Air: Elementalist Book 1 by Rebecca Wolf (christmas read aloud .TXT) 📗

Penny handed me her phone with his business’s number.

I dialed and waited until the receptionist answered. “Ember industries, how may I direct your call?” she said with polished fluency.

“Yes, hi, can you please put me through to Aiden Ember?”

“Who might I say is calling?” she asked.

“Zephyr,” I replied.

“Is he expecting your call?” she inquired, suddenly sounding a little more chilly

“Um, no...” I said, feeling uncomfortably unsure. Goddamit, where was my backbone?

There was a tangible pause.

“One moment please,” she said.

Elevator music played. A few minutes passed. This was such a bad idea. I should hang up now before he has the chance to pick up. Not that he would pick up. Even if he WAS there, which he probably wasn’t, I had told him never to contact me, and now I’m calling him expecting him to answer? What am I doing?? I was about to push the end button when I heard his voice on the line.

“Yes?” he inquired.

“Aiden this is Zephyr,” I said, trying to figure out how to begin this conversation.

“Yes, I am aware of with whom I am speaking,” he responded.

“I, uh, I have reconsidered our relationship, and after some deliberation, I have decided that I would like to pursue an alliance with you.” Shit. I had the sudden realization that I should have written this entire conversation out before calling, instead of winging it like an idiot.

“I see.” was all he said.

There was a pause.

“So, are you still interested?” I asked while wondering if I sounded too desperate.

“And what brought about this change of heart?” he asked voice as cold as ice. “It was my understanding just a couple of days ago that you wanted nothing to do with me.”

Does he know about Jonathan? I thought wildly, how much should I tell him about my situation?

“Can’t a girl just have a change of heart?” I asked hopefully.

“Cut the crap, Zephyr, or I will hang up the phone, and then where will you be?”

Well, that answered that question, I thought sardonically. Apparently he knew enough.

“I need this alliance with you to protect me from Jonathan Cole,” I said, dropping all pretense.

“What’s wrong with Jonathan Cole?” He asked pleasantly. “He seems a nice enough man, and his family is very philanthropic from what I hear.”

I sucked in a breath. That was a low blow. I wanted to hang up on him so badly it was a visceral need. This conversation sucked.

“You know exactly what is wrong with him, Aiden, don’t pretend that you haven’t figured it out.”

“Why don’t you just tell him you’re his half-sister? Have a nice little family reunion.”

“I will not be beholden to that family,” I gritted out, inwardly seething.

“Well, it sounds like you’re in a real bind, Zephyr. In fact, it sounds like you might even be desperate.”

“Don’t act like you won’t be getting anything out of this alliance, Aiden. How old are you? Twenty-four? It’s not like you have very many options.” I exclaimed, “and time is not on your side.”

“That may be,’’ he answered, “but I can easily form an alliance with at least two other air elementals. I don’t need you specifically to ensure that I survive. You, on the other hand, need my protection if you want to get out from under Jonathan’s thumb. Jonathan will undoubtedly drop the charges rather than go to war with my family over you.”

I was quiet. It was all true. At this point, I needed him a lot more than he needed me.

“What do you want, Aiden?” I asked.

“I want an apology,” he snapped, “I want you to admit you were wrong and sound sincere about it.”

GRRRRRR

“I’m sorry Aiden,” I said, each word feeling like I was pulling teeth. “I was wrong.”

“Excellent. Apology accepted.”

Oh my God his arrogance knew no bounds.

“Here’s how this is going to go.” Aiden directed, “you will meet with me and my lawyers at my office within the next twenty-four hours to discuss an alliance. If you do not appear, I will release the exact same footage that Jonathan has acquired to the enforcers myself. Either way you won’t have to worry about dear Jonathan anymore.”

I was so angry I saw black. How dare he make me apologize, and then have the audacity to blackmail me as well????”

“I hope you die miserable and alone!” I spat out bitterly, unable to control my rage.

“I know. You made that pretty clear the other night. It's surprisingly heartening to know that hasn't changed.”

“Twenty-four hours is barely enough time to get authorization to leave my jurisdiction, let alone travel to your place of business!”

“Not my problem, sweetheart,” he said, his tone smug. there was a click.  He had just hung up on me.

Penny looked at me with concern. “That really didn’t sound good.”

“ He’s blackmailing me, Penny! With the same damn information that Jonathan is using about my smuggling operation! That phone call was probably the biggest mistake of my life!” I started to hyperventilate. This was much worse than I ever thought possible.

Penny put her hands on my shoulders and put her face directly in mine. “Breathe, Zephy. Look at me and breath.” I met her stare. Her eyes were warm and comforting. “ I got your back, Zephy. We will figure this out, I promise.” Something about the way she said that made me believe her.

“You don’t need those authorizations to leave the No-Go Zone,” She reassured me. “ This is just like your smuggling gigs. fly over their security border. Make sure Jonathan’s men don’t see you leave. Just another day at the office, right?”

“Yes, but Penny, my smuggling operations always take place at night. It’s not the same during the day.”

Penny gave me a look, “Girl, please. You are so much more talented than you let yourself believe.”

“Can you help me distract Jonathan’s men?” I asked

“Sure thing,” she said, giving me a hug. “They won’t even know what hit them.”

Chapter 14

Aiden was sitting at the conference table together with his lawyer, Stevens, when I