Water: The Elementals Book Three

Chapter 1

1

SIX MONTHS LATER

Serin lifted her heel off the man’s throat long enough to let him speak. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t quite catch that.”

“You b***h!”

She pressed her heel back down, cutting off the rest. “I thought you private mercenaries were supposed to be tough. I have to say—geriatric sharks have more fight in them.”

Scanning the room, she took stock. The rest of the team was scattered around them. All were dressed in black, their many weapons useless and broken on the ground.

She removed her foot and knelt, taking care not to snag her crystal-encrusted skirt. “I think you might be overpaid,” she whispered in his ear before smiling and hauling him up by the shirt collar. She shook him like a rag doll, pointing his head in the general direction of his employer.

“As I was explaining to your boss, Mr. Sayer over there—” Serin broke off to wave to the overweight oil executive.

The gag in the man’s mouth prevented him from answering back.

“The oil company is in violation of an existing treaty we signed with the Agunte for water rights in this mountain.”

“There are no f*****g Indians in—”

She held up a hand. “The Agunte aren’t an indigenous tribe. They’re the squid-like creatures living in the aquifers surrounding the oil deposits your company illegally seized.”

The merc blinked. “You’re doing this for squid?”

“Squid-like creatures,” she corrected. “They’re sentient, highly intelligent creatures from an extremely far away land. They came here after centuries of war wiped out most of their kind. In exchange for a safe place to live, they kindly offered us what they could—a few seeds of a useful little plant from their home world. Humans extracted aspirin from it. That was centuries later, of course.”

The merc grumbled something under his breath, but she heard him clearly.

Serin rolled her eyes, then slapped him like the little b***h he was. “I’m not crazy, nor am I delusional,” she replied, turning to his boss. “It’s so like a man to dismiss a woman as hysterical. But you know all about the treaty. The Agunte told you, over and over again.”

She dropped the merc at Sayer’s feet. “All the signs you ignored, the messages you received—their cries for help. You knew. Your staff knew. But the oil reserve was big enough for you to ignore them…even after the cries turned to screams.”

Her face hardened. After moving to Sayer, she ripped off his gag.

“Please,” he begged, his round face dripping sweat. “I have a family.”

Serin put her hands on either side of his face. “So did the Agunte you killed.”

The man whimpered, his mouth gaping and the scent of urine hitting her sensitive nose. He’d peed himself. She almost felt pity, but it wasn’t just alien squid this man had killed. Plenty of humans had died as he bribed and killed his way to the top. For a cowardly little turd, he was ruthless.

Was being the operative word. She untied his hands, hauling him up by the neck, the feat of strength terrifying to the merc at her feet. The other man scrambled up and out of the way as she dragged her mark to the exit.

“What are you going to do to him?” the mercenary asked.

“Normally, I would snap his neck. However, in this case, the Agunte have claimed the right of retribution.”

She shifted her hold to minimize her contact with the Sayer’s clothing. “Which, honestly, I’m happy to give them. He’s so…sweaty.”

She may have been an all-powerful Water Elemental, but her love of her medium didn’t extend to disgusting acrid sweat.

The opening of the bore tunnel was just a few hundred yards away from the warehouse that stored the drilling equipment. The executive gibbered and pleaded, offering her bribe after bribe along the way.

“A million dollars,” he shouted as Serin reached the edge of the aquifer. Gleaming turquoise water lapped the edges of the tunnel, a galaxy of bioluminescent patterns appearing on the surface.

There were stars, constellation patterns she didn’t recognize, as well as occult symbols unique to T’Kaieri. The latter was formed in deference to her. The Agunte were speaking her language.

“What the hell is that?” a mystified voice asked. It was the merc. He’d followed them out.

Her nose wrinkled. “Have you seriously never looked in this hole?”

He shook his head. “Sayer told us to stay away. We were to secure the site from an unspecified threat… You, I guess.”

She gave the merc the side-eye, still holding Sayer by the scruff. “So are we going to fight some more or what?”

The merc stilled, appearing to think about it. Then he shrugged. “I don’t think they paid us enough to kill an entire species and fight off Superwoman. I’m going to pull my team back.”

“Good,” she said, although calling them back was redundant. She’d already taken care of the team.

With no hesitation, Serin let go of Sayer, dropping him straight into the hole where the Agunte were waiting.

He didn’t even have time to scream. The star patterns disappeared, and the blue-green water turned black with blood.

The merc paled, then turned green. “f**k,” he said, gagging and clutching his throat.

Serin took a deep breath. “He’s already gone. His suffering was brief. It was better than he deserved, trust me.”

“All right then,” the man muttered, backing up a step. Clearing his throat, he held out his hand. “I’m Reynolds.”

She glanced at the hand before returning her attention to the pool. Reynolds pulled his hand back, holding it against his chest before giving her outfit a once-over. In his world, apparently, not too many women fought in silk and high heels. “I guess buying you dinner is out of the question.”

Serin blinked. That hadn’t happened in a while. In fact, she couldn’t remember the last time a man of any species had asked her out. But then again, she didn’t normally let anyone see her do her work and live.

Speaking of which…

The flat spelled stone heated the moment her fingers grasped it from the bottom of her bag. It was one of many, all with different purposes. This one altered memories—specifically those of small-to-medium-sized groups.

The spell on this memory charm was originally crafted by one of her ancestors, then perfected by Serin’s mother, Dalasini. Her mother was skilled in spellcraft, but memory charms were her obsession.

By the time she withdrew the stone, it was hot as coal. But Serin didn’t mind the burn. It was a nice contrast to the cold she’d felt in the ocean’s depths.

Reynolds was still speaking. Unbelievable. He was describing the tacos at a local restaurant, still trying to convince her to go out with him.

She held up a hand. “I hate to interrupt, but there’s a little something I have to take care of first.”

“What is it?”

He almost seemed as if he wanted to be helpful. His expression soured when he caught sight of her fist swinging toward him, leveling him with the first punch.

Reynolds dropped like a stone at her feet.

“The bigger they come…” With a sigh, she knelt and heaved him up. Though she could bear his weight with no problem, the massive man sprawled awkwardly over her shoulder. She dumped him in the center of the warehouse, rounding up the other members of his team and piling them around him—a groaning mountain of muscles and steroids.

She kissed the hot stone before tossing it on top of the pile. There was an icy blue flash. As a group, the team of mercenaries fell asleep, a slumber too deep for snoring.

When they woke up, they wouldn’t remember her or what had happened to their employer.

Serin was careful to wash all traces of herself away before walking back to the pit for a formal parting with the Agunte.

The water in the pit was clear now, luminescing in a kaleidoscope more psychedelic than any rave or high-end laser light show. The Agunte wanted to celebrate their victory with her. They beckoned her with their lights, inviting her to the warmth of their home deep under the ground.

“I’m sorry,” she said with true regret. “Perhaps another time. Are you ready to close this entrance?”

A dance of squiggles lit up the water as they tried to convince her to join them one more time, but Serin stood firm. She had to leave. Jordan was waiting for her.

Yes, close it, they signaled. And thank you.

Putting her hand over her heart, she bowed formally. “Till we meet again. Now, for your own safety, you should depart to the deeper recesses of your home.”

She knelt, then dipped her hand into the water. “It’s time,” she called, just in case there were any stragglers close to the surface.

Her voice reverberated through the aether. She sat at the water’s edge, waiting for the telltale ripple that heralded the arrival of her sister.

Gia arrived in moments, the rustle of shifting earth the only sound.

“Thank you for coming so quickly.”

“Damn, you’ve gotten better,” Gia said, coming up beside her and offering her hand. “There was a time when you wouldn’t have heard that.”

Serin took it and stood. Gia embraced her, then bowed in turn to the Agunte.

Sharp senses were part of Serin’s gift, but her sister was older—the senior Elemental. Gia could mask her arrival and departures with the greatest skill, far better than any witch, shifter, or other Elemental for that matter.

For the better part of a century, Gia could sneak up on Serin, scaring the crap out of her. And then Gia would giggle like a two-year-old.

Serin smiled at her sister, wishing for more time to dawdle.

“Remember when we used to paint the town red?” Gia asked, reading her mind and the nostalgic turn she’d taken.

“You mean when we used to rumble with an out-of-control black coven at dusk, then knock over a shifter bar in the evening?” she replied with a smile.

Gia grinned. “Then we’d have a nightcap with the wood fae, drinking all their best mead—the centuries-old stuff.”

Serin sighed, the longing for those carefree days suddenly intense. Though they still saw each other and collaborated on cases regularly, there was less and less time for fun. “I wish we could relive old times, but…”

“I know, I know,” Gia said with understanding. “Jordan is waiting.”

“Yes.” Neither spoke. They simply stood side by side, their arms touching.

Then Gia raised her hands, using her powers of Earth to shift the ground beneath them. Deep in the borehole, the soil responded to her call, moving and rolling like a wave until the opening was sealed.

Serin could have dynamited the hole shut, but she wanted to make sure the ground appeared undisturbed—as if the mining work had never even begun.

That had been her plan all along. Serin had spent most of yesterday afternoon laying the groundwork. She was framing Sayer for embezzlement—a crime he was guilty of, albeit on a much smaller scale.

According to the new and carefully hidden records, the reports on this area had been faked. There was no oil reserve for hundreds of miles. The employment records, progress updates, and payroll were a sham. Sayer pocketed the funds allocated by the company. At least, that was what they were going to think.

Gia knew her plan. It resembled many of the others she and Serin used in the past when their marks were human. Greed was one of the classics. When the relentless drive for profit ruled a company or organization, legal or illegal, their job was half-done for them.

“Where will you go next?” Serin asked, savoring the night’s warmth before she had to make her way down to the sea.

“Home, for a time.” Gia was the oldest Elemental, but her ties on this earth were as binding as Serin’s. Though her immediate family was long gone, her blood lived on all over the world, but most was still concentrated deep in the heart of Mexico in the village she called home.

Like their sister Logan, Gia was blessed. Their homes were places of rest, where time with their families provided a respite from their work. For Serin, home was…different. She was a Water Elemental.

“I should go,” she said.

Her sister stopped her with a hand to the shoulder. She pulled Serin into another warm embrace.

“It’s date night, isn’t it? What does Jordan have planned for you tonight?”

“Candlelight dinner, and a romantic drive up the coast to a new nightspot to dance under the stars.”

“He always goes the extra mile, doesn’t he?” Gia mused as they walked a few miles south, downhill away from the dig site.

Between the trees, crickets sang their nightly serenade.

“Like always,” Serin replied, tasting the night air.

They reached the ravine at the base of the hill. Gia dug her hands into the earth, swirling it around the way a child splashed into the ocean. She felt for the ripple of water buried deep, tapping it and drawing it to the surface. The formerly dry stream bed became a torrent, one that would eventually reach the sea.

With one last embrace, Serin parted from her sister and went to meet her mate, wondering what dress she should wear. The red was Jordan’s favorite, but she preferred the green.

Less than an hour later, she reached the Caislean Hotel in Cabos San Lucas, the beachfront five-star hotel Jordan had chosen for their stay in Baja California.

The room was a mess. The rosewood and teak coffee table and chairs were smashed to pieces. Cotton filler from the plush couch cushions littered the room, and there was broken glass everywhere.

An ominous splash of blood was in the center of the shards. A quick search revealed nothing was missing—nothing except her bonded mate, Jordan.