"It's not broken. But it's definitely sprained."

"Maybe not too badly?" I inhaled sharply as Alex squeezed. I leaned against the railing beside the stairs for support, breathing shallowly. My ribs were on fire, like they were re-fractured. Again.

"Bad enough," he said as he stood from inspecting my ankle. "You must have come down on it wrong when you landed."

Landed like a bull plummeting into a china shop. My gaze shot over to the broken state of the bushes. Sorry little pines.

The wind had died down to an occasional gust, and apparently the danger was past if his decision to move us onto the sidewalk was any indication. He'd received a text while we were in the bushes, and shortly after that he helped me to where we now stood. I guessed it had been an "all clear" message.

Thinking the evening couldn't get any worse, I was adjusting the blanket he gave me tighter around my shoulders when the wind picked up overhead once again. Like the Lost Boys of Neverland had been shaken from the skies, a gust of air smelling of dry heat and sunny days swooped down, carrying within it mischievous, pre-adolescent echoes. Eyes wide with alarm, I wobbled closer to Alex when something dropped down on the sidewalk with us. Something person- shaped. Someone...see through.

What, er—who is that? I stared as the bare-chested young lad drew himself up with a seriousness about him, looking like a spirit whose feet never touched the ground. He wore not a stitch of clothing, though I could see how clothes would be impossible. His outline against the parking lot lights appeared loosely undefined, while the middle of his body was blurred about the waist—for modesty's sake, I assumed. I let out a little hiccup of surprise when another one dropped down to join the first.

Giving my fingers a reassuring squeeze, Alex addressed these strange newcomers, calling them by name: Justix and Ai. These two must have been "his people," the ones Alex said he called in to patrol the area. To protect me. They were reporting to him, addressing Alex with respect and calling him "my lord" as they spoke about driving off the threat, but being unable to capture him. The threat had been a he?

Even though the winds had chased away the fog that blanketed the area, the air was still heavily damp. The nighttime low had reached dew point, coating the grass in moisture, and I sucked in a quiet breath as I noticed how being outside in the dampness transformed Alex.

A fine mist collected so heavily upon him that large dewdrops of it clung to his skin, bejeweling his face, dark hair, neck, and bare arms, and—my throbbing ankle—it was beautiful. With his incredible blue eyes transformed, gone pupil-less, as he turned them upon me to gauge how I was doing, I knew with certainty that he was like Micah. Alex squinted as he took me in. And actually—

My attention returned to the other two, Justix specifically, the one who spoke like he was the head of Alex's security. Justix turned his gaze toward me. Large silver eyes, equally void of pupils, stared, narrowed but transfixed, and I wondered what he saw in me to make his expression so full of wonderment. The other one with him, Ai, also had the same strange eyes. But that was their only likeness to Alex and Micah. I stared at the ground, my confusion rising.

"They're similar to you and Micah," I said after their conversation ended and the two left, taking off for the sky with a downward push of air.

"And also you," Alex said with his eyebrows lifting. His eyes appeared normal now.

"Yeah, well, that's recently released information." I looked up at the sky, where the air was now still after the others had vanished.

"How recent?"

"A week. Well, a week tomorrow. Six days ago, so not quite a week yet...and wow can I ramble any longer?" I said through the painful throb of my ankle and side and a bout of exhaustion that was beginning to grip me. Unsurprising considering how very late it was. "I'm sorry. I've got a lot of catching up to do. I don't even know what you guys call yourselves."

"We are devvis," Alex provided without hesitation. "Just 'devvi' singularly."

"Devvi." I smiled, sure my expression was sad. How could I have gone a week not knowing this, let alone my entire life?

"There is no need to apologize for not knowing something that has been kept from you."

"Yeah, I know. Or, at least I should." It seemed silly to feel the need to apologize. "My mom wanted a normal life for me."

"She wanted you to have a human life."

"I guess. I never really thought of it that way." Then again, what could be so bad about a devvi life? So far, from what I'd seen, they seemed pretty amazing. At least Micah and Alex did, and those other two just now. They could fly!

"Judging from your awed expression, this was your first encounter with wind devvis."

"Yes, first time." Wind devvis, huh? Guess it made sense.

My gaze roved over Alex, taking in the moisture spotting him with a different perspective now that I was catching on to the element theme. His hair was always damp, his appearance one of having just stepped from the shower minutes before.

"Water devvi?" I surmised, and Alex gave a firm nod, seemingly pleased that I was able to figure it out.

Before I could stop it, a fine tremble traveled my spine as my thoughts touched upon what I knew of Micah's elemental nature: static, hot smelling, and almost—electrical. I unclenched my teeth and forced the inner quiver still. I need to see more of him before I can make that call.

"Fresh water," Alex expanded for me, appearing to take no notice of my brush with angst just now. "Father's ancestry lies in the Roman Aqueducts, and my mom was a Lake Erie siren," he said, formally of the first and informally of the latter.

His emotional signature softened for the briefest moment when he spoke of his mother, exposing a whisper of core-deep pain, which vanished with a self-conscious blink. He looked away then, across the parking lot to where everyone at the movie had parked their cars.

Shifting against the railing, I glanced back at the theater. "You're still taking me home?"

"I can't very well return you to your friend, broken as you are."

"You said my ankle isn't broken."

"It isn't. But that's not the point."

The point was I was hurt, and it happened on his watch. I looked up at the steps I'd fallen off, thinking it wasn't his fault. He had been doing what he thought was necessary. I was the one who had complicated things. And he protected me, regardless.

My face warmed, recalling the weight of his body on mine in the bushes. I was just now wondering where he had gotten the dark colored blanket wrapped around me. I didn't remember seeing him carrying anything when he approached me outside the restroom. It was as if he pulled the slippery, lightweight cloth from thin air.

With my gaze fixed on the steepness of the staircase, I said, "Reese isn't so good with steps, and not hurting herself in general."

My worry must have shown on my face, as Alex offered, "I can assign someone to watch over her."

"You would do that?"

"I will if it'll make it easier for you to come with me."

"It would," I nodded, deciding not to argue. If he could guarantee Reese's safety, then I had no issue with letting him take me home.

"Then it's settled." Without seeming to think about it, he touched the top of my hand.

A shiver ran up his arm, as if his skin was recognizing the direct contact with mine. His earlier words came back to me: maybe we can figure out this baffling intensity together. Yeah, there was that, too. There was still the need to figure out what it was that attracted us so strongly to one another.

Removing his hand with a look of intrigue I was sure was mirrored in my own expression, he withdrew his phone from his back pocket and made a call. After a brief exchange, it was decided the second wind devvi, Ai, would watch over Reese.

I smiled my acceptance of this and pushed away from the railing, intending to walk to the parked cars, but the pain was immediate when I put weight on my sprained ankle.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Alex said as I gasped.

"Wait! You don't need to—"

"Yes, actually I do." He grinned from inches away after easily scooping me up. Somehow he managed to keep the blanket between us so we weren't making skin-to-skin contact. He started across the parking lot with me wiggling in protest.

-----------------------------------------

A name reveal, at last! Or rather, a terminology reveal: DEVVI.  I did a lot of research, going through various books on obscure creatures, old world civilizations, a book on Buffy the Vampire Slayer monsters (haha, shrugs) before I pinned down the term devvi for my elementals.

VOTE if research is important to the stories you write as well ;)