What I saw on Tiffany's wrist shocked me.
Eleven negators.
That shouldn't have been possible. Even if Tiffany was just an elemental like me, she should have been only able to take one. There was no way she was completely human with this on.
I conjured a pair of gloves and reached for the charms. Tiffany shrieked at the sight of them, and I dimly realised that I'd forgotten to tell her about that ability. Oops.
I carefully turned each one. Any onlooker would have assumed the coated plastic discs were just gold charms, but the symbols on them told another story. The first one I touched featured a teardrop design, except that looped around the design was a thin silver band. If I didn't know what that band meant, I might have found the design pretty, but that band was representative of a chain. It meant that the water element was locked. I reached along the other charms, finding the same thing repeated. A chained leaf design for the plant element, a chained sun for Lux, a lightning bolt for Volta... finally I stopped at the crescent moon that was representative of my own element, not daring to touch it. I knew that if I did, the very gloves I'd conjured would disappear as my power would be blocked until I let go of the symbol. I had to test it though. I touched it with a gloved hand.
Immediately a feeling of emptiness ran through me as everything that made me a Midnight was blocked from my system. My gloves disappeared and pain radiated from my hand to my entire body.
I let go immediately. Tiffany looked at me alarm. "Amy? Are you okay? Your nose is bleeding."
"I'm fine." I conjured a tissue and wiped it away before re-conjuring my gloves. I had an apprehensive feeling as to what the eleventh charm would hold, but didn't want to believe it until I'd seen it for sure.
The banded symbol was a simple circle, a tiny ring no bigger than the tip of my pinkie, but that circle was symbolic of wholeness, completeness of all ten elements.
It was the symbol of Drydan, king of the elementals. And that meant...
I stared at Tiffany. Speechless. Drydan hadn't had a single child in the past two hundred years. Instead of giving birth, he'd sired chosens. Children who were born completely human that had been handpicked to wield all the elements of one house. A fire chosen, for example, would have power over the fire, electric and light elements. Chosens weren't as crazily powerful as Drydan's children, and as a result less dangerous. It was because of how powerful Drydan's children were that he'd stopped having them.
So what had caused him to break protocol now? I stared at Tiffany's bracelet in shock. Only a child of Drydan could have worn that bracelet all the time and not died or gone insane. A human would have been made comatose within minutes, or killed within a day. A single elemental like me would have become insane within a week. Tiffany seemed fine unless she got so mad the bracelet couldn't contain her abilities.
And you had to be one powerful elemental for that bracelet not to work. No wonder we hadn't been able to pinpoint her type: she was all of them.
That jolted me out of my awed reverie. The bracelet was the only reason that no weather demon had ever sensed what she was. If they were on her way here now, and they found out what she was, they'd hunt her more doggedly than the CIA stalked terrorists.
"Amy...?" Tiffany looked at me uncertainly. Shelby chose that moment to enter the room with Martin, the pair holding hands. Those two had been going out for two years now, much to Lily's annoyance.
Lily and Martin were the only siblings I knew whose mother had ended up with two separate elementals. Martin was an earth elemental, whilst Lily was a fire. They clashed so often it was unbelievable. At that moment, I was glad Martin was there. I might need him to restrain Tiffany in order to get her into the car.
"You're in danger," I told her. "We have to leave. Now."
Tiffany blinked at me in stunned surprise. Then she folded her arms. "And go where?"
Weatherstone. Tiffany, you're wearing eleven negators."
I could almost feel the shock radiating from the others in the room, but I didn't take my eyes off Tiffany. I got the feeling that if I did, she would bolt out of the front door, and that would be a bad idea.
She shrugged. "So? I don't even know what that means."
It means that someone's blocked all ten elements. If you weren't an elemental, you'd be dead. If you only had one element, like me, you'd have gone insane." I paused to try and let her work it out. I could see that she knew the answer, but didn't want to admit it, even to herself. "You're a child of Drydan, Tiffany. And the moment the demons work that out, they'll hound you like a pack of dogs."
She was losing it. I could tell by the way she wrung her hands together, looking anywhere but at the four of us in the room. She hadn't even turned to acknowledge Martin, who was staring at her in awed fascination.
The lights began to flicker, and the temperature in the room shot up, but Tiffany didn't even notice. "You're crazy..." she whispered. "You're completely, and utterly.... crazy. Psycho. This is insane!" She edged toward the door. I moved slightly closer, reaching to put a comforting hand on her shoulder. She backed away as though my hand was a lightning rod. "Don't fucking touch me!" she yelled.
And before I know it... I'm standing in the kitchen, scared out of my mind. Dad cradles Gina in his arms on the tiled floor. I move closer to see if she's okay.
Dad looks up at me. I don't know how to read his expression, but it's certainly not loving. He looks at me as though I'm a stranger carrying a loaded gun. He doesn't take his eyes off me.
"Dad," I say, tentatively. "Is she okay?"
Dad glares at me. His eyes are cold. Gina babbles something and he reaches down to tenderly stroke her hair. When he looks at me again, his eyes are filled with hate. "Don't you dare touch her. Or me, or anyone else in this house again. Go to your room."
His words are like a verbal slap. I turn around and run.
I clenched my fists, removing myself from the memory. The person who looks at me like that now is not my father, but my best friend. I swallow, trying remain rooted to the present. Tiffany isn't my father. She's scared, but she doesn't hate me.
I'm pulled from my thoughts by the sound of the front door opening. Lily's mother and stepdad are back. I pull my gaze from Tiffany for one second to see them enter, and Tiffany takes her chance. She'd had her back to the door, but now she turns tail and runs, grabbing her backpack on the way out. I move to go after her, but Lily's parents are in the way and their stepdad doesn't know about the elementals, so I'm unable to use my enhanced speed to grab her. On top of that, Lily's mum starts acting like a mother hen, greeting us all and offering us food. We hint to her that we have to go and make an escape as fast as possible. By the time we're outside Lily's house, Tiffany is long gone.
This can't end well. It's late, Tiffany doesn't know the area Lily lives in, and she's bound to get lost in these complicated streets. After her spectacle with the lights, the demons will know what area to look in. We have to find her first. "Martin?"
Despite being older than me by a year, he responds immediately to my command. "On it," he tells me, crouching out to reach the ground. I hand him Tiffany's damp jumper and he grips it tightly, focusing.
Earth elementals have an ability to track anything that has been treading on the ground in the past week, as long as they have an object of that persons to focus on. I guess you could say it's like a dog sniffing a scent. Shelby can do a similar thing in water. We wait until Martin stands up, a slightly glazed look in his eyes, and points. "This way," he tells us.
We follow him into streets that get more and more deserted. I'm apprehensive. My spine tingles, and I can almost feel the demons nearby. Without even having to think about it, I use the shadows to cloak myself. Any human walking by would have no idea I was there unless I was clumsy enough to walk into them. I'm not.
Shelby suddenly ducks as a vamp comes flying out of nowhere. She pulls a concealed dagger from the inside of the jacket she's wearing, spins back up and shoves it into his chest. The vamp explodes into dust, but she's not got time to celebrate because suddenly we're surrounded.
There are only about twenty or so of them. We've taken down more than that. But what worries me is the lack of demons. Vamps are never far from their masters.
So if they're not here...
A scream comes from around the corner. Tiffany. I stop thinking and just act. A katana is conjured in my hand before I can think about it. I bark orders for Martin and Shelby to take out the Vamps and get the car before yelling for Lily to come with me. The vamps come flying at us and it's five on one.
I take out two of them in one swinging arc, then use the momentum to take out another two. The last one tries to grab me as I sprint past it, but I'm too fast and Lily incinerates him with a fireball to his exposed back. She's far behind me when I skid around the corner.
It's worse than I thought.
From the back, you'd assume that it was an old lady that Tiffany was backing away from. She had light gray windswept hair that looked as though it had been caught in a breeze, and skin which was almost translucent. She wore a dress so white that you'd think it was woven from clouds. From the back she seemed almost angelic. Except I knew that her face told a whole other story: despite the gray hair, she looked no older than twenty-five, the expression on her face was likely murderous, and her eyes were a demonic red. Tiffany was staring into the face of Caeli, the air demon.
Except that Caeli hadn't come alone.
Watching bemusedly from the sidelines was a man. This guy had hair the colour of steel. On his fingers glinted rings made of virtually every metal known to man, and then some. He was dressed in full on steel armour, with a deadly-looking sword sheathed at his hip. The muscles bulging under his shirt could probably rival the Hulk's and his eyes were as red as Caeli's. I swore under my breath. I hadn't expected Metallo, the metal demon.
Caeli advanced on Tiffany, and I just reacted, streaking towards her and shoving her out the way. I spun back up and swung a katana in a move that should have pierced her heart. But at the last second, Caeli dissipated, literally vanishing into thin air.
...Only to reappear right behind me. I barely got out of the way as she swung a claw towards my neck. I grabbed her arm and rolled forward, pulling her with me before swinging the katana back down again. She dissipated, but didn't reappear near me. I kept my senses on alert as I tried to find out where she'd gone.
Meanwhile, Metallo advanced on Tiffany. I could see that she looked scared as hell. Whilst Caeli was all about agility and staying one step ahead, Metallo was a far more physical threat. I ran towards them.
Caeli reappeared in front of me, bringing me to an abrupt stop. Just as I was about to start panicking on Tiffany's behalf, a fireball slammed Caeli in the back. Lily nodded at me as she took over, and I ran toward Tiffany and Metallo.
I was almost glad that Metallo was toying with her for now. He had her shoved against the wall. He must not have realised what type of elemental she was, because he hadn't bitten her yet. His fangs were out though, so I wasted no time in conjuring a throwing knife, which I lobbed perfectly at his head. He had to turn to deflect the blow, dropping Tiffany. I pulled the katana out again and we traded blows. He was far stronger than I was, but I was faster. Still, I felt like I was fighting a losing battle.
Lily was losing her fight with Caeli, who'd promptly began manipulating the oxygen in the air around her to the point she nearly passed out. Fire elementals needed oxygen more desperately than a human did. No oxygen meant no flame. Caeli smiled and lowered her fangs toward Lily's limp neck as Lily finally gave up and passed out.
I managed to push Metallo far enough away from me that I had enough time to conjure a throwing knife and hit Caeli directly in the back. She exploded into nothing with a scream. I whirled out of the way as Metallo arced his sword in a cut that would have beheaded me if I wasn't able to move faster than a speeding car. We traded blows again.
I heard Tiffany groan and sit up, rubbing her wrists. Whilst I fought Metallo, I thought nothing of it until Metallo suddenly tensed and swatted me away the way one would swat a fly. I went flying and struggled to sit up before I saw the problem.
Tiffany was bleeding. Before I could stop him, Metallo barrelled toward her. Tiffany barely had time to move before his fangs were rushing toward her neck. But a second before they got there, an arrow lodged in Metallo's back, turning him to dust.
Martin walked over to his sister, lowering his bow as he did so. I almost forgot how deadly he was with that thing. He immediately opened a tiny bottle in his pocket, carefully tipping a steaming liquid down Lily's throat. A second later, she woke up. I ran to Tiffany.
"You okay?"
Tiffany rubbed her neck. "I'll live." She sighed. "I guess you guys aren't insane after all."
"We wish." I pulled her to her feet. "You can walk fine?"
Tiffany was indignant. "Yes."
"Good, because we need to get out of here and get you to Weatherstone before they come back."
"Come back? You just killed them!"
"Immortal, remember? They regenerate about two hours after death, and Weatherstone is a three and a half hour drive away. We've got to motor."
Shelby chose that moment to drive the car around. We all piled in. Martin took control of the wheel whilst Shelby rode in front with him. Tiffany sat in the middle of Lily and I as we drove towards Tiffany's house. For once, Olivia was home, so Tiffany wanted to say bye.
"Five minutes," Martin snapped at her. We were all tense, on edge. We had already lost ten minutes, and time didn't stop for anyone. Tiffany nodded and ran into the building, ignoring the night doorman's greeting. We waited for her to come back.
Five minutes came and went... and still no sign of Tiffany. At the ten minute mark, I ran out of the car. Once I got to Tiffany's block, and slipped silently inside, I realised what all the fuss was about. I could hear Tiffany's voice from outside their apartment.
"...could you not just listen to me, Mum!" Tiffany sounded angry, but on the verge of tears. I wondered what Olivia had said.
"I have to get back to work, Tiffany." Olivia's tone was cool, detached. As though Tiffany hadn't just let her know she was going to a school in the middle of nowhere. As softly as I could, I used my key to slip into their apartment.
Mother and daughter stood in the living room. Not for the first time, I was struck by the contrast in their appearance. Tiffany's ice blue eyes, dark brown hair and average frame were a complete contrast to Olivia's warm brown eyes, white blond hair and taller than average height. But where there were obvious physical differences, their personalities were more similar than they'd admit. Beneath the cool exterior that Olivia was trying to project, I could see that she genuinely loved her daughter -she was being detached in an attempt to make Tiffany want to leave safely. Tiffany, meanwhile, was doing everything she could to restrain the tears that threatened to stream down her face. Both mother and daughter were putting on brave fronts, trying not to betray their feelings, when in reality, they both cared more than they would ever admit. Olivia was only better at it because as a surgeon, it happened to be her job.
I tried to ignore the stab of jealousy I felt when I realised that. This had nothing to do with my family -or lack thereof. I noticed then that there was a suitcase in the middle of the room -there was no way Tiffany could have packed a suitcase that full in the five minutes we'd given her, especially when I could see that none of the clothes in it had been able to come from her wardrobe since it was fully stocked. That meant Olivia must have known all along.
"Of course you need to work!" Tiffany's voice broke as she said it, but she immediately recomposed herself. "When are you not working?" Tiffany grabbed a backpack off the table, face flushed with anger. "I bet you won't even know the difference when I'm gone since it's not like you're ever here!"
Olivia looked up, noticing me, and gestured at the case. I nodded and picked it up, immediately regretting not bringing Martin up with me. Midnights weren't lucky enough to be blessed with enhanced strength, and the thing weighed a ton. Tiffany barely acknowledged me as I moved it into the hallway. Olivia and Tiffany followed me into the lift downstairs. Once outside the building, Olivia turned back to Tiffany.
"Of course I'll notice you're gone! You think I haven't been worrying about when this day would come? I've had nightmares about it. But at the end of the day, I'd rather that you hated me with every fibre of your being than if you died sooner than you were supposed to. And that's why I'm making you leave." She leaned down and wiped the tears that had finally escaped Tiffany's eyes, which Tiffany tried to blink away furiously. "I love you, and that's why I know I have to let you go." With that, Olivia took a breath and straightened up, fixing her gaze on me. "Look after her, Amy," she said softly. She reached down to hug me. I hugged her back. In a way, Olivia was one of the closest things I'd had to a mother. I'd miss her.
"I will."
With a final kiss to Tiffany's head, she walked away, not once looking back. But Midnights have better vision than the average human -I saw when she finally broke down in her car.
Tiffany didn't retaliate when me and Shelby led her to our car. She looked defeated. For the first time in a long while, I had no idea what to do because I'd never seen her like this.
As soon as we were ready to go, Martin drove the car as fast as he legally could. And with that, we were off, taking Tiffany Goldman from everything she had ever known.
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Dedicated to TheStupefying for her cover! I thought it highlighted how new and crazy things are about to get for Tiffany.
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