Chapter 2

There was dead silence as we entered. I lead the way into the jam-packed room, tugging nervously on the tiny shirt Kara had provided to me. Don’t know where she found the clothes she gave me, but my best bet was Baby Gap since the top rode up over my midriff with every move I made. People actually chose to dress this way? But since beggars couldn’t be choosers and all that, I didn’t whine about it… much. Man, did I ever miss my red trench coat. I could use its familiar security right about now. When this was all over, I was definitely going back for it.

Zoe and Jill followed behind me. Even Kara had braved facing my grandmother and brought up the rear, trying to hide behind the rest of us and not call attention to herself. But hey, at least she came with. They had all refused to let me do this alone. I appreciated their support more than I could ever express. They had my back, and it made me feel a whole lot better. And stronger since all I wanted to do right now was turn tail and run from the numerous inquiring faces and scrutiny at our entrance. But I didn’t run.Instead, I squared my shoulders, adjusted my shirt, and sauntered into the overheated room with its stale odor of sweat and horses. Obviously, most had not cared to freshen up for the meeting. Not quite sure why I had bothered.

Numerous sets of eyes pinned us as we entered. A hell of a lot more than I was expecting. Where had all these people come from? It only took a moment to realize I hadn’t even met half of these beings before, and my heart fell to the pit of my stomach. That fact alone was going to make my appeal a whole lot more difficult. It was going to be hard to win over people who were not used to my abrasive personality. I wasn’t the easiest person to like, I knew that. I was going to have to take this nice and slow.

I recognized Rach, the Ogre leader, and Olla, one of the Faerie clan leaders, flanking my grandmother on both sides of the huge round table. Bishop was also there and Satoga, plus the old lady from Starke’s village, although I never did learn her name. But that’s where my familiarity with them ended. There were at least six more faces staring at me that I didn’t know, all appearing to be of Fae or Faerie descent. The numerous faces stared at us with a myriad of expressions; from curiosity, to wonder, to what I believed was judgment.

Really? They thought they could afford to be critical of us? My nervousness quickly escalated to anger. I didn’t see any of them these past few months putting their lives on the line and jumping through portals into unknown worlds. They had no right to judge us, and I wanted to yell that fact right at them, but I swallowed my anger back down. Not the time.

Pick your battles, Jette.

“It is good to see you up and in good health, water wielder.” Rach’s lips twisted under his bushy beard, and it took me a moment to realize he was actually smiling at me.

“Good to be seen.” My voice bounced around the room, making my words appear that more idiotic.

Good to be seen? Smooth. Great choice of words guaranteed to instill confidence in the newbies, I’m sure.

Athena slowly stood to her feet and folded her hands at her waist, the copious array of gold bangles worn over her lacy sleeves, refracting the sun shining through the high windows overhead. Another whiff of the room’s odor hit me, and I had to hide my revulsion. Sweat broke out on my top lip as my grandmother smiled at me. I focused on the smile instead of the vein throbbing in her temple. Zoe had called it. She didn’t like surprises, and that vein clearly stated she believed our presence to be just that.

“In case you haven’t deduced it yet, we have been graced with the presence of the three elementals in our possession. Everyone, this is Bridjette, Jill, and Zoalyn.”

A few nods and smiles from Olla and Satoga, but the friendliness of most was negated by the hostile glare of the grizzled goat-man sitting next to Bishop. His hostility surprised me at first. until I realized what he was staring at. The runes burned into my forearm. The evidence of my failure. I resisted the urge to hide the marks. Instead, I cleared my throat, forcing myself to meet the gaze of everyone in the room.

“We wouldn’t miss this for the world, Grandmother, since I’m guessing this is a pretty important meeting. I have to admit, I’m surprised we weren’t officially invited.”

My words held the tiniest tinge of reproach. I guess I wasn’t all that good at hiding my anger at not being included in this momentous time. We were the elementals. Expected to risk everything to help restore the prism and Endova, but not important enough to help weigh in on the decisions on how to do such a thing?

“We were waiting for you to completely heal, Bridjette.” Athena did not sound happy with me. I would hear about my sass later; I was pretty sure about that. “You suffered much at the hands of the traitorous prince. We did not wish to add complications to the pressure of your healing.”

And there it was. No beating around the bush. No hesitation. Exactly how she felt about Starke and this turn of events. The traitorous prince. If I didn’t know any better, I could have sworn her voice held the slightest hint of condescension. Like that infamous I told you so was lurking at the tip of her tongue. The disdain only added to my being so glad I’d crashed this party. Her statement made me realize that Starke needed all the help he could get in keeping that target off his back. These people were not his friends at the moment.

I stepped deeper into the room, demanding everyone’s attention. My insides were shaking like a loose screw on a rollercoaster, but I had to do this for Starke.

“Let’s get one thing straight before this meeting goes any further.” My voice echoed weirdly in the acoustics of the room, but at least it didn’t squeak with fear. “You all need to know the truth about what went down on that mountain top. Prince Starke is not a traitor. If anything, he is a damn hero and needs to be treated as such.”

My grandmother opened her mouth as if she was about to cut me off, but I hurried on.

“He sacrificed himself to save me. If it wasn’t for him, you’d all be dealing with an elemental under Asha’s command right now.”

I let my words sink in, noting the shock on some of the faces. “That’s right. I was weak. I allowed Asha to crawl into my stupid head and almost let the blood magic take me over. Exhibit A.”

I held out my forearm, the dark runes, for everyone to see. “I was too weak to keep her out. To kick her out. She had me totally under her spell, and I would have gladly walked over hot coals for her at that precise moment in time. But Starke saved me. He knew exactly what she was doing, and he intercepted. He kicked her out of my head. Protected me. Sacrificed himself to keep me out of Asha’s hands. So, don’t you dare refer to him as a traitor. He is not himself right now, but he is not our enemy. He is a victim, just like anyone else who’s been hurt by Asha and her morquals. Just like all of you. He needs our help. And I should warn you right now, the four of us have no intention of giving up on him.”

I motioned to Jill and Zoe, who stepped up to flank me. Even Kara moved closer to my back. I glanced at them in appreciation for their support.

“So, if y’all want our help with attaining the last elemental and restarting the prism, it’s going to be on one condition: Starke will not be hunted or harmed. Understood?”

I wasn’t quite sure where all my bravado was coming from. Especially with the way goat-man and my grandmother were glaring at me. I knew the reason behind her obvious resentment. I knew she wanted me to stop defending Starke when she was trying to make him the major villain here. But I didn’t even know goat-man. What was his problem?

My words tapered off under everyone’s scrutiny, and I started fidgeting in the following silence.

“Are you done?” Athena finally asked, her words tinged with ice.

My lips flapped unintelligibly. I wanted to say more, but my brain suddenly stopped working.

“I guess so, but only if you agree to my terms,” I managed to croak. “Starke is not to be harmed in any way.”

“You know we can’t agree to that, Jette girl.”

Bishop’s comment almost knocked me backwards on my ass. Out of all of them, his was not the voice I was expecting to hear opposition from. I blinked at him in bewilderment.

“You did not see what happened after he threw you into the sea. I did. He may have done that to protect you, but once you were out of sight, you were also out of mind. Prince Starke fell easily to the darkness. He fought alongside his mother, destroying anyone who happened to fall into his path. If it were not for the wolven, I truly believe none of us would be here right now. None of us would be alive to argue this moot point.”

“You don’t know that for sure,” I argued hotly, my voice back. “Starke lost his way in the darkness, yes, but I know him. The real him. He is inherently good. He wants only the best for Endova and its people. We can’t give up on him, Bish, just because he’s lost his way. We can’t give up on him that easily. I won’t give up on him that easily.”

“But what if you are wrong, Bridjette?” Olla’s eyes were huge on her pixie face. “What if the man you thought you knew is already gone. Taken by the darkness never to return again. Are you willing to take that chance? Put everyone in danger by letting him live?”

“Damn right I am.” My answer was instantaneous and concise. No hesitation. “Just like he would do for me. For any of you. For any of Asha’s victims. And that’s what Starke is, her victim. And he deserves a chance to be saved, just like you are asking us to give everyone on Endova that same chance. So again, it comes down to my ultimatum. If you want our help, Starke is no longer public enemy number one, got it? He is not to be harmed. He is to be given a chance at salvation.”

All eyes stuck to me in disbelief, like I really did walk into the room in my underwear, but I refused to cower or back down. Those days were done. Starke needed my help, and I’d never been so sure of anything in my life.

“And what if his redemption doesn’t happen, water wielder? What if you can’t bring back this so called ‘good man’ from the precipice. What then?”

The soft question came from my grandmother. Not sure if it was her tone or the use of water wielder instead of my name that raised my hackles. My back stiffened as I met her cool gaze.

“Then, I will take him down. I will do what I need to if there is no other viable option. I promise you that.”

My voice sounded foreign in my ears, and I didn’t get how my outsides weren’t shaking as uncontrollably as my insides since I had just offered to kill Starke if I couldn’t save him. Desperate measures and all that.

The ensuing silence was almost as terrifying as Starke’s unknown fate. Did I get through to them?

“I believe the girl speaks the truth.” Bishop broke the silence.

All attention averted to him.

“If she cannot redeem Starke, she will do what needs to be done to handle the situation.” He stared at me with something akin to pride shining in his dark eyes. “I have not known the girl to ever go back on her word. I stand behind her decision.”

One corner of my mouth tilted at his words, a reaction to how his comments touched me in more ways than he could ever know. What Bish was trying to say in so many words; he had my back, no matter what. I needed to hear that right now.

“Hmph.” My grandmother’s reaction was not as encouraging. “Are you positive that the prince can be redeemed, Bridjette?”

“More than anything, Grandmother.”

She studied me, arms crossed and tapping her fingers on her forearms. Finally, she dropped my gaze and took in the room. “I’m not sure I believe in the prince’s redemption. But I do have faith in my granddaughter. In the water elemental. The prism chose her… chose all of them for a reason. Who am I to question that decision?”

My chin almost dropped to my chest. Was she actually agreeing to my terms?

“All agreed that the kill on sight order is to be lifted from Prince Starke?”

Wait. What? There was a kill on sight order? Sweet baby Jesus, these people weren’t messing around.

“We too have faith in the elementals.” Olla bowed her head my way. “We will honor the agreement.”

“The Ogre clans as well.” Rach nodded his massive head, prompting the other Ogre in the room to do the same.

My grandmother’s glance moved around the table as everyone nodded or responded aye. Everyone that is except goat-man. He was still glaring at me like I’d just pissed in his Cheerios this morning. Like, I know I deserved to be on the receiving end of that look sometimes, but seriously, I had no idea what I’d ever done to this guy.

“Grendor, do the north Faun agree?”

Goat-man snorted. “How can you all trust anything this human has to say? She carries the mark of the fallen. Just like Queen Asha and her traitorous son.”

My confusion at his words only lasted for a moment before realizing he was referring to the runes. I raised a brow at his stupidity.

“In case you’ve forgotten, I am also a chosen elemental. And do you really think that if I was under Asha’s control right now that you would all be sitting here discussing this? Asha and her morquals would already be here, and this village would already be toast. Starke too…”

I trailed off and averted my gaze to my grandmother as another thought sucker punched me in the gut with a hot bolt of panic.

“How is it that Starke is not already here?” I breathed in horror. “He knows where the village is located. He could lead Asha straight to us.”

Athena rolled her eyes. “We are not complete idiots, girl. We’ve already thought of that. It is being handled.” She motioned to the empty chairs at the table, inviting us into the approved circle. I made sure to choose a chair as far away from the Faun as I could.

“Handled it how?” I asked once we were all seated.

“Bottom line, we’ve increased the ward’s magic with the help of the wolven. They are masters of deflection magic. It is how they have evaded Asha all these years. They have helped keep the village hidden. As soon as any of Asha’s soldiers or morquals get too close, the wolven deflect the enemy’s detection magic, pulling them in another direction. Basically, they keep herding them in circles while we stay hidden in the nucleus.”

“A move we will all pay for dearly,” the feisty little Faun growled. He was not a happy camper.

“We are all aware of that fact,” Athena snapped at him. “We weighed the consequences but saving the village and its inhabitants far outweighed the magic use.”

“Lady Athena is correct.” Rach’s raspy words echoed about the room. “We do what we must to protect the innocents and the elementals. Asha cannot get her hands on them, no matter how much magic we use. We will handle the issues over usage brings when we come to it.”

“Then, why don’t we just fix that pesky little magic problem.” I blurted the words before actually thinking about what I was going to say. I shifted uncomfortably as all eyes fell on me again.

“What are you suggesting, water wielder?”

I blinked at Rach, not quite sure I heard him right. Was he actually asking my opinion when only a few short months ago, he was calling me a useless twat? Well, not those exact words. I might have paraphrased a bit.

“Uh…” I cleared my throat. “The only thing we can do. We find the last elemental and bring him home. Get that bad boy prism up and running again and shut Asha and her minions down once and for all. That’s what we are meant to do, yes?”

“Easier said than done, Jette girl.” Bishop regarded me over the top of his steepled fingers. “We have yet to formulate a plan to get us back into the tower for the prism to be reset.”

“Pft.” I waved a hand dismissively into the air. “Like you said, we cross that bridge when we come to it. We are stronger with the wolvens’ help, yeah? We fight our way in if we have too. I’ve already taken down one morqual. I can do it again.”

“Pride cometh before the fall, girl,” goat-man muttered at me. I ignored him.

“While I appreciate your enthusiasm, Bridjette, there is much to be discussed.” The tiniest crack showed in my grandmother’s icy demeanor for the first time since we entered the room. I knew what I was saying was finally pleasing her. I squashed the jolt of pride in my chest.

“Then, discuss. Figure out the next steps. You don’t need us here for that. We can be tracking down the last elemental while you all figure out the logistics. By the time we get back here with the earth elemental, I’m hoping y’all will have one badass plan.”

“Are you sure you’re up to this so soon, Jette girl? You’ve just barely healed.”

While Athena had been pleased with my eagerness to go after the last elemental, Bishop was leaning more toward caution. I smiled at him, touched by his concern for me once again.

“We can’t wait any longer, Bish. You know that. We all know that. The wolven are helping us stay hidden, but sooner or later our luck will run out. We need to do this. We have to do this. With our magic wands backing us, we got this. Right, girls?”

I glanced back and forth between the two elementals on either side. While Zoe nodded, looking as fierce as a warrior princess, Jill just looked anxious. But I’d come to realize that was her normal look. She would come through just fine. She shrugged at my questioning look and mumbled, “I guess so.”

Good enough.

“I agree with Bridjette. It is time we reconcile all the elementals.” My grandmother leaned over the table, commanding the attention of the room. “With every moment that passes, Asha grows stronger. The longer we wait, the better her chance at success. We must act now. Agreed?”

The ayes floated about the room. Even goat-man nodded reluctantly.

“Good. Everyone is in agreement. Bishop, you and Kara will accompany the elementals on the next jump. Without the prince at their side, they will need your guidance and wisdom and Kara’s magic to help them complete their mission. You will locate the elemental and extract him. You will leave tomorrow, understood?”

The urgency in her voice surprised me, but I nodded along with the others. Now that she was agreeing with me on the Starke issue, I didn’t want to press my luck. Athena’s gaze landed on me. “Take the afternoon and prepare for your journey. You will not be able to jump from here, but the wolven will accompany you to a safe point. The rest of us will continue brainstorming. We have little time and much to do.”

I couldn’t agree more. We did have a million things to do, but saving Starke was my first priority. I’d gotten the kill on sight order removed. That had been the easy part. Now, to save him from himself.