Read elemental 07 - lonely hunger for Free Online Page B

argument with Aira.” Aira came up next to him and Dylan withdrew slightly, keeping a light touch on Oriel’s mind. Instead of flowing emotion through, he opened up his own mind, taking in the confusing welter of emotion that filled her.
    “Oriel, tell me everything you know. Who you know is involved, where they’re hiding, and every bit of information behind the group you’re with.” Dylan could feel the push of Aira’s mind, her energy mingling with his into a wallop of persuasion that a person with twice Oriel’s strength would have been unable to avoid. Oriel fought—she struggled on the bed, trying to shake her head even as the compulsion took hold. Dylan almost felt bad for the woman; she was writhing with discomfort, though the magic he and Aira were subjecting her to was not inherently painful. 
    “I’ve been out of it for months,” Oriel said, panting slightly. “I knew they were planning some big gesture to get at you through your element, but I didn’t know for sure what.” Dylan intensified the feelings of anxiety and fear, pain and sadness, channeling them through his mind while being careful not to let them infringe on his own state. It was difficult—he wouldn’t be able to hold it forever—but he was willing to take the risk. Oriel’s eyes watered and she began to cry softly. 
    “Who is it? Who’s involved?” Aira’s voice was firm, and Dylan once more felt the push of her greater will, her ability to compel, reaching out and subverting Oriel. 
    “There’s a dozen of them,” Oriel said between gasps. “They have some other people underneath—but they’re earth and fire elementals. The earth elementals are out for you because they want to have control more in their hands. The fire elementals think you’re going to follow in Lorene’s footsteps. They don’t want you—they want another ruler for air.”
    “Who is it?” Aira repeated. Dylan intensified the emotions running through him and into Oriel.
    “Seraphina Williams,” Oriel said, the words coming out of her lips as if they were being ripped from her brain. “Aidan Willis. Dharithri Patil and Tenchi Mizuno, Hestia Adolfo and Bridget Wake.” Oriel was shivering—her lips were starting to turn purple from cold and fatigue as Dylan’s watery energy washed through her, carrying fear and pain, as she struggled against the compulsion that Aira had put on her. “Aelwyd Connolly. Jared Leichner, Annaliese Rogers.” Oriel shook her head again, trying to pull away from them as she gasped for breath, drowning in the atmosphere that Dylan and Aira had combined to create. “Those are the most important ones. Stop—stop, please. I can’t take anymore.”
    Aira stepped back and Dylan followed suit, letting his hand fall away from Oriel’s shoulder as the woman shivered. “Is there anyone in the group named Leigh?” he asked. He had to know; the impressions he had gotten suggested that Leigh wasn’t part of the group herself—but he had to know, needed some hope beyond the ephemera of his other senses. Oriel looked at him in confusion, coming out of the depths of the spell that gripped her.
    “I don’t think so,” she said. Dylan opened his awareness to its broadest possible band, searching through Oriel’s mind. She wasn’t lying—the compulsion that Aira had put on her had made it impossible for her to lie about the names she had given, and she wasn’t lying now. 
    “Where are they?” Aiden asked, and Dylan realized he had almost forgotten his brother in the room. It was not a good place for him to be, and when Dylan glanced at his older brother, he saw that Aiden was barely holding himself up.
    Oriel shook her head, trying to fight the lingering compulsion that she felt from Dylan’s and Aira’s combined efforts. Dylan turned his attention back onto the woman; they would need to get out of the room soon—Aiden wouldn’t be able to withstand the effects of so much water energy for much longer. 
    “Tell