Free Wet (Elemental 1) by Rose Wulf Page B

weakness for all of the elementals of their
family, and of course lightning was the purest form of electricity. Blake’s
stomach clenched at the thought.
    Blake tried to wrap
his mind around what his mother was telling him. “So, what happened to these
other families? How come we’ve never heard about any of this?”
    “What Nicholas
found also said, at some point, that a feud broke out between our ancestors and
the ancestors of these other families. In fact, that rumor suggests a good
reason for why so many elemental families died off so quickly. But by the same
token, the majority of the other families were also eliminated.”
    It was Angela who
spoke up next, faint disbelief in her voice. “Then … I’m assuming the surviving
families on both sides moved apart … and lost track of each other?”
    Lillian nodded.
“That’s the assumption, yes.”
    Logan’s voice was
low and tight when he added, “So the lightning that nearly hit Angela wasn’t an
accident.”
    “That’s … a possibility,”
Lillian replied, her voice wavering again for an instant.
    “We would never
even know if we were standing next to the descendants of those
lightning-families,” Blake said, frustrated.
    “But how would they
know who we are?” Nate asked. “I mean, why should we believe their records are
any more accurate than ours?”
    Logan answered his
brother’s question before their mother could, turning his attention to Nate and
saying, “We lost two uncles to freak accidents of weather. Uncle Nicholas was
crippled in the same storm that killed Uncle Trevor. Today Ange was nearly hit by lightning. What are the chances of
that?”
    Before Nate, or any
of his siblings, could respond to Logan’s argument, Lillian spoke up again. “We
don’t know anything for sure,” she said. “We need to be careful, and be sure to
stay in touch with each other. And for now, if there’s anyone you’ve told
anything to, I have to ask you not to talk to them about this.
    She turned her gaze
to Brooke, who was watching silently, and said, “I’m sorry, Brooke, but we need
to ask you not to talk about this with anyone outside of this room, too. Can we
trust you to do that?” Her question was direct, but Brooke nodded without
hesitation.
    “Absolutely,” she
said, never breaking Lillian’s eye contact.
    An odd tickle of
pride danced through Blake’s stomach.
    “Angela,”
Christopher added after Lillian fell silent again. When his daughter was
looking at him, he asked, “I don’t suppose you noticed anyone around before the
lightning hit? Or did you hear something strange?”
    Slowly, Angela
shook her head. “There wasn’t anyone around, at least that I saw. And I don’t
think there was anyone behind me. My music wasn’t that loud.”
    Looking back toward
his mother, Blake asked, “What other sorts of things can these
lightning-families do?”
    “According to the
stories Nicholas found,” Lillian began, “in their prime they could control all
types of weather. Creating a snow storm, like the one that put Nicholas in that
wheelchair … would have been child’s play.”
    “Well,” Dean said,
leaning back against the couch, “I’m distinctly uncomfortable now.”
    Christopher sighed,
ignoring his sons as Logan reached over and smacked Dean upside the head, and
released Lillian’s hands as he stood. “All right, that’s enough of this for
now. We’re incredibly glad you’re all safe, and we’re proud of you boys for
saving your sister. And in light of all this drama, I think we should have an
outrageously large dinner. Family only. And Brooke, of course.”
    ****
    The diner was
strangely busy, and both Georgia and Brooke were being forced to stick to their
assigned sections. Therefore, when Emma had come in with a slightly older man
Brooke didn’t know, it was Brooke—and not Georgia—who had gone to greet them.
The man, probably in his late twenties, kept his eyes on his menu as he ordered
his drink. His tone was