Elemental Hunger

  The seats around the smoldering fire lay vacant. I glanced down the main thoroughfare. Status: Abandoned.

  Determined not to panic, I strode over to the fire. I thought Adam had left me before, but he never had. Hanai and I had decided to stay, so I held my hands over the dying flames, trying to work out the stiffness in my knuckles.

  I closed my eyes and took a slow, deep breath. The smoke painted my senses. I stretched, reached, and extended my power into the forest. I sensed the charred leaves in the garage…the eternal flame at the hot spring…and that was all.

  I opened my eyes. The sun had already come up, but there were no breakfast dishes. No people. No noise.

  A breeze rippled through the trees. “Hide,” it whispered. The single word carried desperation.

  Without hesitating, I ran. As I ducked through the trees, I felt for the knife at my waistband. I wove through the forest, keeping the wind at my back and a tight grip on the knife.

  I paused at the edge of the clearing, panting, and zeroed in on the garage. Everything seemed peaceful. No wind. No movement. Nothing.

  As a precaution, I reached for the smoke back at camp. I watched it fill the clearing, fill my very soul. I dashed through the cover and yanked the garage door up. It rose silently. My nervous radar screamed, Problem!

  I spun and crouched, scooting around the side of the garage and behind a boulder. The smoke drifted into the trees, slowly revealing the clearing.

  Vacant.

  “Come out, Gabriella.”

  I couldn’t locate Felix, because his voice echoed everywhere.

  My heart pounded so loud I couldn’t think.

  Everything turned still again. Not even the twitter of a bird broke the silence.

  Then Hanai stumbled out of the thicket. Blood trickled down his cheek, and he fell to his knees before landing face-down in the snow. Felix followed him, wiping his knife on the sleeve of his black shirt.

  “Come on out,” Felix called, glancing around. “Before someone else gets hurt.”

  I swiped at the tears blurring my view of Felix. Like Hanai had said, I’m not dead yet.

  But I wanted to die when Adam emerged from the trees wearing his black—

  —sentry—

  —uniform.

  The unsightly tattoo still disfigured his face and neck. It snaked out from under his short sleeves, covering both arms and marring both hands.

  The blazing traitor! He’d truly switched sides this time. He hadn’t in the cave, at the wall, or in the forest. I thought he had, but he’d shown up with the perfect explanation. But now…. Now he wore the wrong clothes and carried the wrong knife.

  The small part of me that wasn’t pulsing with anger said, He warned you, told you to hide.

  Adam bent over something in the snow, twirling a knife in his right hand. A tremor rumbled through my body. I thought my terror had leaked out. But when another vibration shook me, I realized it came from the ground.

  An Earthmover.

  Well, he’d have a nice little party in the meadow with Hanai, Felix, and Adam. I wasn’t planning on sticking around for the festivities.

  “We have the settlement surrounded,” Felix called, looking toward some bushes to my left.

  “You ready?”

  I almost screamed at the whisper behind me. I spun, knife raised.

  “Whoa, Gabby. It’s me, Hanai.”

  I wanted to light him on fire for sneaking up on me. I hadn’t seen him move from the clearing, and I was sure Felix hadn’t either. I watched Hanai wipe the blood off his neck—no wound—and exhaled too loudly, cutting off the hiss as Felix looked my way.

  Hanai slid his hand into mine. “We only have a few seconds to get in the garage. Watch Adam.”

  Adam sauntered over to Felix, about twenty yards away from Hanai and I. Adam leaned in close and said something. He flicked his hand behind his back, and Hanai yanked me forward. “Now! Run!”

  An explosion of dirt and snow shot out of the ground between us and Adam. Hanai shoved me into the garage, but Adam’s startled shout caught my attention. I turned just in time to see him plunge something into Felix’s neck. Then he ran toward the garage and a tall, black man covered in the inner workings of the earth. He tapped the man’s shoulder as he passed. The black guy sprinted after Adam, barely moving out of the way as a second underground explosion soared skyward.

  Something strange, a burning coal, melted its way through my brain. I hadn’t felt this sensation since leaving Jarvis in Crylon.

  Another Firemaker.

  In the clearing stood a man. Scratch that—a woman. I knew her from my lessons—the Supreme Elemental.

  She dusted the dirt from her shoulders and sent a parade of flames after Adam and the black man.

  I pulled the fire toward me, consuming it until only a trail of smoke remained. Her fire burned as hot as mine, igniting my suppressed anger. I glared at the Supremist, ready if she threw more flames. She didn’t.

  Adam barreled closer, saying something to the Earthmover as they reached the garage. When he grabbed my hand, Adam nearly wrenched my shoulder out of the socket. “Time to go. Isaiah, fill it in. Hanai, lead the way.”

  I ground to a halt as Hanai sprinted down the hallway. “Isaiah?”

  “No time,” Adam said. “Let’s go.” He dragged me after Hanai, with Isaiah bringing up the rear. The sunlight petered out as the Earthmover— is it really Isaiah?—filled the hall with dirt.

  Adam whistled and said, “Left, four steps.”

  Isaiah turned, counted off the steps and followed us left down the second passage.

  “Fill it, man,” Adam said, still towing me behind him. I stumbled along, trying to walk forward while watching Isaiah behind me. He pressed his hands down against an invisible counter, each movement accented with a grunt. The earth obeyed, plunging from the ceiling above, sealing the passage.

  I couldn’t quite tell if it was my Isaiah—my friend from Crylon. His skin was the same cocoa color, but why was Adam verbally counting off his steps?

  We clustered in the tiny bedroom. Hanai was already loading food into the backpack while Adam opened the closet door.

  “Two steps, stop, Isaiah. By the way, this is the Firemaker I told you about, Gabriella. Gabby, I think you already know Isaiah Hawking, Earthmover.”

  The Earthmover wore clothes that could have been any color, but were so matted in soil it was impossible to tell. He was completely bald, and he only held his eyes open halfway.

  “Gabbers,” Isaiah said, reaching for me. He didn’t even get close to where I stood.

  “Isaiah?” I whispered. He looked so different. Tired. Worried.

  Adam poked his head out of the closet. “Coat, Isaiah? Hurricanes, Gabby, shake the man’s hand.”

  I stepped forward and took Isaiah’s outstretched hand between both of mine. Isaiah’s hand. The ones that used to hold me tight and lightly trace Cat’s face.

  “I need a coat,” Hanai said from across the room.

  “Me too,” Isaiah added.

  “Okay, two coats. Shoes?” Adam asked.

  “Yeah, bring ‘em,” Hanai said. “I’ve got the two cloaks.”

  “No shoes for me,” Isaiah said. The ground shook, and one of the ancient pictures fell off the wall. “We better split.”

  “Tornadoes, Gabby, look at this.” Adam held up the blue half-dress. He was staring at it like he could envision me in it. Well, that was as close as he was going to get.

  Hanai rolled his eyes and tapped Isaiah on the right arm. “Five steps, door. I’ve got the backpack, Adam. What else?”

  “We’re bringing this.” Adam rolled up the dress. “Give Gabby a cloak. I need one too. I can’t be seen until this tattoo fades.”

  Isaiah opened the door to the caved-in hall. The ground swayed, and I lurched toward him. He caught me before I fell, though I didn’t know how. He was blind.

  Sudden sadness swept through me. He’d had his sight when he’d left for diplomacy traini
ng last year. Fear struck my heart. “Where’s Cat?” I asked. “What happened to you?”

  “We have to leave now,” Isaiah said.

  “You heard the man,” Adam said. “Hanai, you’re first. Gabby, come on.”

  I hurried to fasten the cloak as Hanai maneuvered into the passage. Adam followed, gripping my hand again. Isaiah inhaled sharply through his nose and lifted both hands. The debris blocking our escape exploded upward.

  “I’m not wearing that dress,” I hissed to Adam as we moved down the hall.

  He grinned, making his tattooed face even more sinister. “We’ll see.”

  Just then an explosion sounded behind us. I turned at the same time Adam did.

  The Supremist stood with Felix, who sported a bandage on the side of his neck. The fire nestled in her palm illuminated her slate-colored eyes and sharp cheekbones. She wore a devilish smile.

  She sent a jet of flames that Isaiah buried under a landslide. I shot two fireballs from my hands at the same time Adam launched a spinning current of air. Alex and Felix ducked out of the doorway.

  “Be sure to report in, brother,” Felix taunted.

  “Torch it, Gabbers,” Isaiah said. “I’ll seal us in.”

  I stepped in front of him, pouring fire from my outstretched hands. Someone screamed and it sounded horribly like Patches. The wail tore the air—and my heart.

  “Move,” Isaiah barked, and I ducked behind him, my fists clenched. He blocked the passage from floor to ceiling with thick, damp earth.

  “You’re quick,” he said as he turned around. “I can’t believe you’re a Firemaker, girl.”

  “Yeah, well, you’re blind.”

  “Stories, stories,” Adam said. “Later, okay?”

  “Where’s C—?”

  “Later!” Adam yelled as a violent tremor shook the earth, and more of the ceiling fell.

  “Fine, later,” I growled, following him into the darkness.

  Isaiah joined Hanai, clearing the tunnel based on the Spirit-speaker’s directions. I walked behind Adam, my palms blazing, my mind dancing.

  He glanced back at me several times, unspoken questions glinting in his eyes. Now that he wore the sentry clothes, my nightmare was complete. He seemed to be on my side, but—

  “What are you thinking?” he asked as Hanai turned right and instructed Isaiah to clear the way.

  My jaw clenched. “Nothing.”

  Adam scoffed. “Right. Seems like you’d have some stuff to get off your…chest.”

  Classy. I folded my arms. “Okay, where’d you find Isaiah? Did you know he’s from Crylon? That he’s my friend? Why’d you leave me in the cabin? How did your backpack suddenly get in that garage? Were you and Hanai planning to leave me? What’s with the tattoo?” I glanced at his traitorous sentry uniform. “And your clothes?”

  I gulped the thin oxygen. “Are you still with me?”

  Silence filled the tunnel as the three of them—including the blind guy—stared at me.

  Then Adam laughed. “And I’m more hyper than her?” He hooked his thumb at me while he looked at Hanai. “I don’t believe that. Breathe, Gabby.” He chuckled again. “I know Isaiah from Tarpulin. So I sent him a message through the air the night I found out you were a girl. I knew he needed a Council, and when he heard it was you, he came immediately.”

  I glanced at Isaiah, with his dark skin and half-open eyes. His grin was the same, his voice, his hands. A sharp pain tore through me at how much he was the same, but also at how very changed.

  Adam followed my gaze, and then looked at me again. “Hanai thought you could use the sleep, so he let you rest. We brought the backpack to the garage to check out what you’d found. That’s when all hell broke loose. Isaiah had been burrowing underground for a while, trying to lose Alex. Felix and Patches crossed the border into the Outcast settlement—uninvited. Chief Tavar was livid. We went to help.”

  I waited, expecting more. Adam stared back, the lines on his face unforgiving.

  Hanai stepped toward me, his eyes pleading. “Adam pretended like he was turning me in. He changed his clothes and told them he knew where you were.”

  “Then I sent you a message and well…you saw the rest,” Adam said. “What else did you ask?”

  “Tattoo,” Isaiah answered for me.

  “Oh, right. Obviously I’m fine, and obviously I couldn’t stop the transmission. I fought hard though, that’s why this raging thing covered me. And I told you, you’re my Firemaker.”

  “And mine,” Hanai and Isaiah said together.

  A smiled pulled at Adam’s mouth. “So relax, okay? We’re headed to Gregorio—if that’s okay with you. The chaos there will benefit us. Keeps the attention away from us, maybe long enough to gain the protection from a chartering.”

  “Yeah, okay,” I mumbled. Their pledge touched me. I didn’t want to admit how much it meant. How much they meant to me.

  Hanai ran his fingers over the wall. “Here, Isaiah. This is south.”

  Isaiah worked his Element, clearing the tunnel. They moved into the new passageway.

  “We cool?” Adam’s breath slid across my neck.

  I shivered. “Yeah. We’re cool.” I turned to follow Hanai, suddenly feeling way too hot.

  Adam lightly touched my elbow. I froze.

  “It’s not your fault. This tattoo thing. Okay? It’s mine. I messed up.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Warring emotions spread across Adam’s face. Fear, maybe. Something like annoyance. A hint of anger.

  “Hey, we need the light,” Hanai called back.

  “Forget it.” I hurried toward Hanai and Isaiah.

  “I think we can go above ground soon,” Hanai said. “I can’t feel Alex, or anyone else.”

  “Good, I’m exhausted,” Isaiah said, sagging to the ground.

  I sat next to him while Hanai passed around a box of stale crackers.

  Adam waved away the food and drew letters in the dirt instead. He glanced at me, half-sentry in the way he scrutinized me, half-normal in the way he seemed genuinely interested. “What did you want to know last night?”

  I brushed crumbs from my hands. “How to spell my name. And yours and Hanai’s, and now Isaiah’s too.”

  Adam smiled, but not at me. At Hanai. “I told you.”

  Hanai shrugged. “Whatever.”

  I looked back and forth between the two of them, trying to decide if I cared about their secret argument. Maybe.

  But a burning sensation coated the back of my mind, which indicated another Firemaker. The Supremist. I desperately hoped she couldn’t sense my Element as part of her ability. Jarvis had said not every Firemaker could do it.

  “Guys,” I said. “We should hide out here until dark. We’ll blend easier at night.”

  “I’m for that,” Isaiah said. “Burrowing with Alex on my butt drained me.” He closed his cloudy eyes and settled against the wall.

  I closed my eyes too, stiffening when the Supremist moved closer. Concentrating, I smothered my spark, forcing it back inside myself. Someone complained about the darkness, but I ignored him. Cat’s lovely face swam behind my closed eyes before sleep took me.

  Adam’s voice haunted me. It started out concerned. Grew into panic. I tried to soothe him. He wouldn’t stop saying my name long enough to listen. He shook my shoulder, still calling for me to wake up. Which annoyed me. I was already awake.

  He slowly reached toward my face. He stroked my cheekbone, and I sat up straight.

  My eyes were open, but blackness blanketed me on every side. I inhaled, trying to coax my Element to life. Adam’s touch sent a flash of fire into my stomach.

  I blinked, and then I could see. Isaiah lay across from me, his body registering a wicked orange in my vision. Hanai knelt over him, and he was so hot, he burned red.

  I turned, and Adam’s rugged face filled my view. He lurched back, his mouth dropping open. “Raging hurricanes.” He moved a little closer, his eyes searching mine.

/>   “What?” Hanai turned and emitted a strangled yelp. “Magic alive,” he breathed. “Gabby has therma-vision.”

  “Therma-vision?” I repeated.

  “Your eyes are glowing like hot coals,” Adam said. “You really freaked me out. I couldn’t wake you up.”

  I frowned. I’d heard him though. Saw him.

  “I still can’t wake Isaiah,” Hanai said. “Do you think it has anything to do with the Supremist?”

  “I don’t see how,” Adam said, crawling over to Hanai.

  My head hurt. The chill from the ground filtered through my jeans. My Element felt strange. Weaker.

  While I’d been asleep, my fire had leaked further away. Maybe that was why I couldn’t wake up. Now Isaiah—

  “We gotta wake him up.” I slid across the passage and put my hand on his head.

  His body temperature registered in the normal range. His breathing came evenly, as if he were asleep.

  I snapped my fingers at the same time I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, I groaned. The therma-vision was still on, but now I held dancing flames in my palm.

  And I’d nearly blinded myself.

  Blazes, I looked like a girl who couldn’t even control her own Element.

  I snapped my eyes shut.

  “Gabby?” Hanai asked.

  “I’m trying to turn off the vision thing.”

  Both Adam and Hanai shifted. Surely they were rolling their eyes too.

  I ignited my other hand. The fire burned, casting flickering light through my eyelids.

  The therma-vision had turned off.

  I released a breath and met Hanai’s eyes. He grinned and clapped his hand on my shoulder.

  I refused to look at Adam.

  “Isaiah, wake up,” I commanded. “I need you, Earthmover. Your Firemaker summons your Element.” I thought I sounded stupid, using the formal Council speech, but nobody snickered.

  The only noise in the tunnel came from the hiss of my fire. After a few seconds, Isaiah moved, but it could’ve been a normal shift as he slept.

  “Summon him.” I looked at Hanai and then Adam. “I’ll try again, then you try, Adam. Then Hanai.”

  I turned back to Isaiah. He snored softly. I placed both hands on his chest. “Isaiah Hawking, I command you to Manifest your Element. Your Firemaker demands it.”