The Elementals by Annalynne Thorne

questioned.
                The line died, a dead dial tone in its place.
                "Terra? Are you okay? You're green."
                She swallowed, but there was no saliva to coat her dry and scratchy throat. "He has Ian."
                “ Who has Ian?”
                “ Him . The one you won't tell us about.”
                Despite the element fire being present in the room, it turned frigid as the arctic. He could have warmed it if he wanted, but he sat there like he was made out of ice.
                “I don't have any more time..." He was speaking to himself, but he was far from mumbling.
                “You have to tell us now,” she demanded, urgent and frazzled. That voice on the line echoed in her head, taunting her, challenging her to do something. She would not back down, she would save him.
                He clenched her arms, pleading silently with her to be calm, but it was far too late for that. He simply said, “You’re right. I do.”
                Unwanted images ran amok in her mind. Images of Ian with Bryne's wounds and scars. Of him being scared, alone, defenseless. He could've been screaming for someone to save him, possibly her, and she wasn't there.
                Worst of all, it was her fault. If she had run after him, done something... If she begged him to stay even, he might not have gone. Because of her, an innocent love-sick human was going to die. Because of whom she was.
                "Marissa! Era!" Terra felt dizzy from the scenes her mind was creating. "Ian's in trouble." Ian was going to die. Because of her….

Chapter Eleven
Strike A Match at Two

    She groaned, hating all of the terrible analogies her mind formed and how it all could be linked together.

                It was typical of Marissa to take the blame on herself. She saw Ian at the house, but she didn't see him being kidnapped. As hard as she tried while sitting on the floor in front of the couch, she couldn't see anything else. In Bryne's opinion it was pointless to have tried; she was never able to control her visions or empathy. Any tricks they had read and tried was of no avail. She buried her head in her hands, rocking back and forth.
                "It's not your fault," Terra reassured for what felt like the hundredth time.
                "Why can't I ever see anything that is important?"
                Era sat next to her, gently restraining her to the wall to keep her still. This had to be done frequently as a precaution against her falling into her natural instinct to morph into a puddle of water. "It's not controllable, we understand. No one blames you."
                Marissa shook her head hard, her hair slapping her face, strands stuck to the streaks her tears were leaving. "I blame myself." She wheezed, "it's... All... My... Fault... He's... In... There." She hiccupped, "sorry.”
                Bryne finally told them who the danger had been. It was an elder man by the name of Hadrian. There were many people within the Kin and it wasn't of any amazement that none of the girls had heard of them, even with Aunt Gwen in the group.
                Fire told them all that he knew of the man. Hadrian was power hungry; he desired control of everyone. Of course, by then, they knew that. What they didn't know was that he had his own powers. Era, Marissa, Bryne, and Terra, they were all gifted, and only like a good villain could be, he was too. He had greater manipulation of movement than them. Than any of the Kin.
                Terra stood and began pacing, forming a plan in her head. "Pull yourself together, Issa. We need you." She was beginning to rethink her primary decision to take her out of school in the middle of her day. She was already thinking that it was a bad action to tell her about what happened to Ian, the