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Title: Elemental Earth
Legal Name: Melissa King
Pen-Name: Kinsey Knight
Genre: Fantasy Young Adult
Word-Count:
Tag-Line: The woman of tomorrow is forged by the girl of today
Summary:
My name is Trinity Liathain, typical human teenager to many. But reality
is I’m a young fae, split between two very different worlds. Just as I find a
guy who I can be myself with, my little corner of Blue Cove erupts in drama I’m
not prepared for. The gauntlet to a war that shouldn’t be mine is at my door,
bringing creatures that terrify and mesmerize me. I’m visited by ancient forces
who for some reason, think I’m the
answer to another dimension’s problems. They grant me tremendous power to
protect myself. From what, you ask? If my short journey through life has taught
me anything, it’s that the people closest to you, make the worst enemies.
Excerpt:
“Trinity, wait up!”
I rolled my eyes and soared
faster down the coastal highway that ran the outer limits of Blue Cove, a
seaside town filled with hidden magick and creatures of fairytales.
My mountain bike loved hills, or maybe that’s just me.
The wind in my hair, scents of saltwater and spring in
the breeze infused me with feeling nothing else compared to. I tossed my long
mane of fine, silvery blonde strands flowing in streamers behind me. I grinned
over my shoulder. “Come on, Deebra, you can’t tell me this isn’t exhilarating.”
Deebra’s fingers hovered
over the handbrake, ready to screech to a halt at the slightest hint of danger.
“And what about after school, dragging these stupid bikes back up? Bet you
won’t think the same then.”
“Worry about that at
three o’clock!” To freak her out, I lifted my feet from the pedals, legs poised
at forty-five degree angles. Her wordless screech was lost among the roar of a
farming truck passing the opposite way. The atmosphere filled with bits of
freshly cut hay, zinging around our heads like the wee fae who populate our
horse ranch. “The moment is here, to make the most of the now. Won’t come
again.”
“Thank the Goddess for
small favors,” she grumbled.
“One day soon, I’ll
succeed in giving your sense of adventure a serious remodeling.”
The Cobalt High School loomed
before us, an educational white sentinel, highlighted by cerulean trim and
endless hedging. Beyond the building, the ocean sparkled, a blanket of
glittering sapphires and diamonds. I bypassed the ramp, jumping my front tire over
the curb. My feet planted on the cement, screeching to a halt.
I swung off the bike, a
spring to my step. Today was the day I’d take the plunge. Good or bad.
Slipping my bike into the rack, I looped my lock
around the spokes, and spun the dial.
Deebra was nowhere in sight. I frowned to find myself
alone. Slow poke.
The air chilled, despite the warm day. I vigorously
rubbed my arms. I visually panned the street, gaze freezing on a figure
standing beneath a group of cedars.
My heart skipped a beat. His face triggered a barely
formed memory, as if from a dream—or nightmare. The shade congregated around
him, pressing against the hem of his billowing cape. I gawked at the strange clothes for spring.
He shifted, revealing a broad chest covered in silver chainmail that glinted
green fire. Fae metal? The length of his raven hair rivaled mine, the widow’s peak
stark against his alabaster skin. Delicately pointed ears peeked down from the
fall of his strands, the harsh slash of bangs cutting across his glowing, scarlet
triple irises. Primal power crawled across the street toward me, the full
shimmer marking him Dorchaign, a fae of the dark.
As if my brain split open, I massaged my temple. I
remembered him.
“You’ve been following
me,” I whispered.
He nodded. Winter wind cascaded over me. I shivered.
“I’m coming for you, Trinity Liathain. Very soon.”
I was caught in the snare of a spider’s web, unable to
look away.
Deebra rolled up beside
me, gasping for breath. “You could wait for me, you know!” Her shrill words broke
the spell. I stared across the street at the empty trees, trying to remember
what had drawn my interest. “What you looking at?”
“Ahh. That’s a good
question.” Why had I felt terrified? I tipped my head back, watching the powder
blue sky dotted with dollops of creamy clouds. “Just daydreaming, I guess.”
Deebra chuckled
nervously. “Girl, you’re going to break your neck one of these days. I swear
your tires didn’t touch ground the whole way down.” She continued in a lower
voice. “I felt your power.”
I tossed her an
impervious glance. “Impossible. Mom keeps telling me I don’t have much of any
sort of power, short of the ability to use glamour I have nothing considered
useful.”
“Yeah, well, it’s been
happening more and more. You don’t notice the little things, but I do. I don’t
care what she says. You’re changing
fast, dude,” she murmured. “Ever since she forced you into those magick lessons
of hers. And you have to stop whatever it is you’re doing, especially if you
can’t get any control over yourself.”
“I think you’re
overreacting,” I replied quickly. “Mom is on me every day now to practice with
her, tapping into this mythical greatness she believes lives inside of me. If I
had anything, she’d know.” I paused. “I don’t get it, you know. She forbade us
to use our magick at all, until we hit eighteen, unlike every fae we know. Why
the abrupt change of heart?”
“Couldn’t tell you; she
has no interest in teaching me anything. When she does let me sit in on the
lessons, I can’t say a word, or disrupt your concentration.” Deebra shouldered
her backpack with a grimace. I felt her pain. Our teachers demanded we carried
a course load to and from home every day. Even for the fae with super strength,
the burden became a little much. The humans had it rough. She cleared her
throat. “Have you noticed Caron’s mood swings are getting way harsher?”
“Yeah. Dad started
sleeping in the spare bedroom,” I muttered. Talking about the problems at home,
even with Deebra—my very best friend—was disheartening. Wasn’t it enough that
she lived with me, seeing day in and day out that our family life fell apart?
Did she have to bring it up when I finally escaped? Thank the Goddess, our
conversation was interrupted by a monstrous roar of an engine. One so finely
tuned, so beautiful, it compared to the owner. The motorcycle turned into the
parking lot, driver enclosed in leather and a full helmet.
Some said the owner of
the motorcycle adhered to the bad boy mold to a capital T. I knew better. He
turned into the empty parking spot closest to the bike rack. He slid the
backpack from his shoulder, opened the zipper, and dug through the contents,
while my heart skipped several beats.
Not because he was
gorgeous. Because he was.
Today’s the day. The
time I finally got a hold of myself, and stopped second guessing. Win or lose.
To make the move, shifting my long standing friendship with my crush, into
something else entirely.
Adrian O’Fearain: Goblin,
daredevil, and general badass. Leagues above other guys, yet still approachable
enough I could talk to him about anything. Our friendship went back to grade
eight, when we shared half our classes. I crushed on him so hard, it was
embarrassing. When he needed help in English—a subject I adored—I leapt at the
chance. He’d showed up after school in black clothes and chains—an exercise in
annoying his dad, a favored past time of his—radiating a lethal edge of a
mankind’s nightmares that didn’t scare me in the slightest.
I was half Lochrann Pixie, which most people focused
on, forgetting that my other half was much scarier. My dad was a Yaksha: an
unpredictable, territorial Dorchaign fae, who guarded what was theirs to their
last breath, by any means necessary.
Deebra brightened. “I
think you’re actually drooling. But, he’s a Goblin. Maybe he likes slobbery
girls. Makes them shiny toys. Guess, you’ll find out when you finally ask him out.”
“Shut up. Up until
recently, he had a girlfriend,” I huffed. “Threw a wrench in the whole
admitting my unrequited crush thing.”
“But, now he’s single.
You better ask him quick. I overheard that horror doll creature, Fiona in the
bathroom the other day, babbling about how she’s going to snatch him up,” she
chirped. I scowled. “You might end up staying in the friend zone until the
Earth flies into the sun.”
My courage meter
drained. “What if he just wants to stay friends?”
She waved me off. “Girl,
please, just please. The way he looks at you since he ditched the Goblin chick…just
damn. If that walking, talking pin-up
graced me with the attention he shows you, I’d totally jump onto his bike, and
ride off into the sunset.”
I grimaced. “Yeah, right.”
Adrian pulled off his
glossy helmet, tucking it under his arm. His mismatched gaze—one blue eye, one
green—met mine and sparkled. The metal skulls on his biker boots shined as he
dismounted. He shook out his shoulder length blonde hair.
He smiled. He was so
hot, I fumbled. I swore to the Great Goddess, my tongue swelled, and my throat
closed. Sue me; I was a sappy girl sometimes.
“Why did they break up anyway? They were
pretty tight for like a zillion years,” Deebra mused.
I breathed through my nose, out my mouth to calm my
jangling nerves. Giving us his profile, he bent over the bike—did I mention gym
is one of the classes we’ve shared? And we’d gone swimming at the lake by my
house more times than I can count. Oh yeah, I’d seen enough for any sixteen
year old girl’s imagination to handle. As he sauntered onto the sidewalk, his
body rolled, the perfect grace of a predator. Leagues past any human. Something
about being a Red Cap made him bigger, stronger, just more.
You
can do this. Just a
few little words. You can even blurt them
out.
My heart slammed
against my ribs so loud, I was positive everyone heard the erratic beat.
His grin was borderline feral. “Life’s too short to
deal with some people’s drama, Deebra. Leave it at that.”
The backs of her ears reddened. She stared at her
feet.
“Hello, Trinity.”
Goddess, he had a deep voice.
I smiled. “Hey.”
He towered over me, leaning down to my ear. His hot
breath tickled my cheek. “By the way, I love your perfume. Pineapple, coconut?”
“Yes,” I said softly.
“Excellent choice. Not
overpowering like so many girls like to bath themselves in. But, I already know
you have great taste.”
My heart hammered a new level of erratic insanity.
“Yeah, thanks.”
Adrian plucked a hair
from my white spaghetti strap, fingers caressing me, allowing let the strand
float away on the breeze. He started to say something when the bell rang.
Regret flashed on his face. “I’ll see you in Computer Science?”
Somehow, I doubted
that’s what was on his mind.
“Wouldn’t
miss it.”
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