The Chilling Change Of Air (Elemental Awakening, Book 3) Read online

  The Chilling Change Of Air

  The Elemental Awakening Series, Book Three

  By Nicola Claire

  Copyright © 2014, Nicola Claire

  All Rights Reserved

  ISBN: 978-0-473-28964-5

  nicolaclairebooks.blogspot.com

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organisations is entirely coincidental.

  All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author.

  Cover Art: by Nicola Claire

  Image Credit: 123RF Stock Photo

  Image #6017008

  Font Credit: Last Soundtrack "Birth Of A Hero"

  Contents

  Prologue: It Was Not Alone

  Chapter 1: The Earth Cried

  Chapter 2: Could This Get Any Worse?

  Chapter 3: A Lot Has Happened, Miss Eden

  Chapter 4: Here I Am

  Chapter 5: Shhh

  Chapter 6: I Couldn't Stay

  Chapter 7: And All Hell Broke Loose

  Chapter 8: I Wasn't Fooled

  Chapter 9: If The Butler Was Hitting The Booze, I Was In Deep Freaking Trouble

  Chapter 10: And Then I Knew True Fear

  Chapter 11: Make Me Remember

  Chapter 12: Can You Hear Me?

  Chapter 13: Haven't You Heard A Freaking Word I've Said?

  Chapter 14: You Are Fire Itself

  Chapter 15: Let... Me... In

  Chapter 16: So, What You're Saying Is... What Exactly?

  Chapter 17: I Don't Suppose You Could Pretend We're On A Desert Island And It's Just The Two Of Us, Could You?

  Chapter 18: And In The End None Of It Mattered

  Chapter 19: How Did I Combat This?

  Chapter 20: They're All Gone

  Chapter 21: It's Not Your Fault

  Chapter 22: What's So Funny?

  Chapter 23: There Was No Freaking Way I Wanted To Argue With That

  Chapter 24: Take Me, Oraia

  Chapter 25: Come Dance, Aether

  Chapter 26: It's All My Fault

  Chapter 27: Dance With Me

  Definitions

  Interview With Nicola Claire

  More Books By Nicola Claire

  About The Author

  Connect With The Author

  More books by Nicola Claire:

  Kindred Series

  Kindred

  Blood Life Seeker

  Forbidden Drink

  Giver of Light

  Dancing Dragon

  Shadow's Light

  Entwined With The Dark

  Kiss Of The Dragon

  Mixed Blessing Mystery Series

  Mixed Blessing

  Dark Shadow (Coming Soon)

  Sweet Seduction Series

  Sweet Seduction Sacrifice

  Sweet Seduction Serenade

  Sweet Seduction Shadow

  Sweet Seduction Surrender

  Sweet Seduction Shield

  Sweet Seduction Sabotage

  Sweet Seduction Stripped

  Sweet Seduction Secrets (Coming Soon)

  Elemental Awakening Series

  The Tempting Touch Of Fire

  The Soothing Scent Of Earth

  The Chilling Change Of Air

  The Tantalising Taste Of Water (Coming Soon)

  H.E.A.T. Series

  A Flare Of Heat

  A Touch Of Heat (Coming Soon)

  For:

  Romantics at heart... Never stop craving.

  Definitions

  Aeras - Air; one of five elements

  Aether - Quintessence; one of five elements

  Anaisthetikos - Anaesthetise; a Gi ability to channel the essence of a plant, in order to remove a person's sentience

  Athanatos - Immortal; or near immortal

  Basilissa - Queen

  Ekmetalleftis - Elemental; can control one of five elements

  Gi - Earth; one of five elements

  Hederin - Hallucinogen; a Gi ability to channel the essence of a plant, in order to manipulate what a person sees/experiences

  Nero - Water; one of five elements

  Oraia - Lovely; term of endearment

  Pateras - Father

  Pyrgos - Castle

  Pyrkagia - Fire; one of five elements

  Rigas - King

  Stoicheio - Element; five power-filled elements exist

  Strychnos Toxifera - Paralytic; a Gi ability to channel the essence of a plant, (Curare), in order to immobilise a person

  Thisavros - Treasure; someone precious, an Elemental mate

  Prologue

  It Was Not Alone

  The hiss of a roaring Fire met my ears. Welcoming and warning in one flare of superheated brightness. Embers danced on a night sky, floating higher and higher, making my lips curve and a smile spread across my face.

  I wondered if they'd reach Aetheros.

  Stars were out, twinkling above my head, my long hair blowing around my face as though the Air had teasing fingers. I brushed at it, my hand coming away wet. Was I crying?

  Not unless my tears were red.

  The Earth sighed with joy as blood splashed from my fingertips onto broken, dried and cracked soil. I stared as the dark liquid seeped through a crevice, a small vine twisting and growing from the gap.

  I took a step back, suddenly afraid of what the vine would do. Of where I was. My eyes lifted to the Fire which seemed dangerous now, uncontrolled, about to leap and spark and engulf anything near enough to be caught within its licking fingers.

  An ember floated lazily towards the ground before me.

  The vine burned to a crisp and I felt the Earth cry out its agony.

  Fire roared. Air howled.

  It started raining.

  I spun around looking for shelter as the storm took on a life of its own. Dried twigs and small stones were lifted on angry winds, thrown towards my body. I shielded my face, feeling the biting edge of debris slice my skin, but could see only darkness beyond the decreasing circle of light from the Fire.

  Closing in.

  Getting smaller.

  Crushing me with the weight of what was to come.

  My heart thundered in my chest, a pounding started up between my ears. I sucked in a breath through my nose, searching for the soothing scent of Earth, but all I smelled was chaos.

  A shiver raced down my spine as the Earth rumbled beneath my feet, the gaps between the dried soil now filling with water. The rivulets becoming torrents. Little sprays of Water lifting off the surface as the wind whipped the world into a frenzy.

  I called out, but my voice was lost in the thunderous roar of a tempest. There was no one to hear me anyway. I knew this, as though it was my reality. Destined to wander alone through a tornado of Elements that warred with each other.

  What had the Aeras shaman said? "Never two, always one. Alone Aether must face the sum."

  I shouldn't have thought it. I shouldn't have gone there. Wasn't it enough that I was battling a raging storm, combating imbalanced Stoicheio? Did I have to be reminded of being alone?

  Something glistened in the distance. Moving closer. Giving me hope.

  I took a tentative step towards the light, away from the heat of the Fire. The world blew in flurries and eddies about me, the sounds deafening and stinging my ears, my eyes squinting through horizontal sheets of rain. Blood dripping from small cuts along my ba
re arms.

  I trembled with the chill that had invaded my bones, knowing I couldn't stay here any longer. If I stayed, I'd surely die. But there was a reason why I should stay. For a second, I hesitated. Trying to remember why I stood in the middle of nowhere, an angry Fire for warmth, the dying Earth beneath my feet, the bitter Air buffeting my body, the hard Water of rain pelting my naked skin.

  I shivered. Lifted a shaking hand to shield my eyes as the glow of whatever approached grew brighter. Suddenly blinding in the darkness that surrounded the centre of this raging storm.

  Here was life. Beyond what I knew lay only darkness.

  But still that glow grew bigger, until I felt compelled to take a step further. Closer, almost close enough to make out the shape of who held it.

  Was it a torch?

  The Earth groaned, the Air joined the mournful lament. Water cried a river of raindrops, Fire hissed in agony.

  I looked up towards the stars, one last glimpse to guide me. But they were gone. Only blackness coated the night sky. Deep, dark, unforgiving.

  When I lowered my face from the stinging rain I met eyes so old they had to be ancient. Amber and jade and whiskey.

  "Miss Eden?" the old man said, holding out a hand.

  I stared at the wrinkled fingers, the open palm, the invitation I should accept. But didn't. There was a reason why I shouldn't accept that hand.

  Just like there was a reason why I couldn't leave this hell.

  I took a step back towards the waning Fire. Back towards the still violent squall.

  Back towards...

  Then the man pulled a sword of Fire out from behind his back, the glistening glow I'd been drawn to, but knew could not bring true hope.

  "Very well," he said, in tones of disappointment and condemnation.

  The sword swiped down, aiming for my head, my neck, and I threw myself backwards, finally remembering.

  Why I was here.

  Why the world was falling apart in a tempest of fury and aching sadness.

  Why I couldn't leave without him.

  Why this man could not be trusted.

  Betrayal is a hard edged sword. I should know. I felt its keen slice as it broke through the meat of my heart. I felt its bitter taste as blood pooled on my tongue. I smelled its pungent odour as smoke engulfed me.

  I lay panting on the hard packed ground, water pooling beneath my body as the wind blew sand into my eyes.

  "Aktor," I whispered, watching his face become indistinct.

  The storm disappeared.

  The cracked and broken dirt became cool, hard stone.

  The wind stopped howling, replaced with something so much more dreadful than that simple sound.

  The heat of flames became a chill instead.

  And a man's voice said, "Ready, Miss Eden? What shall we attempt first?"

  Not Aktor.

  "Perhaps the heart today, hmm?" he said with impossible cheerfulness. "The Rigas does hope without it your unrealistic love of the Prince will disappear."

  Not even my beloved Theo.

  "But then, I've always wanted to know what a Gi is like without the ability to smell scents," he added. "Perhaps we'll save the heart for a special occasion and play with your head."

  I was alone with a mad scientist.

  "Nothing to say?" he teased, a disturbing chuckle filling the room with hollow noise. "What say we see if you can scream instead?"

  And I knew my dreams were far better than reality. The eerie howl of the wind so much sweeter than the ominous sounds of a drill or electric saw.

  I lay perfectly still. Sucking in air, terrified it would be my last chance for a while.

  And inside I screamed.

  It was not alone.

  Chapter 1

  The Earth Cried

  It was the screams that were going to kill me.

  Not the torture.

  Not the endless solitude.

  Not the dark, dank cell.

  Not even the separation from Theo.

  I'd been through all of that. A different Ekmetalleftis branch pursuing my pain, but the agony inflicted was just the same.

  You had to ask yourself, why me? What had I ever done to deserve this kind of treatment? From one day to the next my life had changed. A pit full of dirt and I was suddenly thrust into a preternatural world I had not known existed.

  I reached for my Gi side now, finding a trickle in the lichen and mould between the solid blocks of stone that made up the four walls of my new abode. Not enough to make the ground rumble with my disquiet, but enough to feed my soul, feed my Stoicheio.

  But the Pyrkagia part of me was bereft, bare, empty. There was no homely fireplace flickering brightly in my corner of the dungeon. The only time I could fuel that side of me was when they hauled me from my cell for another round of "let's prove the Gi is not immortal."

  It was better than "let's test the extent of the Aether's abilities." Theo and I had worked hard to keep that knowledge from his father, the Rigas of Pyrkagia. Oh, he knew I had some form of connection to Fire, but he still thought me a Gi imposter, perhaps enhanced with Alchemist training. But how long we could keep that a secret remained to be seen.

  For one, they were torturing me, almost daily. Although, by my count, it had been more than a day since they threw me back in here. I glanced down at my chest, visible through the unbuttoned shapeless shirt they'd dressed me in, and winced at the sight of my still healing torso. The rudimentary stitches their "doctor" had used to stop my ribs from poking through my flesh, were thick and dark, stark against the paleness of my skin.

  How much more could I tolerate before I let the truth slip?

  Another scream sounded out. Another agony-filled cry for help.

  It was hopeless. Someone should tell the screamer to save his energy. It took me a full week to realise screaming did nothing but use up reserves which were better spent hurling insults at your captors and healing.

  There was something familiar about the voice, if you can call a heart wrenching wail a voice. But I refused to acknowledge it. If I tried to identify who that scream belonged to, it could kill me. Even thinking that Theo is a prince of Pyrkagia and would never be subjected to maltreatment was too close to acknowledging who that scream came from.

  So, I counted off in my head how many times that particular scream had been heard. Scream one. There were four different screamers in this hideous torture chamber of death from what I could tell. And who knew how many were mute like me. But "scream one" had managed to hit triple figures. We should celebrate.

  A single tear rolled down my cheek, but I dashed it away. My right hand landed on the cold stone floor at my side with a thump, my dirty, broken nails dug into the grout between the blocks. Earth flowed through me. A trickle, but there.

  Shhh, it whispered. Shhh, the sound faded away.

  I sucked in a deep breath, grimaced through the sharp stab of pain inside my chest and wondered if my lungs had fully reformed yet.

  The "doctor" called it vivisection. Not a word I'd had to use in my former life. Making deli sandwiches and serving hungry Parnell workers and shoppers did not require dissection or experimentation on live animals.

  Animal. That's how they treated us. Worse than a beloved dog. Inhuman, if you could call an Athanatos human. They look human, they just happen to be able to manipulate and feed from all four Elements; Earth, Air, Fire and Water. Then there's the fifth. Me. Quintessence. We still didn't know exactly what that meant, only myth and legend from centuries ago. Aetheros, the Greek God of Elementals, otherwise known as the God of Upper Air and Light, or the First Born of the Elemental, gifted the Stoicheio of Aether to one Ekmetalleftis at a time of great need.

  We hadn't figured out what exactly the gift of Aether would entail. Or what that time of great need actually was. But my money was on a whole crap heap of trouble and a truck full of why me?

  According to legend the fifth Element should be bestowed on a born Elemental, of which I obviously was n
ot. I was born a human, here in Auckland, New Zealand almost twenty-four years ago to George and Anne Eden. I have an older brother, Marcus, a best friend I went to school with in Pakuranga, Sonya. And until the pit of dirt incident, just a green thumb and a deli shop to my name.

  But, and here is where I become a lab experiment for the Rigas, I have ties to the Alchemists. My grandfather apparently was one. Or is one. The jury is still out on that. And the Alchemists are the arch enemy of the Ekmetalleftis, humans who have coveted the power of the Elements since the dawn of time.

  I tried a more gentle sigh and was relieved to note my chest no longer hurt. I wanted to lift my head and look at the healing skin, but it felt like too much effort, and I already knew the answer. I may not have been born immortal, but I sure as hell was one now.

  Another scream. Different voice this time. Who the hell did they have in this dungeon? Me and Theo, but who else? I would have guessed Aktor had I not known he'd betrayed us. I would have hoped Isadora, but I my luck had proven pretty freaking poor lately. Maybe Nico. Theo's cousin. I closed my eyes and breathed through the thought.

  There was no point thinking. No point trying to identify the screams, wonder why the Pyrkagia Rigas was doing this. Wonder what would come next. No point.

  I rolled over, landing on all fours, letting both hands dig into the mould between the blocks of stone beneath me, pulling as much Gi as I could from the plant life that existed in here, and with determination pushed to my feet. I swayed, staggered slightly, but made it to the cot in the corner of the room, landing in a heap of squeaking springs on top of a scratchy, foul smelling sheet covered foam mattress.

  Much more comfortable than the hard floor. I was surprised they even bothered to provide such luxuries as a bed and soft bedding. Not that the inch of foam and the filthy linen or the rusted and broken frame was anything near luxurious, but compared to the floor it was heaven.