Free elemental 06 - the best man by Larissa Ladd Page B

the way she handled his brother, in ways that no one else could. But it was difficult to not feel as though they could exist perfectly well without him and even harder to know that a love so intense could exist—but he didn’t have it himself.
    Dylan cleared his throat. Aiden and Aira snapped out of their enthrallment, and Aira smiled ruefully. “It just feels like it’s too soon, that’s all,” she said finally, shaking her head.
    “Well, then, we’ll wait a while. But at least meet my mom. She’ll stop sending you fruit baskets for a while if you meet her.” Dylan chuckled, then added, “He’s right. Mom will stop sending you fruit baskets for a few weeks until she gets the itch for grandkids again.” 
    Aira sighed and looked at the assembly of fruit on her counter; Dylan was impressed that his mom had sprung for a couple of the more expensive baskets—ones that included tropical fruits, out of season in this hemisphere. He knew his mother had been intent on Aiden pairing off once it became clear that the elder brother was an unstable elemental; she had tried to find him a good earth elemental to ground him, but none of the suggested matches have ever worked. Dylan thought privately that his mother was as much interested in meeting Aira because she wanted to see just what kind of woman had managed to bond Aiden as she was in selling the idea of marriage.
    Of course, Dylan was no fool; there were status signals to be considered as well. According to the traditions of the elemental world, Aiden and Aira might as well have been married. It wasn’t impossible for two bonded elementals to separate, but it was practically unheard of. The process of severing such a bond was so intensely painful to both parties that it took a very grave transgression to convince either to go through with it. Once the energies of two elementals were mingled together on such a basic level, pulling them apart again was such a difficult procedure that in a few instances, it had resulted in death.
    “Okay,” Aira said, sighing. “I’ll meet her. But I am NOT going to set a date, and if you put a ring in front of me I will throw it in your damned face.”

 
     

    CHAPTER TWO
     
    IN THE MONTHS SINCE THEY had come together as a team—no longer as plagued by the potential for Aira’s death—Dylan, Aiden, and Aira had developed a kind of steady companionship, a division of labor that made them one of the most powerful forces at the right hand of the Elders. They had brought in several intractable elementals; which also meant that Aira had gained some deep-seated enemies. Among them were those who had wanted her dead so that she wouldn’t be a threat to their own ambitions; those who feared that the balance among the elemental rulers would remain shifted towards the fire and earth elementals were joined by those specific families who had been affected by the efforts to bring those especially dangerous people to justice.
    The Elders had not asked Aira to put anyone to death since she had proven herself capable by killing Alex under their orders; but she had grown into her full abilities in ways that impressed both Dylan and Aiden. They were still careful to protect her, however, but for different reasons; Dylan because of his promise to her grandmother and because of his loyalty to her as his sister, and Aiden because of his obvious, deep love of her. But Aira had set them both straight early on in their first assignment together, tracking down a Chinese earth elemental who was causing earthquakes: She was no longer their client and they were no longer her bodyguards. She would take on her own share of the risks and she would work by their sides, not from behind them.
    When Aira decided to meet Jessica, Aiden and Dylan’s mother, the brothers had started to make the necessary arrangements. Aira had to make sure that the Elders knew where she was at all times—as the ruler, she was one of three members of the upper echelon of