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Life looked to Marcus in a surprise move. The large man cleared his throat before addressing us. “The people had begun to separate by this point, though not enough to war with each other yet. The creatures who were not human began to feel the rejection of the human population. I created a forest where they could live in peace. The forest needed a caretaker because I couldn’t be there all the time to protect the land from abusive humans.”
Shock tore through the links again, but this time, it came from my brothers.
“Bard?” Jeff’s eyes were wide as he ran his hands over his face. “Love’s mate is Bard?”
Lady Lilith glowed with happiness until her smile fell. A tear trickled from her eye. “Yes. We’ve been so happy for so long. Now…”
We all knew. Bard’s Forest had been inhabited by the Mindolin. Bard himself had been attacked. Maybe Love knew his condition, but my brothers and I were still at a loss.
“Is he…” Sylee couldn’t finish her question.
Love shook her head. “He’s not gone. Weak, but not dead. Bard is immortal. He can’t be killed. Not like this, anyway.”
Air patted her sister’s back. “The war started years after that, and Water met a man. He was a Light warrior, one of their best, with a good heart. Like Bard, we all really liked him. They bonded, and he became a Lower Water Elemental.”
Silent tears fell down Mom’s face, and she wiped at them. This was the first time we’d watched Mom become emotional, not that we’d been around her much. When she’d come here after the Mindolin’s release, it was the first time we’d been together since we were very small children. Her visit with us then had been brief. Five minutes apiece so she could be out within a half hour. Not a second more, she’d said.
“If Bard and Onyx are immortal, our father is too, right?” Carmon asked as Mom continued to cry. “He’s not dead like you made us believe. He can’t be. Who is our father?”
Water shook her head and glared at Life. “They don’t need to know. It’s none of their business.”
“Oh shut it, Clara.” Alex leaned forward on the couch he sat on. He then looked to my youngest brother. “You, Carmon, of all people should know your father’s name.”
How should Cal know?Drew kept the question internal as Carmon’s eyebrows drew down.
He’s insane? Not Cal. Alex.Jeff grumbled the thought, still angry with the Healing Elemental for insulting his mate.
Cal’s eyes widened, and he looked between Healing, Water, and Life. “Our father’s name is Aaron.”
“Wait, what?” Chris blinked at our Commander as the pieces began to fall into place.
“Each of you,” Life took over, “is named after the Elemental, or in Jeff’s case, one of the Elementals, you take after. Adam Leo, Drew Marcus, Christopher Zhaine, Jeff Alex, Dalton Oliver. In Dalton’s case, Clara chose a masculine name instead of Olivia.”
“For which I’m grateful,” Dalton muttered under his breath, and Olivia, Lady Air, smiled.
Life gave a small smile too until she looked back to Carmon. “As you know, had Clara followed this pattern with you, you’d have the name options of Mercy or Clara to work with. While Claire or Clarence would have been fitting and followed the pattern, Clara decided to give you the name of her mate.”
We all looked at Mom, but she wouldn’t meet our eyes.
“Where is he?” Cal kept his voice soft in the hopes not to spook our mother.
“He’s dead.” Clara looked him in the eyes.
Jeff shook his head. “Yes and no. It’s true and it’s not.”
Our mother rolled her eyes. “Your gift has always been annoying.”
Hurt shot through us from Jeff’s link, and he quieted. Anger at her continued rejection and inflicted pain caused the flames beneath my skin to burn hotter. She’d come here acting the part of a loving mother, and now that she’d been put on the spot, she became the monster she’d been all our lives.
“How dare you.” Carmon’s voice shook with rage. I hadn’t felt his anger because my own had been so strong. “You abandoned us to them.” Cal pointed at the male Elementals who sat together. “You allowed them to destroy us and make us into the monsters they are!”
“You needed to learn to fight,” Water spit back at him.
“So you had them turn us into bloodthirsty killers.” Carmon refused to back down. If he had, I’d have stepped up, but Cal was a Water Elemental like Mom. He could go toe to toe with her better. “You allowed them to torture us, almost kill us. Leo nearly burned Dalton alive and laughed about it! They made us fight each other, hurt each other until we almost killed our brother.”
“They kept you alive,” Water cut in.
“Wasn’t much of a life worth living.” The sad voice came from Chris. “We were cruel and bloodthirsty. In actuality, we weren’t so different from the Mindolin, except we didn’t have as much power and worked only to destroy the Light’s enemies.”
