AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The thing is, I’m kind of going crazy,” Alma admitted. She felt as though she had an itch she couldn’t scratch, some tingle she couldn’t reach on her own. Something was driving her to maintain the connection with Alex. “Even knowing he could be a spy, I want him at my birthday party.”
Dylan nodded slowly, thinking about what she had said. “I think, if you can keep your keen sense of survival, it might not be a bad idea.”
Alma was surprised by Dylan’s statement.
“I mean, we’re not going to find out what they’re after unless you interact with them more. You’ll be vulnerable, but you’ll have Finn and me both there with you…and your friends.”
Alma bit her lip, thinking of the way Alex had kissed her, the absolute charm he radiated. She was in danger of becoming attached to him, beyond a casual attraction.
“Besides, when you come into your full powers, I doubt he’d be able to stand up against you.”
Alma chuckled. “He’s an air elemental too. And not a wimpy one, either.”
Dylan shook his head. “You’re underestimating yourself. You were able to keep yourself under control at lunch. You said yourself you kept getting hunches, kept pulling away from his charm.”
Alma sighed. “Yes, but my…uh…ah, to hell with it. I’m getting more and more turned on by the hour, and he’s so gorgeous.”
Dylan laughed out loud, rolling his eyes. “If you really need help restraining yourself, you can count on me to wet blanket you.”
Alma snorted at the turn of phrase, thinking it was a good description of the spell he had cast to suppress the violence of her powers and the sensation of Dylan infusing his more stable, watery energy into her.
“If you don’t think it will be a total disaster and get me killed…,” she said, trailing off.
Dylan shook his head. “You can handle this.”
Alma pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, feeling palpable relief. Maybe she was wrong; maybe Alex and Dolores weren’t spies. She texted him a flirtatious note, adding that she would enjoy having his help in celebrating her birthday. If Dylan believed in her ability to take care of herself in that fraught time, she would have to believe in herself.
Alex texted back he had hoped she’d want to see him again so soon. Alma gave Dylan a little smile, taking her phone with her as she went to her bedroom, beginning a rapid-fire exchange with the other elemental. While she knew she shouldn’t trust him, she warmed to his enthusiasm, blushing and feeling as giddy as she had in his presence. She told herself firmly she would have to be careful—she could easily experience another power surge in the night—but it almost seemed worth it.
sixteen
After they came home from the lunch date, the repairman arrived to fix the broken window. Alma hadn’t considered how odd it would be to have just one window broken out until he asked what had happened.
“Oh,” she said, latching on to the news coverage of another odd windstorm. “It was that windstorm last night. I heard it put out several windows in the area.” The repairman nodded, commenting that he had been busy all day with repairs. When Alma heard about the broken windows, she felt guilty. She was still waiting to hear from her grandmother about what a horrible display it was and how she should have controlled herself better. Then she remembered that, while coming into her full powers her grandmother had flooded her childhood home and caused another small, localized flood on another location when she had been consumed with grief at the passing of her first husband. She would understand, Alma thought. The lack of a phone call was likely a signal. Her grandmother knew there was nothing Alma could have done in the situation to prevent the windstorm from happening.
As she continued to text Alex, Alma didn’t realize she was forgetting her misgivings about the man; instead she was responding to his air-aligned charm, to the easygoing flattery that even she knew air elementals excelled in. She heard herself giggling at his comments, glanced at her phone every few moments throughout dinner and even afterwards, waiting to see what he would say next. To judge by his preoccupation, Finn was going through a similar situation with Dolores, and when Alma noticed, the sharp stab of jealousy resurfaced.It’s just my superpowered elemental hormones,she firmly told herself. They’d had another vicious argument when she suggested she was fine with Alex coming to her birthday, but she was hesitant to invite Dolores. Her reasoning was that the woman had nearly charmed Finn into admitting everything, and Finn couldn’t keep himself properly on the task of protecting her if Dolores was around to distract him. Dylan had interrupted the argument in his usual diplomatic fashion, telling them both firmly but gently that if either were having a problem keeping the correct caution, he would simply use his spells to bring them back in line. They both conceded.
Alma decided a new outfit was in order for her birthday celebration, and so she spent the rest of her evening scanning local boutiques, wanting to get the shopping done as quickly as possible the next day before she went out. She wanted to look irresistible. The part of her mind not engaged in planning and making sure her friends would be available for her celebration, was dwelling on the air elemental. She pictured him easily in her mind, sprawled in bed with her, his hands wandering over her body as his intense blue eyes looked down at her full of lust. She had not failed to notice his long, deft fingers, the way his touch ignited something inside of her all throughout lunch, bearing the power to distract her from her annoyance at Finn’s failure to remember they needed to be cautious. As long as she could avoid revealing too much, she thought, she was not at all adverse to seducing—or being seduced by—the other man.
* * *
Alma awoke the morning before her birthday feeling both incredibly, vibrantly alive and on the edge of mania. The sensory overload that had accompanied her first power surge was back, not quite as strong as it was initially, but constant. Even Dylan’s magic could not put a dent in the sensation of power running up and down her limbs, coursing through her organs, igniting every part of her. If her attention waivered from controlling her element for even a few moments, the wind rose. She caught Finn and Dylan exchanging a concerned look.
“I’ll be okay,” she said, irritated at their doubt. Alma put on her most comfortable clothes, choosing fabrics that wouldn’t rub against her sensitized skin. In addition to her irritation, she found her lust increasing exponentially. She had to carefully force herself not to look at Finn or Dylan for too long or her mind ran away with fantasies of seducing them, of taking them to her bed and satisfying the insatiable thirst, the itch that was driving her mad. She knew it would be a difficult day—that the next day was unlikely to be much better—but she had to believe she could get through it. She had put so much hope in her plans to go out, had looked forward to it so much that it would have crushed her to back out.
Alex sent a text while she was getting ready to go to the mall with the two brothers, a flirtatious greeting that sent a thrill through her. She knew she had only to make the smallest mention of her desires and Alex would find a way to fulfill them. The same power filling her with knowledge of her own potential, however, also filled her with doubt—suspicion. She considered the quandary; Alex was more than just an elemental who was interested in her. The solution hit her suddenly as she responded to Alex—while she didn’t have her grandmother’s intuitive insights, her air alignment gave her abilities in divination and her grandmother had taught her extensively as part of her elemental training. She opened the top drawer of her dresser, moving pairs of underwear and bras around until she found the old, worn tarot deck her grandmother had taught her with. Alma heard the wind rising, but she paid little attention. Removing the cards from the pack, she felt the comforting weight of them in her hands, soothing her apprehensions.
Her grandmother had taught her there were always answers to be found. Alma closed her eyes as she shuffled the cards, progressing them through her hands in automatic movements as she moved to sit in the center of her room.
She continued to shuffle until something inside told her to stop. She selected cards, setting them in a spread in front of her with her eyes still closed, relying on muscle memory and divining instinct. While she could divine things from a variety of sources—tea leaves, crystal balls, runes—she was most comfortable with the cards. Alma continued pulling cards until she had a full spread. She then set the rest down next to her. She opened her eyes and studied the cards she had selected, her gaze moving over each one in its position. The swords suit featured prominently. Alma almost rolled her eyes at such an obvious allusion to the situation at hand: swords, being the element of air, were appropriate considering her alignment and Alex’s. She took a deeper look, knowing there was more to be seen beyond the obvious. In the position representing herself, she saw the Queen of Swords: the pinnacle of feminine air energy, representing her rise into her final state as a full elemental. It was compromised by the six of swords—a difficult transition, a rite of passage. The three of swords showed the potential for grief, for heartbreak. The outcome was the ace of swords: victory, raw power. The lover’s card represented a decision to be made.
Alex’s alignment showed itself as the Knight of swords, paired with the Magician. Yet another influence in the spread Alma couldn’t quite understand was the World card, representing completion, which gravitated to the Chariot card. Alma shook her head; she would contemplate that influence later. The situation regarding Alex and Alma, and whether or not she should move forward with him, played out with the Tower, followed by the High Priestess in reverse—the need to listen to her instincts. Alma sighed.
She was still contemplating the spread of cards in front of her when a knock sounded at her door. “Come in,” she said absently, trying to find out whether she was being told to avoid the situation altogether, or merely being told that she should be cautious. Dylan opened the door and entered, carrying a mug. He took a seat in a chair a few feet away, setting the mug down on Alma’s vanity.
“I talked to your grandmother,” he said quietly, not wanting to interrupt her contemplation. Alma nodded, thinking of the Tower, the suggestion of a rite of passage, of difficult choices. She looked at the cards advising the potential of grief and heartbreak and wondered if that meant she would be betrayed—that Alex had dark intentions for her, or was working with someone who did. Or that he was simply connected in some way to a potential for betrayal and heartache. She had to decide at some point, the cards were clear on that. But was it the present moment, or some future instance? Alma groaned and scooped up the cards, adding them back to the deck and shuffled it again. She looked up at him, letting her mind drift as she shuffled, looking for clarity.
“She gave me a recipe that should help you with the power surges.”
