Elemental Power Read online

  “I don’t actually know her at all,” Ridley admitted. “I’m a plus-one.”

  “I can introduce you if you’d like,” Callie offered.

  “Thanks, that would be so cool.” After a pause, Ridley took a breath, made sure there was no one walking toward them and no one within earshot behind them, and decided to go for it. She had little time left before they reached the ballroom. “Callie,” she said, and the woman’s head jerked toward her.

  “How do you—”

  “I need to talk to you about something important, so it would be great if we could go somewhere we can’t be overheard.”

  “Um …” Callie turned her eyes forward and increased her pace, but Ridley kept stride with her. “Okay, look, I don’t know anything about you, so I don’t think—”

  “Please don’t run away or scream when I say this,” Ridley said.

  “Why would I need to scream—”

  “I know about your magic.”

  Callie came to an abrupt standstill. Ridley, already a few steps ahead, stopped and turned back. “How dare you accuse me of something like that?” Callie whispered. “You have absolutely no proof—”

  “I don’t have proof, but I have a letter with your name on it. I received the same letter.” She hesitated, then added, “Because I’m just like you.”

  Callie gathered her skirt and rushed past Ridley. “Leave me alone.”

  “Wait!” Ridley hurried after her and grabbed her arm. “Let me at least give you the letter.” Two people stuck their heads out of the nearest viewing platform, and Ridley let go of Callie’s arm. Crap, this was so not how she’d wanted to reveal this information to her. “I can’t say anything more here,” she said in a low voice, “but this is important, so please just take the letter.” She turned her back to the platform side of the corridor, removed the folded piece of paper from her purse, and held it out to Callie. “If you want to talk once you’ve read it, meet me at the top of the stairs. And if you don’t, then just know that not everything in the letter is true anymore. The threat the letter talks about is no longer a threat. You don’t have to leave the city if you don’t want to.”

  “You’re insane,” Callie said faintly, but her fingers wrapped automatically around the letter when Ridley shoved it toward her.

  “Don’t go back to the ballroom if you’re going to read it now,” Ridley said. “Go somewhere private. Back to the bathroom if you have to. But we can’t talk there in case someone overhears us.” She looked back that way and noticed Archer leaning against the wall opposite the opening onto one of the platforms. “Meet me at the top of the stairs,” Ridley repeated, then turned and continued toward the ballroom.

  Once she was back inside the crowded room, she slipped between people and around tables, chairs and waitstaff. She dodged the arm of a particularly animated old man explaining fly fishing to a group of young teens, before almost walking right into someone. “I’m so sorry,” she said automatically, only realizing a moment later that it was Lilah.

  “What is wrong with you?” Lilah demanded, her tone venomous. “How hard is it to look where you’re going?”

  Ridley almost shoved past her without replying. Then she remembered what she’d told Archer and forced herself to say, “Archer’s looking for you. He’s down that corridor by the viewing platforms. He feels bad about earlier and wants to talk to you.” Before Lilah could reply, Ridley stepped around her and continued toward the stairs. She climbed them slowly, giving Callie time to read the letter. Time to decide whether she wanted to talk to Ridley.

  At the top of the stairs, Ridley stopped. She placed her hands on the banister and looked back down at the ballroom. She couldn’t see Lilah anywhere, which hopefully meant she’d gone to speak with her brother. She couldn’t see Callie either, so—

  Ah. There she was, walking out of the corridor that led to the bathrooms. She paused, glanced up, and from across the ballroom, her eyes met Ridley’s. She stood there for several moments, and though Ridley couldn’t make out her expression, she imagined Callie was deliberating. Then, after a glance behind her, Callie began making her way across the ballroom. She ascended the stairs, and when she reached Ridley at the top, she asked, “How do I know the letter is real? You might have made it all up.”

  Ridley sighed, deciding that maybe this was becoming more trouble than it was worth. She had delivered the letter, so perhaps it was time to walk away. She could move on to finding the next elemental before she wound up in trouble for aggravating one of Mrs. Davenport’s guests. “Okay look,” she said. “I took a risk by bringing you that letter. The person who was supposed to deliver it is dead, and I could have ignored the rest of the letters, but I thought maybe you’d want to know the truth. But if you’re not interested in believing me, then that’s fine. I’ve done my part.” She stepped around Callie, planning to return to the ballroom below.

  “Wait. Okay.” Callie looked back over her shoulder, then toward the ballroom entrance where the man with the commpad stood talking to a woman who seemed to be dressed for a business meeting rather than a glamorous party. “Let’s go that way,” Callie said, nodding to the far corner of the balcony that protruded over the ballroom. “There’s no one else up here.”

  Ridley would have preferred to get away from the ballroom, but Callie was probably afraid to accompany someone she didn’t know—and was clearly still afraid of—away from a public space. Besides, there was no way anyone would overhear them way over there on the corner of the balcony high above the rest of the ballroom. “Okay,” she said, “but can you try to look natural as we walk that way? Not like you’re terrified to be in my presence.”

  After a pause and a deep breath, Callie relaxed her shoulders and linked arms with Ridley. She laughed at an imaginary joke as they wandered along the balcony. Tall windows to their right revealed the night sky and the twinkling city lights, while the ballroom lay below on their right. They stopped in the corner where two windows met each other. Callie stood with her back to the glass and, with brown eyes still wide with uncertainty, she said, “Show me.”

  “Show you what?” Ridley asked.

  “Your magic. You said you’re like me. I’m not listening to a thing you say until you show me you’re telling the truth.”

  “Here? Are you crazy?”

  “Nobody can see as long as you keep facing me.”

  It was true, but that didn’t make Ridley feel any more comfortable about it. But if it was going to help Callie believe she wasn’t alone, then perhaps it was okay to quickly reveal a little bit of a magic glow. Ridley hunched her shoulders over and kept her hands pressed right up against her body as she let magic rise to the surface of her skin. Blue color pulsed across her fingers and palms, but before any wisps of magic could escape her body, Ridley smothered the glow.

  “Incredible,” Callie breathed, her eyes fixed on Ridley’s hands. “This is amazing. I always dreamed of finding someone else like me, but I thought that’s all it would ever be: a fantasy.” Her gaze moved down as she raised her own hands. Vibrant blue patches appeared all the way up her arms, and then suddenly it was glowing in her eyes and cheeks as well. “Don’t do that here,” Ridley said, alarm shooting through her. “Someone might be able to see past me.”

  “I know, I know, I’m sorry.” The glow faded from her face. “It’s just that it’s been so long. I never use it. I try to pretend it doesn’t exist. But it feels so good, so right, to finally let go.”

  “Callie, seriously.” Ridley moved a little closer to try to shield the woman’s arms and hands with her body. “Do you want to get caught? Do you want us both to wind up dead?”

  “Okay, okay.” The blue slowly vanished from Callie’s arms, leaving only her hands glowing. “So—so you said we’re not in danger? We don’t have to leave the city? Because that part about going into the wastelands sounded completely crazy.”

  “No, we don’t. And why are your hands still blue? You need to—”

  The sound
of hurried footsteps reached Ridley’s ears over the music and chatter. Fear squeezed instantly around her heart, even before she looked over her shoulder and saw the police officer running toward her. “Hide your magic!” she whispered as she spun around.

  “Excuse me, miss?” The policeman slowed as he neared her.

  “Uh, yes?” She tried to smile, but it felt far from natural.

  “I’ve been looking for you.” He stopped a little too close and reached for Ridley’s arm. “You’re wanted for questioning in connection with the murder of Lawrence Madson.”

  Ice drenched Ridley’s body. She swallowed, and her brain registered a second police officer approaching them. “W-why? What did I do?”

  “We have a witness who says he saw you from the adjacent balcony on the night of the murder. If you refuse to come quietly, I’ll have to—Ho-lee …” His jaw went slack as his eyes grew wider. “Is that magic?” Ridley’s heart almost stopped, but the man was no longer looking at her. She twisted around and realized Callie’s hands were still glowing blue.

  “Don’t move,” the man said, his voice hoarse. He let go of Ridley and reached for his gun.

  Unbidden, the memory of a woman falling to the street with a bullet in her chest flashed across Ridley’s mind. A woman who’d used magic. A woman shot down by the police.

  Crapcrapcrap! Ridley acted on instinct. Still clutching her purse, she launched herself at Callie. Her arms wrapped around the woman as her own magic rose away from her glowing skin. Her momentum knocked Callie sideways, and together they fell. But they were invisible before they hit the floor.

  12

  They were air, they were wind, they were flying just above the floor, and then up and over the police officers. Someone shouted, Callie was screaming in Ridley’s ear, and then came the crack of a gunshot. Confusion muddled Ridley’s senses. The room spun around them, and she barely knew which way was up or down. All she knew was that if she stopped moving, if she let the two of them fall out of the air, they’d both be dead.

  They were high up near the ceiling now, and Callie let out another yelp as Ridley directed them back downward a little too fast. They spun another few times before Ridley managed to slow down and move forward instead of around and around. Some small part of her mind remembered that this wasn’t supposed to be about control, but how could she not attempt to control this?

  They gusted along the balcony area, the windows flashing by—and Ridley suddenly realized the top of every window was partially open. They could easily slip out that way. But they were a hundred and forty floors up, and the mere thought was terrifying. Just let go and fall into it. Nope. No way would she be ‘falling’ a hundred and forty floors. You’ve survived eighty-four floors, she reminded herself. But this was worse. Way worse. She sped by without considering it again, aiming for the ballroom’s main entrance.

  Then they were out, and the carpet was a river of red rushing beneath them. She knew before reaching the elevator that they’d have a problem getting out that way. So she blew right past it—and there was the door to the stairs, standing slightly ajar. She whirled back around, and they slipped through the space—a gap neither of them could have squeezed through in human form—and then over the stairway railing and straight down the gap in the center of the stairwell, Callie screaming in Ridley’s ear the entire way.

  As they burst into the foyer, Ridley heard the startled gasps around them. Not because people could see them, but because of the unexpected flurry of wind. Skirts billowed and hair fanned out as she and Callie fled across the foyer, through the open entrance, and into the night. They kept going, speeding away from the Opal Quarter between buildings and along streets, zigzagging, turning, tumbling, until finally they reached a darkened, deserted parking lot behind a warehouse.

  Ridley’s feet touched the ground as she pulled her magic back inside her body. She let go of Callie, who sank to the ground immediately, her dress puffing up around her. The world reeled around Ridley, and she dropped her purse and staggered to keep her balance. Now that they were safe, her mind took off at a million miles an hour trying to process what had just happened. The cops wanted to question her—but it had nothing to do with her magic. And then she’d gone and given away her biggest secret. Yes, that actually happened, she told herself, because most of her brain seemed to be trying to shove away this terrible truth. That actually happened. It actually. Freaking. Happened.

  Her chest heaved in and out as panic began to set in. She shouldn’t have done it. She shouldn’t have overreacted. She should have … what? As her thoughts tumbled over one another, she realized that every course of action she might have taken would have ended with the police discovering her secret. Whether she ran and they caught her, or she calmly agreed to answer their questions, they would eventually have used one of those little palm-sized scanners and found there were no amulets behind her ear.

  “I’m gonna be sick,” Callie moaned beside her. She was sitting across one of the faded white lines that marked out a parking bay, her head hanging over her lap as she inhaled shakily. “I … I’ve never done … I didn’t even know …” She shook her head, swallowed, then climbed awkwardly to her feet. “What the hell have you done?” she demanded of Ridley. “I was fine until now. I’ve kept this secret my entire life, and now everybody knows!”

  “I-I’m sorry,” Ridley stammered. “But I kept telling you to hide your magic. You would have been fine if you’d done that. That cop was after me, not—”

  “I couldn’t!” she wailed. “It’s been so long since I let the magic out, and my emotions were heightened, and I just couldn’t suppress it properly. My hands—my stupid hands—they just—” She stared down at her palms where there was no trace of magic left now.

  “I have to go,” Ridley told her. “I have to get home before they—” Panic tightened her chest and stole her breath as the horrifying truth slammed into her yet again. Her secret was no longer secret. She and Dad would never be safe again. “I have to get out of the city. So do you. You can come with me.”

  “What?” Callie backed away, shaking her head fiercely. “No way. I’m going home.”

  “But they’ll find you. Now that someone knows, it’s only a matter of time before every cop in the city comes after both of us.”

  “No. They don’t know where I live. And my home is secure. I made sure of that a long time ago. Just—just leave me alone.” And with that, Callie lifted her skirt away from her feet and took off across the shadowed parking lot.

  Ridley didn’t chase her. Getting home to warn Dad was the only thing that mattered now. She picked up her purse, let go of the hold she had on her magic, and vanished into the air within seconds. Let go, let go, let go, she told herself. She could travel faster if she made this work. A hurricane-speed wind could carry her all the way home. But how would the magic around her know where home was if she didn’t consciously direct her movements? She tried not to think. She tried to simply fall into it and let it take her. She was aware of herself spinning up and over the warehouse. Tumbling, whirling, plummeting, rising. It’s okay, just trust the elements, she told herself. But she couldn’t. She had to know which way she was heading, because what if it was the wrong way?

  She set herself down onto the nearest flat roof and took several moments to get her bearings. She located Aura Tower, rising like a glittering spire from the city center, and took note of the orientation of the buildings around it. Her heart sank as she figured out where home was: miles away on the other side of Aura Tower. “Dammit,” she hissed between her teeth. Had she been this far from home in that parking lot? She wasn’t sure, but it felt like she’d wasted precious time trying to do what Grandpa had instructed.

  She raced away through the air, above the lower buildings and between the taller ones. Faster, faster, she coaxed her magic, ignoring the creeping tiredness at the edge of her mind. Eventually, she swept over the last roof and down into her alley, only becoming visible when she was right in front of t
he back door. Exhaustion settled over her, and she felt the start of a headache somewhere behind her eyes. Grandpa and Archer would have said that wasn’t supposed to happen, but maybe they didn’t know what they were talking about after all. Maybe this was just the way Ridley’s magic worked.

  She fumbled with her key, all thoughts of the exact technicalities of her magic fleeing from her mind. She bolted the door behind her the moment she was inside. “Dad?” she shouted as she clattered up the stairs in her heels. “Dad!”

  She found him sitting in his favorite armchair in the living room, blinking rapidly and mumbling, “Hmm, yes, what, I’m awake.” He met Ridley’s eyes, then pushed himself up from the chair. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

  “I …” For a moment, she couldn’t bring herself to admit what had happened. She couldn’t bear to disappoint her father so deeply. He’d done everything he could to keep her safe, and now she’d ruined everything. Their lives would never be the same. “Someone saw me,” she eventually blurted out, and she saw from Dad’s expression that he knew what she meant: Not just ‘Someone saw me,’ but, ‘Someone saw me use my magic.’

  “The Shadow Society?” he asked immediately.

  “No. A police officer. Someone reported seeing me on the balcony where Lawrence was murdered. He wanted to take me in for questioning. And then the woman I was talking to at the time … she was …” Ridley squeezed her eyes shut, letting the truth pour out of her in a rush. “I was talking to one of the elementals. That’s why I went to that party tonight. I knew she’d be there. And I know you didn’t want me looking for them, but I thought they deserved to know the truth, and it wasn’t supposed to be a big deal. Just hand over each letter, talk for a little bit, and leave. And Archer was with me, to make sure I didn’t speak to the wrong person, and—”

  “Stop,” Dad said. “I already know what you’ve been doing.” He stepped past her, aiming for the passage.

  “You … what? But how—” Her mind jumped to the only other person who knew, and the ache of betrayal hit her squarely in the chest. She hurried after Dad, saying, “Archer told you—”