Air: Elementalist Book 1 Read online

  Copyright © 2020 Rebecca Wolf

  All rights reserved

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  ISBN-13: 9781234567890

  ISBN-10: 1477123456

  Cover design by: ArtTower

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2018675309

  Printed in the United States of America

  To my sister

  Author's Note

  Hey guys! I'm honored you chose to buy my book! If you enjoy reading it, please leave a review. This is my first book, and every review helps! Thanks, and happy reading!

  Chapter 1

  It was a hot night in the middle of a July heatwave. I waited by the docks, the air heavy with the smell of salt. The wind swirled around me, encouraged by my nerves and the waves from the sea. Mickey had texted me saying that he was running a little behind schedule, but that he had the goods. I hovered in the air between the wall of the nearby boathouse and a broken streetlamp, waiting. Footsteps sounded to my right, I heard someone whistling the tune for “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” and sighed in relief. Whistling nursery rhymes was Mickey's way of telling me we were in the clear.

  He turned the corner, and I landed quietly behind him. It didn’t pay for him to know that I could fly. I didn’t trust him knowing that much about me.

  “Hey Mickey,” I said in a low tone. He whirled around, startled.

   “JEsuS,” he exclaimed, “Why you gotta pop out of nowhere every time and give me a heart attack?!”

  “You got the stuff?” I asked.

  “I got it right here,” he said, swinging off his backpack and holding it out to me.

  “Open the bag and let me see.”

  He unzipped the bag and held it open, eyes shifting nervously as he looked around for potential enforcers. Inside, as promised, were fifty boxes of menstrual cups.

  “Excellent,” I said, “and the meds?”

  “I wasn’t able to get the meds,” he said.

  “You promised you had the goods,” I said, exasperated.

  “I got a better offer on the way over.”

  the wind picked up, blowing empty beer cans and plastic bags about the street.

  “Mickey,” I tsked, “my boss will not be pleased.”

  “Your boss doesn’t have to know,” he cajoled. “Come on Zephyr, I’ll owe you one. They paid me twice what your boss was willing to give.”

  “I won’t tell her if you give me the name and address of your supplier.”

  “Deal,” he said a little too easily.

  He pulled out his cell phone and sent me the name and address, and when I saw it I understood why he had given it to me so readily.

   Nature’s Nurture and Co. 24 Apple Blossom Blvd Terra Island

  “Seriously Mickey? You get the meds straight from the manufacturer? That place is elementalist owned, and it’s built like a fortress! Be fair and at least tell me how you get access.”

  “I work there in the maintenance room,” he said. “Good luck getting in, Sucker.”

  “What about the favor you owe me?”

  “What about it?”

  “I’m calling it in. Give me your access card and we’ll call it even.”

  “No way, Zephyr,” he said, clutching his jacket pocket to his side.

  What an idiot, I thought humorously. Now I know where he keeps his card.

  “My bosses are Earth elementals. If they found out they would bury me alive. Literally.”

  “Alright Mickey, I get it, I work for one of those bastards too,” I said. I didn’t, but it was better if he thought so.

  I came over and patted him on the shoulder with my right hand, feigning commiseration while giving a little nudge of my air element with my left. The card jumped from his pocket into my fingers as I backed away.

  “What the HELL?” he said angrily “GIVE IT BACK YOU BITCH.”

  “Next time keep your promises, Mickey.”

  “If you don’t give it back I’ll report you, see if I don’t!” he said, striding towards me angrily.

  “Now Mickey,” I said, increasing my pace, “I’d hate to see you get in trouble for misplacing your ID,” I turned around and sprinted towards the corner of the boathouse. “Don’t worry,” I called over my shoulder, “I’ll drop it off somewhere when I’m done, and then text you where to find it.”

  I made it to the corner and flung myself around the side, panting heavily, then leapt to the roof right before he rounded the corner. I tried to stifle my breathing, covering my mouth with my hand to muffle the sound. He looked around in confusion before kicking the boathouse in anger and storming off. Why people never look up is beyond me, but it definitely works in my favor.

  It took fifteen minutes for me to fly to the manufacturing plant, and I spent that time reviewing the schematics in my head. It's structure squatted like an ugly toad in the middle of the small island. It was comprised of an enormous dome shaped building that rose seven stories up and was sandwiched between two cylindrical three-story structures on either side. Both cylinders were flat on top with large helipads capable of landing several aircraft carriers at a time. The owners currently had an agreement with one of the Air Elementalist families requiring them to enable transportation via flight. Otherwise, as Earth Elementalists, they would just have used ground transportation, catering to their strength.

  I had cased the place a year ago when I was asked to obtain the medication initially. I had even made a specialized jammer for the occasion that interfered with their video recordings, while still allowing video surveillance. They could see me in real time on the screen, but if they tried to watch the footage later, there would be nothing to find. Still, I had quickly realized that even with my abilities and gadgets, it would be too difficult to break into the building without some form of authorization.

  Most of the employees guarded their ID’s like a swarm of angry hornets. The employees who worked for elementalists were a highly suspicious crowd, not that I blamed them with how they were treated. Norms really got the short end of the stick, since it was nearly impossible to make ends meet in a sector that wasn’t run by elementalists.

  There were only eight reigning elementalist families, but they controlled everything with an iron fist. To quote good old Lord Acton, “absolute power corrupts absolutely”. The elementalists were a corrupt, power hungry group. Sometimes access to even basic necessities depended on what sector you lived in and which elementalist family had control over it. If there was a feud between the Terra family who controlled cotton production, and the Cole family who controlled electricity, then you could bet there would be a shortage of those items in their corresponding sectors. My neighborhood, however, was its own special brand of hell. It wasn’t really controlled by any of the elementalist families. The people who lived there either chose to live out of the elementalist’s jurisdiction or were forcibly moved there. Access to basic necessities in my hood was always scarce. Honestly, this whole shit show was the reason my smuggling job was necessary in the first place.

   I flew directly to the roof of the plant and turned on the jammer before landing on one of the cylindrical “legs” in a dark corner, ten feet from the access door. They had four wolf shifters guarding the rooftop in pairs against possible infiltrators, one pair on each cylinder. The main building was impossible to land on with its domed roof. I pushed the air around me downwind from where I c
ould see them patrolling, making it less likely for them to catch my scent. Still, I had to hurry if I wanted to remain undetected.

  There was a small maintenance room off to the side, probably meant to be used to fix the aviation transports that landed on the flight pad. I slid inside using the ID card and winced as it beeped. If I could hear that, the werewolves definitely would. I quickly flicked on the light and removed my smuggler’s pack, storing it under one of the nearby worktables. I put on the spare pair of coveralls hanging on the back of the door and grabbed the first toolbox I could find. Turning the handle to leave, I felt it push in towards me as I pulled, causing me to stumble back. I looked up after catching my balance. In front of me stood a disgruntled, hastily clothed guard and one of his shifter companions. The wolf met my gaze and snarled at me. A sliver of fear tickled my spine.

  “Bob here doesn’t like your scent,” the guard said suspiciously, his hand rested uneasily on his gun holster. “He seems to think you don’t belong here.”

  I tried to make my voice sound bored and resigned, “He’s right, I don’t belong here. My shift ended four hours ago, but the compressor of one of the medical refrigerators busted and the boss is worried about losing the latest batch of meds, so they called me back in.” I moved to shove past them. “Excuse me, but I really want to get this over with so I can head home again and hit the sack.”

  He grabbed my hand with the ID card and scanned it, “Mickey Salent? Isn’t that a man’s name?”

  “Yeah,” I said, trying to keep my voice even, “my parents wanted a boy.”

  “Isn’t Rupert supposed to be on shift now?” the guard continued questioning skeptically,

   “Rupert’s sick,” I made up.

  “No, he’s not, he’s playing cards down at Peeker’s strip joint,” the guard said, looking just about ready to tackle me to the ground.

  My heart was beating in my throat. “He’s sick, you’re sick, you’re all sick bastards,” I said, thinking on the fly. “Rupert conned me into taking his shift so he could play poker with the guys and stare at naked ladies.” The guard thought for a moment, then relaxed his grip on the gun and chuckled. “That sounds like him,” he said. “Next time don’t get suckered.”

  “I don’t plan to,” I muttered, and this time when I went to move passed him, he didn’t stop me.

  “Get ‘er done,” he called after me, still chuckling at my expense.

  “That’s what I told Rupert,” I said before heading towards the roof’s main entrance.

  “What’s a pretty little thing like her doing in a job like maintenance,” I heard him ask his wolf mate as the door closed. Not a moment too soon, I thought, feeling antsy. I jogged to the main access door and swiped my ID to get inside. One level down, two more to go.

  I made it to the refrigerators without any more difficulty. The plant had specific rooms designated for each type of medication, and after strolling through an x-ray machine and then getting patted down for weapons, I told security on the next floor the same fabricated story about the broken fridge. They scanned my ID and then directed me to the appropriate room. The workday was over, and the room was dark and unoccupied. I flicked on the lights, and they buzzed as they turned on. I grabbed one full tray of meds, wanting to be discreet. If I only grabbed a couple of vials, they would notice that some were missing. No one was allowed to leave half full trays at the end of a workday. That was considered lazy, and the bosses didn’t take kindly to laziness. But, if one entire tray of meds was missing, then the employees could easily wave it aside as a slight calculation error due to fatigue and they would be more likely to cover it up. I wrapped each vial as well as I could in a pack of tissues I had brought along. I hadn’t prepared to secure the vials since I had expected Mickey to bring the meds in its own insulated case. Hopefully, the tissues would provide enough padding and none of them would break. I shoved everything in the toolbox and headed out.

  I walked calmly back to the rooftop maintenance room to return the toolbox just in time to hear someone call out, “Rupert, I thought you weren’t coming in tonight.” There was an indistinct muttered reply.

  Footsteps got louder as Rupert came closer to the maintenance room.

  Shit, I thought to myself, as I opened the toolbox and hastily shoved the wrapped vials into my smuggler pack. I needed to get out, and fast. I scanned the room, looking for my getaway. There should have been a window on the far right wall according to the schematics, but I wasn’t seeing it. Instead, rows of industrial shelves lined the walls from floor to ceiling. Dammit, it must be hiding behind one of the shelving units.

  I pushed hard with the air and several shelving units slid away from the wall, screeching loudly as they dragged along the floor. Well, that will bring the cavalry, I thought sarcastically, as I hurriedly moved behind them. Moments later the door to the maintenance room banged open, and heavy boots pounded in, followed by loud howling. I sidled along the wall, keeping a lookout for the window. Good grief, I thought when I finally spied it. It had a vent cover over it that was screwed shut, probably because they were too cheap to buy fitted screens. Ridiculous.

  I flew up, pulling the air hard towards me through the vent. The screws popped off, PING PING and then, before I could nab it, the cover fell with a noticeable clang. Whoops, I thought with a grimace. A low growl came from the direction I had come. I turned my head and saw a large wolf, the hair on his back bristling and his mouth pulled into an angry snarl. Boots pounded in our direction. It was definitely time to go. Heart racing as I quickly squirmed through the vent to the outside. I heard the wolves howling as I flew away, and I was high enough on my success to let out a victorious whoop of my own. Who’s the sucker now? I thought smugly.

  Chapter 2

  I was flying over the countryside an hour later, still congratulating myself on another successful pickup when there was a sudden drop in air pressure.

  What the hell?! I thought in confused irritation. There should totally be enough air for me to fly right now. There isn’t a change anywhere in the landscape to account for this!

  I pushed more air away from me, trying to increase my propulsion, but it was like something was eating into all my reserves. Scanning the area below me as I sank, I tried to pinpoint the source. I was exhausted, and I really wanted to get into my own bed and pass out.

  Suddenly I smelled smoke. Well, isn’t this just peachy, I thought. A fire on farmland is definitely not what this country needs right now, especially not with the food shortages that have been happening in recent years. I sighed, rolling my eyes at my hero complex and sucked in the air, trying to decrease the fire’s fuel source and speed up my landing. I swiftly descended into the forest alongside the farmland below. If I could help these farmers, I probably had a responsibility to do so.

  I landed right at the border where the trees met the long grass along the pasture, and circled along the field to get downwind of the flames. As I crept closer to get a better look at what kind of fire I was dealing with, I noticed someone standing by the edge of the flames. He was standing so close it looked as though the flames were licking his boots. Shouldn’t he be doing something to put out the fire? What kind of idiot just stands there when their field is blazing?... Wait a second, was this guy intentionally burning the fields here?? Holy shit! I thought in disgusted amazement. This country is really going to pot.

  I adjusted my smuggler pack so it wouldn’t slide around, then crept my way over to where the fire starter stood, watching his handywork with what I could only describe as sinister glee. It was still dark out, and the shadows from the fire made the man’s already built frame seem to loom even larger. I steeled myself against the prickling of fear.

  I control the air he breathes! I reminded myself determinedly. Sometimes I found before using my powers I needed a little pep talk. I usually limited my power to flight, and avoided using it in front of other people when possible. This made me a little gun shy when I suddenly found myself in a position of necessi
ty like this one. In addition, I had already used my element multiple times tonight in ways I hadn’t prepared for, and at this point I felt like I was running on fumes.

  Still, I could totally handle one measly arsonist! I counted to three, chickened out, and then counted to three again. Just do it! I urged myself.

  I whirled all the air around myself and the fire, causing a natural vacuum to deprive the fire of oxygen. As the fire abruptly snuffed out, the arsonist turned, glowering, and peered directly at me. Ok, freaky, it was like he knew exactly where I was. There was no way he should be able to make me out on a night as black as this one, especially not so soon after he had been gazing into a bright fire. I could barely see him myself.

  “You there,” he called out in a tone both accusing and commanding. “Who authorized you to come here? I want the family name and your credentials immediately.”

  Names and credentials?? Uh oh, I thought in alarm, this sounds way too official. Time to go on the offensive to throw him off balance. Act official! I reminded myself before throwing back my shoulders and looking down my nose in his direction.

  “My thoughts exactly,” I replied in a tone I hoped conveyed complete contempt. “What exactly do you think you’re doing lighting farmland on fire? Don’t you know people are STARVING out there?!”

  “I was performing a prescribed field fire and brush fire combined, as is required for this area,” he replied. “If you knew anything about farming, you would know that this process is helpful to both crop growth, and as a pest killer. The fact that you don’t know this just reiterates that you don’t belong here.” He appeared to scrutinize me for a moment. “This farm is privately owned, I know everyone who works here, and frankly, I don’t recognize you.”

  Oops, I thought backpedaling mentally, but seriously, how was I to know that farmland was SUPPOSED to be set on FIRE?? And what kind of idiot would set one at night??