Page 52 of The Lost Elemental

Charlie shrugged. “I dunno. She said she had to go out for a little bit.” He worried his bottom lip. “I heard her talking to someone on the phone about a binding.”

I stiffened on the bed, my gaze jumping to Atlas’s. “What did she say?”

“Just that they needed to talk about the binding. I didn’t hear anything else.”

My stomach cramped. More lies. And why? It wasn’t as if the elementals here weren’t going to find out about my level of power. I needed to talk to her, but I doubted I’d get the truth out of her over the phone.

A note slipped under the door of my dorm, and my eyes widened a fraction. Atlas caught the movement and rose to get the piece of paper.

“C-man, I gotta go, but I’ll call you again as soon as I can, okay?”

“Remember absolutely everything. I want to hear it all.”

I gave him a forced smile. “You got it, bud. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

I hit end on the screen and met Atlas’s stare. Rage pulsed around him as he gripped the note.

“What. The. Fuck. Is. This?”

29

“I’m guessing by the look on your face, it’s not a love note.” I pushed off my bed and peeked around Atlas’s large form.

You aren’t heeding my warning. Guess it’s time for you to find out what happens to mutts who don’t know their place.

How charming. I didn’t let the shiver fighting to surface cascade through me. If someone truly wanted to hurt me, they would’ve done it already.

Atlas’s nostrils flared. “Is this the first note?”

“Second. The first one was just as welcoming.”

He struggled to get his breathing under control. “Why the hell didn’t you say anything?”

I blinked up at him. “Why would I?”

“Why would you? Because someone’s threatening you.”

“And what are you going to do about it? Play bodyguard twenty-four seven? It’s someone who’s trying to scare me into leaving. But that’s not going to happen because I have zero desire to get dead. I’m going to stick it out in this miserable place with really delicious food and learn how to control my gifts.” I sucked in air at the end of my tirade.

Atlas stared at me for a moment and then grabbed my hand, tugging me out of the room.

“Where are we going?”

“To my dorm.”

I tried to tug my hand back, but it didn’t work. “Why?”

“That’s where the guys are.”

“They don’t need to know about this. It’s just someone trying to scare me. If they wanted to hurt me, they would’ve done it already.”

The growl that escaped Atlas had people scurrying out of his way as he led me towards Crown Hall.

“Atlas, be reasonable.” I dug my heels into the grass, trying to slow him down.

He whirled on me. “Do you want me to throw you over my shoulder?”