26 | unNATURAL DISASTER

I spend another night trying to do research - with about the same results. But this time, when I wake up, face plastered against the open pages of a binder as if the information would come into my dreams, I find I’m not alone. The thing that clues me in is the smell. Freshly made coffee and the unmistakable mix of Wolven, parchment, and pine.

“You know,” Blue begins when I open my eyes. He’s in the chair right beside me, dressed in a fresh grey t-shirt and dark-wash jeans, his black hair only slightly messier than usual. “You’re really supposed to be reading the reports and not sleeping on them.” His smirk - this early - is brighter than his smile. A deliciously warm shiver runs up my spine and I feel my own mouth start to mimic the expression, then frown. I blink at him blearily for a moment - sure that this is a dream - until I feel the page sticking to my face due to drool.

“You’re-you’re…” I sputter stupidly, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand hastily as my cheeks catch fire. “Why are you here?”

“Thought I’d come check in with you. See what happened yesterday - since you didn’t send out the Bat Signal.” He tells me passively - as if I know what he’s talking about. I blink at him blankly for a moment. “You know, the- never mind.” He lets out a disappointed sigh and sets aside the book he was reading.

“Yeah, but…” I narrow my eyes at him, still confused. “Why are you *here*?”

“It’s not like I’m banned from Coven grounds, Red.” Blue reminds me with a wry smile. I roll my eyes at his words and rub absently at my face, unable to shake the feeling that some of the ink must have copied onto my skin.

“I just...don’t think I’ve ever seen you here before.” I point out, some of the fogginess of sleep still clinging to my mind as I try to focus.

“I wanted to be respectful. Give Hale’s people space if they wanted it.” Blue shrugs and leans a little closer to me, the shadows in his silvery-grey eyes dancing mischievously. “But now that you’re stay here…” He gives me one of his thousand-watt smiles and my stomach does this weird little flip as my heart lurches into a gallop. “Tell me what’s going on, Red.” He coaxes, his smile fading a little. “I’d like to help.” He adds with a smaller, semi-apologetic, smile. It’s an expression I’ve rarely seen on his face - one that only enhances his overall cuteness. I swallow at the feeling of butterflies in my stomach and try to ignore the slight warming of my cheeks.

“Well,” I begin, sitting up fully in my chair and looking over the page I’d been reading before my body took over and I knocked out. It’s a sobering sight that wakes me up instantly. “Unless you know how to stop a natural disaster, there’s not much any of us can do.” And I launch into the long-winded version of yesterday’s meet with the Cai’s and what we discussed. And just how screwed we all are. And that nothing in this whole Godforsaken library has yielded so much as a crumb of help and-

“Alright,” Blue holds up his hands in a ‘I surrender’ pose to stop me from rambling on. “So what you’re saying is that the event with this girl is supposed to be on par with natural disasters and her parents are aware, but short of killing her, there’s not much they can do?” He sums up, giving me a ‘is-that-all?’ kind of look.

“It sounds like they have things planned out, but even they don’t seem one-hundred-percent sure their plans will work.” I explain, grinding the heels of my palms into my eyes. My whole body feels exhausted, though I’m sure I’ve gotten plenty of rest last night - if the light streaming in from the high windows is any indication. Still, when I hear the sound of mental gently scraping against metal and the smell of coffee becomes stronger, I can’t help my body’s natural reaction in perking up slightly.

“Thought you might need this.” Blue tells me, holding out a steaming paper cup of coffee. And not just any coffee - I can smell the blood in it. It registers that he must not have had any if there’s blood in it. My stomach does another of those weird flips as the butterflies migrate into my chest.

“I love you,” I blurt out, taking the offered cup before my words and their vehemence catches up with me. Beside me, Blue’s gone stock-still, but doesn’t call me out on my overly-casual use of the phrase as I start chugging the hot liquid.

“Anyway,” Blue mutters, clearing his throat. I try not to wince as I hear a slight roughness in his tone. “It doesn’t seem like we’d be preparing for a ‘natural’ disaster. This will be something cause by a supernatural manipulating elements or nature.” He reminds me, opening the book he had been reading when I’d woken up to a bookmarked page. “The main reason Elementals can’t ‘control’ their power is because of their emotions on top of the sheer strength of their abilities. Now you said this girl has been getting these ‘bindings’ every five years since she was born, right?” His body relaxes as the subject changes and I nod to show I’m following. “Well, this book says Elementals can only be bound in five areas - six tops - before their abilities are completely bound and unreachable to them.” He holds open the book, showing me the page as he explains.

“What language is that?” I wrinkle my nose as I study the weird markings.

“Uh…Tamil.” Blue flushes a little, pulling the book back to himself and glancing at the page. “It’s a language from a region in India…” He mutters and closes the book, waving a hand as if to clear that little tidbit from my memory. But I’m just too stunned to even blink as he continues. “That’s not important, what I’m trying to say is,” Blue continues. “This is one of the earliest texts in here, and it has a few accounts of some of the L-class supernaturals - including Elementals. It mentions that term, Sovereign, for one of the more powerful Elementals in that region - from a few thousand years ago. Their system for training their kind was a little different at that time, but it there are a few instances where there were Elementals strong enough to loose control a few times -and a couple of instances where the disasters were nearly avoided.” He’s on a roll now, eagerly opening the book and flipping through the worn pages - as if to show me where he found this information. “I’ll see what else is mentioned, but it seems like there’s a way we can stop the disaster - one being binding the Elemental before there’s an incident.” I nod slowly, getting what he’s saying but my mouth doesn’t comply when I open it to reply.

“How many languages can you read?” I blurt out before my curiosity can fade.

“Uh…” Blue’s face goes bright red. “Four. But I’m not fluent in Tamil- why are you looking at me like that?” He’s cringing away from me with a seriously uncomfortable expression on his face as I find my mouth open wide in utter shock.

“Four? Not including-?” I stop myself, forcing my mouth shut with an audible click. I stare at him with my eyes practically bugging out as his own study the grain of the table with sudden interest, embarrassment flaring bright on his face. “You’re not some secret genius are you?” I ask, wrinkling my nose at him. “I honestly don’t think I could stand if you were even a little more perfect.” Blue lets out a surprised laugh, his eyes shooting over to mine warmly.

“No, I’m not. I just read a lot. And I kind of got into languages when I was ten, long story.” He adds with a self deprecating smirk. I purse my lips, thinking that over before going back to what he said.

“So, now I’ve just got to convince Eyre’s parents to bind her before she can loose control.” I state aloud, but my dubious tone gives away how likely I believe the Cai’s will follow my idea. If Eyre’s had issues in the past and they know all about the possibility of her loosing control this year, I can’t see why they wouldn’t have already bound her. I chew my lip as my thoughts churn. “I just…there has to be a reason why they haven’t bound her already if that’s all it would take to stop her from loosing control.” I tell Blue aloud, turning to rest my cheek in my palm thoughtfully.

“Well, I’m going to keep reading.” Blue holds up the book and opens it back to his bookmarked page. “The whole thing’s for you,” He adds, absently nodding his head at the thermos on the table between us. I grin and practically leap across the table for it, eagerly pouring out and downing the next few cups of perfectly hot coffee while he reads. It doesn’t take long before I’ve emptied the thermos and am fully awake. It’s about the same time as Blue sets down his book, a wary look on his face.

“What?” I frown at the slight look of defeat in his eyes as he looks at me.

“Towards the end the author went into the process for binding an Elemental,” Blue mutters with an edge of annoyance and he glances at the now closed book on the table. “Apparently, the bindings can only be placed on very specific occasions or when there’s an excess of power to form the bindings.” He grouses, his shoulders slumping a little as he turns back to give me a sad smile. “I think that may be why the Cai’s only bind Eyre when her power spikes. It’s the only way they *can* bind her - with her own power.” He lets out a sigh. “And since they’ve already been binding her, it means there’s probably less active power in her in the time surrounding the spikes.” I grimace, understanding dawning on me as I take that information in and digest it.

“So the only time there’ll be an opportunity to bind her would be her birthday - either after she’s lost control or during the event.” I say and Blue nods solemnly, his eyes searching my face. I take a deep breath, letting that knowledge wash over me as I sit back in my chair. “Great.” I growl, my mouth twisting in annoyance as the beginnings of a headache begin prickling in my skull.