“We know all of you, puppy,” Fire said. “Weren't you listening? We've been with you forever. And your parents before you. And their parents. Blah, blah, blah. We are eternal and that, in case you don't know, is a greater version of immortality. You cannot kill us.”
“You can't fight us either,” Earth said. “So stop baring your teeth. We are on your side—here with the Goddess's blessing.”
“The Goddess sent you?” Rath asked. “You didn't mention that before.”
“We told you she'd be taking Death after Ember captures him,” Fire huffed. “What did you think that meant?”
“She didn'tsendus,” Air clarified. “She approved of our decision to help. We needed to know that it wouldn't interfere with Ember's destiny. She believes it won't.”
The room went quiet.
Into that quiet strode a cocky, handsome, hilarious human.
Graysen Amerell—a man I had once considered adding to my lovers but then realized we were much better as friends—entered the dining hall with his wraith lord escort, Liam. Last time I checked, they were also lovers, but Gray wasn't the typeof guy to commit. So, I wasn't surprised when they immediately split up and headed to separate tables.
Then Gray saw me and realized something was up. “Am I interrupting?”
To my surprise, General Ranor said, “Take a seat, you two. You have good timing. We were just discussing Lord Ember's new teachers—the Elements.”
“The Elements?” Gray eyed me where I stood with Ranor while he went to my usual table to sit with my lovers. “I thought he did that already?”
“Not with us, cutie,” Fire said.
Gray yipped and jerked his hips forward as if someone had pinched his ass. “What the fuck? What the fuck was that? Ember, you little shit! Did you just burn my ass?”
I couldn't help it. I was wound up so tightly with anxiety over Vex and the shit with the Elements, that I needed Gray's comedy badly. Laughter bubbled up my throat so violently that I doubled over with it.
“It wasn't him,” Fire said as a column of flames erupted in front of Gray, then condensed into a womanly figure. “It was me. You can call me Fire. Or hot stuff. Your choice. It's nice to speak with you at last, Graysen. I like you. You've got a good sense of humor. Too bad you're gay. And I'm not physical.”
Graysen gaped at the fire woman.
We all did. Even me. I stopped laughing instantly.
“Holy fuck!” Gray shouted. “What the fuck?! Holy fucking fuck! Is she real? You're not fucking with me, Ember?”
“She's real,” I said. “Graysen, meet Fire. Air, Water, and Earth are also present. They've offered to give me advanced training and help us defeat Death.”
“Not kill him, mind you,” Earth said. “That is not possible. But together, we should be able to contain him.”
“Contain Death?” Lord Finn asked. “How?”
“What is with you Makhans asking stupid questions?” The fire woman vanished, swirling upward into embers. “Pay attention! He just said that we're going to train Ember.”
“What that means,” Air interjected, “is that we will teach Ember how to better combine the Elements with Spirit and fuel himself with the union he's created with his lovers so that he can form an elemental cage around Death. The Goddess will then take custody of the cage and ensure the entity within never escapes.”
“How are you going to contain Death when he is everywhere?” another lord asked.
“Ember retains a thin bond to Aranren,” Air explained. “Aranren is bound to Death. Through these ties, Ember should be able to draw Death into Aranren completely. Then he will cage Death and remove him from Aranren.”
“Holy shit,” a few lords said.
Graysen sat down on the bench beside Rath. They were on the outer bench. This meant that they were facing away from the table so they could look at us. I grinned at him.
“Did an element just flirt with me?” Gray asked me.
“Yes, I think she did,” I said.
“Seriously? That's what you're focused on?” Nex, who had come in from Fress for the meeting and was seated on Rath's other side, asked. “Can we get back to caging Death? Are you sure a bunch of elements can hold it?”
