Elemental Darkness (Paranormal Public Series) Read Free

reading my thoughts.
    “Now,” I said, pausing, “I have no idea.” I looked at Dacer, hoping he’d have some sort of suggestion.
    “Charlotte,” he said, “you cannot blame Caid for what has happened. He is arriving in the morning, hopefully, and we will discuss our next steps.”
    “Is he somewhere safe?” I asked dully. Even if I didn’t like Caid, I knew it would be awful if the demons killed him. Then the paranormals would really not know where to turn.
    “Yes,” said Dacer. “He is safe with the rest of the government and the resistance.”
    “You mean the real resistance, not what Ms. Quest thought passed for resistance,” Oliva said, re-entering the room. He still looked tired.
    “I knew I didn’t like him,” Lough whispered to me.
    “You are all still students of Public,” Oliva said. “Until such time as you are told what to do next, I advise you to return to your dorms. We’ll call you in the morning when we’re ready to let you know what we’ve decided.”
    “Now see here,” Lough said, “we were the ones at Golden Falls. You left us there without protection. Again. Also, Charlotte is the only elemental; no one else can represent the elementals. If there’s any planning to be done, we want to be involved.”
    Oliva gave him a dark look.
    “We have a right to be involved,” Lough pushed.
    Oliva stood up. He wasn’t one of the smallest pixies, but he wasn’t very large either. Lough, who had filled out over the past couple of years, towered over him.
    “You will go to your dorms,” Oliva ordered. “Or are you proposing to defy the President of Public?”
    Lough stood for a minute, staring at Oliva. I couldn’t work out what was happening behind his soft eyes, but I had a feeling that that was exactly what Lough was proposing to do. Without Lisabelle I didn’t think Lough cared for much of anything anymore.
    “Hopefully in the morning my mother and Professor Zervos will also have arrived,” said Dacer.
    “Zervos just makes everything better,” said Lanca dryly.
    I was glad she had said it, because I probably wouldn’t have been so kind, and Oliva couldn’t get mad at the ruler of the Blood Throne, at least not openly.
    Lough nodded his thanks to her.
    “Dacer. . .” I said. But I didn’t know how to continue. He looked at me sympathetically.
    “We will have to get to Ricky soon,” he said. “This was a multi-pronged attack. They attacked Caid, and many others less well known. They attacked the Paranormal Police Academy, although they were driven back from there. I’m sorry, but Ricky’s home has to be on a short list of places they will attack soon.”
     

Chapter Two
     
    In my heart I knew it was true, but that didn’t mean I wanted to talk about it.
    There seemed to be nothing more to say for now, and we left the room in silence. I gave Dacer and Lanca one last look, but neither wanted to infuriate Oliva any further. Dacer merely nodded and said he’d see me tomorrow. Lanca smiled and said, “Can I stay in Astra with you?”
    I sighed in relief; I’d been dreading going back to Astra and its lonely silence. I nodded. “Vital too.”
    “Yes,” she said, as if taken by surprise.
    We left Oliva’s, and Lough was barely out the door before he burst out in anger, “Well, that didn’t go the way it should have,” he cried. “How dare Oliva talk to us like that? What has he done since this whole mess started? He’s only made it worse.”
    Lough’s shoulders were shaking with anger. I didn’t know what to say, because there wasn’t anything comforting left to offer him.
    We were walking through a spring evening at Public, the warm air and the soft glow from the windows of the beloved buildings merrily lighting the path to our dorms. There were crickets chirping, and I could smell things growing. It was a beautiful evening.
    I wanted to hit someone.
    Neither of us said anything else. We were both painfully aware that Sip and Lisabelle weren’t there, and