Earth: The Elementals Book Two Read online

  Anya continued to stay exactly where she was. Part of her wanted to run and knew she should do exactly that. She refused to allow herself to think about the punishment that would already await her for this brief interaction with Daniel. She couldn’t move. The closeness of his body, the scruffiness of his beard on her neck, his smell! It was a powerful combination that had awoke a longing deep inside. She wanted more.

  “Let’s go if you’re coming with me,” he ordered.

  Anya scrambled to her feet and followed him to his horse where she dutifully climbed up for the ride back to his cabin. She knew he was angry with her. He had every right to be. She feared for the questions he would surely ask. She hadn’t created a backstory because she wasn’t supposed to have need for one. She didn’t want to add lying to her list of wrongs, but she knew she’d have to come up with something and quick.

  They rode back in deafening silence. Anya leaned into him feeling the warmth emanate from his body. She hadn’t realized how cold she was until she felt his heat. Sensing this, he opened his coat and pulled it around in front of her. It smelled like him. Between his heat, the coat, and the stirring between her legs that spread fire out in all directions, Anya quickly began to warm up. They arrived at the cabin in minutes. Too soon as far as she was concerned.

  Daniel helped her down then took the mare back to the barn. Anya went inside and sat in front of the fire. Without him, all the warmth she was feeling faded, and she had begun to shiver again. He came inside and started rummaging around in a wooden box by the table. He slammed a pan down on the table then a knife. He was still angry.

  He dumped a gunny of potatoes onto the table and picked one up and set it down. He picked up the knife. Then set it down. Daniel slammed his fist on the table, and she jumped. “You don’t want to talk? That’s convenient.”

  He began peeling potatoes, and Anya watched him carefully. She watched the blade of the knife cut through the tuber, stringing the outer layer off in slices. He tossed each one into the pot when he finished.

  “At least answer me this. What fate will I face by letting you stay here?”

  Anya wasn’t sure what he was asking. It was her that would be punished, not him.

  “Who will be looking for you?” he asked, his voice softening slightly.

  “No one,” Anya answered.

  “No one?”

  She nodded. She got up from the fire and walked over to him. She reached out her hand for the knife. He hesitated, but handed it over. Anya picked up a potato and asked, “How many?”

  “All of them.”

  She began to peel the potato the way she had watched him do it. He eyed her for the first one then took her seat at the fire feeling confident she knew what she was doing. ‘No one,’ he thought to himself, replaying her words in his head. It created more questions than it gave answers.

  Daniel decided to wait before pressing her for more information. She wasn’t exactly forthcoming with details anyway. ‘She will see in time that I am a friend,’ he thought. ‘She can trust me.’

  He watched her work at the table preparing what would be their meal for the rest of the day. Suddenly he didn’t mind having the presence of someone else in his small home. It would do him good to have some company. She would have to continue to help out like this of course, and they would have to scramble now with the autumn weather leaving to make sure there was enough to last the winter for two.

  As he watched her peel the potatoes, he noticed that sometimes her robes would move showing the slightest curve of the side of her breast. He found himself staring at the edge of the robe almost trying to will it to move again and again. She turned to him, and he whipped his head back to the fire immediately. His face flushed hot, and he silently begged she would think it was due to the flames and not his thoughts.

  Anya peeled the potatoes feeling pleased that she was able to contribute. It was the right thing to do. She knew she wasn’t supposed to be there, but she was at least learning what it means to be part of the human realm. To be hungry, cold, warm, nervous, or comfortable. She had lost track of the emotions and sensations she had experienced already in less than a day.

  Daniel helped her prepare another stew. It didn’t go unnoticed that she followed his lead. When he peeled a carrot, she watched him then copied what he did. He wondered who this woman was who stood before him in rags, but acted like royalty who’d never had to do anything for herself.

  Once the pot was on the hearth, he dug through his meager belongings and held some clothes out for her to take. “This is the best I can do. I don’t have the means to acquire anything more right now, but it will keep you warm.”

  She smiled and took the garments from him.

  “I’ll be in the barn. Come see me when you’re dressed. There’s work to do.”

  Anya waited for the door to close behind before she laid the clothes out before her. She slipped the britches on under her robes even though no one was there to see her. She lifted the robes over her head and slipped on his shirt. It smelled of him. The clothes were much too big. She tucked the shirt into the pants, but they still fell off of her when she tried to move. Anya took the cloth belt off her robes and put it around the pants tying it tight.

  She still didn’t have shoes or outer wear. She looked around the room. She found a worn pair of boots and put them on her feet. She looked like a small child wearing her father’s shoes. There was no additional outer wear to be seen, so she picked up one of the furs and draped it over her shoulders.

  She trod out in the cold. Anya couldn’t walk in the boots. She had to slide her feet across the ground. Every time she lifted a foot, it would come halfway out of the boot. She finally made it to the barn and went inside.

  The barn was cold, but not near as bitter as it was outdoors. Daniel was brushing down his mare. He studied her and frowned when he saw her feet, but he didn’t say a word. He gave her a quick lesson in the work that they needed to do. The morning’s chores were all done, so she would start helping him tomorrow. Today, her job would be to assist him in preparing some meat to salt. His traps had caught several rabbits and squirrels.

  Anya was unsettled by the idea of watching him skin and gut these animals, but knew it must be done for nourishment. He would show her one, then help her do one. Soon, they were working side by side. Daniel moved much faster than she did.

  When they were through, they went back inside to make bread. They sat after the loaves were put into the hearth to bake. “You know, it’s a luxury?” he asked, nodding toward the fire.

  She thought for a moment tried to remember what she had seen before coming here. “Bread?”

  “Yes,” he smiled. At least she is aware of something. “I made some good trades last summer for that flour. Of course, I didn’t know I needed enough to feed two.”

  Worry appeared on Anya’s face. She hadn’t given thought to if she would be a burden to him.

  He saw her reaction, “Its okay.” He told her. “It was only a jest. We’ll be fine.” Deep down inside he tried to convince himself that it was true.

  That night they dined together again. He tried not to show it, but he had been wrought with worry all day. “I will do my part,” he told her. “I will keep you safe, warm, and fed all winter. In the spring when I travel south, I will take you to any destination you wish. I just need you to promise me one thing in return.”

  Anya met his eyes. She felt her heartbeat race. She knew what directed the heart of most men and feared that would be his payment. “What is it you request?”

  “I need you to tell me true. Will there be anyone looking for you? Will there be any trouble for me for helping you?”

  Anya relaxed. She was wrong to doubt his intentions. He was the honorable man she had thought he was. “No,” she assured him. “No one will give you any trouble.”

  She could guarantee that. No one was looking for her because no one knew her save for the other three Elements who were doing their own exploring. She had n
o chance of running into one of them because they were no doubt following orders and not interacting with people unlike her. If someone did give him trouble for any reason while she was in his care, she would be able to make them let matters be and leave. Her powers were weaker in this body, but she was not powerless.

  “Good,” he smiled. He glanced across the room. “Now then, sleeping arrangements need to change. My back is still sore from my time on the hard ground last evening.”

  “I can sleep on the floor. That won’t be a problem.”

  “I wouldn’t hear of it. You are my guest. A guest who I expect to pull some of the work around here, but a guest no less.”

  Anya froze. What other sleeping arrangements could he mean? The bed was not big enough for both of them.

  Daniel saw the expression on her face and erupted in laughter. He held his stomach with one hand and waved the air with the other. “Oh, woman!” he finally managed to say. “That is not what I had in mind.”

  He continued to laugh, but went to the bed. He picked up the pile of blankets and furs and laid them on her lap. Daniel bent down and pulled part of the bed toward him and dropped it on the floor. “See?” he asked. “Two pallets. Two beds.”

  Anya flushed red with embarrassment. He grabbed the pile from her lap and distributed them between the two beds.

  “Will this work for you, my lady?” he bowed, teasing her.

  They readied themselves for bed with Anya taking the pallet closest to the wall. She didn’t know why Daniel insisted, but she would learn during the night when she heard him wake to stoke the fire. It made her feel safe and protected knowing that he was between her and the door. It surprised her because Anya knew she had the ability to protect herself far better than Daniel could.

  She lay awake for a long time wrestling the urge to leave as she would for many, many nights to come. She shouldn’t be here. She didn’t know what she would face for being disobedient. Anya tried to convince herself that her punishment would be no worse if she left now or later. She had failed her orders either way. There was something drawing her to Daniel making it hard for her to go. For now, she was content being the poor tree sprite he had found and decided to aide until he could take her somewhere better.

  Chapter Two

  Everleigh sat at the kitchen table of her grandmother’s house observing her cousins practice. It was the house where she grew up in and where she still lived, but it belonged to her grandmother who raised her. The room was filled with herbs and candles, and all the basic needs of introductory spell work. It was beginning to feel like déjà vu had struck and taken a permanent hold on her life. Here she was again just like in high school working on the small baby steps of magic.

  Step one: light a candle with your mind or your breath. Step two: move small items using only your powers of concentration. Things that seemed so trivial to her now, but were almost overwhelming when she was first learning how they were done. It was exactly like repeating first grade after graduating from college. Only this time, she was one of the teachers.

  Magic had always skipped a generation. It had been that way since the first real witch Anya arrived a millennium ago. Each child of a witch would have one child of theirs who would receive the calling to become a witch. For Everleigh, it was easy because she was an only child. There had never been a doubt she would be chosen for the craft. The education of the mystical began when she was very young. She had been raised around magic and often tagged along to celebrations where she watched in awe. Everleigh knew more about herbs before she began her formal education then most people learn in a lifetime.

  It was her cousins who were not so lucky. They had multiple siblings, and they would wait with baited breath as their teenage years rolled around hoping for some sign to show they were the chosen one. There had been countless times over the years where she listened to her cousins nervously talk about a dream or some other small occurrence that made them wonder if this was the start of it. More often than not, it wasn’t the case. The disappointment could be heard in their voices every time they realized it wasn’t them. Not this time.

  Unfortunately, throughout her family’s history many of the ones not chosen would eventually grow apart from the magically inclined relatives. She had been warned of this from a very young age, but didn’t understand why it would happen. Magic was not the center of their daily life generally. The exception would be her grandma’s household as she harvested herbs and charged waters and oils for magical use for not only herself, but for her coven and friends as well. Everyone who received the calling was taught to never use their gifts as parlor tricks, or at any time really when it wasn’t absolutely necessary.

  Still, the others would slowly fade out of the lives of the witches. Not completely of course. They didn’t abandon their siblings to never be heard from again. It just changed the relationships from the close knit family they had their entire childhood to one where they only saw each other a couple times a year. Everleigh had always been thankful she had no siblings. Not because it meant she would definitely receive the calling, but because she didn’t have the risk drifting away from someone who had once been so close to her. She didn’t expect it to affect her as hard as it was being an only child.

  There were some cousins who were already pulling back. As soon as Dorian and Isaac received the calling, their sisters drastically cut back their contact with Everleigh. She figured they feared she would ramble on about their brothers’ training which would be like pouring salt in an open wound. Everleigh knew better than that. On the few occasions when they’d talk, she would keep the conversation completely magic free by asking about what they were up to instead. It didn’t make a difference. They still continually slowed how often they communicated with her.

  Grandma Eloise had three children. Each of those children would produce a witch. Everleigh was the first of this generation to be called. Her mama was the oldest of Grandma’s children and had given birth very young. She died from complications in childbirth, so Everleigh never knew her.

  Now, two of her cousins had been called. Each of her uncles’ sons were ready to learn the craft. None of the female cousins had received the gift. She had been close with them while they were growing up, and she had always thought of them as younger sisters. It was hard on her now that they barely spoke to her. They knew without a doubt they weren’t going to be called, and their disappointment kept them away.

  The calling came to each person differently. For some, it was vivid psychic dreams or even visions while they were still awake. Others start to notice strange manifestations happening when they’re around. Dorian noticed a line of foxes outside his bedroom window every morning greeting him when he awoke. It had been happening for months before he finally told anyone. Even then, the only reason he said anything is because he started noticing foxes all over the place as time went on. They would be at the school, at his friend’s house, everywhere he went. No one told him that weird animal behavior could be a hint to a calling, and no one could explain why the fox was so significant to him. Grandma had explained it would be revealed in time.

  For Everleigh, it had begun with fire. One night in the winter when she was twelve, she woke and felt like she was about to freeze. She had long wished for a fireplace in her bedroom. It was something she saw once in a magazine, and she longed for a room like that ever since. She sat up in bed thinking about how cold it was and how nice it would be to have a fire in her room. Then her curtains went up in flames, and she ran screaming to her grandma. No one had to remind her to be careful of what she wished for after that.

  Grandma, on the other hand, had been a little concerned with why fire had been the signal of Everleigh’s coming into the craft. There was no such thing as a coincidence as far as Grandma Eloise was concerned. While her grandma didn’t necessarily hold any ill will toward the other Elementals, she did like to keep her distance from them. She was from a different generation trained in the craft by witches who had heard the tales o
f the last well known witch persecution throughout their entire life by descendants of those who had lived it.

  Long before Salem made a name for itself, the Elemental factions had faced many perilous times where small minded people tried to rid the world of them. People fear what they don’t know, and none ever took the time to learn more about them to see they were harmless. Mostly.

  There was a period when many from the Fire faction cured their boredom by toying with humans. Just because that period passed doesn’t mean it was ever completely forgotten. Libraries could be filled with stories of their blood lust. Fiction always contains an element of truth.

  There’s always a risk with Water. They could take every precaution available, but still accidently hurt someone or worse. Once they transform, they are no longer captained by their human side. They are pure beast who could only be tamed by their alpha. The problem is not all of them have an alpha. There are far too many orphaned and rogue wolves who have no one to keep them in line.

  Each time a group was in trouble, other groups would come to their aide. It served only to put a target on everyone’s back. More and more would be caught up in the hunt and slaughtered. Too many times coming to the aid of another faction left them vulnerable and targeted. All involved who survived would have to move what little was left of their people somewhere new and start over only to do it all over again the next time a faction was being rounded up.

  The Elementals decided centuries before Salem their best bet for survival was to distance themselves from each other. It had turned into every Elemental group for themselves. This was how her grandma was raised. It was a way of thinking she had been around her entire childhood. There were very few people from groups other than Earth that she tolerated. Some more than others. Becoming too friendly with them could be a weakness because when it came down to it, a choice would have to be made between your people or the ones you cared about the most.

  It was why she was whole heartily against intermixing the Elemental groups. Everleigh had always known that her grandma barely tolerated Aunt Meredith, but for a long time, she had no idea why. When she learned the truth, everything clicked. There was still one lingering question that had never been answered. If her grandma was so upset that Meredith became immortal for the vampire she loved, it would make more sense if she had cut ties completely. Yet, she never did. Aunt Meredith would come around from time to time much to Grandma Eloise’s obvious disdain, but even so, she was still welcome.