Braving the Elements (Darkness #2)(5)

Jesus. Forget a pity party, I was throwing myself a pity bonanza.

“I’m going to get in my car and drive really, really fast. As in danger-ville fast. Can you keep the cops from hauling me to jail?”

“Yeah,” he whined, staring at Stefan.

“Then let’s go for a ride. Speed always makes me feel better.”

A half hour later, the car was screaming down a two-lane road in the wooded area outside the city. Trees flashed by, a blur of shimmering green as the first rays of the sun sprinkled their leaves. I had to admit, I was partially testing Charles’ resolve, trying to see if he could hack it without the jitters. I took turns like the car was on rails, using both lanes of the road when the car got a little squirrely—which was often—dodging other cars when there were any. He’d screamed like a little girl, twice.

“Oooohhhhhh sssshiiiiittt!” Charles clutched the dashboard as my Firebird pitched over the crest of a hill. Tires left the ground for a beat before crashing back down, and jousting us forward.

A manic grin spread over my face. I needed this.

“We should…oh shit…we should… slow down!” Charles braced for a turn, grabbing the handle on his door with a white-knuckled grip.

“C’mon, Charles, I’m not going that fast. I thought you were a tough Watch Captain.”

“I can face my enemies head on with a sword,” Charles said through clenched teeth. “I have no control over dying right now, Sasha. Watch out for that tree! ”

The car squealed around the turn, drifting to the other side of the road.

Where another car was waiting.

Oh crap!

A punch of adrenaline rocked my body. I let off the gas, easing the car back toward my side of the road as a horn blared. I tucked the wheels back beyond the yellow line as the crawling sensation of a close call permeated my limbs. Warmth took its place, hot and spicy, ready for action.

I let out a huge, silent breath and let the speed dwindle. Not today. I was exhausted.

“Done now?” Charles asked through a tight throat. “Can we go home?”

“Yeah, I think I’m good. That helped.”

“What’s the deal with needing an adrenaline rush?” Charles asked as we headed back. “How can it possibly help anything?”

I shrugged, the warmth in my chest still zinging through my body, smoothing out my nerves. “It thrills me somehow, which then seems to just calm everything down. I get a big high, and then just, kinda…level out. I don't know.”

Charles squinted. “I bet the thrill wakes up the magic, and then it fills you. That’s why you think you level out. You’ve probably learned to use your magic with that intuition thing you’ve talked about. You didn’t have teaching so you learned a rough version of controlling it on your own.”

“Quit analyzing me. My crazy needs no definition.”

A frown joined the thinking squint. “When you try to reach for the magic, nothing comes. When you sprint at death, you apparently access it easily and then save the day. As the mastermind behind this operation, I find it my duty to figure this out.”

“You figuring something out—yeah, that’s going to happen….”

Charles sighed and shook his head. “Sarcasm. How helpful.”

The next day went the same. And, so did the day after. I just couldn’t grab those danged elements. I didn’t even know where to look! I was supposed to open up somehow, see them pulsing out there (no one would identify where there was), and pull them to me. What kind of cockamamie directions were those, anyway? Yeah, sure, just open on up and pull at some imaginary, universal power streams. Good call. I’ll just do that, shall I?

It made no sense.

Each day after class, Stefan would be waiting in a place where I was sure to run into him. The weird link I had with him, which seemed to have gotten stronger since the last time he saved my life, hinted that he was worried.

About me? About his clan? I didn’t know; but yesterday, when I finally wanted to give in and sob in defeat on his chest, that tart, Darla, had been loitering around, giving me eye-threats. No way did I want to mess with her.

Plus, I looked like a rat after it’d gotten spit out of the sewer, and she looked like a super model in the middle of a runway. I wasn’t winning any glamour votes.

Day four and I still had no idea. No one gave me condescending looks anymore—now I got pity or indifference. When I pointed this out to Charles, hinting that this whole experiment into magic land was probably a mistake, he’d said, “Don’t give up yet, Sasha. We’ll get it. I’ve been thinking about when you use your magic, and I think that maybe I just need to threaten your life. That’s bound to wake your magic up. I’ll just, like, rough you up a whole bunch. Or, I know—I’ll get Jonas in here. If there’s anyone who wants to choke the life out of you, it’s Jonas. I betcha he’ll spark your magic survival reflex.”

He meant well.

Master Bert clapped with a beaming smile as he sashayed into the room.

“Okay, everyone, I have a special treat for you today. Maw, I have been reminded by the Boss himself that it is often easier to connect with the elements when we are out amongst them. He personally sought me out to tell me this!”

“Jesus, he sounds like a groupie.”

Charles smirked and rolled his eyes.