22 | A HIKING WE WILL GO...

The one thing left over - talking to the Elemental family Cai - falls on me and Zoe. With everything I don’t know about the supernatural community, I’m more than a little hesitant about trying to go anywhere near them, but Nikki said the event would be on September fifth. With less than four days until then, I know we need to try to deal with it now.

After yet another night spent at Coven HQ, I’m starting to get used to my room. As I get ready and meet Zoe in the foyer of the main building, I’m shocked by how normal it feels to be walking around Hale’s Coven. Maybe it’s just that I’m getting used to the place, after everything last year and all the time I’ve spent around the compound, I shouldn’t be surprised. But this place feels more like a home than my real home has in the last few months.

“Port Greene’s not far enough for us to take a car,” Zoe tells me the second we begin walking out the front door. I give the two gatekeepers a little wave-good-bye before catching up with the vampire. Zoe’s got breakfast to-go, passing me one of the three blood bags in her grasp as we start walking through the woods in the general direction of Port Greene. “You’d better fuel-up.” She adds, nodding to the offered blood bag. I make a face, but concede. We don’t know what we’re walking into with the Elementals. Considering everything Nikki mentioned about them, it’s like we’re about to go meet aristocrats - uninvited, with no real proof, and as the less than servant-class.

Though I’ve had all night and most of yesterday to think about how we’re going to handle this, my strongest idea’s shaky at best. Hale’s considered royalty - or was - not too long ago, and even Nikki thinks there’s something special about me. So if I introduce myself to the Elementals with an extreme emphasis on my lineage as a vamp, maybe they’ll give us the time of day to explain the situation.

“Thanks for coming with me,”” I tell the vampire, casting a sideways glance at her. She’s slightly taller than me, her face of indeterminate age, wise eyes giving away she’s lived longer than Mikyle at least. But not as long as Ms. Jin or Hale. Her dark eyes flick over and meet mine with a little wry smirk.

“I wasn’t about to let a child walk into the metaphorical lion’s den without backup.” She replies cooly and her smirk become a frown as her eyes skate over me. “Mikyle tells me you can fight, but if things get that bad, I want you to promise me you’ll run.” She warns, her eyes hardening with resolve.

“I’m not going to leave you behind,” I skirt answering or agreeing with her words. In all honesty, I am sick of running. Zoe’s frown goes back into that easy smirk and she turns her eyes to face the trees as we continue to walk.

“We’ll see.” She murmurs softly. We cross through the Azure’s territory on our way to Port Greene, but don’t run across anyone. I find myself literally holding my breath up until the second we enter Port Greene, as if that’d help me blend in and not be sensed by any of the Wolven in the Azure Pack. I know that’s not how it works, of course, the Wolven in the territory would know the second we enter and leave their land. But no one stops us or comes looking for us. The knowledge is both a relief and a little disheartening for some reason.

“Do you know where they reside?” Zoe asks me as we pass through the clearing in which the Azure and Reinier Packs fought last year. It’s almost completely normal now. Not blade of grass out of place, the few areas where the earth had been disturbed during the fight have filled with fresh foliage.

“No,” I begin slowly. “But Nikki mentioned they’re rich and powerful, living on a large stretch of land - and they would be known by local residents because of their wealth.” I relay some of what I’d written on my web of crazy.

“Do you know what kind of Elementals they are?” Zoe asks slowly after a beat. I frown at her, not really sure what she means by that, and Zoe lets out an annoyed sigh. “Elementals control the elements, but not all of them. Normally a family of Elementals has a general strength - like control over fire or heat or precious metals.” She explains and I blink slowly, utterly thrown by this. I knew there was the possibility that they could control things - nature and elements like their names suggested. But Nikki didn’t tell me much about their kind. Only that control was maintained in their ranks or the Elemental would die because of the sheer power of their abilities. I just figured she meant that they’d use all their energy and have an instant heart attack or something.

“So…Nikki told me they had to maintain control of their abilities or they would…” I wave a hand in the air as I recall the exact phrase the Ancient had used. “‘Be consumed’ by it.” Zoe grimaces, turning to stare straight ahead as she nods.

“If they can’t control themselves, their powers will literally consume them.” Zoe’s voice is ice cold, but the slight edge to her words makes me think she knows more than she’s letting on. Still, I don’t press her for details, not sure I can stomach the knowledge of whatever it would be like to be ‘consumed’ by your own power over an element. It doesn’t sound pleasant. Zoe and I manage to make it out of the wooded area that separates Port Greene from Kiwina and walk into the nearest business off the main road.

“Welcome to John’s Tackle,” An upbeat guy greets us as the bell over the door sounds. The small bait and tackle shop is empty, gentle sounds from a box tv, sitting behind the counter, displaying day-time soaps.

“Heya there,” Zoe tells the guy, grinning sweetly at the man. She leans over the counter to get a little too close to the his chest where his nametag rests on a little pin. “Charlie,” She bats her eyes at the guy - Charlie - who promptly grins back. I fight the urge to make gagging motions behind Zoe’s back and pretend I’m interested in a line of canned goods near the door as Zoe coaxes information from the clerk. It doesn’t take long for the vampire to flirt her way into getting Charlie to divulge information about the Cai’s - a local celebrity family that matches the vague information we knew about them.

Zoe give the guy a parting wave as we exit, dropping the expression as we turn our backs on the human. My vampire counterpart waits until we’re a few feet from the business to relay what she knew about the area the Cai’s live in.

“There’s a few bodies of water in that area. Fresh water and a lot of thick forestry.” Zoe tells me thoughtfully. “We should assume that means the abilities are more along the lines of water or air. Possibly earth.” She mutters the last bit to herself, frowning a little as we duck back into the woods, Zoe leading this time. “Regardless, be on your guard for anything.” She warns me.

I smother a ‘duh’ comment, and mentally chew on that information as we walk.