Page 2 of Gift from the Source (Source of Elementra #5)

I glare at the back lawn before me. The trees still pose the smallest amount of coverage and the spot that I stand in, the angle of the estate, is so familiar my heart swells with love rather than despair.

Twenty years ago, I stood in this spot with CC for the first time.

He told me then, this isn’t my home.

To the left, I look past the long stretch of grass at the small barrier of trees that separates this estate from the next. I was moved from this prison to the one next door.

Thinking back, I don’t know how it wasn’t obvious to me that it should’ve been impossible for an estate as grand as that one to be built so quickly. I guess when your mind is in survival mode, the new rich snob next door is the least of your concerns.

Nonetheless, when I got moved over there a month after my eighteenth birthday, I still found my way right to my home hidden amongst the forest.

My eyes tear away from the tree line that slightly conceals my still living nightmares home and lands back on the one that started it all.

Not only for me, but for my mom.

Time has changed its appearance, but nothing can hide the horrors that happened inside.

I release one last lingering breath and turn to face my family waiting anxiously behind me. My men’s expressions say it all. The house at my back is no mystery to them. They know where we are, but the rest of our group stare at it in pissed off confusion.

“This is Franklin’s estate. This is where I was raised for the first eighteen years of my life before I was moved over there,” I say, nodding in the direction of Donald’s estate. “I don’t know if it’s this house or the other, but somewhere behind these walls is my blood supply. We need to get in, get my blood, and get out.”

“We find your blood…” Trex whispers, still mindlessly rubbing his chest.

“We find your brothers. Whatever you’re feeling is the call of their bond, but it’s being interfered with somehow.”

“Ry, get a body count of this estate,” Tillman orders, laying a hand on Trex’s shoulder to stop him from walking forward.

Codi latches onto him and gives Tillman a nod as my men step up beside me. We turn around to watch Ry, Oakly, their whole Nexus move a few feet forward.

“Primary.”

“I’m okay,” I say as Cas’s shadows crawl around my body, soothing my soul.

“I know that. You did so good,” he mumbles softly, running his fingers down the side of my cheek.

“We’re so proud of you, princess,” Corentin adds when he steps in front of me, pulling my face back forward to his.

“I didn’t expect being back here to affect me that strongly, but that’s the last time they’ll ever have any power over me.”

Tillman’s chest plasters to my back. His strength has my spine straightening and confidence blooming in my bond. “You’re a formidable fortress, little warrior. Mind, body, soul. No one can have power over you without your say so.”

“It ends here. The use of my blood, taking things from me unwillingly, the panic they make me feel. It all ends now.”

“Say the word, little wanderer. We’ll burn it to the ground. Together,” Draken rumbles from beside me and his warmth soaks into my skin.

Every ounce of doubt and shame I feel for fearing this place flees me as their unyielding love and faith in me consumes my very being. They pump their bonds so full with it, I could float away.

The haunting memories may dredge up unpleasant thoughts and feelings, but it’s nothing in comparison to what my men create within me.

They will always overshadow the demons that lurk in my mind.

“Fifteen bodies for certain. There’s a path underneath the house, but I can’t get an accurate reading under there.” Ry’s voice cuts through the moment and we each turn back to the estate.

“I never knew there was a path beneath the house. That’s where we need to go.”

With that declaration, my men nod, parting the way for me.

The air in my lungs empties. It clears out the lump in my throat, and the pressure of my past that was weighing on my chest.

I take my first step toward the gilded prison that held me hostage my entire life.

The air is thick with tension as we travel the distance from the tree line to the back of the estate in a matter of a few deep breaths.

The lingering anger and anticipation surrounding everyone don’t stem from concern over the fifteen clueless individuals inside the estate, but from me. One way or another, my family knows what I faced inside these walls. They’re hurt on my behalf and ready to exact some vengeance.

Yet the monsters who deserve my rage aren’t even in there.

I’m not sure if I know the staff that now takes care of this place with Franklin dead and Donald and the Summum-Master in another realm.

“Cas, you take Draken and the two of you—”

“No,” I say, cutting Tillman off softly, knowing he’s about to tell those two to go handle everyone inside. “All you men, go round up the fifteen people. There’s a foyer on this first floor large enough for you all to gather in. Ry, are there any bodies on the third floor?” I ask .

He hesitates for a moment due to the scowl he’s receiving from Tillman, but one quick elbow from Oakly takes care of that. “No. First and second.”

“What are you thinking, little warrior? You’re not separating from us.”

“I am. The girls and I will be on the third floor briefly, going through Franklin’s study. You all round the fifteen up. The ones in the Mastery, do as you please, but I’m almost certain there are nonmagical beings here as well. We’ll decide what to do with them after you go through everyone’s mind and figure out what you can about what’s being hidden under the house.”

The argument is on the tip of every man’s tongue, but Oakly and Aria don’t skip a beat stepping up beside me, eyeing their Nexuses like they dare them to say otherwise.

It’s a brutal standoff that I’d surely die laughing at any other time, but right now, it’s what needs to be done. It’s what I need to do.

“Fine, but we’re going in first. Cas, sweep the third floor,” Tillman orders, and before I can open my mouth to argue I can do that on my own, Caspian disappears.

“Isn’t it strange there’re no wards or anything around the house?” Nikoli asks with his nose in the air, attempting to sniff out a trace of something.

“Franklin was cocky and very confident in himself. I’m sure in his mind, there was no one other than his father, who was stronger than him or who could come and go from Elementra. So there’d be no need for him to waste his power on wards,” I say before turning back to the cloud of smoke solidifying beside us.

“It’s clear. Bodies are gathered in the foyer like you commanded , Primary,” Caspian says sarcastically with a devilish smirk, and I just sigh as the others grumble at him about taking all the fun.

I believe that little stunt warrants a punishment later for the stubborn ghost.

All eyes turn to Tillman when a random laugh tumbles from his mouth, and he coughs to smother the sound. He shoots me a sly wink before fixing his face back into a stern glare and orders everyone inside .

Cas takes it upon himself to kick the door in rather than just turn the knob like a sane person, and both he and Draken fall into a fit of laughter, giving me the barest of kisses as they pass me by.

“No trouble, princess. To the third floor and that’s it,” Corentin commands, turning me to face him as the girls and I take a step in the direction of the stairs.

“No trouble at all. We’re going to go through his things and see if we can find anything he may have had on the Mastery or the Summum-Master.” I swear.

With a nod, he gives me a quick kiss, followed by Tillman, leaving Oakly, Aria, and me watching as all the men walk away.

“Let’s get to it then. This place is beautiful, but it’s giving me the creeps,” Oakly says, lacing our fingers together.

“It’s probably all the unrest from the souls,” Aria says nonchalantly, and we both turn to glare at her.

“Excuse me?” I ask.

“A lot of people have died in here. Some good and some not very good people. Oakly’s probably feeling their negative energy.”

We both stare at her in horrified fascination.

Admittedly, I sometimes forget the extent of her Ethereal ability, especially this nifty little trick she can do. Seeing souls.

No, thank you.

Wordlessly, we take the stairs two at a time, not mentioning the fact we’re surrounded by possibly evil spirits and the dark trauma of my past in the air.

Each step up these familiar stairs is like stepping into the shadow of a long-buried memory. One that isn’t nearly as frightening as I thought it was going to be.

It’s like I’m seeing this stairwell for the very first time. It’s a new image created from the countless times I dreaded this walk, merging with the memory of my mom raging her way up here in her wolf form.

I used to hold my breath and bite my lip painfully every time I stepped on a stair that creaked. It would give away my location to anyone in the house that could hear it, but now I smirk at the sound .

I no longer fear the feelings trapped in these walls.

The walls and everyone within them who has any ill intentions should fear me.

I pause at the top of the stairs and glare down the familiar hallway. Nothing has changed. Not a picture frame, not the paint. There’s not a speck of dust that I can see.

It’s all the same.

Aside from the looming, evil presence that no longer lives here.

He lives nowhere.

Stepping closer to the wall, I glide my fingers across the smooth surface, just as my mom did. My hand follows the same path she took as we take silent steps. Oakly and Aria don’t say a word, just cautiously watch me, following along supportively as we pass door after door.

A whisper of apprehension passes through me as my footsteps slow and my arm trembles slightly as I raise my palm. The cold wood that hides my childhood bedroom sends a chill through my hand. If I turn that knob, I honestly don’t know what I’ll see. I haven’t stepped foot in there in eight years.

Breathe.

Do it.

The loud squeak of the door as I shove it open covers my harsh exhale.

A bittersweet feeling rushes through me as I stare at the bare room. I already knew my clothes and knickknacks would be gone. They came with me in the forced move, but there were two things I truly cared to see.

And they’re both gone.

The bed where I hid under the covers far too late into the night reading when I should’ve been sleeping hasn’t even been replaced. It’s just empty space.

The window in the far corner of the room that gives me a perfect view of the path I’d take to my tree looks plain without my desk underneath it. I used to stay up way too late as well, writing my adventures with CC in my secret infinity journal at that desk.

Both are now just memories in my mind and the room sits as hollow as I used to feel living under this roof .

Standing in the center of the room, the past that I watched barrels through my mind and I tilt my head up to the ceiling.

“I was always protected in this room. He never stepped foot in here. I’m pretty sure that was because of you, Momma. He could sense the love you left behind in here before you destroyed the rest of his house.”

I close my eyes for a fleeting second.

Then I turn and walk out of my childhood bedroom, knowing I’ll really never step foot in there again.

I spare Oakly and Aria a small reassuring smile, nodding for them to continue down the hall.

I never glance back.

As we move closer to the end of the hall, each step is deliberate and grounded. The fear that would be ever present, skirting down my spine, is absent as I turn the corner. The familiar dark ebony double doors come into view.

The sturdy wood shines as though it’s recently been polished to clean perfection like it’s still being used daily.

I can’t help but wonder to myself if it’s because my mom easily kicked Franklin’s original office door in that he added a second one when he rebuilt it. I’d like to believe he did that as a sense of some added protection.

Even though I know he’d never admit it in his miserable life, I hope and pray a smidge of fear withered through his body when he returned here to see the devastation she left in her wake when she escaped the first time.

This threshold used to seem like a forbidden, impenetrable barrier. One that when I was summoned to enter would have my knees shaking so violently, I could barely hold myself up.

Now, as my hand touches the brass doorknobs, the cold metal no longer makes me flinch.

Surprisingly, with a gentle turn and push, the double doors fly open, revealing the office where my torture began.

Commanding my air element out, I sling all the windows in the room open as the overwhelming smell of his cologne hits me and I choke back the gag attempting to crawl up my throat. I give my element a moment to circulate the dreadful stench, then with a fresher, cleaner deep breath, I take my first step inside.

The room’s smaller than I remembered, or maybe I painted it out to be a monstrous dungeon. Regardless, now that it’s stripped of the power it once held over me, it’s just an over luxurious home office, built for a man unworthy of this wealth and privilege.

The walls still whisper of old fears, but the echoes no longer reach me. I can see clearly now that it was designed to intimidate any who walked in here. Including a defenseless child who was just desperate to be loved.

“Fuck, let’s get this over with.” Aria’s broken whisper draws my attention, and I glance over to see her eyes clouded over.

“Just start going through everything. Grab anything you might think is important,” I say, reaching out and squeezing her arm in support.

We don’t waste another second. The tension in here is bad enough without adding in her ability to visibly see the evil lurking around.

Disappointment skyrockets throughout me when I sling the first drawer to his desk open, only for it to be empty. Then the next, next, and another five more after that.

All cleaned out.

“Shit. Oakly, anything?” I ask when I turn to see her rifling papers around in the cabinet.

“I don’t think so. Just some things about building plans and something called stocks. Nothing on the Mastery or Elementra,” she says, tossing the papers over her shoulder before pulling more out.

We open—practically tear apart—every surface of the office that could hold any information, but it doesn’t take us long to acknowledge if there was anything in here worth getting our hands on, it’s gone now.

Cleaned out by either the house staff or the Summum-Master.

Incredibly disappointing but not surprising. Any of us would’ve done something similar.

I fling the empty leather briefcase I was going through back into the small closet, then walk to the middle of the room. My sigh is heavy and I pace until light shining off a glassy surface catches my eye .

Pure, white hot rage and hatred burns through me before I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

“You two go ahead down and join the others. I’ll be there in a sec,” I say quietly, halting the girls’ plundering.

“You sure?” Oakly asks, concern lacing her question.

“Yeah, there’s nothing here for us. I just need a minute.”

The soft, reassuring grips they lay to my hand as they pass me by ground me long enough for them to get out of the office. But as soon as the click of the door echoes behind them, I shoot my shadows out until they swallow the portrait whole.

The cold frame feels like it weighs a thousand pounds as it materializes in my hands and I stare into the cold, dead eyes of Franklin.

He had a preference for poses.

It’s the exact same look he had in the portrait my mom destroyed. The only difference is the timelines in which they were taken.

I run my fingers across his silver hair, furrowed brows, and soulless stare, then I whisper.

“I know you can’t even hear me because you’re not in the beyond. A privilege I took from you, but regardless of that, I want to say it out loud, let the words seep into the walls. I’m keeping the promise you didn’t even know she made you. It’s the same promise I made you. I’m destroying everything you worked so hard for. I’m going to make it crumble to rubble, then sit back and watch it burn.”

Unlike my mom, I don’t give him a kiss to the forehead. Instead, just as I did his body, I incinerate his portrait and hold his lifeless eyes as they once again burn to ash by my hands.

“You tell me where you want to cast the first flame, little wanderer. I’ll fly you there and dance in the ashes with you,” Draken murmurs quietly in my ear as all four of my men emerge from the shadows and surround me.

“This is a good start, dragon.” I smile up at him sweetly as air circles my hands, blowing away the soot .

“This is the beginning of the end, princess,” Corentin says with a knowing look in his eye that matches the knowledge in my heart as he comes to stand in front of me.

“I know, your highness.”

A soft smile dusts his lips when he bends down and lays a kiss to my forehead. That small touch speaks a thousand promises, each declaring to be by my side, ready to lead or follow.

A steady hand wraps around the back of my neck, and the caress of my gentle giant’s gift snuggles into my mind.

“You’ll never face another battle alone, little warrior. In this realm or any other. We’ll stand amongst the rubble with you. Always.”

“Always.” I breathe, laying my hand across Tillman’s heart, letting its steady, even beat soak into my palm and spread throughout my body.

The chill of Caspian’s body presses into my back and his shadows crawl down my body, exploring every inch as they go. As they cover my feet, they spread toward my other men, blanketing us in his darkness.

“Let your beautiful chaos reign, Primary. Set the darkness free. Your light will shine through.”

My Nexus hums around me as the blessings that live within me stand at attention in my chest, ready to obey his command even before my own.

Surrounded by the protection and love of my men, we walk to the threshold of the double doors that started my torture. With a small glance over my shoulder, I raise my hand through the veil of shadows that continue to grow darker.

I command the power sitting on my fingertips to destroy it all.