Beauty and A Beast (ON HOLD)

Chapter 21

‘Just focus, Andy,’ breathed Elijah into my ear.

‘I can’t,’ I whined, collapsing to the ground. ‘Elijah; we’ve been going at this for hours and nothing has happened!’

 ‘You cannot expect everything to go your way after only ten minutes, Cassandra,’ said Elijah with a hint of amusement in his voice.

 I sighed as I brought my knees to my chest, placing my head in my hands. ‘We’ve been here for a week and yet I can’t even set a piece of wood on fire! If anything, I’m going backwards.’

 Elijah looked down at me with sympathetic eyes. He stripped himself of his jacket, leaving him in a crisp white shirt and suit trousers before joining me on the grass; both of us staring at the undamaged plank of wood standing in the middle of the lawn behind the house.

 ‘I might as well just let the witches take me. I’m not even fit to be called an Elemental!’ I said in desperation as I fell onto my back with a cry.

 ‘Cassandra; did Queen Elizabeth I give up when the King of Spain wanted to attack England?’

 ‘Elijah; I’m pretty sure my brain got fried instead of the wood so spare me the riddle and just tell me where are you going with this.’

 As Elijah sighed, I knew he was smiling. ‘There are similarities between you and the great queen.’

 ‘We’re both young, British women in the age where men take us for granted?’

 This time, Elijah laughed aloud. ‘She’s a determined, fiery-‘

 I gave a bark of laughter. ‘You’ve got that right.’

 ‘Powerful young lady. Just as you are, Cassandra. If you want to win in this battle against the witches, you have to show that you are determined to survive.’

 I turned my face to see him looking down at me with a hopeful look in his eyes. I groaned as I sat back up. ‘This is your way of guilt tripping me into working hard, isn’t it?’

 ‘My Dear Miss Nightingale; I have no idea what you mean.’ He gave me a small smile making me laugh. I looked up into the clear, blue sky, enjoying the sunlight hit my back.

 ‘Well, well. I never thought I would live to see the day where my brother sits outside in the sun with a beautiful woman beside him.’

 I groaned loudly before letting my back fall back to the ground; my eyes closing to block the sun. ‘You couldn’t have let me enjoy this moment in the sun, thinking that you were nowhere near me, could you?’

 A shadow swept over my face causing the sun to be blocked. ‘You should consider yourself lucky, Lady Cassandra. Women throw themselves at my feet in an attempt to get my attention. You get it for free.’

 I slowly opened my eyes to see Kol staring down at me with his usual smirk. ‘You don’t really understand when people want you to leave, do you?’

 ‘A trait that Nik and I share,’ he said with a grin before sitting beside me; a bottle of whisky in his hand. ‘So, want to show me what you’ve got, Elemental?’

 I looked to Elijah who seemed more pissed off than I was feeling. I sat up, grabbing the bottle from Kol’s hand before downing a healthy shot. Trying to hide my shudder as it poured down my throat, I stood up, moving slightly away from the boys before focusing on the plank of wood.

 I tried to think of everything that Kol had done to me in the time that I had known him; the moment at the party; the close encounter in his bedroom; him drinking my blood in the cell; everything. I felt the energy roam through me, sparking everywhere. I tried to focus it on the wood as I closed my eyes, channelling the power to the wood.