“What’s that in the fog?” Kacie asked, coming forward to stand between Aphrodite and me.
I shifted my weight and sighed. “Well, I’m afraid it’s a moronic human. But that’s not the point. Or at least not why Stevie Rae brought you here. See all that fog?”
“Yeah. Where is that?”
“Woodward Park—this mornin’,” said Stevie Rae, moving up so that she stood near Kacie.
“Here? In Tulsa?”
“Yeah,” I said.
“That’s weird. I didn’t think you guys got fog here like we did in Chicago. Plus, it’s really the wrong time of year for it. Most Chicago fog is in the spring or fall.”
“We get fog, but not a lot,” Damien said as he peered over my shoulder at the screen. “Especially not in the middle of winter when the temperature has been the same for days and days.”
“How long did it last?” Kacie kept staring at the picture. “And what’s wrong with that woman’s face?”
“Yeah,” Stevie Rae asked. “What’s goin’ on with her makeup? She kinda looks like the Lone Ranger.”
“The who?” Aphrodite uncrossed and crossed her legs.
“It’s from an old TV show. He wore a mask. My mama and me used to watch reruns when I was little. I really only remember the mask and his horse.”
“Which has nothing to do with the fog,” said Damien. “Kacie, we don’t know what’s going on with those humans, but that really isn’t important right now.”
“Damien’s right—as always.” I grinned at him. I’ll always love how studious Damien is—how he keeps learning and growing. “What’s important is the weird fog and why it covered this city this morning. It could be a weather fluke, but we need to be sure. Could you ask water about it?”
Kacie’s gaze went from the screen to me. Her big, dark eyes looked surprised and maybe even a little frightened.
“Hey,” I said gently. “It’s okay if you’re not ready or if it’s too hard. We get it, and no one will be mad at you.”
“It’s not that. I’ll definitely try, but is water gonna actually talk to me?”
Aphrodite covered a laugh with a cough, and I talked over her, shooting her an exasperated look. “No, at least not with words.”
Stevie Rae, whose affinity was earth, took over for me. “You’ll get a feelin’ from your element. You should be able to tell if it’s upset, and especially if it’s been messed with recently. It may even give you an image of somethin’. Like, remember when all those trees just outside the wall that surrounds the Chicago House of Night started dyin’ and we couldn’t figure out why?”
Kacie nodded.
“Well, I checked in with earth and knew right away someone was poisonin’ ’em—shooting some crap into their roots that was killin’ ’em. I couldn’t see who it was, but I knew it was a human doin’ it and not a disease that was makin’ ’em die.”
“Yeah, and then you had the Sons of Erebus keep watch and you caught that guy.”
“Right! Earth didn’t say anything to me, but it gave me an image of roots bein’ flooded with poison and a feelin’ that it was due to human intervention.”
“Exactly,” I said. “That’s what you need to ask water to do. Just ground yourself, call water, and then ask it if the fog this morning was natural or unnatural. Then open yourself to the answer.”
“Okie dokie. I’ll try.”
Before I could even point her to the west, Kacie closed her eyes tightly. Her forehead furrowed and she said, “Water, could ya please come here?”
Instantly, the room was awash with ocean scents—not just salt and sand, but the earthy twang of sea grass and coconut-scented suntan lotion.
Eyes still closed, Kacie said, “Cool! Grand Cayman! Okay, now, water, go back to this morning, especially around a park called Woodward—here in Tulsa, not on Cayman. There was lots of fog. What’s up with that? Weird weather, or just plain weird?”
We all stared at Kacie as she gasped and staggered a little—and suddenly the water scents disappeared, leaving the newly Changed vampyre looking pale and sick.
“Here, sit down.” I shooed Aphrodite out of the closest chair and guided Kacie into it.
“I’ll get her some water,” Damien said, heading to a refreshment counter in the corner of the room.
“Make it blood,” I said, realizing just how bad Kacie looked.
“Got it!”
As Damien poured blood from the pitcher kept in the fridge and popped it in the microwave to heat, Stevie Rae and I crouched down beside Kacie. She trembled as she rested her head in her hands.
“Hey, it’s okay. Close your eyes again and breathe with me—in to a count of four, and then out to four.” She nodded, and we breathed together until Damien handed me a warm mug of blood and then pulled out a chair and sat beside Aphrodite. “Okay.” I touched her arm and she opened her eyes. “Drink this. Slowly.”
I helped guide the mug to her lips, but as soon as she began gulping the blood, her color returned and her hands stopped shaking. She drained the mug and handed it back to me.
“Thanks. That’s better. It’s really good too. I mean—gross that blood tastes so good, but it’s true.”
“Yeah, I remember feeling like that,” I smiled at her. “Can you tell me what water revealed to you?”
“Sure, but it was weird, and it also made my stomach hurt. It was like I almost became water for a second.”
“That means you already have an incredibly strong connection to that element,” Damien said. “It took me almost a year to get that sensation.”
“And that’s good?” She glanced up at Damien, looking about twelve years old.
“Oh, honey, it’s wonderful!” Damien assured her. “You’ll learn to ground yourself better so you don’t become disoriented and too immersed in your element—but it is truly a good thing.”
“Okay, well, I’m glad. It was
