We’ll move through everyone as quickly as possible, but it’s important we investigate everyone fully.”

As I looked around the room, I was suddenly glad Lainey had pushed us into the first row. The people who were in the back would be here all day. At least we’d be in and out after the dozen or so people in front of us.