Read Tethered 02 - Conjure for Free Online

sugar for shit or fudge for fuck, but not the type to use the actual word.
    Looks could be deceiving, and in this case it was true.
    “Being an Elemental is a dominant gene, honey. It doesn’t matter if two Elementals come together to form a child or one Elemental and one non-Elemental,” Adam’s mother, Della, said.
    “My husband was a non-Elemental,” Mrs. Yates said. “Actually, the majority of us had one non-Elemental spouse.”
    “Oh.” My thoughts came back to my mother. Obviously, she was an Elemental. Did this mean that my father wasn’t? Just as quickly as the thought came, it went, and I glanced around the room as another thought penetrated my mind: Which of Kace’s parents was the non?
    Charles, Kace’s father, must have taken note of my curiosity. “I’m the Elemental; my wife is the non. Della is an Elemental and Edgar is the non. Admer and Susan, Callie’s mother, are Elementals as well, obviously. All of us, plus your mother, were our initiated group. There were a total of five of us before your mother, Angela, left.”
    I wondered for a moment why none of them hooked up. Was it because their elements didn’t mesh well? Was there not a strong attraction between them like with Kace and me?
    “Why didn’t any of you…you know, hook up?” I asked, unable to think of a better way to phrase my question.
    Charles smiled at me and I felt Kace shift uncomfortably beside me. “There’s always a bond between corresponding elements, but it isn’t always physical. The four of you are lucky to have it be such a way for you.”
    “What are your elements?” I asked without realizing I’d spoken aloud until it was too late to stop myself from asking another question that seemed too personal.
    “Mine is Earth,” Charles answered, surprising me completely. I would have thought he would have said Air like Kace.
    “Water.” Della smiled.
    “Air,” Susan said softly from beside me.
    My eyes shifted to Admer while I waited for him to tell me his element. Something I’d wanted to know for a while.
    “Water,” he said, meeting my gaze.
    “Your mother was Fire, same as you,” Susan said before I could ask.
    I thought of everyone’s elements and wondered why I seemed to be the only one whose element matched their parent’s.
    “Why do your elements not match up with theirs?” I asked, motioning between Kace and his father, hoping it wasn’t another stupid question.
    No one answered me right away and I wondered if it was some sort of anomaly. Was it not common to have the same element as one of your parents? I mean, there were only four flipping elements after all.
    Dear God, if they told me it was some freakish thing they couldn’t explain, I was going to have heart failure. It never ended well for those people in books or movies. They always had to fight some massive evil or undergo some huge transformation as though they were now royalty. All I wanted was to figure all of this magick out and at the end of the day still be me without any added labels. Being adopted was enough. Being an Elemental now was enough. Being freaking tethered to Theo was more than enough.
    I could not handle another label.
    Susan was the one who finally answered. “It’s always a tossup. You never know what element your child will have, or even what element you have for that matter, at birth. Each of us learned of our element on our own as we grew up. You’re more attracted to certain things, aren’t you?” she asked. “For instance, I was always attracted to the wind. To me, that’s one of the best feelings in the world—to have it brushing against your skin. I’m sure you feel the same about the sun.”
    I nodded. It was true. I had always enjoyed sunshine, and heat in general. It was like I craved warmth and sunbeams on a daily basis.
    “As for how your mother’s element is the same as yours, no one can really say. It just is.” Susan shrugged. There was something off about her demeanor now though. In