Water: The Elementals Book Three Read online

  Water

  The Elementals Book Three

  L.B. Gilbert

  Water © 2018 L.B. Gilbert

  All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Credits

  Titles by L.B. Gilbert

  Introduction

  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

  Afterword

  About the Author

  Also by L.B. Gilbert

  Forsaken

  Kin Selection

  Discordia

  Fire

  Air

  Writing as Lucy Leroux

  Confiscating Charlie

  Making Her His

  Calen’s Captive

  Stolen Angel

  The Roman’s Woman

  Save Me

  Take Me

  Trick’s Trap

  Cursed

  Black Widow

  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/

  Titles by L.B. Gilbert

  Discordia: A Free Elementals Short

  Available Now

  Fire: The Elementals Book One

  Available Now

  Air: The Elementals Book Two

  Available Now

  Water: The Elementals Book Three

  Available Now

  Earth: The Elementals Book Four

  Coming Soon

  Kin Selection, A Shifter’s Claim Book One

  Available now

  Forsaken, Cursed Angel Collection

  Available now

  Writing As Lucy Leroux

  Making Her His, A Singular Obsession, Book One

  Available Now

  Confiscating Charlie, A Free Singular Obsession Novelette

  Book 1.5

  Available Now

  Calen’s Captive, A Singular Obsession, Book Two

  Available Now

  Stolen Angel, A Singular Obsession, Book Three

  Available Now

  The Roman’s Woman, A Singular Obsession,

  Book Four

  Available Now

  Save Me, A Singular Obsession Novella, Book 4.5

  Coming Soon

  Take Me, A Singular Obsession Prequel Novella

  Available Now

  Trick’s Trap, A Singular Obsession,

  Book Five

  Available Now

  Peyton’s Price, A Singular Obsession,

  Book Six

  Coming Soon

  Cursed, A Spellbound Regency Novel

  Available Now

  Black Widow, A Spellbound Regency Novel, Book Two

  Available Now

  Haunted, A Spellbound Regency Novel, Book Three

  Coming Soon

  Eat You Up , A Shifter’s Claim Book Two

  Coming Soon

  Introduction

  Water

  The Elementals Book Three

  Hellbent on seeking justice and answers for her mate’s mysterious disappearance, Serin takes no prisoners as she explores the truth. As a high-ranking elemental in ass-kicking stilettos, she embarks upon a perilous quest for vengeance.

  In her manhunt, Serin encounters DEA agent Daniel Romero, who’s strangely connected to her bonded mate's vanishing. Teaming up with the officer forces Serin to accept the truth. Daniel just may be her destiny. And with time running out, Serin knows that she must protect her sisters and ignore the pull she has for Daniel. Come Hell or high water, Serin will put her life on the line to protect everyone--and everything she loves.

  Prologue

  Daniel Romero fingered his gun as the other agents rounded up the bikini-clad girls from the estate’s pool. Technically, the danger was over. The raid had been aborted on arrival when their target—a ruthless drug lord nicknamed the Reaper—was found floating face-down in his jacuzzi.

  The operation had shifted into recovery-and-interrogation mode. The coroner was on his way to pick up the body, which had been covered with a sheet while they questioned the witnesses. The Reaper had been having a pool party, so there were a lot of those.

  And yet, no one saw a damn thing.

  Daniel’s eyes ran over the crowd. All it had taken was the wrong combination of booze and drugs to end the Reaper’s brief reign of terror. How many of his ‘friends’ would have jumped into the pool to save him?

  Daniel turned, catching his partner’s eye. “Do you believe this? There are almost fifty people here, and not one noticed the piece of shit drowning five feet away.”

  Ray Doyle scratched his nose. “They’re all probably too high—including our guy. He must have passed out and went under just in time to fuck us over. Over a year of prep down the drain. What a letdown.”

  A girl in a skimpy leopard-print bikini passed in front of them, escorted to a shaded poolside table by one of their team.

  “Okay, I take that back.” Ray murmured, his eyes tracking leopard girl.

  Daniel spared a moment to thank the manufacturers of mirrored sunglasses. The shades masked Ray’s blatant interest in the teenager.

  “C’mon, man. That’s jailbait right there.”

  He didn’t bother to mention his partner already had an age-appropriate girlfriend. Ray was just looking.

  His partner scowled. “You think? Nah. She’s got to be at least twenty.”

  Daniel scoffed. “Wishful thinking won’t make it so.”

  Ray flipped open his notebook. “Well, standing here with our dicks in our hands won’t prove it, either. I’m going to get her statement.”

  “Go ahead,” Daniel sniped. “I’m sure she’ll have lots of valuable intel.”

  “Oh, fuck off, man.” Ray walked away.

  Daniel watched him go with a sigh. His partner was used to his moods, but he
’d have to buy him a beer later.

  The crowd shifted. It was mainly women in bikinis, but there were a few men, presumably some of the Reaper’s many lieutenants. He made a mental note to track them all in case one stepped up to take over what was left of the operation.

  He tried to make himself move and pitch in, but couldn’t summon the motivation. This raid had been their baby. It had taken months to plan. Daniel had personally overseen every detail of this joint DEA and ATF operation. He’d worked day and night for the last few weeks to make sure everything went off without a hitch and their people weren’t faced with unnecessary danger. Now their scumbag was dead, any intel he knew about the larger drug network he was connected to went with him.

  As if he would’ve talked. These guys were all the same. They kept their mouths shut, then continued to run their criminal empires from a jail cell.

  Felix Desjardin, aka the Reaper, had risen through the ranks of the southeast US cartels like a rocket. He had no loyalty. Felix had jumped ship whenever a bigger opportunity had presented itself, leaving his old partners dead or in disarray. He’d started his own outfit, carving up a niche—and a few competitors—here on the gulf coast of Texas.

  Desjardin was the main suspect in a string of high-profile murders. Most of the victims had been linked to the drug trade, but a few hadn’t appeared to have had ties to the underworld at all. There had been an insurance adjuster from Nogales, as well as a social worker from Houston. Both had been community-oriented volunteer types. No one would have guessed a dark past if it hadn’t been for Desjardin’s M-O.

  Felix didn’t kill people. He sacrificed them. Each death scene had been elaborately decorated with weird satanic symbols, sprinkles of a specific mixture of herbs and esoteric flowers bits showered all over the place.

  Daniel had been looking forward to bringing the asshole in and asking him what the fuck he thought he was doing.

  The coroner better get here soon. The more time the body spent cooking in this sun, the more difficult it would be to determine the time of death. He was about to call over some agents to help him move one of the many oversized parasols over the corpse, when movement in the water caught his eye. Squinting, he frowned as a flash of white on dark skin shot by under the water at Olympic-level speed.

  “Is there someone in the fucking pool?” he asked.

  Wilkes, a junior agent, glanced up from his interview. “It’s only the queen,” he said, gesturing to the pool with his pen.

  The what?

  Wilkes shrugged.

  Daniel sniffed. “Is it Desjardin’s girlfriend?”

  All their intel had said their man was unattached. A girlfriend would have meant the Reaper had to give up his harem of beach bunnies.

  The uniformed servant Wilkes was interviewing piped up. “No, Serin’s not his girlfriend. It’s just what we call her. You’ll understand when you meet her.”

  Unfucking-believable. “Get that woman out of the pool now,” Daniel said.

  Taking a deep breath, he snapped his shade clip back on his aviators. He waited at the end of the pool, his arms crossed, while Wilkes gestured frantically to the woman in the pool.

  She took her sweet time, finishing her lap with languid grace. When she was done, she began to walk up the steps facing him.

  Time slowed as a dark curly head rose from the crystalline blue-green water. Daniel blinked as she shook out her hair, a natural afro bouncing back in a way that defied the laws of physics.

  The rest of her movement was equally hypnotic, and slightly alien like a CGI creation—the amateur ones before they got human movement right. People rarely moved with such grace, except maybe ballerinas and strippers. He was betting on the latter.

  What was that about wishful thinking?

  Water cascaded down the woman’s body in sparkling rivulets that gleamed like mercury against lush dark curves. The striking contrast of the pristine white bikini against the cocoa-colored skin was almost indecent.

  Daniel could feel his breath shortening, each inhalation punctuated by his distant heartbeat. One of the faceless uninformed staff rushed to the woman, holding out a diaphanous red robe that did nothing to conceal the over-the-top hourglass figure.

  Wilkes led the woman toward the ornate French doors. Agents were conducting more interviews inside. She passed in front of Daniel, her blue eyes flickering over him with a little smile he found difficult to interpret. Their eyes met for a beat. The moment was enough to send a shooting thrill down to his gut.

  Confidence and power trailed from her like an invisible cloak. He suddenly understood why they called her the queen.

  “Damn.” He started and turned, surprised to see Ray standing next to him. Daniel gave himself a little shake, snapping out of his stupefied trance. What was wrong with him? He was on the job for fuck’s sake.

  Daniel cleared his throat. “What?”

  Smirking, Ray mimed a little rolling motion with his hands before holding out his fingers as if he were presenting Daniel with something.

  “What the hell are you doing?”

  “I’m rolling your tongue back in your head for you,” Ray said with a shit-eating grin.

  “Shut up, man.” Daniel signaled to a subordinate that they were going inside. “Let’s go. We’ll conduct the queen’s interview ourselves.”

  But when they went inside, they found their witness had excused herself to clean up in the restroom. A few minutes later, they found it empty. They searched the house, which was crawling with agents and other law enforcement officers.

  Her Highness had left the building.

  1

  Six Months Later

  Serin lifted her heel off the man’s throat long enough to let him speak. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t quite catch that.”

  “You bitch!”

  She pressed her heel back down, cutting off the rest. “I thought you private mercenaries were supposed to be tough. I have to say—geriatric sharks have more fight in them.”

  Scanning the room, she took stock. The rest of the team was scattered around them. All were dressed in black, their many weapons useless and broken on the ground.

  She removed her foot and knelt, taking care not to snag her crystal-encrusted skirt. “I think you might be overpaid,” she whispered in his ear before smiling and hauling him up by the shirt collar. She shook him like a rag doll, pointing his head in the general direction of his employer.

  “As I was explaining to your boss, Mr. Sayer over there—” Serin broke off to wave to the overweight oil executive.

  The gag in the man’s mouth prevented him from answering back.

  “The oil company is in violation of an existing treaty we signed with the Agunte for water rights in this mountain.”

  “There are no fucking Indians in—”

  She held up a hand. “The Agunte aren’t an indigenous tribe. They’re the squid-like creatures living in the aquifers surrounding the oil deposits your company illegally seized.”

  The merc blinked. “You’re doing this for squid?”

  “Squid-like creatures,” she corrected. “They’re sentient, highly intelligent creatures from an extremely far away land. They came here after centuries of war wiped out most of their kind. In exchange for a safe place to live, they kindly offered us what they could—a few seeds of a useful little plant from their home world. Humans extracted aspirin from it. That was centuries later, of course.”

  The merc grumbled something under his breath, but she heard him clearly.

  Serin rolled her eyes, then slapped him like the little bitch he was. “I’m not crazy, nor am I delusional,” she replied, turning to his boss. “It’s so like a man to dismiss a woman as hysterical. But you know all about the treaty. The Agunte told you, over and over again.”

  She dropped the merc at Sayer’s feet. “All the signs you ignored, the messages you received—their cries for help. You knew. Your staff knew. But the oil reserve was big enough for you to ignore them…even after the c
ries turned to screams.”

  Her face hardened. After moving to Sayer, she ripped off his gag.

  “Please,” he begged, his round face dripping sweat. “I have a family.”

  Serin put her hands on either side of his face. “So did the Agunte you killed.”

  The man whimpered, his mouth gaping and the scent of urine hitting her sensitive nose. He’d peed himself. She almost felt pity, but it wasn’t just alien squid this man had killed. Plenty of humans had died as he bribed and killed his way to the top. For a cowardly little turd, he was ruthless.

  Was being the operative word. She untied his hands, hauling him up by the neck, the feat of strength terrifying to the merc at her feet. The other man scrambled up and out of the way as she dragged her mark to the exit.

  “What are you going to do to him?” the mercenary asked.

  “Normally, I would snap his neck. However, in this case, the Agunte have claimed the right of retribution.”

  She shifted her hold to minimize her contact with the Sayer’s clothing. “Which, honestly, I’m happy to give them. He’s so…sweaty.”