Chapter 47 Consolation and Codex #2
Weaknesses and Threats: Prone to recklessness, their power is strongest in motion. The moment they are trapped or restrained, their abilities weaken. Many seem to fear attachment. I believe this is a fear of being anchored.
Sex: They seem to prefer to stay with their own element until finding their Nexus or single bond. Some bond within their own element. Despite their lack of attachments, these Elementals are incredibly sexual.
Customs and Culture: They like to live at high elevations and have the ability to alter weather patterns. Family is valued above wealth or power, and children are cherished above all else.
Additional Facts: They are never short on their element and therefore are constantly recharged.
My heart pangs, thinking of Kai’s family. My gaze traces back up to the word Nexus, adding another mental question to the endless list.
Ground:
Abilities: Ground Elementals are unshakable and enduring, possessing unnatural strength and durability. They can command stone, plants, and even the land itself, shifting terrain with a single thought. Some have a natural resistance to other Elementals, making them difficult to defeat.
Weaknesses and Threats: N/A
Sex: Ground Elementals are deliberate, patient, and unyielding. They seem to prefer intensity over fleeting passion. Selective about their partners, they tend to form permanent bonds.
Customs and Culture: Loyalty and oaths are sacred—breaking them is punishable by exile.
Additional Facts: The most powerful Ground Elementals can speak to the land itself, sensing past events through stone and soil.
Holden’s words about not being able to control the ground race through my head as I reread the passage before straying to the word ‘selective’, recalling the female professor at Thornhurst, whom I still don’t know his relation to. My mood sours instantly.
I feel Holden’s stare but ignore him—tired of being vulnerable—exhausted by secrets.
Water:
Abilities: Water Elementals command fluid in all its forms, from tides to the blood in one’s veins. Some have the gift of healing.
Weaknesses and Threats: Water Elementals prefer to live near bodies of water. Extended periods away from the natural element leave them drained and sluggish.
Sex: Water Elementals are exhibitionists. They take pride in making their partners come with an audience.
My thoughts jump to Griffin ruining my shirt this morning and playing with my nipple as Daire watched.
Heat pools between my legs, as that need they wakened stirs with more demands.
Customs and Culture: Lunar ceremonies are sacred to Water Elementals. Their power strengthens when any of the moons are whole and grows with multiple full moons. They prefer subtle influence, and their communities are filled with mystery and secrecy, though when provoked, they’re as deadly as Fire.
Additional Facts: Water Elementals often have inked markings that identify their lineage and the bodies of water tied to their power.
Soul:
Abilities: Soul Elementals command the unseen. They can touch thoughts, weave emotions, and even glimpse into memories. Some can strengthen or sever bonds, and in rare cases, manipulate fate itself. A Soul Elemental does not need weapons, as they hold power in the secrets they steal.
Weaknesses and Threats: Soul Elementals can get lost and/or trapped in the minds of others. It has been said that some do not survive their own gift, driven to madness.
Sex: To touch a Soul Elemental is to be known completely. There are no lies, no hidden emotions—only raw, unfiltered truth. Their intimacy is said to be the ultimate pleasure.
Customs and Culture: Soul Elementals are unrecorded, unspoken, and largely unknown. I’ve heard rumors of an attempt to purge them from history. The few who remain live hidden, their power both coveted and feared.
Additional Facts: There are whispers of ancient soul bonds—connections so strong they defy time, death, and even destiny itself. (N?)
I stare at the N, wondering if it’s a hint or shorthand for something before continuing.
They are mind readers, manipulators, projectors. Dangerous.
“Dangerous” is underlined three times with a heavy hand. I wonder if that’s how others see me. If that’s why the Vestra is so worried about my meeting with Lyra.
Holden curses under his breath before turning to me. “Scarlet’s here.”
I’m out of my seat before my next breath.
“Stay here,” Holden demands. He releases a brief sigh and then stalks out of the room.
Moments later, footsteps echo down the hall. The door opens, and Scarlet all but barrels inside, Holden close behind.
“Stars, I’ve been so worried,” she says, colliding with me. Her usual brightness is muted. Her embrace is the assurance I didn’t know I needed—another reminder of how glad I am that I survived.
“I’m sorry I missed your game,” I tell her again, despite having texted the same apology a dozen times.
She shakes her head. “Forget the game. How are you feeling?” Her gaze dances across me, taking in all the details I work so hard to hide, like how my arm is still sore, my back aches, and my bones feel weary. “You need to soak. It will aid your healing.”
“Water and I are kind of on the outs.”
“I can imagine, but your strength is low. You need to recharge. Sleep clearly isn’t cutting it. You can use the soaking tub in your room. I’ll even squeeze in there with you.”
“The bathing chamber might be preferable,” Holden says, returning to his place among the shelves.
“You have a bathing chamber?” Scarlet turns to him, amazement coloring her words.
My panicked gaze shifts to Holden.
His eyes hold mine for only a fraction of a second before he turns back to the shelves. “Yes, but the teas and tinctures she’s taking need a little time before she can soak.”
My shoulders sink at least an inch with relief.
Scarlet gives him a confused look but doesn’t question him as we pile onto the couch, and she asks me about the incident, questioning the moments leading up to it.
I keep my answers vague, unsure how much I’m allowed to say—and more importantly, not allowed to say—before I turn the conversation to her game and how the past few days have been.
“Everyone’s talking about the Gala,” she admits.
“What’s the Gala?”
“The Spring Gala is an annual event held in each territory. In Lowick, Thornhurst students, Guardians, high-ranking nobles, and alums all attend. It’s basically a networking event, a chance to rub elbows in the league you want to move into and keep an eye on your competition.
” She rolls her eyes. “But we get to wear fancy dresses and eat too much cake.”
“The food will definitely hold your interest,” Edmond assures me, knowing my love for sweets.
Holden’s gaze flicks from him to me. I wait for him to frown or heave a weighted sigh and remind them why the Gala would be a terrible idea when they’re trying to hide me in plain sight.
Instead, he strolls over and places a book on the coffee table in front of me.
I don’t try to hide that I’m watching him, still unsure of his reaction.
He holds my stare. Time slows. Stops. “We should look through this.”
Before I can respond or clarify what we entails, he returns to the shelves, murmuring a question to Edmond about one of the northern territories.
Scarlet stares at me with rounded eyes. “I’m happy to see more transpired than just a near drowning incident,” she whispers.
If only she knew.
For the next couple of hours, Scarlet tells me more about the politics and traditions regarding the Gala, and the soiree the day before, down to the dress code—ballgowns and tuxedos.
Dinner is a quiet affair, Scarlet and I eating in my room because the guys are stuck at work or in meetings. Their absence leaves a hollowness in my chest that I try to ignore, hating even the suggestion of dependency.
“Tomorrow, we should definitely soak, but tonight, you need to sleep. I’ll see you bright and early.” Scarlet says, gathering her crystal link.
I nod through another yawn. “Sleep well.”
I’m half asleep when the mattress dips, and the scents of eucalyptus and mint soothe the ragged edges of my restless thoughts. Warmth surrounds me as Griffin smooths a hand over my hip, before diving under my shirt, spanning across my back.
Another shift, and Daire is behind me, solid and warm. His hand twines with mine and his lips land on my exposed neck as he takes a deep breath, like he hasn’t been able to relax since the last time we were this close.
The feeling is far too mutual.