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

when Penny panicked and slammed on the brakes. The front end of the car went down with the force of the stop. The seatbelt pulled tightly against my stomach as my head tried to hit the dashboard. “HUngh.” I wheezed as the air squeezed out of me. The cyclist popped a wheelie, and the car groaned as his front wheel landed heavily on the hood. We both pressed ourselves back in our seats reflexively as he accelerated, driving the rest of the way over us at a breakneck speed.

We turned around in our seats, hoping to spot his license plate, but even though we could hear his motor revving we couldn’t pinpoint the direction he had gone. I looked over at Penny as I slowly let out a breath. Her knuckles were white as they gripped the steering wheel in a viselike grip. Her eyes were open wide, and she didn’t appear to be blinking or breathing. “FOR GOD’S SAKE, BREATH PENNY” I yelled in a panic, reaching over and shaking her by the shoulder closest to me. Penny suddenly gasped for air and then let it out. Her whole body seemed to collapse in on itself like a punctured balloon, before she started shivering uncontrollably. She must be in shock, I thought to myself as I watched her shiver.

“It’s ok Penny, you did good” I said trying to sound calm and reassuring, of course my voice cracked in the middle which kind of ruined the sound of authority that I was going for. I waited another few minutes while I looked around the car for a blanket or something to wrap around her, but being that it was June, there was nothing of the sort in the car. I sighed, “move over Penny, I’m going to drive us home” I said finally when it became clear Penny wasn’t going to regain motor control for the next while. Penny didn’t respond and I worried that I was going to have to maneuver her big hunking man-form into the passenger side by myself. She suddenly took a shuddering breath or two and said, “No, I’ve got this… just... give me another second.” That second took about twenty minutes, before Penny started the engine and got back on the highway, driving the rest of the way home cautiously with multiple detours to lose any more tails. Both of us were on edge until we arrived back home. Penny parked and I let out a relieved sigh. Whoever that guy was, it seemed we had lost him.

“I think Ben sent that guy,” Penny said, when we were safely in the house. “I think he’s been sending people after me to harass me.”

In my head it sounded very plausible. However, I didn't want to confirm her suspicions and freak her out even more, so instead I said, “It could have been any lunatic Penny. ” I added an extra dose of confidence trying sound more reassuring. “Whoever he is, this is not your fault.”

“I should have just told him I was a shifter from the start,” she muttered dejectedly. “I just didn’t realize how much it would matter to him”

“Look Penny,” I said, worried about where her thought process was heading, “It was a mistake not to be upfront from the beginning, but that doesn’t mean you deserve to be harassed. If Ben really is behind this behavior, I think it’s a good thing you broke up. Decent human beings don’t treat each other like that.”

Penny nodded in understanding, but I could see from her expression that she wasn’t convinced.

Chapter 5

A few days passed, everything seemed back to normal. Late nights at work, early morning crashing, bickering and laughing with Penny in between.  Saturday night rolled around, and the bar was especially crowded. A man sat on my bar stool early in the night. He never flagged me for a drink, he just sat there casing the place, and occasionally giving me side glances. I thought maybe he was just a shy first timer, so I gave him some space. Several hours passed, and I waited expectantly, but he never ordered a mercury either. I normally wouldn’t have minded, but I was still shook up from the motorcycle incident, plus I was expecting a special customer who still hadn’t shown.

I stalked over to him, finally saying firmly but not unkindly, “we reserve these seats for paying customers sir, there is a two drink minimum. Either honor it, or it is time to leave.”

The man looked up at me and sneered. Grabbing my arm in a grip that was a little too tight, he pulled me close and said in a harsh growl, “tell Penny it’s time to leave town, It’s kind isn’t welcome here.” He let me go as I pulled away, causing me to stumble back. “Oh, and let Penny know that Ben sends his regards,” He added. I raised my hand to call over Allan, the bouncer, but the guy was already making his way to the exit. I shook off my unease and went back to serving customers. I hoped no one told Penny about the unwanted visitor before I could speak to her about it privately. That guy had clearly been waiting for me to approach him, maybe hoping I would make a scene. It looked like Penny had been right after all about Ben hiring people to harass us. I sighed, we probably needed to come up with a plan soon before things got out of hand.

Ten minutes later Jerry Donovan sat down in the reserved seat. Jerry acted as a notorious middleman for anyone who would pay him well enough. He had been doing this since middle school, and the only thing that had changed since then was his scraggly facial hair. It was possible that Ben had paid him to come harass us as well.

I muttered in exasperation before briskly walking over. “Are you ordering a shot?” I demanded, “or are