Free Elemental Air (Paranormal Public Series) by Maddy Edwards

his cheeks as red as ever. “I tell you I’ve had such a day. It’s
been -” He was about to plop down on the other chair when he caught sight of
Bartholem.
    “Um, what’s that doing here?” he
asked in horror. “Doesn’t he have anywhere else to be?” He glared at the cat.
    Lisabelle glanced down at the
cat, who was purring so loudly even I could hear him. “Doesn’t look like it.”
    “Well, I’m going to take a
shower,” said Lough testily. “Maybe he’ll be gone by the time I’m finished.”
    “Maybe,” said Lisabelle, trying
to keep from laughing.
    “Go ahead and laugh,” said Lough,
his cheeks getting even redder. “That cat’s going to turn out to be demon spawn,
and then you’ll be sorry.”
    “I would laugh,” said Lisabelle,
“but I don’t want to disturb the cat.”
    Lough fled as the rest of us
burst into laughter. We kept right on talking until he came back, his face
looking freshly scrubbed and his hair still wet.
    “You should start getting ready
for the party,” he chided us. “Caid’s back yard looks pretty amazing out there.
Watching Dacer is almost as entertaining as attending the party will be. He’s
really in his element.”
    After we caught him up on what
we’d been talking about, Lough decided to go and see if Dacer needed any more
help. He refused to stay in the downstairs of the cabin alone with the cat
while we got ready for the party.
    “The cat has a name,” said
Lisabelle, her eyes dancing.
    “Oh, does he? Oh, well,” said
Lough, slamming the door on his way out.
    Lisabelle went over to pet
Bartholem, whom she had left sitting comfortably on the chair by himself. “He
doesn’t like you, does he?” she murmured in the cat’s ear. Bartholem barely
stirred.
    “What kind of party is this,
anyway?” Sip asked, rummaging through her bag. “I didn’t realize it would be so
fancy.”
    Dacer had warned me that Caid was
having an important party that we would be attending before our return to
Public and the start of my junior year, so I was somewhat better prepared than
the others. I had a shimmery dress that skimmed my knees, all in white. My
frizzy brown hair needed to be washed, and Sip was going to lend me a blue
necklace.
    Sip had picked a long dress in
purple and green. She’d had to hem it to within an inch of its life because she
was so short.
    “I like the short sleeves,” I
said admiringly.
    “Thanks,” said Sip, beaming. “My
mom made it.”
    “Wow,” I said. “She’s really
good.”
    “She said she practiced through
all the boys,” said Sip, grinning. “She really wanted a girl, and then she got
a tomboy with short hair. But I’m coming around.”
    “What are you wearing?” I turned
to Lisabelle and instantly rolled my eyes. She was in a black long-sleeved
dress, black shoes, and a black necklace. She had her hair pulled back tightly.
    “Why is your dress short and your
sleeves long?” Sip asked, her brow furrowed.
    “Because I don’t want anyone to
see my wand,” said Lisabelle, affectionately tapping her arm.
    “Ah,” said Sip. “That makes
sense.”
    “Caid would probably run right to
Malle and tell her,” I said. “Then we’d be in real trouble.”
    “One of her biggest weaknesses is
losing her wand,” said Sip. “She must be trying to figure out her own way of
getting around that.”
    “Like gluing it to her hand,”
said Lisabelle. “When we rip it out of her fingers we can take some skin with
it!”
    “And on that note,” said Sip,
sighing as she turned around to grab a small purple bag to carry with her,
“let’s go to the party.”
    “Why are you being skeptical?”
Lisabelle demanded as she followed us downstairs. “It’s true that if she glued
it to her hand, ripping it out would take skin with it. That’s why I didn’t
glue my own.”
    “Really?” Sip demanded, waving to
Bartholem and opening the front door. “I thought it was because it would make
things like writing, eating, and generally