Tainted roots

On our way home we passed by Parker on the cobblestone walkway. "Have fun reading?" The dick used air quotes as he spoke.

I spun around to face him, walking backward as we parted ways. "Go fuck yourself." I even added my middle finger to the mix and rolled my eyes as a genuine laugh came from him.

Ander and Harmony were waiting for us in the living room. With Harmony using her magic to dry out flower petals, the colors were vibrant and ranged from a flaming red to a deep blue. Ander was busy pacing the length of the room, pausing and glancing back at us when I shut the door behind me.

"What's going on?" I aimed my question at Harmony since Ander resumed his pacing. Harmony shrugged, not looking up from the coffee table where she worked. "Not a clue."

"Did you hear about the outbursts in the Fire court?" Ari asked flopping next to her on the sofa.

Harmony's hands stilled, hovering over a bright purple flower, whipping her head up to look at us. "Is Reed okay?"

"He's fine." I glanced back at Ander and found he'd finally stopped pacing. An action he once told me helped him think.

He didn't speak for several long moments, just staring at us as he crossed his arms over his chest. It went on for so long, I nearly cussed him out. "I think we should go to the fire court."

I blinked and just stared at him. Out of everything I expected him to say, that wasn't it. "Explain," Ari said leaning back on the sofa.

"It can't be a coincidence that all of these violent outbursts and abductions started right after the attack."

Exhaling sharply, I sank into the armchair to the right of the sofa. "I was afraid of that."

Ander shot me a sympathetic look that had my stomach turning. I hated their pitying looks. No matter how much they tried to hide it, I still saw it. "Reed can show us all the places where the incidents occurred. He also said he'd be able to introduce us to one of the infected."

"Infected" that's what many had started calling those who had lost time and randomly attacked people. A shitty name to call them. It made them sound like they were diseased.

"Mmm...I'm not too sure about this. I doubt the creatures have the power to pull this off without being seen or leaving a magical signature," Ari said with a long sigh, dropping her head back against the sofa.

"That's why we need to go to the Fire court." Ander tapped his fingers against his bicep in an impatient gesture, that I normally didn't associate with my friend. He usually hid his impatience better.

"For our sake, I really hope these events aren't connected." This was more than just being mentally drained from our last mission. Deep down I knew what it would mean if it were true, and that just wasn't something I wanted to think about right now.

I couldn't.

"Not to sound like a selfish bitch or anything, but why us? Why do we need to be the ones to go and investigate? The courts probably already have others doing so already," Ari said, pressing the heels of her hands against her eyes.

"Yes, but not every court knows what truly happened during the lunar eclipse. They don't know about the other realm, or the library full of the deity"—Ander used air quotes on the word deity—" writings, or even about the traitors. We do," Ander said, the frustration growing in his voice.

"He's right. We can't just sit back and do nothing. Not if there's even a chance we can help. Especially if it's all connected." Harmony dumped several of her dried blue petals into a pouch of the same color, moving on to larger yellow petals.

Ander shifted his focus to me, his eyes wary. I knew he'd drawn the same conclusion as me. Just like I knew he wanted to ask me to sit this out, but he wouldn't. While it was tempting to agree with Ari and her reasoning, I knew I couldn't. I wasn't the type to run and hide, even though it was all I wanted to do.

Maybe there was a small pathetic part of me that came to this conclusion, for the very same reason that I feared the connection between the events. Not that I'd admit that out loud or even to myself.

"Should we pack light or heavy?"

* * * * * * * *

Rather than using the same bag I lugged around the other realm, I chose my new blue mini backpack, complete with the same expansion spell. Which allowed me to pack numerous pairs of clothes and weapons. Just in case.

Weather in the Fire court ran on the warm side of the scale—what a shocker—and I dressed accordingly, in a pair of shorts and a tank top. I opted for a pair of sneakers instead of sandals, in case I had to run. Knowing my disdain for wearing my hair down in hot weather, I preemptively pulled my hair up into a topknot.

On our way into town, we passed by Parker again. "Three times in one day? If I didn't know any better, I'd think you girls have a thing for me." He smirked at us, pausing on the left side of the walkway. A black duffle bag was thrown over his shoulder.

Ari winked and blew a kiss at him as she walked by. Harmony, on the other hand, scoffed and rolled her eyes as she shoulder-checked him. Something that wasn't necessary with how wide the walkway was. Her reaction didn't bother him in the slightest. He threw his fucking head back and laughed. Nothing seemed to phase this fucker, and I wished I could be like him.

This interaction of theirs wasn't out of the ordinary. Those two got off on the wrong foot ever since they first met during one of Harmony's walks of shame—one of the biggest downfalls of staying over at the guy's place. Unfortunately, I wasn't there for the interaction, seeing as it happened early in the morning. But whatever happened, it was bad enough that Harmony swore under her breath whenever he was mentioned. She even went out of her way to avoid crossing paths with him.

"If I were you, I'd hope these girls weren't into me; they're trouble." Ander chuckled, ignoring the middle fingers thrown his way. I mean he wasn't wrong, but it was still a dick move to point that out.

"You guys going on a trip?" Parker eyed our bags, his eyes briefly scanning Rowan—who never tried hiding from him.

"Are you always this nosey?" Harmony shot back over her shoulder, not even bothering to look back at him.

Of course, this only amused him further, his grin widening. "Only when it comes to you, Firecracker."

A shocked laugh slipped free, and not even slapping my hand over my mouth stopped it. Most people would never consider nicknaming her Firecracker, seeing as they never saw her feisty side. The way Parker seemed able to bring that out was both amusing and intriguing. Now I wanted to know what went down during their first meeting. I hadn't been in the right mindset to push for a play-by-play before, but I sure as hell was now.

Based on Harmony's groan, I thought she would say something else, but instead, she just continued down the path without another word or backward glance. Parker chuckled as he watched her retreating figure.

Ari glanced back at me, raising her brows and mouthing, Firecracker? Shaking my head, I shrugged, wishing I knew. Saying a quick bye to Parker, Ari followed Harmony down the path.

"We're going to visit our friend, Reed," I said, answering his earlier question as I adjusted my bag's straps.

Parker dragged his focus from the others and turned it to me. He rubbed his chin as he squinted for a moment. "Is he the other roommate, the one that's been visiting family?"

That was another thing about Parker, he noticed everything. Some of the days when the rejection pulled me down to my lowest, he noticed and made a point of talking to me and somehow found a way to cheer me up. Mainly by telling me ridiculous stories. Some of which had been horrible moments from past hookups, and were almost always a surefire way to get me to laugh. It was nice not to have someone tiptoeing around me. Which was a big reason why I hadn't told him about my supposed mate.

"Yes."

His eyes searched over my face, since between Ander and me, I was the easiest to read. "Is everything okay?"

Bobbing my head into a nod, I adjusted my bag again. "Of course, but who knows what trouble us trouble-makinggirls, will find." I jabbed my elbow into Ander's side as I spoke, which I was pretty sure did not affect him.

In retaliation, Ander poked my side where he knew I was ticklish, making me screech and jump away. The bastard just smirked at me, before tipping his chin at Parker's duffle bag. "What about you?"

"Doing a favor for my sister," he answered, being vague on the details, just like us.

"Have fun," I said passing by him.

"You too," was his response as he followed the path to his house.

We caught up to Ari and Harmony a few minutes later. Harmony had calmed down over the last few minutes, but I was still tempted to call her firecracker. Just to see if it got her riled up again.

The walk between our house and the council chambers was a long one. Which was to be expected when our house was right next to the Wilds, and the chambers were close to the rift in the center of our realm. Inside the council chambers was a room—nearly as big as the atrium where we had council meetings—full of fixed portals to the outskirts of every city in our realm.

It was a good way to monitor who was coming in and out of our town since it was strongly encouraged everyone uses these portals to travel between courts, and not make ones of their own.

The circular room of the portals was broken up into four sections, with the elementals portion to the left of the doorway. The floors and walls of this section were segmented into small sections, with etchings depicting each town and the court they were from. It was easy to find the Fire court. What with the flame designs. We chose the portal on the far right of the Fire court, to the Sandstone City. Not really a creative name, but unlike humans, we didn't feel the need to come up with creative or complex names for everything. It was okay if our names were self-explanatory.

Unlike the portals in the creature's realm, this portal was nice and smooth and didn't throw us to the ground. Which was a relief, because Reed was there waiting for us, and he would never let us live it down if that happened.

Each of us took turns crushing him in a tight hug. I kept mine short, afraid of setting off my unstable bond. That didn't stop me from slapping him on the back of his head for leaving without saying goodbye. Ander and Reed didn't hug, instead, they did the pat on the back thing men were so fond of.

"So this is the spirit familiar, huh?" Reed marveled at Rowan, squatting down to be at eye level with her.

During his time here, Reed's already tanned skin deepened in color. He wore a lightweight sleeveless shirt, a pair of shorts, and sandals. His usual sexy bedhead was damp, dripping water down his face—at least I hoped it was water.

After a few more pleasantries, Reed led the way toward the city. Which was over half a mile away, since the portal dropped us in the middle of a sandy desert—yet another reason I was glad to not have been thrown from the portal. By the time we reached the Sandstone City, my shows were filled with sand, my favorite.

As the name suggested, every building was made up of sandstone, varying in size and shape.

We followed Reed through the winding paths between the buildings, and by the time we came across a two-story rectangular one, the back of my shirt was already drenched in sweat. Display cases sat up against each wall, filled with jewelry. Each different type of jewelry was broken down into smaller sections, based on the metals they were made from.

Obviously, I was staying far away from the silver. All of our metallic weaknesses were here. Well, except iron.

Reed leaned back against one of the display cases, telling us we could pick out a piece of jewelry we wanted. Harmony let out a happy squeal as she reached for a gold bracelet, with small blue crystals hanging from the metal. Ari's reaction was more subdued.

She was standing in front of the amulet section of necklaces, where subdued magic radiated off of each. They ranged in size and shape, some even made from crystals. The one that had Ari's attention was simple in design. It was a ring made out of black metal, looped over a chain of a similar metal. There weren't any carvings or stones, just a simple ring on a chain, that gave off minimal energy.

"Need any help?" I inclined my head toward the necklace. When she nodded, I pulled the necklace off its hanger, feeling a tingle of energy as soon as my hand made contact. The chain was long enough, that as soon as I clasped it around her neck, the ring slipped into her shirt almost hiding.

"Nice place," Ander commented, glancing around the room.

"It's my sister's, I've just been helping out while I'm here." Reed shrugged before pushing off the display case and heading through a door in the back of the room. I guess that was our cue to follow him.

Down a brightly lit hall and up a set of stairs was an apartment, that was much bigger than it was downstairs. We passed a moderately sized kitchen, living room, and family room before coming across another hallway.

As we passed the doors lining the hall, Reed told us their contents. His sister and her mate's bedroom, a study, storage space, bathroom, and his bedroom. After passing by another bathroom, we came across one of the two guest bedrooms. Inside was a small room, complete with two full-sized beds with cream sheets, and an armoire in the corner. The walls were a light beige, and the floors were light hardwood.

After Reed suggested we leave our bags in our rooms, Ari and I quickly claimed the one we were currently in. I was more than ready to leave my bag here, not because it was heavy, but because carrying it around reminded me of our last adventure—even though I made sure to bring a drastically different bag—and that was enough to have me tossing it int the armoire next to Ari's.

Rowan just flopped onto the bed on the right, claiming she despised the heat and that she would wait for us here. I really couldn't blame her. I wished I could do the same.

Once we all met up in the living room, Reed gave an unnecessarily loud clap. "Who here wants a late lunch?"

"Does it just so happen to be at the same place where the last incident occurred?" Ari guessed, rolling her eyes.

A smirk pulled at Reed's lips as he turned away. "Follow me and find out."