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“Have you ever killed any of them?” she asked.
Silver nodded. “Of course.” He didn’t have to ask whom she meant. There was only one them. The pure Elementals. The ones with enough power to level cities.
Everyone on earth had some connection to an element—but only a select few were pure Elementals. Kate imagined it like a circle with a five-pointed star inside. Four points of the star represented each of the classical elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. If everyone alive was put inside the circle, some would fall between branches and some would fall on a point.
The closer you fell to a point, the greater your affinity to that element.
If you fell directly on a point, you could harness that element’s power and bend it to your will.
Kate was a pure Elemental, too, but she fell on the fifth point, which represented the Spirit. Once she fully grew into her abilities as a Fifth, she’d be able to control all four elements. Beyond that, her connection to the human spirit meant she had a greater connection to the people around her.
Years ago, the pure Elementals used to wreak havoc: mass destruction spanning centuries. The great Chicago fire. Earthquakes. Tsunamis. The Fifths, connected to human suffering by their very abilities, banded together to destroy pure Elementals and stop the destruction.
Now Fifths were selected to become Guides, and trained to kill pure Elementals before they could come into their full power.
Kate’s connection to her element should have made it hard for her to kill anyone.
But when it came right down to pulling a trigger, it wasn’t hard at all.
Her mother always used to say it was for the greater good. Kate wondered what she’d say about that now, after everything that had happened.
She watched Silver’s fidgeting for another moment. “Do you expect them to be hard to kill?”
His eyes left the gun to flick up and meet hers. “Nervous?” She matched his tone. “Of course not.”
He smiled, but there wasn’t anything amiable about it. “You have some familiarity with weapons, yes?”
Kate picked up the Glock and took it apart in four seconds. The bullets plinked out of the magazine onto the table. “A little.”
“A bullet to the head is one of the few sure ways to kill them.”
“I have some familiarity with killing, too.”
“So I’ve heard.” He ignored her attitude and started putting the stripped gun back together. “I’ve seen an Air Elemental take four shots to the chest and still come up fighting.”
“An adult, right? I thought we were killing teenagers.”
“We are.” He paused. “And how does that make you feel, Kathryn?”
She looked up in surprise. “Fine. Why?”
“Honestly, when they told me you were my ‘trainee,’ I was surprised.”
“Why?” she asked.
“Because I don’t know what you’re doing here.”
It shouldn’t have hurt—but it did, like getting a pinch in the arm from a vicious child. She’d earned her spot here. “I was assigned to help you.”
“You seem eager.”
“I’ve proven myself. I’m ready to do something.” She needed to succeed here. If she couldn’t, it meant her mother’s death was for nothing.
His hands stilled on the firearm, and he looked over. “You must have done something already, to be assigned with me.”
“Why, you think you’re such a badass?”
“I don’t need to think that, Kathryn.”
