Free Wet (Elemental 1) by Rose Wulf

lowered her eyes back to her
brother, she said, “This is going to sound weird, but … I think I was almost
struck by lightning.”
    Logan’s eyes
widened at her statement. And after several seconds, she knew he had come to
the same realization she had.
    They’d lost an
uncle to a lightning strike, back when their mother and father had only been
dating.

 
    Chapter Seven
     
    Concern in her
voice, Lillian asked, “Did something happen?”
    “Yeah,” Dean said
as Blake led the way inside. His brother’s heavy tone fit their mood perfectly.
    “Mom,” Angela
started with a glance toward Brooke. Her voice trailed, but the implication was
fairly obvious.
    “Hi, Angela,”
Brooke said, seeming to sense the younger girl’s point. “I’m Brooke. I’m a
friend of Blake’s.”
    “Blake sent her
here a short while ago,” Lillian explained calmly. “We couldn’t let her spend
money on a cab and she wouldn’t let us drive her to the beach, so we’ve opted
to wait together to learn what the emergency was.”
    With a pointed look
at his son, Christopher added, “Seems she was worried.”
    Blake cringed and
looked to Brooke, hoping she could see the apology in his eyes. “I’m sorry
about earlier.”
    Brooke smiled.
“It’s okay, I’m sure you had a reason. And your parents are really nice.”
    “Now,” Lillian
interrupted, “about that reason?”
    Nate emerged from the
kitchen, two sandwiches plated in his hands, and extended one to Blake before
claiming the seat next to Dean.
    “You two look a
little pale,” Christopher said as realization dawned.
    “I’m fine,” the
brothers echoed. Blake wasted no time biting into his sandwich, knowing he
needed the rejuvenation.
    Lillian cleared her
throat pointedly. “We’re still waiting for answers. Is someone hurt?”
    “No,” Dean replied
quietly.
    Angela pulled in a
breath and Blake paused in his eating to glance over at her. She was preparing
to explain, and he felt guilty at the news they were about to drop on their
parents.
    “When I was walking
home,” Angela began slowly, her blue eyes focused on the carpet at her feet, “I
was … almost hit by lightning.” She paused, swallowed, and added, “It started a
fire, so I called Dean, and then Logan.”
    When she paused
again, Blake stepped in. “Dean called me from the road. Said he was calling
Nate next. Nate managed to get there first, and held back the flames until the
rest of us got there.” If Dean had had the energy, Blake was sure he’d have
been interrupted by now with some kind of outcry. Blake wasn’t exactly the
brother most known for revealing their family secret on a whim, but it must
have been obvious to his brothers—and sister, for that matter—that he’d said
something about it to Brooke already. That, or he was willing to get into the
details later.
    Christopher nodded,
and his voice was strangely detached as he looked between Blake and Nate,
saying, “But you had to transform to do it.”
    Blake nodded, his
mouth full with the final bite of his sandwich.
    “Yeah,” Nate said
with a swallow.
    Before another word
could be said, they all heard the familiar rumble of Logan’s truck as it pulled
into the driveway.
    Silently, they
waited until the final Hawke had joined them in the living room, claiming the
seat beside Nate.
    ****
    Lillian excused
herself shortly after Angela had reiterated the story, in detail, for her
parents. And Brooke. The family sat in semi-awkward, dark silence as they
listened to Lillian move up the stairs. Blake was debating whether or not to
offer Brooke a ride home when his mother’s muffled voice carried down to them.
None of the words were distinguishable, and it became clear she was on the
phone.
    Curious, Blake
looked across the living room to his father. “Who would she be calling?”
    Christopher
shrugged, his confusion as obvious as theirs. “I have no idea.”
    “What I don’t
understand,” Angela suddenly said, her eyes still fixated on