This assignment would take patience.

Gareth pulled a few more pages from his stack. “And these young men?”

Silver glanced at them. “I know nothing more than you see there. Seth Ramsey isn’t a pure Elemental—and he’s on some kind of probation or house arrest due to an incident with Becca Chandler. He’s a minor, so the records were sealed. Tyler Morgan isn’t a pure Elemental, either. His sister died five years ago—and it’s rumored that Michael Merrick had a hand in it.”

“I know Tyler Morgan.”

Silver’s eyebrows went up.

Gareth shrugged. “His family was quite vocal about the Merricks at one point. I assume that hasn’t changed?”

Silver shook his head. “I had no time to observe him.”

“And the only Elemental to be destroyed so far was Kate Sul-livan.” Gareth glanced up. “Your trainee.”

“Collateral damage. Kate lost sight of our goal here.”

Gareth nodded. “It happens.”

And it did. Not often, luckily, but their connection to human-ity sometimes left them vulnerable to the weaknesses of others.

Silver had been doing this long enough to have lost any em-pathy for humans.

So had Gareth.

He gathered his papers and slipped them back into his briefcase. “Are you ready to get out of here?”

Silver nodded. “What is our plan?”

Gareth stood. “Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Make it look like you’re having trouble breathing.”

One thing Silver had always been good at—following orders.

He pressed a panicked hand to his throat and sucked in a long rush of air.

Gareth’s power latched on to that air, feeling it move into Silver’s lungs, making them expand, exchanging oxygen for carbon dioxide.

Silver felt that power. His eyes snapped open.

“Again,” Gareth said, keeping his voice even, reassuring. His power filled the air in the room. This was all part of his plan.

“I’m going to call for help in a moment.”

Another breath.

“One more,” said Gareth. He moved toward the door. “Hold it. Pretend you can’t breathe.”

Silver inhaled, a breath full of Gareth’s power. He held it.

Gareth gave the element a little push, quadrupling the pressure inside Silver’s chest. He felt the other man’s shock. His sudden fear. His pain.

But his death was silent. Air rushed out of his mouth, but it was too late.

Once his lungs burst, he couldn’t make a sound. He collapsed forward onto the table.

“Forgive me,” said Gareth. “A dirty trick, I know. Thank you for your years of service.”

Silver was drooling on the table. He wasn’t dead yet, but it wouldn’t be long.

“What did you call Kate’s death?” said Gareth. “Collateral damage?” He leaned close. “Funny. I call it failure.”

CHAPTER 1

Nick Merrick set a wide piece of flagstone into the sand, shifting it back and forth to lock it in place. Despite the late October chill in the air, the sun beat down on his back, making him regret his long-sleeved black T-shirt. He pulled the red Merrick Landscaping cap off his head to wipe sweat away with his forearm. His hair was already damp, and he still had half a path to finish.

He yanked the hat back on and fed some power into the air, asking for a breeze.

The wind was overly happy to accommodate, sending a gust through the trees to scatter leaves and blow sand into the grass.

Nick swore.

Quinn shivered and huddled down in her fleece pullover.

“Frigging wind.”

Nick glanced at her. She was sitting on the slate stone bench his older brother had installed yesterday. “Cold? Go sit in the truck.”

“But I’m helping you.”

Nick smiled. She hadn’t left the bench since they’d gotten here. “Oh. Okay. I didn’t realize you were helping.”

“Not with the landscaping. I can barely pick those rocks up.”

She turned to lie flat on the bench, letting long blond hair fall almost to the grass. She stretched one leg up to the sky. Next she’d be pulling it back toward her chest and putting her ankle next to her ear. Crazy dancer. “I’m helping you keep up illusions.”

Illusions. Nick lost the smile and flung another stone into place. “Are you sure you’re not avoiding going home?”

“Okay, so maybe we’re helping each other.”

He made a noncommittal noise and reached for another stone.

“Seriously,” said Quinn. “Your brother gave you crap for bringing me along, didn’t he?”

“Not really.” And Michael hadn’t. If Gabriel or Chris had tried to drag a girl along on a job, Michael would have pitched a fit. But Nick was the dependable one. When he’d mentioned that Quinn was riding along, his older brother hadn’t batted an eye.

Then again, Nick had told Michael a little about Quinn’s epic fights with her mom, which seemed to have gotten worse since her family’s home was destroyed in a fire. Maybe Michael was cutting her some slack, too.

“Huh,” said Quinn. “Maybe I should accidentally leave panties in your room or something.”

“You don’t need to do that.”

“You sound pissed.”

Nick put another rock into place and rolled the tension from his shoulders. “I’m not. I’m just . . . you don’t need to go over the top.”