CHAPTER 2: Sophia

“Sophia Henley, you’re dead!”

It took everything I had not to bust a gut laughing. Amelia had threatened my murder enough times throughout my childhood that I knew her words were nothing more than an empty threat. Besides, all I did was admit to stealing a pair of jeans she’d left home while she was off at college. That was hardly a crime worthy of a death sentence.

I shot a smirk at my sister. “You’ll have to catch me first.”

I didn’t give her a chance to respond. I sprinted forward, ignoring the burn in my legs as I raced up the mountain trail. The Salt Lake Valley was long behind us, with nothing but huge rocks and small shrubs covering the dry earth ahead of us. Pine trees dotted the surrounding mountain peaks. The higher I climbed, the narrower the dirt trail became, until I was running along a thin ledge. Sharp rocks jutted from the cliff to my right. It was easily a twenty-foot drop to the ground below.

Amelia would so regret saying that if I slipped and fell.

Good thing I was confident in my footing.

“Sophia!” Amelia shouted from down the trail. This time, it sounded like I was being sentenced for being faster than her. Because it’d be so unfair if I was actually better than her at something.

A high-pitched squawk filled the air above me. I glanced up to see Amelia’s parrot circling my head. I wasn’t sure what kind he was. When I asked Amelia after she brought him home from college, she just said he was “exotic.” I didn’t have the heart to tell her that “exotic” wasn’t a species. I didn’t even want to ask how much she paid for the rat gremlin. She took him everywhere we went, though I wished he’d just stay in a cage. Amelia refused to buy one for him… said cages were inhumane.

He looked like some sort of parrot, but his beak was longer, and his feathers were a deep green, like the color of a luscious rain forest. I’d never seen anything like him before, especially not with his type of temperament.

The thing hated me, for whatever reason. Though I trusted my sister with my life, I didn’t trust Kiwi.

I slowed. My chest heaved as I inhaled deep breaths.

“Sophia!” Amelia scolded once she caught up to me.

“What?” I asked innocently.

The path evened out, the sharp cliff behind us. Amelia plopped her butt into the dirt on the side of the trail, trying to catch her breath. The late afternoon sun beat down on us.

“When did you get so much faster than me?” she asked through heavy breaths.

“Right around the time I started walking.” I shot her a teasing smile. I’d always been able to beat Amelia in a race— on land, at least. Amelia could totally school me in the water. Though, to be fair, I despised swimming.

She sighed and shook her head at me. “You’re such a dweeb.”

I scoffed and sat beside her. “I am not!”

She reached her sweaty arm around me and pulled me in close. “Of course you are. You’re my little dweeb.”

“Gross!” I protested, pushing away from her armpit.

“Come on, Sophia,” she complained. “Give me a hug. I’m only home for a few days. I miss you.”

I took a swig from my water bottle. “I’m not that gullible. You’re just going to give me a wet willie or something.”

Amelia laughed and wiped the sweat from her forehead. “We’re not kids anymore.”

I just rolled my eyes at her. It’d been four years since she moved out, but she was still my sister, which meant every time she visited I was subject to her teasing.

Kiwi landed in the dirt beside Amelia and immediately headbutted a rock twice the size of his head. It rolled toward her hand. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was trying to offer the rock as a gift to her, but I was pretty sure he was just knocking his head against it for kicks. Despite what Amelia said, Kiwi wasn’t exactly a bright bird.

Amelia sighed. “Forget about the pants. I just want to have fun with my little sister before I have to leave again for work.”

Amelia had graduated college a few months ago and immediately got a job as a cruise ship attendant. She was only home for a week before she had to pack up and leave on her next cruise.

“I hate you, you know,” I teased. “You have, like, the coolest job in the world.”

Amelia shrugged, but she couldn’t hide her smile.

“No, I’m serious,” I said. “You get to travel the world on a cruise ship while I’m stuck at home for the next four years.”

Amelia screwed the cap off her water bottle and held it to her lips. “Have you decided on a major yet?”

I shook my head as she threw her head back and chugged her water.

Honestly, I had no idea what I wanted to do. One day I was a kid, dreaming of becoming a wildland firefighter. The next my parents were telling me I had to get serious about a “real career.” Before I knew it, I was filling out college applications and graduating high school without a clue of where I’d go next.

It seemed like everyone had their lives figured out but me. Amelia was going to travel the world on cruise ships, and my friends Emily and Leah were headed off to the same art school across the country. Even Kiwi— the idiot bird— seemed to know what he wanted in life. I didn’t know what he was doing with that rock, but he sure looked determined.

Me? I was just hoping things would change once school started. I’d find my passion, and maybe a hot guy to share it with, and I’d make my mark on the world.

“It’s okay,” Amelia assured me, wiping water from the corner of her mouth. “You have plenty of time to choose a major.”

“Yeah…” I grabbed a nearby rock and rolled it around in my hands, just so I wouldn’t have to meet her gaze. I studied it intensely, taking note of the various shades of red woven together. It was cool enough to warrant a place in my rock collection. “It just feels like I’m going to spend four years exploring my options and still not know what I want to do.”

Amelia rolled her eyes. “It’s normal to feel that way, Sophia. You’ll figure it out.”

I glared at my sister. “Says the girl who’s had her life figured out since she was five.”

“That’s not true,” she countered. “I had no idea I wanted to work on a cruise ship.”

“But you’ve always known what school you wanted to go to,” I pointed out.

Amelia had gone to some school in Northern California that was so small it didn’t even have a website. I was pretty sure the last four years of her life had been a scam, but she claimed she loved it there.

“The important thing about college is that you have fun—”

Amelia cut off when the sound of a twig snapping behind us reached our ears. Both of our heads snapped in the direction of the noise. My eyes darted between the bushes and shrubs on the mountainside, but I saw nothing. My shoulders relaxed, and I glanced to Amelia. Her eyes went wide in fear.

“Don’t be such a wuss,” I told her. “I hike this trail all the time by myself. I’m sure it was nothing.”

Amelia kept her eyes on the landscape. “I just thought I saw…” She trailed off.

“Saw what?” I asked. Creeps didn’t actually pop up out of the bushes, did they?

“Nothing.” Amelia stood. “We should probably start heading back, though.”

“But it’s only half a mile to the top!” I countered.

“Which is, like, forever with this incline,” she complained. “My legs hurt, and it’s a long way back to the car. It’ll be dark before we get back.”

A half-mile was nothing, but it was my older sister I was arguing with. I’d never win.

“Fine,” I relented. “But then you have to let me keep the jeans.”

“No,” she denied without hesitation, staring down at me and waiting for me to move.

I curled the rock I held into my fist and hopped to my feet. “You’re a booger, you know that? You’re a big, rotting clump of troll boogers.”

“Wow,” Amelia said flatly, like she wasn’t at all impressed. “That’s creative.”

I smiled proudly, but my smile quickly faded when Amelia shot a nervous glance over her shoulder. The look in her eyes made my mouth go dry.

“You’re okay, aren’t you, Am?” All my teasing from earlier had disappeared from my tone. “You’re not being stalked or something, are you?”

“What?” Amelia’s voice rose at least three pitches above normal. The light laugh she threw in didn’t sound the least bit genuine. “If I was being stalked, you’d know it.”

I couldn’t help but notice she hadn’t exactly answered me. She started down the trail. Kiwi squawked and spread his wings to follow behind her. I remained quiet as we descended the mountain. Amelia didn’t speak, either, but I noticed she had quickened her pace and kept glancing behind us.

It wasn’t until night had fallen and we made it back to the parking lot that I finally spoke. I reached for Amelia’s wrist before she could round Mom’s crossover to the driver’s side. “Are you going to tell me what’s up, or not?”

Amelia’s eyes scanned the dark, deserted parking lot. “Nothing’s wrong. Just get in the car.”

I planted my feet firmly on the pavement. “Not until you tell me—”

“Get in the car, Sophia!”

Amelia’s tone hit me like a slap in the face. I rushed so fast to the passenger side door that she hadn’t even unlocked it yet. Something was definitely up, and now that I had confirmation, I wasn’t about to hang around to find out what it was.

The click of the lock hit my ears, and I swung the door open and scrambled inside. Kiwi flew in through Amelia’s door, and she slammed it behind her.

“Amelia!” I demanded. “Talk to me!”

Amelia reached for her seatbelt and pulled it across her body. Her lips tightened as she turned the key in the ignition, but she didn’t answer. The engine roared to life, and the headlights lit the bushes in front of us. My breath stopped when I caught sight of two small, shiny objects in the distance.

Eyes.

The creature was far enough away from the car that I couldn’t see its body, but judging by how high its eyes seemed to hover above the ground, it was huge. Like, mountain lion huge.

“Am!” I cried. “There’s something out there!”

Amelia gritted her teeth and spoke under her breath. “Yeah, I thought so…”

“Let’s get out of here!” My heart slammed against my rib cage. In all the years I’d been hiking this trail, I hadn’t seen anything larger than a big-horned sheep.

I racked my brain, trying to remember if sheep eyes glowed, but I was pretty sure they weren’t nocturnal. Could it be some sort of canine? Maybe a deer? Yes! A deer. That wasn’t so scary.

“No,” Amelia said lowly, unclicking her seat belt and kicking her door open. “This ends now.”

“What the— Amelia!”

“Stay here,” she instructed. “Watch Kiwi.”

Amelia slammed her door shut and headed straight for the bushes. What the hell was she thinking, going after a wild animal? If I didn’t know better, I’d say she was the dweeb, but she wasn’t this stupid.

I jumped out of the car behind her. “Amelia!” I hissed, keeping my voice as low as I could.

She turned back to me. The headlights of our car illuminated her. “I said to stay in the car.”

“Are you insane?!” I wanted to rush over to her and drag her back to the car, but I still didn’t know what kind of animal was out there. Fear stalled me, and I remained rooted in place next to the vehicle.

Amelia ignored me and stepped forward, disappearing into the darkness beyond the light of our headlights. She called out into the bushes, but I couldn’t hear what she was saying.

Amelia’s officially lost it.

The hairs on my arms stood. Kiwi let out a high-pitched shriek from inside the car and pecked against the windshield. Against my better judgement, I abandoned the safety of the vehicle and hurried forward behind Amelia.

“Come out, Naomi,” I heard Amelia say. “Come and face me, you lousy piece of dirt.”

“Amelia,” I whisper-screamed.

Amelia had wandered so far into the darkness that I could only make out her silhouette.

“I told you to stay in the car!” her voice shot back.

She spoke with such authority that I almost considered turning back just so I wouldn’t have to deal with her lecture later. Before I could make a decision, a shadow leapt from the bushes and slammed into her. My hands shot up to cover my mouth before a scream erupted from my lungs.

Amelia stumbled backward into the light, but tripped over a shrub and fell to the ground. She got to her elbows and scurried backward.

A low growl came from somewhere in the darkness. Every inch of my body shook, but I rushed forward and looped my arms under Amelia’s to pull her to her feet.

“Am—” I broke off. I hadn’t even helped her to her feet yet.

Up closer, I got a better look at the shadow in the darkness. It moved with finesse, as if every movement was calculated. The creature was stalking us, ready to pounce. It paced in front of us, its shoulder blades rising and falling with every step.

A cat.

But it wasn’t the kind of cat you wanted to cuddle. This cat was bigger than me, with sharp claws and the kind of powerful teeth that could rip a human’s throat out.

Amelia was right. I’m dead. We both are.

“Don’t. Make. Any. Sudden. Movements.” I whispered under my breath, completely frozen in place.

The cat in front of us was huge and covered in a coat of blonde fur. I’d never seen a cougar in real life before, but this seemed bigger, like some sort of African cat. Had it escaped from the zoo? I hoped that was the case and that it was used to humans… and that it wasn’t hungry.

Against my instruction, Amelia jumped to her feet and dusted the dirt off her shorts, like she hadn’t noticed the beast in front of us. Except… she stared right at it, almost like she knew the creature personally.

She turned from the cat and grabbed my arm. Her fingernails dug into my skin, but I couldn’t bring myself to move for fear that it’d run after us. She tugged harder, and I had no choice but to stumble behind her.

“I told you to stay in the car!” Amelia scolded.

“I know, but—” A screech ripped out of my chest.

Amelia’s hand fell from my arm as her body crashed to the ground again. The cat stood over her, baring its teeth. Before I could react, Amelia shoved her elbow up into the cat’s nose. The cat immediately retaliated by swiping its claws at the arm she held protectively in front of her face.

Instinct overtook. I didn’t even think about what I was doing when I drew my arm back and hurled the rock I still held at the cat. I didn’t wait to see if I hit it. I bent and grabbed a thick stick in the dirt nearby and swung it upward to connect with the cat’s jaw.

The dry stick snapped in half as it connected. The cat continued to stare down my sister, as if it hadn’t felt a thing. I hurled the remaining half of my stick at its head. By sheer luck, I managed to hit it square in the eye.

The cat stumbled backward with a whimper, but before I could help Amelia to her feet, the cat turned its frightening gaze on me. I mean, it’s one eye was winky, but that didn’t make me feel any better. Sheer terror ripped through my gut, and my skin heated so much that sweat broke out across my brow.

A split second passed, then the cat lunged, launching itself through the air toward me.

My scream filled the air around us, and I threw my arms out in front of me. If I wasn’t scared before, I was freaking terrified when a burst of red light shot across the space between us.

I didn’t have the time to contemplate the strange phenomenon. I expected a blow to come, for sharp claws to rip into my skin and strong jaws to tear me apart, but instead, the cat twisted sideways and landed on the ground on its side.

I only let my shock last a split second. I rushed forward and grabbed Amelia’s arm and dragged her to her feet. Together, we sprinted back to the car.

Amelia shifted into reverse before I even had my door closed. She tore out of the parking lot without looking back. Kiwi was going crazy, flying around the back seat.

“What were you thinking?!” I shrieked. “We could’ve been killed!”

“Forget about that!” Amelia cried. Her eyes darted between mine and the road. “Did I see you use fire, Sophia?”

“What?” Is that what that flash of red had been? Some sort of fireball?

“It was, wasn’t it?” Amelia accused. “You’re Koigni!”

“Koigni?” I practically yelled. “Have you gone insane?”

“No,” Amelia bit back, obviously offended.

“You tried to pet a wild cat!”

Amelia’s jaw tensed, but she softened her tone. “I wasn’t trying to pet it.”

“Then what were you doing?” I demanded.

“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “What matters is that Mom and Dad lied to me— to both of us.”

I was momentarily struck silent. What did Mom and Dad have to do with this?

“They told me you were human— adopted.” Amelia slowed the car to match the speed limit.

I swallowed hard. This had to be a dream, or maybe I’d been drugged. Apparently, an African cat attack in the middle of Salt Lake I could believe, but there was no way my parents had lied to me for eighteen years about being adopted. Sure, I was the black sheep of the family, with lighter hair and paler skin, but we told each other everything.

Yet that wasn’t the most disturbing part of what Amelia had just said.

“Human?” My voice shook. “What else is there?”

Amelia pressed her lips together. “How do I put this?” She took a deep breath. “Sophia, you’re magical… like me. You’re an Elementai.”

My brow furrowed. Maybe Amelia wasn’t insane. Maybe she was just high. Maybe we both were high.

“Elementai?” I repeated the word. It felt strange on my tongue, like it shouldn’t be there. “What are you talking about?”

Amelia hesitated. “I’m sorry you had to find out like this, Sophia, but there’s no other explanation. You’re Koigni, a Fire Elementai. Me, Mom, and Dad are Toaqua, Water Elementai.”

“What do you mean?” I demanded. Amelia had better start making sense, or I was going to lose it.

Amelia swallowed, like she didn’t know how to break the news. “It means you’re one of us,” she finally said. “It means you have magic.”