Page 17 of A Song of Air (Fae Elementals #4)

T he words echoed in Bryson’s mind.

Elementals.

The Resistance.

Her heart beat a crazy tempo in her chest, pounding against her ribcage. She wiped her clammy hands along the sides of her pants, and her fingers trembled. Elementals. The Resistance. Elementals. The Resistance. The words echoed like a drum in her head.

There was a charge in the air electrifying her skin. Her magic responded, pushing to the surface, trying to reach out to them.

She let it.

A gust of wind enveloped the three females in front of her, and the magic was met with more. With the smell of embers, ice, and water. The elements clashed gently together, playing like long lost friends. Until it was potent in the air.

She reeled her magic back in, a gasp pressing against her lips.

“You...” She started forward, wanting to touch them, to feel them, to memorize their every feature. She wanted to memorize the contours of their body, if only to know what the other Elementals felt like, what they looked like. Never in all her life had she thought she’d meet one Elemental, let alone three.

But a strong hand on her arm yanked her back, away from the comfort of something familiar and unknown. “Bryson,” Ev hissed. “Don’t.”

She wanted to shrug off his hold, but she caught herself at the last moment, the other words in her mind registering.

The Resistance.

And she knew how Ev felt about the Resistance.

Her steps stumbled. The Resistance.

They were fucking here.

Was the Seelie King among the haze of faces? She had questions, wanted answers, needed them like she needed to breathe. After so long of feeling like she was underwater, it was like she’d finally come up for a gasp of air. Like she’d been floating through life, unsure of everything. And a gust of wind had blown the water away and she could see clearly.

She yanked her arm back, but Ev didn’t relent. His grip tightened, and if she’d been human, she was sure he would have left a bruise with his grip.

“I don’t give a fuck who you think you are,” Ev snapped at them. “We don’t—”

His words were suddenly cut off, his grip slipping from hers. She jolted, feeling the whoosh of air and scented another presence drop from the sky and land on Ev’s back.

Ev grunted, and she stepped away on instinct. They crashed to the ground, their bodies tangling together in the scuffle. Ev cried out, groaning. The blurry figure thrashed, and there was the sound of flesh hitting flesh, the smell of Ev’s blood and a spat curse. And beneath that, a sharp scent that speared through her nostrils and pierced down to her soul.

She shivered, gasping.

Then a voice cut through the fight.

“Weylyn,” it snapped. “Enough!”

Immediately, the fighting ceased. The person hopped up and stepped back a few paces. He was near-silent on his feet, casually placing himself in front of the line with the Resistance as if this new person hadn’t just knocked Ev on his ass.

She should have helped Ev up, but he managed on his own, grunting and cursing. And she was too focused on that new, casual, imposing presence.

Weylyn, someone had called him.

Her blood suddenly pounded in her veins. Her magic reacted within her. And Mana, it felt like something came alive beneath her skin. Her body leaned towards the newcomer, enchanted by his scent. It was sharp and brutal, one she was sure would make others dizzy, but it was like a beacon to her. It wrapped around her, something sweet and spicy in equal measure. Like cacao and peppers. It was piercing. Demanding. Violent . And she found herself enraptured in it.

Her feet moved of their own accord, stepping closer to him. Talking seemed to cease around her. The man in front of her stood still. Only the long, black braid swayed over his shoulder like a force of its own. His skin was covered in glittering gold, the kind of gold that seemed to mirror the shining in his eyes, sparking against the sunlight.

She was amazed she could even make it out, when she was inattentive to every other detail.

There was a sudden flash in her mind. Like a vision planted within the seeds of her brain. It was so surprising, she almost staggered backwards.

The image was of her. And by Mana, it was like she could see clearly again. Not just through a blur. She could see herself, wind-rustled curls wild down her shoulders, discolored eyes wide, pert mouth dropped open in surprise.

Then the vision changed, and she saw something else. A flash of the people before her. Specifically, the one who smelled of cacao and peppers. It was a brief flash. Of golden-brown skin and long black hair, of a dark mustache and beard around a seductive, smiling mouth, and eyes rolled to the back of his head.

And, by Mana, it felt like he was inside of her. As though the cosmos were dancing behind her eyelids. A gust of energy filled her body as she stepped closer and closer still to the man. And when she came to the edge of him, her hand lifted.

She heard a voice call for her from behind, Ev’s she was sure, but she didn’t care. Not when she was completely hypnotized, her body pushing her to touch. To feel.

And when her palm met a hard, warm chest, energy shot through her arm, making her groan and shiver as something within her body snapped . It felt like a lock clicking into place. Like something that had been absent from her soul found its missing piece and suddenly, she was whole. She was filled.

And for a second, she had no idea what it was. No idea until a deep, seductive voice purred through her mind.

“Hello,” it whispered. “My mate.”