Elemental Hunger

Chapter Twenty-Eight

While I stood in my bedroom, a knock sounded on the door. Adam entered and held up the blue half-dress. "I had it cleaned."

I glared at a spot over his shoulder. "You wasted your time."

"Come on. Wear this tonight." His eyes shone with a mixture of emotions I couldn't sort through.

My heart thumped when he closed the door. "Leave it on the bed," I said, turning back to the window. "It's not going to fit."

"Oh, it's gonna fit," he said with a laugh. He pulled me into a hug. "Are you ready for tonight?"

My skin crawled with his touch—in a good way. He also repulsed me. My Element reacted to my screwed up emotions, and Adam jerked his hands away.

"Sorry." But I felt better when he wasn't touching me. My skin cooled.

He tilted his head and studied me. "Everything okay?"

A deep breath settled my nerves further. "Yes. No. I'm just—worried about tonight."

His mouth creased, like he didn't believe me.

"Are you ready?" I asked before he could say anything else.

"I've waited for a Council for a long time."

Well, at least we've stopped lying to each other, I thought as I watched the late winter sun spit weak light on the city. The shadows lengthened as Adam moved behind me.

I was so conflicted. I liked the way Adam made me feel about myself. But he was still an active sentry. Probably recording everything, waiting for a chance to kill me. Besides, I couldn't erase the feelings I had for Hanai, and I didn't want to.

The air in my lungs evaporated. My heart squeezed, squeezed into my throat. I needed to ask Adam about Cat, about Hesterton—

He pulled away. "Tornadoes. You've got some raging energy flowing into the air. What's up?"

I called on my fire and turned around. Both of my fists burst into flames. Adam stepped back, the briefest flash of fear stealing through his eyes. "Honesty policy. What happened in Hesterton?"

Adam's mouth hardened. "What did Cat tell you?"

"What did you tell her?"

He looked at his hand. "I told her the truth."

"Tell me, then."

He sat down, his gaze focused on the floor. "When the Supremist gives orders, you follow them. Or you die."

His voice lost all emotion as he related his orders to find the rogue Elementals and kill them. When he and Felix found the Council, Reggie—the Councilman—offered himself for the safety of the rest of his Council.

"Alex expected one less Elemental in the world. She got what she wanted." He met my eye. "I swear I didn't want to kill him."

But you still did, I thought. So many other things battled inside. Hanai's secret. Adam's tattoo.

"And everyone else on his Council is still alive," Adam added.

"Where were you yesterday?" I asked. Maybe I could get him to slip and say something contradictory.

"I honestly don't know." He touched his ribcage. "I still have the wounds, so I'm guessing not somewhere nice."

"What were you doing?"

He glanced at me, his expression hooded. "I don't remember anything after falling twenty stories down an elevator shaft."

"Where's your brother?"

Adam's eyes narrowed. "I don't know. Not far away, I'm guessing."

"What did he do to Cat?"

"I am not my brother."

"But you were there!"

Adam stood, his eyes unyielding. His anger soared across the space between us, causing my fire to burn hotter.

"I did my job."

"Blazes," I swore. "Did he rape her or not?"

"No."

"You know for sure?"

"Yes. Like you said, I was there."

My fury lessened. I guess if Cat could forgive him, I couldn't hold Reggie's death against him. Now all I had was Hanai's story about Adam's phone conversation and the flicker of a black line I'd seen on his back.

Which meant I had nothing. Or did I?

"Are you done interrogating me?" Adam glared, his words biting into my conflicted emotions.

"For now."

The tension drained from the room, leaving me exhausted and Adam's shoulders slanted.

"I'm sorry, Gabby. I've tried to tell you about Hesterton a hundred times."

I inhaled, trying to think. "Maybe we just need more time. In a day or two—"

"I don't have a day or two," Adam snapped. The air turned icy, and a glacial breeze cascaded over my skin. "Sorry," he murmured, sliding into the shadows. "I just need the charter to be in place. I'm worried about Hanai bolting. Isaiah says you haven't talked to him in days, and...I don't wanna be controlled by the tattoo anymore."

I frowned. "I talk to Isaiah. And Hanai isn't going anywhere. And what do you mean 'controlled by the tattoo'?"

Adam shivered in the cool air. I snapped my fingers and sent a ball of fire to warm it up. "Well?"

"Nothing. It's gone now." He turned to leave.

I lunged across the bed and grabbed his arm. "Is it? Is it really gone? Tell me the truth, Airmaster."

He looked at me, his eyes the vacant, emotionless pools of a sentry. "Did you see it this afternoon?"

I wanted to scream in his face that I had seen it. That he was a liar, a sentry, a traitor. Instead, I released him and slid off the bed, my focus already out the window again.

"Try the dress on, Gabby." He opened the door and left.

I noted that he hadn't answered my question.