Air: The Elementals Book Two Read online




  Air

  The Elementals Book Two

  L.B. Gilbert

  Contents

  Air

  Credits

  Titles by L.B. Gilbert

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Afterword

  About the Author

  Air

  The Elementals Book Two

  PUBLISHED BY: L.B. Gilbert

  Copyright © 2016, L.B. Gilbert

  http://www.elementalauthor.com

  ISBN: 978-1-942336-15-0

  First Edition.

  All rights reserved.

  This book is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, and events portrayed in this novel are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only and may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with someone else, please send them to the author’s website, where they can find out where to purchase a copy for themselves. Thank you for respecting the author’s work. Enjoy!

  Credits

  Cover Design: Rebecca Hamilton,

  http://qualitybookworks.wordpress.com/

  Logo Design: Juan Fernando Garcia,

  http://www.elblackbat.com/

  Editor: Cynthia Shepp

  http://www.cynthiashepp.com/

  Readers: Thank you to all of my readers, especially Priti Patel and Jennifer Bundesen Bergans for their feedback and editorial comments.

  Titles by L.B. Gilbert

  Fire: The Elementals Book One

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  Air: The Elementals Book Two

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  Water: The Elementals Book Three

  Coming Soon

  Writing As Lucy Leroux

  Making Her His, A Singular Obsession, Book One

  Available Now

  Confiscating Charlie, A Singular Obsession Novelette

  Book 1.5

  Available Now

  Calen’s Captive, A Singular Obsession, Book Two

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  Stolen Angel, A Singular Obsession, Book Three

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  The Roman’s Woman, A Singular Obsession,

  Book Four

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  Save Me, A Singular Obsession Novella, Book 4.5

  Available Now

  Cursed, A Spellbound Regency Novel

  Available Now

  Black Widow, A Spellbound Regency Novel, Book Two

  Coming Soon

  Prologue

  Two months ago

  Logan hummed softly, trying to distract herself from the unpleasant task she had to perform tonight. Her voice blended with the winds as they whipped around her on the way to the Burgess estate.

  A few days ago, she had left her sister Diana with the intention of taking care of this particular errand right away. But the Burgess family hadn’t gathered with the sitting patriarch, Gerald, until now. And he, most of all, needed to hear what she had to say. Hillard too, but mostly Gerald.

  She let the wind carry her to the Georgian mansion the Burgess clan called home in the English countryside near Somerset. Normally, the trip would have taken hours, but up here in the currents, it was a matter of minutes. She paused when she sighted the house, counting the number of cars outside. Judging from the crowded state of the drive, both Gerald and Hillard were inside. The winds confirmed her hunch, so she looked around for an opening. Spotting an unlit chimney, she plunged inside.

  Logan materialized on top of a formal dining room table laden with crystal and fine china. Her high-heeled boots rested on a silky-looking tablecloth.

  Glad I opted for leather pants instead of that miniskirt I was going to wear.

  Pants had been the better choice, considering how many pairs of eyes were on her now. Each expression ranged from shock to startled discontent. One young man sat with a spoon frozen halfway to his mouth.

  They were only on the soup course, which was good. It would have been far less intimidating if she’d materialized over a roast or leg of lamb.

  “Hello, Gerald,” Logan said, addressing the austere, grey-haired man at the head of the table.

  Gerald Burgess slowly lowered his spoon. He met her eyes with a steadfast composure she reluctantly found impressive. As far as she knew, he’d never met any of her kind before, but his steady grey eyes didn’t betray a hint of surprise. He didn’t know why she was here, but as the head of one of the seven families, Gerald had seen a lot in his day. Enough that he was able to school the shock he must have felt at having a six-course meal interrupted by an Elemental.

  “Hello,” he said in a cultured British accent. He leaned back in his chair. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

  The other family members didn’t move. Diana was right about the head of the clan. He had seen to their education. They knew when they were outmatched.

  “I’ve come about your granddaughter,” Logan said.

  She almost felt bad about it. Unlike some of the other family heads, Gerald cared about all of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, even the illegitimate ones. Why Hillard hadn’t chosen to inform his father about the product of his affair was a mystery. But it wasn’t her problem.

  The youngest girl at the table made a whimpering, choking sound when Gerald turned to her with a surprised expression.

  “Not that granddaughter. And it’s not the one in the States either. You haven’t met this one. And you never will. Her name was Sage. She became…a problem. One you don’t have anymore.”

  Gerald swallowed. His expression grew cold and remote. Power crackled in the air, surging forward in her direction, but Logan chose not to take offense. The old man was agitated, and she hadn’t pulled the punch.

  “I see. And was it necessary to rid me of this problem?”

  “She broke the covenant and killed a child. She was going to take the life of a second one when she was stopped.” Logan’s voice was implacable, her usual exuberance subdued—buried under the coldness of the Air Elemental.

  There was a smattering of gasps as a little shockwave swept over the small group. Logan studied the expressions on the ring of faces surrounding her. Diana’s guess was right. One of those shocked expressions was fake. But Gerald’s was genuine. He lifted a weathered hand to his head. The tremor that ran through it was almost imperceptible.

  “It’s not our fault! Whatever this
child did, we can’t be held responsible,” Hillard shouted.

  Logan turned to him. Hillard’s thin aristocratic face was contorted in indignation and fear.

  “That’s where you’re wrong. Your child was your responsibility. You knew that. You knew, and you let her make her own way in the world without you. Well, she did. Left quite an impression too.”

  All heads turned to Hillard. Gerald shot him a dark look filled with disgust. Though this situation was news to him, Logan guessed this wasn’t the first time his son had been a disappointment. She turned to the woman seated next to him. Hillard’s wife was sitting there with a fixed, frozen expression. Logan almost understood why she had done it. Almost…

  Logan knelt down in front of her. Stephanie, the wind whispered.

  Yes, that was the name Diana had mentioned. “You know the consequences of what you’ve done, Stephanie. I’m here to render judgment.”

  “What is going on here? What has she done? It’s Hillard who should be punished,” Gerald said in surprise.

  Hillard sputtered incoherently in his own defense, but Logan ignored him and answered Gerald.

  “He will be. But so will she,” Logan answered. “Stephanie knew about her husband’s mistress and the child. She fed Sage secrets. Things that should only be passed down to those worthy of keeping them. Both Hillard and Stephanie broke the covenant, one through neglect, and the other for revenge. I’m here to strip them of their magic. By rights, Hillard’s entire line should be treated to the same, but I’m willing to be lenient in this case.”

  Hillard found his voice. “You call that lenient? I’m to be punished because I didn’t know I had another child?”

  His voice didn’t fit what she knew of him. It was rich and deep, the voice of a politician—one meant to be a great statesman.

  “Don’t bother. I know you’re lying,” Logan said. “It’s useless to even try. It was your duty to take all of your children in hand. Even those whose existence you wanted to bury. You’ll be stripped of your magic, but I’m leaving your line intact. Your other children get to keep their talent, so count your blessings. It’s more than you deserve.”

  Logan turned to Stephanie. The elegant blonde met her eyes and said nothing. But apparently, Gerald was fond of his daughter-in-law.

  “Stephanie wouldn’t have done what you’re accusing her of,” he protested. “She knows better.”

  Logan sighed. “That’s sort of the point. She did know better. But her anger over her husband’s affair got the best of her.”

  She knelt on the table. “Stephanie, give me your hand.”

  Stephanie adjusted the sleeve of her fine cashmere sweater and rose gracefully to her feet. She put a fine-boned manicured hand in Logan’s. “My children are innocent in this. They didn’t know about their sister.”

  This one definitely has class. It was a pity she’d let her rage and disappointment in her husband overcome her good sense.

  “I know,” Logan said in a low voice as Stephanie’s son and daughter exchanged a quick, startled look.

  Reaching deep, she called the wind and silently invoked the Mother’s name in the language known only to her kind. Other ancient words followed. The wind picked up as if someone had opened a window during a storm. It passed over Stephanie and Hillard in a sweeping rush. In her mind’s eye, she could see the undefinable little something she associated with magical talent disappearing from their auras like sand being blown off a hill.

  It was over quickly.

  “You can’t hold me responsible for the actions of a child I didn’t know was mine!” Hillard shouted, unaware Logan had already finished carrying out his sentence.

  She was tempted not to answer him. She had met his type before. Men like him, born into privilege and power, expected the world to bend around them. Most of the time, it did—at least in the human world. But among Supernaturals, when push came to shove, a legacy would only get one so far. A person had to have intelligence and talent, a lot of it, to rise to the top. And Hillard was not Gerald.

  “But I do hold you responsible,” Logan answered. “And so does the Mother, or I wouldn’t be here. There are rules to this world, and a price to pay for the ability to use magic,” she added, irritated by his refusal to accept responsibility.

  “I didn’t know about her,” he hissed.

  The winds whipped around him, calling him a liar.

  “Don’t you know better than to try to deceive me?” Logan asked, raising an ebony eyebrow.

  She decided he didn’t when Hillard drew himself up for a moment before launching himself at her. He hit the wall with a resounding crash, slumping to the floor in a graceless slide. No one seemed surprised but him, although most of the others flinched at the noise.

  Hillard groaned loudly, but he stayed prone on the floor as she hopped off the table, studying Stephanie carefully. The woman hadn’t moved in all this time. She looked like a statue, a brittle one that might fall apart in a strong breeze.

  Logan sympathized, but she remembered what the winds had told her. Stephanie watched Sage for a while. Long enough to learn that the young witch was well on her way in a downward slide. Faced with the concrete proof of her husband’s infidelity—again—she decided to help Sage along to the black. Stephanie had fed her husband’s bastard spells and information—dangerous things an inexperienced witch shouldn’t have had access to.

  The pain and shock on the faces of Stephanie’s children was hard to see. But it was part of the job. She turned away to face the fireplace that had been her entrance.

  Above it was a weapon she didn’t recognize. It was an odd, silver-black matte color. It had a hilt like a sword that curved up into a wicked curved blade with three sharp points—except the points met on the interior of the curve. The exterior looked dull.

  Not a very effective weapon…but, like the thing that had been used to stab her sister Diana, it wasn’t of this earth.

  Jesus, how many extraterrestrial weapons were lying around waiting to be discovered? Where exactly did the Burgess family come from?

  Logan frowned. The family’s origins were not her mystery to solve. She and her sisters had enough to deal with right now.

  The young woman at the table stirred. “It no longer responds to any family member,” she said in a small voice.

  Logan narrowed her eyes. The girl flinched and looked down. Truth, the wind whispered. And lie.

  She hesitated, tempted to filch the thing and make a break for it. But the covenant was clear on these matters. Practitioners got to keep their objects of power and their tomes of magic so long as they didn’t use them to harm others.

  She tore her gaze away from the piece and turned to give Gerald a nod of acknowledgment. It was to his credit that he was able to give her one back, although his gaze was still on his daughter-in-law. Logan dematerialized and whipped out of the room.

  In the air currents, her conscious mind processed what she’d done. She had never stripped anyone of their magic before. It was why Gia had agreed that she should do it, so she could gain firsthand experience. They hadn’t done a stripping for a long time. But that wasn’t because it wasn’t deserved in a lot of cases.

  It had been a lot easier than she thought. Physically, anyway. The act itself was simple. But the reality of it had been damn depressing. At least, it had been in Stephanie’s case. She didn’t feel that bad about Hillard. The winds had some nasty things to say about him.

  Logan coasted the currents a few minutes longer before deciding to hit a club. Maybe she would find a little company.

  There was that young actor she’d been hanging out with. Michel had asked her to meet him tonight. Of course, he did that every night. But after the scene at the mansion, she was suddenly up for companionship. Michel was always ready to drop everything when she called. And Logan was pretty sure he could distract her from tonight’s unpleasantness. A little mindless dancing with a cute guy would do wonders. Maybe more…

  She was still trying
to decide whether to allow Michel to take her to bed. And unlike the other offers she’d gotten lately, she was giving this one serious thought. The actor was good looking, amusing, and basically harmless. Most importantly, her heart was not involved, which was exactly what she was looking for in a man right now.

  Logan didn’t need any emotional entanglements. Her position as the junior elemental was still relatively new, and it required her full attention. However, there was no rule that said she couldn’t have a fling. In fact, the actual rules were few and far between. She just wasn’t sure Michel was the right man to fling with.

  Well, staying away from him wasn’t the way to figure it out. Besides, he was a good kisser and she wanted to dance.

  Much later, when Logan had abandoned herself to the beat while dancing with her actor, she became aware of a new sensation. It was the feeling of being watched.

  Whipping her head around, she scanned the other dancers. But no one paid her any attention—no more than usual. She shook off the feeling when Michel wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in closer.

  1

  The heavy bass of the music vibrated through Connell’s body as he made his way through the shifting crowd. Instinct told him his prey was here, though he hadn’t laid eyes on her yet.

  He’d wasted the better part of a month hunting her in the expected places—the Underlife clubs of the U.S. and Europe. But there had been no sign there. He would have known if she’d been in disguise, something she was fond of doing when she moved among the Supernaturals.

  He’d done his homework when it came to the Air Elemental. Know thy enemy had been an internal mantra since this whole mess had started.

  The crowd shifted and swayed in time to the music in the dark club. He was pretty surprised that she chose to spend time in places like this, among so many humans. The rich and spoiled elite of the human world were here to drink, dance, and do drugs before indulging in whatever sexual thrills their kind could afford. In his experience, those weren’t much.