Chapter 11 #2
And Damien! I didn’t recognize him with his face clean-shaven and hair carefully styled. The guy looks like an adult instead of the college kid who’d buy Sammy and his friends beer when their fake IDs didn’t work. Damien used to have major I’ll help you mess up your life vibes.
Looks like he’s moved on to more destructive behavior if he’s exposing our kind to humans.
“August!” I try to mask my panic with a casual smile. At least, I hope that’s how I’ve arranged my face.
The ice cream Viking of my dreams whips his head around to stare at me with wide eyes.
“Quinn.” He steps toward me, reaching out a hand, only to drop it a moment before our skin touches. “What are you doing here?”
After asking the question, a surprisingly intimidating glare creases his eyebrows. My heart hurts at the angry expression, even when he directs it away from me and toward Damien.
I know I practically set his house on fire … but he doesn’t know that. And though I never texted him after our date, he never texted me either. So, this reaction brings an unexpected amount of sting with it.
“Funny. I was about to ask you the same thing.” My statement is more directed at Damien than August.
A moment ago, I was simply furious with the Squids for inviting a human to an Elemental party. But now, the hurt from August’s unjustified reaction only amplifies my anger.
All I wanted was to get drunk midday on a Sunday. Now I’ve got this shit to deal with.
Damien doesn’t seem to mind the pair of glares he’s being hit with.
Instead, he glances between the two of us with a curious smile on his face.
Obviously, he’s not going to be any help with escorting the staff of Land of Ice Cream and Snow out of his backyard before they witness something they shouldn’t.
“You two know each other,” the Squid murmurs to himself with a satisfied smirk.
“She’s his accountant.” This is from August’s employee, who I’m surprised to find scowling at me, her beautifully tanned arms crossed and feet spread wide, as if preparing for a fight.
“Ah. Yes.” Damien nods and continues with his annoying little smile that makes me want to wring his neck.
“Damien”—August growls out the Squid’s name—“you told me this was an”—he flicks his eyes to me and then back to the dark-haired man—“exclusive party.”
I don’t have time to get offended over August’s insinuation because a familiar screech cuts through all the party noises.
In unison, everyone turns to watch Cat fly into the air, recently tossed by a grinning Sammy. My little sister lands, fully clothed, in the middle of the beautiful pool. She emerges a moment later, sputtering and cursing.
No one can piss off my normally sweet, friendly baby sister better than a Squid.
“You goddess-damn son of a bitch!” Cat’s short hair glows red, sparking and smoldering, until full flames sprout from her skull in a fiery crown.
The entire pool begins to let off steam. Sammy, grinning like my sister just gave him the highest compliment, sets his beer down and whips off his baseball cap.
“Hot tub!” he shouts before cannonballing into the water a foot from the furious Pyro, dousing her flames with his splash.
A few others laugh and dive in after him.
The series of events all happened so fast. It takes me a moment to register the disaster of my sister’s public display. My brain kicks into desperate survival mode, and I turn back to August, who has his eyes locked on Cat’s still-literally-fuming head, where it bobs just above the water’s surface.
Without thought, I launch myself at him, twining my legs around his trim waist, wrapping one arm around his neck, and clapping my free hand over his wide eyes.
“You’re hallucinating!” I shout, sure if I say it with enough conviction that he’ll believe me.
“Quinn—” August begins, but I talk over him.
“Someone roofied you! Slipped you some shrooms! Probably Damien.”
“Hey!” The Squid might sound more offended if he wasn’t snorting out chuckles.
I glare over my shoulder at the host of this disastrous party. “What the hell is wrong with you? Get the girl out of here!” As I hiss furiously at the amused Elemental, the young human continues to glare daggers at me.
Damien shakes his head, his aqua eyes crinkled in hilarity. “You mean Marisol? My sister?”
The word acts like a hint to a puzzle. Suddenly, connections tumble into place.
Glancing between the annoyed girl and the chuckling man, all of their similarities become clear.
Copper skin, round cheeks, thick black hair, eyes fashioned from a color pulled straight from the waters of a Caribbean beach.
“She’s a Squid?” I whisper as my brain works through the last few bits of the equation.
“Yep,” Damien answers with a cheeky grin and no additional information. The bastard.
August’s employee is a Water Elemental. He’s at an Elemental party.
Does that mean …
I peel my hand away from August’s eyes to find him staring up at me with awe. “Are you a Squid?”
“No, he’s not! And I think August would appreciate it if you stopped climbing all over him!” Marisol snaps out the chastisement, and I spare a glance her way.
Clearly, the little Squid’s powers are not jealousy or anger-induced because her scowl tells me I’d be fighting off a tsunami if that were the case. Still, she’s got a point. I move to loosen my legs from August’s waist, only to have a cool arm, solid as iron, clutch me tighter to his chest.
When I meet his searching gaze, my heart pumps harder, and heat pulses with the beats, pooling heavily under my skin.
“Ice.”
I tilt my head, confused by his one word.
He clears his throat and starts again. “I’m not a Water Elemental. I control ice.”
Ice. August controls ice.
Every cell in my body clenches in excited joy when the full meaning of his confession registers.
Ice Elemental.
“Oh my goddess.” My hands cup his cheeks, the cold brush of his skin making sudden sense. “You’re a fucking unicorn!”