He nodded, knocking dirt free from his hair. He then shook like a dog, sending dust flying. “I think I’ll shower first.”
“I’ll talk to Stace,” I offered. “She might know how they got through.”
Bryan hadn’t said anything, only stared at me, blinking with wide eyes. He took several steps back as if I’d just grown a set of horns and a pointy tail.
“Bryan?”
“W-what was that?”
“What was what?” I shot a confused look to Rob and Clay before returning it to him. “Are you okay?”
“You went dark.”
“Well, yeah. That’s what happens when I tap in to the darkness inside me.”
His mouth fell open as he retreated more. “You’re dark?”
“Bro?” Rob stepped forward. “You do remember what happened, don’t you? Our girl isn’t really dark. She has a sixth element now. You don’t remember the cut? The way you two, uh, healed it?”
The look of fear sweeping over his expression, the worry swirling in his gaze, shattered my heart. He shook his head. “I don’t remember.”
Oh no. Oh, God no. What was happening to my earth elemental? Was that memory spell slowly robbing him of his good memories too? Or was this something else? Was this a result of the void slowly robbing him of his mind entirely?
“We’d better get you to Syd.” I grasped for his hand.
He jerked it back and moved out of my reach. “I’ll go on my own.”
“Bryan?” I whimpered. His reaction to the thought of any contact with me crushed me.
“What the hell, dude?” Clay was immediately by my side, challenging the opposite elemental, as per usual. “Are you serious with this right now? First you claim you don’t remember anything about the void, and now you insult our girl?” He shoved Bryan. “What the actual, dude?”
Bryan shoved Clay right back. He was so much bigger than the air elemental that the contact sent Clay stumbling back. “She’s dark, man. What the hell do you expect? I can’t be around anything dark.”
“She is our girl. How can you say something like that?”
“How can you say something like that?” I said at the same time, blinking at him, not understanding why he suddenly acted like a stranger to me. I get the void might be messing with his head, but this was us. I always thought we had that type of bond that got us through anything, including some stupid spell that erased memories or a void that robbed people of their sanity.
Clearly, I was wrong.
“You know what?” I backed away, my hands up. This was not a battle I wanted to fight right now. I’d just survived another attack by dark elementals, and on school grounds. Again. I needed to talk to Stace and let her know about the barrier. “It’s all good.”
“No, Montana. It’s not all good.”
“Clay, drop it. Bryan has some issues he’s dealing with. We all do. I’m going to go talk to Stace and then check on Leo. You go talk to Dean Carter.”
“But—”
Rob jumped in, cutting him off. “I’ll talk to the Council. They have to know what just happened. This is the first time dark elementals have breached the barrier without any help from someone on the inside.”
“That we know of,” I pointed out. “Alec got through with the help of Jules.”
“Inside help,” he pointed out right back, a triumphant grin tilting the corners of his lips.
“Spencer got through without any help.”
“Magically enhanced.”
Like that made any difference. Like any reason made a difference. Dark elementals had invaded our academy. This was war. It also further proved I didn’t attack those two water elementals.
Dark elementals were among us.
10
I paced in the shadows outside the infirmary while Rob checked on Unibrow—Trina. Chewing on my nails, a nasty habit I’d picked up from Stace over the summer, I walked back and forth, rocking from foot to foot, eyeing the front entrance, and starting the cycle all over again.
When Rob pushed through the doors and stepped onto the front porch, I practically mauled him as I rushed up the stairs. “Tell me everything. Is he okay? What’s happening? Did he suffer any permanent damage? Is he okay? Tell me everything!” I grabbed him by the collar and shook him.
“Reed.” He grasped my hands, lowering them in his. “Trina is going to be okay.”
“I don’t care about her.”
“But you should.” He nailed me with a hard look that had me shrinking back. “That’s the problem. You are acting without thinking about the consequences. You know who else does that?”
“Let me guess. Every dark elemental.” I stopped short of rolling my eyes.
“And a few unstable good ones,” he replied, softening his expression. He didn’t have to actually say it for me to pick up his meaning. “I told Stace about Alec and Spencer. She’s going to the Council and wants me to stay here with you.”
“Good, then you can come with me to check on Leo.” I tried to push past him to get inside, but he stopped me. “What are you doing?”
“He’s sleeping. Syd said not to disturb him and to come back later.”
That was the exact opposite of what I wanted to do. My boyfriend was lying in a hospital bed because of me. I needed to be by his side. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I am sure. Come on, let’s get out of here. We could both use a little distraction.” He teleported us to the cabin, landing us directly in the master bedroom.
“Well, I guess you don’t waste any time, now do you?”
His answer came in a swift move, literally sweeping me off my feet and catching me in a dip right before I hit the floor. He dropped his dark gaze to my mouth and licked his lips. “Why waste time when we both know what we want?”
Adrenaline surged through my body when he kissed me so deep, so passionately, I felt it in my next life. He licked my lips open
