The sound of laughter outside my door drew my attention. Was that Clay? Leo didn’t tell me he planned on bringing a friend. I was totally okay with it. Clay made me laugh. That was exactly what I needed right now.
I opened the door and didn’t get a chance to ask what was going on before I teleported out against my will.
Again.
And landed in the center of the heavily warded cabin. I braced myself for battle, relaxing only once I spotted Leo and Rob on the couch, a familiar board game on the coffee table. Clay kissed my cheek before releasing me and taking a seat in the chair, leaving a new love seat for Bryan and me.
“What’s going on?” I pushed my hand against my stomach to get it to settle.
“Rematch,” Clay and Bryan said at the same time, both rubbing their hands together in excitement.
“I thought we were going to a movie,” I said to Leo, giving him a look.
He colored hard and shrugged. “Sorry, babe. Majority rules.”
“These two yahoos insisted on playing Elementopoly like a couple of ten-year-olds.”
Oh, why the hell not? A mindless board game might be exactly what the healer ordered.
I grabbed the little metal piece signifying dark and slapped it onto the board before kicking off my shoes and padding into the kitchen to grab beers, pausing for them to finish their whispered conversation over the piece I’d chosen.
“Dude, we have to do something,” Bryan whispered. “You see the piece she picked.”
“It’s a game piece,” Rob responded. “Nothing more.”
“What if it’s something more?” Leo asked.
“It’s just a game,” Clay groaned.
“Is it?” Bryan challenged.
They all fell silent, my cue for returning with libations. I handed them each a beer and took a seat next to Bryan on the love seat. I rubbed the soft material on the arm. “This is new.”
“My contribution,” Leo pointed out as he cracked open his can.
“Now, if you’d just put your dishes in the dishwasher…” Rob mused, taking a drink.
We all focused on the game, laughing at the insults on the red risk cards and groaning at the cheesy lines on the green reward cards. I wound up owning all the element squares again, collecting a hefty two hundred dollars every time someone landed on one, which was just about every time they went around the board.
“I miss this, us just being us,” I declared as I rolled the dice and tapped out the count, landing on a red X. I pulled a risk card and read. You’ve been slapped with an elemutus. Go back two spaces. I’d never gotten that card before. Would have been nice to know what an elemutus was before being slapped with one myself. I then read the option and immediately moved my piece back two squares.
“What’d it say?” Leo asked.
“Nothing.” I wouldn’t be repeating it.
Bryan grabbed the card out of my hand and held it out of reach. I gave up and left the room to find something stronger than beer.
“Dude, what’s it say?” Clay asked.
“Uh…nothing.” Bryan’s clipped reply closed the conversation. “Let’s just keep going. Whose turn is it?”
Someone rolled the dice, but an uncomfortable silence filled the entire cabin, thickening the air and tightening the tension. I felt someone behind me and turned, glancing up into those handsome hazel eyes.
Bryan rested his hands on my hips. “You have every right to hate your mom.”
“Is it wrong that I don’t?” I searched his gaze.
“Not at all. After everything my granddad did, I still loved the guy. I hated him, but I loved him. He was my granddad. He bounced me on his knee, took me for ice cream and read to me while rocking me to sleep. He was evil to the core, granted. I can’t change what he did to instill fear in the Gunderson name. But he also taught me how to carve a turkey at Thanksgiving. Played Santa at Christmas. I get it, Katy. She was your mother. She was evil to the core. That doesn’t stop her from being your mother.”
I leaned against him. Bryan, of all the guys, definitely got what it was like to have someone in your family so dark, it terrified you that you’d follow in their footsteps. “What if I end up like her?”
He sighed and wrapped his arms around me, resting his chin on the top of my head. “Not possible.”
“Why not?”
“Because you have four crazy detectors who’ll call you out if your crazy gets out of control.” He laughed when I jabbed him in the ribs.
“I, for one, happen to love your level of crazy, Reed.” Rob walked into the kitchen and joined the hug.
“I think Montana could take it up a few notches.” Clay joined in as well.
“She’s the perfect amount of crazy.” Leo completed the hug.
As my guys held me, it became clear what I needed to do. In order to protect them. In order to protect my world.
It was time to unleash the fury of this earth elemental.
No more screwing around waiting for the dark side to come to me.
I needed to take the party to them.
THANK you so much for reading RAGE OF STORMS! I hope you enjoyed reading the third installment in this four book series. If you did and want to share your thoughts with other readers, please consider leaving a review.
READY FOR THE final installment of The Academy of Elements? Get ready for the ultimate showdown between good and evil in FURY OF EARTH.
READ ON FOR A SNEAK PEEK…
FURY OF EARTH
THE ACADEMY OF ELEMENTS 4 - SNEAK PEEK
There were certain things in life you could count on, at least for the
