Free A Time to Die (Elemental Rage Book 2) by Jeanette Raleigh Page A

before they’d even finished eating.  Dinner was a
fun new thing now that Mindy refused to go anywhere near Raven.  Aunt Bertha
demanded that they all eat at the table, which meant that Mindy waited until
Raven was already seated at the furthest point of the table before she would
sit down.  Mindy wolfed her food down and without asking, moved as far away
from Raven as she could.  It was unnerving.  
    An hour later,
Raven and Jade were sitting in Raven’s room. Claire was happy to have the
television mostly to herself in the living room.  She only complained a little
when Raven asked her to give them privacy in the bedroom.  She didn’t want to mess
up the new living arrangements, so Claire smiled and left them alone.
    As Jade shut the
door, she whispered, “That was nothing short of a miracle.”
    Raven grinned,
“She’s much happier now.  We should have thought of this months ago.”
    “Yeah, probably,”
Jade said, “So what do we do?”
    Raven realized
that she was about to reveal one of her most powerful tricks.  Jade would
forever be on alert whenever one of Raven’s little feathered buddies flew in.  Raven
couldn’t talk to Air anymore, and she really wanted to know what Aunt Bertha
was up to.  She said, “First you have to promise utter and total secrecy from
everyone.  Boyfriends, siblings, great aunts, parents, best friends…did I leave
anyone out?”
    “Fine. I won’t
tell anyone. I’m not sure why you think I would tell,” Jade was definitely
offended. 
    Raven said, “Okay.
I’m holding you to this. Ask Air to show you the birds.”
    Jade asked Air.  Raven
wished she could see what Jade was seeing.  She couldn’t even speak to Air
without the Element disappearing completely.  Raven had to work through Jade
tonight. Jade was shaking her head from side to side, “I keep seeing things
from different birds.  How do you keep track of where you are?”
    Raven said, “Practice.
Do you see Aunt Bertha’s car?”
    Having an object
to focus on helped immensely. Jade projected a mental image of the car to Air,
“Whoa. That’s so strange.  I’m flying over her car now.  She’s heading toward
town.”
    “Just stay with
that bird until Aunt Bertha stops the car,” Raven said.
    Jade was surprised
that a bird would actually listen to an Element or an Elemental and even more
surprised at the understanding. And that was just a bird!  Imagine what an
elephant could do. It certainly changed her opinion of animals.
    Aunt Bertha drove
straight through town to a turn-off near the cemetery.  She drove up a winding
forest road and took a right into the driveway of a moderately sized house.  The
bird fluttered down to the lawn, watching Aunt Bertha step out of the car. 
There were at least six cars parked in a grassy field behind the house.
    Air whispered, My
turn.
    Jade’s perspective
suddenly changed.  Aunt Bertha was ushered into the house by none other than
Harold.  Jade groaned.
    “What?” Raven
asked.  She hated having to watch while her sister talked to her Element, not
that Air belonged to her…she just felt that way sometimes.
    “Harold is there,”
Jade said, shushing her sister so that she could hear what was going down.
    Aunt Bertha
followed Harold through the kitchen and to a set of basement stairs.  Jade
joked aloud for Raven’s benefit, “Don’t go into the basement, Aunt Bertha.” 
    “Classic serial
killer move,” Raven added. “I wonder what she’s up to…”
    Air certainly was
not built for spying.  The bird’s eyes were so much better than Air.  Everything
in the room was blurry and the faces impossible to make out. Jade squeezed her
eyes shut and put her hands on her head.
    “What’s going on?
Are you okay?” Raven touched her sister’s hand.
    Jade didn’t look
up.  She said, “I think I’m going to barf. How do you handle all this swirling
about?”
    Raven sank down
onto the bed beside her sister.  They were sitting on Claire’s bed.