Whirl (Ondine Quartet Book 1) Read Online Free

Five of those nasties had been
after me. An unnerving realization dawned. I hadn't even known they
were there.
    And this guy, who looked like a ripped
fashion model, had taken all of them out. Alone.
    Then outrage kicked in.
    "You've been following me," I snapped.
    "Yes."
    His response was mild like it wasn't that big
of a deal. I muttered a sound of disgust under my breath.
    The corner of his mouth twitched. "I killed
five Aquidae who were after you tonight and that's what bothers
you?"
    I refused to look at him. "For how long?"
    "Just today. You were turning seventeen and
your energy was likely to attract any Aquidae in the area." He
shook his head and his voice deepened with regret. "After news of
Naida's death reached us, I wanted to bring you in immediately. But
she'd insisted that no matter what happened, I was to wait until
you came of age. So I arrived in San Aurelio this morning."
    I shrugged. "Mom was good at not letting
anyone know anything until the moment she wanted them to."
    Another silence fell between us, both of lost
in our thoughts.
    The soothing sounds of the cello wrapped
around me, and the green light of the dashboard clock winked the
time. Four in the morning.
    My eyelids grew heavy and I stifled a yawn.
I'd been sleeping only two to three hours a night. Now that the
adrenaline from the Aquidae fight had dissipated, a wave of
exhaustion washed over me and the bruises on my cheek and knees
throbbed with a dull ache.
    Lulled by the smooth, rhythmic motion of the
car and the soft, dulcet flow of music, I finally gave up and
allowed sleep to pull me into blissful oblivion.
     
    ***
     
    White fog swirled around me. I was on a
crowded city street at night.
    Sounds of laughter and drunken conversations
sporadically trickled in through the fog. Everything was muted and
the bright, vivid colors of flashing neon signs were softened to a
hazy glow.
    Pulled by an unseen force, I drifted behind
a small group of young men as they strode purposefully down the
street.
    They walked for several blocks, muscles
tightening on their shoulders and backs. They began to run and I
sped up, trailing after them as they made a right turn.
    A small group of people stood by an iron
door next to a green dumpster. Their faces and figures were in
shadows, blending into the muted, dark colors of the alley.
Disembodied club music pulsed through the fog. The men ran toward
them at full speed, intent on attack.
    Reaching out a hand, I tried to scream a
warning, but no sound came out of my mouth…
     
    I awoke with a start and it took me a few
seconds to realize where I was. What a strange dream.
    An involuntary shudder ran through me as I
remembered the final moment in which I'd recognized the danger. It
bothered me that I'd been unable to warn those people through the
fog.
    The melancholic sounds of a cello still
played through the car speakers. I uncurled and stretched in my
chair.
    "Where are we?"
    The sun brightened the cloudless sky and
filtered through the branches of the lush, green trees dominating
the landscape. It was close to noon. Tristan navigated the car down
a narrow road that wound its way through a forest.
    "We're almost there."
    The water was close and it called out to me.
We must be near the Pacific coastline.
    All ondine communities were located near an
ocean. Its nearness was as essential to water elementals as the air
we breathed. The further away from water we got, the weaker our
bodies became. An elemental who lived enough time away from a large
body of water would eventually die.
    "Haverleau is in northern Washington,"
Tristan continued. "It's outside the city of Lyondale."
    The verdant, emerald landscape was so
different from the drier California scenery I was used to. I rolled
down the window and took a deep breath. The crisp air snapped with
fresh vitality, carrying just the barest trace of the ocean's
saltiness. It cleared my head and the last of my sleepiness went
away.
    We made a left turn onto a short road