Chapter 3
Alex found her aunt in their kitchen. Sunlight poured in through the big bay windows. The room was comfortable but not cluttered. It had cream walls and blond oak cupboards, and a dolphin cookie jar. Her aunt stood at the butcher-block island pouring them apple spice tea. When Alex entered the room, Quinn gestured for her to take a seat at the little white table in the corner. As Alex sat, Quinn placed chipped mugs on a paisley hot pad before sitting herself.
“I knew we would have to have this conversation eventually. We probably should have before now, but I guess I was weak and hoping to spare you for as long as possible.”
“Aunt Quinn, I was attacked by something not-quite-human this morning. I think I killed that not-quite-human thing, and I’m pretty sure I melted the YMCA parking lot so forgive me for being rude here, but can you tell me what you think is going on.”
“Very well, I’ll get straight to it then. I’m asking you to believe in me, Alex, and to remember that I love you.” She rushed on. “Your family, our family is . . . complicated.” Quinn sighed and rested her heavy arms on the table, her tea forgotten. “It took me twenty years to locate you, Alex, because someone much more powerful than I am, made sure you disappeared. You were never supposed to be found.”
Alex studied the room, aware of how quiet everything had become; like the house itself held its breath. “What are you talking about?”
“You are special Alex, more special than any of us. As it turns out that was too risky.
“You aren’t making sense. Who are us?”
Quinn talked over her niece. “Your birth mother was special too. She'd always been advanced. Her skills were stronger than most of us. Father loved that about her. She could control her element almost from birth. That's unheard of among our people. Eventually, she became one of the strongest of us.”
Alex trembled—lifted her tea with shaking fingers and held the cup against her mouth as she waited for Quinn to finish.
“I was never a warrior, but I've worked hard to keep the balance. As a record keeper, I protected the world in my own way. By keeping this secret. By protecting you . . . I've done what I could to protect our family. Our family is always first. Remember that over the next weeks and months. Family—this family—comes first.”
Alex grabbed the edge of the table to steady herself. She considered her aunt’s eyes. “You're starting to scare me.”
Quinn clutched her arms across her stomach. “Now that your tattoo has appeared you are a secret that can only be kept for a little longer. You are the daughter of one of the strongest Elemental to ever exist, Alex . . . and . . . you are something a little bit more.”
Alex snorted; a crazy sound that echoed off the walls of the kitchen. “Good one, Aunt Quinn. You had me freaking out there for a minute. I have no idea what an Elemental is, but I think you've been reading too many fairy-tales.”
“First,” Quinn said. “I never tell stories. I deal with facts and truths. Even in the mystical world, there is fact and truth. Second, there isn't a lot of time for you to get on board with this. If others are already sensing you, then we can be assured the elders will hear about it soon. We need to move you. You'll have to absorb it as you go.”
“Others sensing me? What others?”
“The woman in the gym this morning was really bad luck on our part. Non-humans can sense each other all around. I should have thought about that, but I hadn’t counted on you transitioning so quickly.”
“This is insane. I can't believe we're even having this conversation.”
Quinn poured more tea before saying, “Alex, think about this logically. Think about your episodes, and how your dreams strangely seem to predict things. The tattoos appearing on your skin. The way odd things happen to you. And how fire bends to you.”
At the mention of fire, Alex tugged at her housecoat collar.
“All Elemental have an ability to control an element. Yours is fire. My element is wind. Water was your mother’s.” Quinn quickly added, “It's normal Alex. At least, it’s normal for us.”
“Are you seriously telling me that all these years you’ve known why fire takes over my body? Every time I’ve had an episode you’ve known exactly why. Why wouldn’t you tell me?”
“I thought I was protecting you. That’s my only excuse.” Quinn wrung her hands. “I don’t know who your father is. I don’t know what else you can do. Your grandmother told me about you on her deathbed and made me swear to protect you and keep you a secret as long as I could.”
“Jesus, Quinn, this is fucking nuts.”
“Believe me I know. But it’s true. I swear it on my life. Hell, right now I swear it on your life. Because your life is in danger.”
“And that freak this morning?”
“That was a raider. They steal powers from other immortals. Thankfully, your element kicked in and somehow you were able to control your fire enough to save your own ass. Because of our family connection, I knew immediately once you tapped into your full element. That’s how I found you. But that also means others will sense an element awakening.”
Alex slammed her cup on the table. “This is bullshit. You want me to take you at your word when you still haven't explained exactly what an Elemental is. And what the hell do you even mean by—I’m a little bit more?”
Quinn stood, stretched out her hand and the two blankets off the living room couch flew into her hands. “You looked cold, dear. Wrap up in these so you don't go into shock.”
Alex's jaw dropped, her eyes blinked. “What the hell? . . . What are you?” She pushed the chair away from the table and slapped Quinn’s outstretched hand away.
“I'm fast, dear, very fast. It helps to have the wind at my back.” She placed the blankets on the table and sat down again. “Now, I'm sorry to have done that, but as I said we don't have a lot of time to play around with this. I've called your guardian and he should be here soon. You need to be prepared. I've never met the man but I hear he isn't very patient.”
Exhausted, Alex followed her Aunt’s lead and sat. Her head fell into her hands and she mumbled into her palms, “Now I have a guardian? Maybe I’m losing my mind.”
“Stop being melodramatic. You aren’t losing your mind. This isn’t easy to explain, but I want you to know that I never knew. Not until years later. Not until my mother died. I hate having to tell you now. I hate that this is happening to you. But there is so little time. I need you to listen and trust your instincts.” Ashen faced, Quinn continued. “Your mother disappeared a lot. She was a fighter, a warrior, a golden goddess to our people. We knew she was in love with someone. She’d make comments here and there, but never revealed who it was.”
Teary eyed, Quinn took another sip of her tea before continuing. “There are four elders of our race, one for each of the elements in the world——fire, water, earth, and wind. They make the rules we all live by. They agreed to mate your mother to a dragon. The elders thought it was a way to solidify relationships with the dragons.”
“A dragon?” Alex studied her aunts face, tried to find something real in her gaze. “Maybe you’re losing your mind, not me.”
“Shut up and let me finish. When your mother found out, she fled. I remember hearing her screaming at our parents that she already had a husband.” She sighed deeply. “The rest is brutal. The dragon found her and her lover. He killed them and locked himself behind his walls before we could seek revenge.” Quinn checked her watch before saying, “That’s the official story. That is what I always knew. Would you like to hear the true story—the confession your grandmother made to me with her last breath?”
Morbidly fascinated, Alex nodded.
“Your mother did not die right away. The dragon’s son found out what happened and interrupted his father’s savagery. Unfortunately, he was too late to save Gray’s husband. But this friend to our family, this son, realized Gray was pregnant. He brought her back to die in her mother’s arms, rather than on a cold rock. Your grandmother—Kaylen—delivered the child.” She smiled faintly at Alex. “Kaylen gave that child to the son to hide. That child was you, my darling.”
Alex swallowed the tears at the back of her throat. “But why kill my mother? What purpose would that serve?”
“Our family is very, very powerful, sweetheart, and we have been viewed as a threat by other families for many years. Mother had suspicions about why Gray was offered to the older dragon in the first place. She believed there were elders among us that wanted to prevent her from bearing a child.”
“So, who am I? Who is my father?”
“I'm sorry, darling, Gray carried that secret to the grave.” Quinn’s voice quivered. “The moment you were born, Mother knew she had to hide you in plain sight, until she could discover who your father was and who orchestrated your mother’s murder. So, she took you to someone who could make you disappear. She took you to the son who saved you—the Dragon King. He brought you to your adoptive family. Made sure you’d remain hidden to all but him.
Alex’s tea waited, cold and forgotten. The scent of apples ignored. Surprisingly, though, with everything that had been going on, she began to believe her aunt. Now what did that say about her?
“When you say Dragon King, I assume that's an honorary title, right?”
“Oh, sweetie. You should feel very, very lucky right now that it isn't. Collum Thronus, King of the Dragons and Guardian of the Races, may be the only one strong enough to protect you now that your transition has begun and the barriers protecting you from detection, have fallen.”
Quinn ended the conversation. “Now, as I said, there is very little time, and I expect he will be here any minute. I'm going to pack a bag for you. You drink your tea. Maybe make some toast too. I'll be back in a minute.”
As her aunt walked out of the room, Alex tried to steady her heartbeat. She was left with a ton of new questions, and a cup of cold tea. The toaster mocked her from across the room until she stood up and grabbed the loaf of bread off the island.
A knock sounded at her door, but before she could answer it some guy barged in. An exceptionally large guy.
Alex’s mouth hit the floor, the loaf of bread dropping from her limp fingers.
He wore tight-fitting black cargos and a gray T-shirt that showed off muscled arms covered in intricate tattoos. His hair was tousled, and he had three days’ worth of stubble on his handsome face.
The look in his eyes promised the kind of sin angels dreamed of.
Her nipples tightened. He smelled like dirt and muscles and rough sex. She inhaled deeply. Had the urge to jump up on the kitchen counter, spread her legs, and beg him to take her.