Inferno : Elements Series Book One

Derek

Well, that was certainly an interesting day. Gwen’s reaction to finding out that she’s immortal was pretty funny. Her first thoughts, that she has eternity to lose weight and her breasts won’t sag. I don’t know how I managed to keep a straight face when I heard gem of a thought run through her mind. I’m surprised at my discomfort at the thought of her wanting to lose weight. Her curves are amazing, not that I really have the right to think that I suppose. She barely knows me and it’s not really any of my business…and then it hits me like a freight train. I have feelings for Gwen. Well, that’s not going to complicate anything is it? I get ready for bed and sink down onto my mattress, still thinking about Gwen, and have to get back up again almost immediately. Someone is knocking on my door and I find myself smiling as I walk into my living room, hoping that it’s Gwen.

“You look awfully happy about something.”

It’s Hank. Damn.

“I had a good day, what are you doing here?”

He smirks at me as he steps into my living room.

“I imagine you did. I ran into Erin, that girl of yours is quite the firecracker apparently.”

“Why do you think it took me three weeks to figure out how to talk to her?” I smirk.

“What would you say about getting a head start on her training? We don’t have a program set up, but Erin is pretty eager to see what she can do and Rhea’s pretty keen to get her hands on that pattern wrapped around her wrist. I have to admit, I want to see what she can do too,” he muses.

“I guess that would be her decision to make. You’d have to see how she feels about it. I suggest starting her with Garret. We already know she can fight, use the elements and do the mind tricks, but we don’t really know what she can do in Garret’s department yet. Start out with what we don’t know and figure out a program from there.”

He starts rubbing his chin. Before I met Hank I had no idea people actually did that when they were trying to think. I think there’s more to this visit than starting Gwen’s training early though.

“Sounds reasonable, bring her to see me at some time tomorrow and we’ll see where she’s at with all of this.”

“I’ll bring her to you tomorrow morning sometime. Now how about telling me the real reason you’re here?”

Hank has never been one to delay a conversation like he is now.

“Alright, I’m concerned for her safety. Recruiters have already tried to take her once and with energy as strong as hers, I’m not sure the protections around the refuge will be strong enough to disguise it,” he shrugs. “We also have to find ways to strengthen our barriers or we have to work out another arrangement.”

“You want her off site?” I ask, appalled that he would suggest taking Gwen out of all the shielding and putting her somewhere away from everything that could keep her safe.

“No, I want her to stay here where she’s safe and they can’t get to her, but we need to think about upping the facilities security. Do you really think I’d send her away?”

“For a moment I thought that’s what you wanted. We’ll have to get everyone together with Jasper to sort it out, Gwen too.” I don’t want Gwen kept out of anything, especially when it all concerns her.

“I think that’s best,” Hank finally says. I let go a breath I didn’t know I was holding. “She kind of questions everything, doesn’t she? I think trying to keep anything from her, at least things that relate to her, won’t be a good idea. She’d find out and we can’t afford to lose her trust.”

I’m distracted by another knock at the door and I don’t even have to open it to know that it’s Gwen.

She’s in a tank and some flannel pyjama shorts and I immediately curse Hank for being here.

One look at her expression, however, and I find that I’m thankful that Hank is here as a witness. She looks pissed and dodges me and walks straight over to Hank.

“In the future, you should really discuss these things with me. I don’t like being talked about behind closed doors.”

Hank looks a little shell shocked. I don’t think anyone has been so forward with him in a long time.

“Uh, hello Gwen.” Really Hank, is that all you can say right now?

“Hi, Hank. Care to continue the chat you were having with Derek, or should I leave and just have the two of you invade my mind with your covert conversation?”

She’s standing, bare foot and furious, in front of Hanks seven foot tall form and she’s managing to make him look like a child. I didn’t know that was possible. I have to stifle my urge to laugh.

“Okay,” she continues. “How about I restart the conversation here? What, exactly, is the issue?”

She addresses this to both Hank and myself and sits down, one leg tucked under the other, at my kitchen table. Hank sit’s in the chair opposite her and I sit on the edge of my kitchen bench. It seems Hank has recovered his composure enough to speak.

“The issue is that your energy is very powerful and I’m not sure the protections we have around the refuge will be able to keep you off the Recruiters radar.”

She processes his words and thinks it over, like she’s solving a math problem.

“Can we use whatever power you think I have to boost the shielding?”

Hank’s eyes widen in surprise, he hadn’t thought of that and I didn’t even think Gwen knew about the shielding.

“How did you even know there was shielding around the refuge?” says Hank, voicing my thoughts. He looks at me. “Did you mention it to her?”

“No, I hadn’t gotten around to that yet.”

“I felt it,” we both turn to look at her. “Yes, I am still here. I felt the shields when we arrived yesterday. You combine the elements right? Draw strength from each and direct it around the area?”

Her annoyance with us seems to have faded and has been replaced with curiosity and almost excitement. Hank and I are both relieved and take on some of her excitement too. It’s kind of infectious when she’s in this mood.

“In essence, yes, that’s exactly what we do. It’s why we have a trainer who specialises in each element on hand at all of the facilities. The barriers are sturdy, but every now and then they need to be strengthened. How did you figure this out without being told about them?”

She looks puzzled and takes a moment before answering. I like watching her think, it gives me a better sense of how her mind works.

“I’m not sure, I just felt energy and then the more I thought about it the more I figured out. It just clicked,” she looks up at me and frowns again. “Do you guys have any idea what the hell is going on with me, because every time I say something you look at me like I’m some sort of alien and it’s all beginning to weird me out.”

I didn’t even think about how our confusion would make Gwen feel, it must be frustrating to have no idea what’s happening to you and be surrounded by people who are supposed to know but don’t. However, I have a more pressing question, to me at least.

“How did you know Hank was here and that we were talking about you?”

“You told me,” she says and I am baffled as to when. Thankfully she continues.

“I was just peacefully drifting off to sleep, minding my own business and then BAM! There’s you and Hank inside my brain. The two of you must have reached out or I let my guard down or something. It was annoying enough to be woken up; it was a lot worse when you started talking about me like I was some sort of acquisition. What’s with the whole ‘We wouldn’t want to lose her trust’ crap? Who said any of you had my trust in the first place?”

“You’re getting angry again,” I say. I feel as though tonight has gone terribly, like I’ve lost her trust. The latter issue is definitely worse.

I continue before her death stare burns a hole in my brain.

“We haven’t merely assumed we had your trust, we have to earn that, but we also have to figure this out. You aren’t like anyone else we’ve ever met. The things I’ve seen you do, well, our best warriors and trainers would have a hard time with it and things like the storms and flying and the way your eyes change have never been seen at all. We don’t know what to expect from you, as this meeting has already proven, and we also don’t want you to leave simply because you don’t trust us enough to stay. That’s something we have to deal with whenever we bring someone new here, but the stakes are higher with you. The Recruiters are going to do everything they can to get their hands on you and we have to do everything we can to keep that from happening.”

She turns my words over, thinking about everything I’ve said and I desperately want to flip through her thoughts and see where she’s going with this, but doing that definitely wouldn’t help with getting her to trust us.

“I would like to start your training early; beginning tomorrow if that’s okay with you. I think we need to get a handle on what you’re capable of as soon as possible.”

She stays silent and it is driving me insane.

“Can you say something, all this silence from you is going to make me tear my hair out.”

Her lips twitch upwards at the corners.

“That would be interesting, I think your ego would implode with the loss of your beloved hair,” she says. I laugh, relieved that she’s joking around and not still annoyed with us. Hank laughs too, waiting for a response.

“I’m happy to start working with everyone early, I want to know what this place is all about and what I can do but, do me a favour. Next time there is an issue or something you need to get off your chest in regards to me, just come and talk to me. You want my trust, start with honesty. Keep in mind though, I will know if you are lying to me and I will leave.”

“Yes Ma’am,” replies Hank. “Who would you like to train with first?”

“Garret, I definitely want to start with Garret. The whole plants and animals thing is fascinating and I don’t even know if I can do any of it yet.” Her excitement is back and she’s grinning from ear to ear just at the thought of working with Garret.

“Okay then, I will talk to him and your other trainers and we’ll get started tomorrow.”

“How about Sunday? She hasn’t seen anything yet and she should probably know her way around a bit before we send her off to classes.”

In reality, I’m just not quite ready to hand her over to anyone else yet. It took me three weeks just to talk to her; I’d like a little extra time to figure her out.

“Okay, that actually works better. It gives us all a bit longer to plan her first training sessions. So tomorrow you’ll take a tour and on Sunday, at say 9:00am, you’ll meet with Garret and the rest of us and we’ll get started.”

“That wasn’t so hard now, was it?” she says.

Hank and I both grin.

“Alright then, I’ll head off. If I don’t see you around tomorrow then I’ll see you on Sunday morning.”

Hank heads out the door, leaving Gwen and I alone in my kitchen.

“I guess I’ll leave too,” she says. I feel disappointed but I won’t stop her from leaving.

“Okay, I’ll see you in the morning.”

And she’s out the door, leaving me to go back to bed and wait for the morning when I get to show her around my favourite place.