The Essential Elements: Boxed Set by Elle Middaugh

Author:Elle Middaugh [Middaugh, Elle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-08-28T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

When my second of deliberation was up, I found myself rounding the corner and chasing Cade down the hall. He was ridiculously fast, fueled by vengeance and adrenaline, but I kept up simply because I had to.

He burst through an exit door, and I slipped through before it could close again. We raced up a set of old stone stairs and into the light of the midday sun. After being in the dark, it was nearly blinding, and my ears rang as my eyes adjusted. When I blinked, Cade was crossing the threshold of the forest. Quickly, I kicked off my high heels and sprinted after him.

Tree branches scratched and whipped at my face. I ducked to avoid them, but I still got stung dozens of times. My footing was sure on the gracious snow, but when we got deeper into the woods where the snow was sparser, I found myself sinking and slipping on rotting leaves. Almost unconsciously, my water element took over, and an icy path spread out ahead of me. Behind, it disappeared nearly as quickly.

My breaths were deep but even. Thank God Elise had trained me so hard. I couldn’t remember exactly where Black Walnut State Park was, but I figured it was at least twenty miles south. We’d be traveling quite a ways.

Cade pushed harder. I kept up.

Eventually, we broke free from the woods and scampered down the side of a little town nestled in a valley. Given that it was south of Northland and a little west of Center Allegheny, I guessed it was Berwindale, though I’d never actually been there.

Cade darted toward a U-shaped group of buildings. In the middle of the U was a big but mostly empty parking lot; it must’ve been an old mall. His black truck was parked all by itself near the far edge.

When we reached it, he finally acknowledged my presence, though, as an Earth, I knew he must’ve sensed me the whole time. His eyes met mine over the hood.

“Getting in?” he asked.

I smiled and nodded, still trying to catch my breath.

“Okay,” he said, tone slightly unsure.

Before I knew it, we were speeding down the winding roads of the Appalachian Mountains. They were mostly clear, but thanks to the plows, there were patches of packed snow that had turned almost icy. I used my influence over the water to keep the tires from slipping, and it didn’t go unappreciated.

“Thanks,” Cade said, voice a little hoarse, probably from the harsh, cold breaths we’d been forced to take while sprinting.

“You’re welcome.”

I wasn’t sure what else to say. Tension hovered around us, thick like fog. If he was thinking what I was thinking, we were both wondering just how in the hell we were going to break Xavier out of an Elitist stronghold. It was a heavy worry, made heavier by the fact that we were probably going to be making up the rescue mission as we went along.

“Thirsty?” I asked, breaking the strain.

Realization dawned on his face. “You’re a Water,” he said.

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