Page 1 of Despite Mortal Sins

Chapter One

Rukia’slungsburned.Withevery kick of her feet, even stroke of her arms, she went deeper into the pitch-black water. Night had fallen, decreasing visibility below the surface, but she didn’t flounder. Too much was at stake for her to fail.

She exhaled.

The bubbles kissed her lips in a sensual goodbye before floating toward the surface, a tiny trail of spheres meandering upward. Water rushed into her lungs in a riptide of sensation, filling her without delay, as she readied herself for the charge ahead.

Invigorated, Rukia flared her arms and hurtled toward the depths with the quickness of a sailfish. Breathing deeply of the liquid, she allowed her supernatural senses to permeate the churning waters around her. Time was of the essence.

Ten people, some of them children, were reported missing when they’d arrived. They’d found all but one, and Rukia wasn’t going to give up until she had an answer for that family.

As one of the nation’s leading Search and Rescue teams, Rukia and the other Elementals were often called to assist in natural disasters. When the Delta levee had failed, they’d been notified almost immediately.

Brianna, her mentee, was at the site of the damage, doing what she could to help sandbag against a further breech and covertly using her abilities to reduce the strain on volunteers. Stopping the raging flow of a ruptured levee was nearly impossible.

Unless you were a water Elemental.

Far above, Jeremiah hovered unseen as he camouflaged her movements and the way the water responded to her. His abilities wove through the very air itself, recoloring and reflecting as needed. Given the moonless night, visibility was already low, but Gideon has insisted they take every precaution.

Very few wind Elementals made their home in Paracel, and there were fewer still who could use their element to conceal large portions of real estate. With the dramatic increase in disasters as of late, Jeremiah had been called upon repeatedly in the last few weeks.

Though summer was in full swing, Rukia froze portions of the underwater current to limit the drain. Ice cracked and solidified beneath the surface, a comforting sound to her ears, as she swiftly redirected the water to inlets and underground rivers.

She didn’t need to communicate with Jeremiah the extent of her plan—they’d done this hundreds of times and there was little that’d take the other Elemental by surprise. When the colossal wall of water she built pushed upward and away from the spillway, it remained hidden from prying eyes.

Rukia’s relief lasted only moments before she surfaced and expelled the water from her lungs. Overhead, Jeremiah caught her gaze, then her intent.

Flooded farmland, already feet deep in ever-rising water, was her next task. With the spillage contained as much as supernaturally possible, Rukia had to redirect her attention to saving those in its path.

A minute later, she was wading waist deep into the water-logged grounds that’d been dry hours earlier. The first casualty had been a nearby farmhouse, swept off its aged foundation when the tumultuous waters began to rise.

The two adults that lived there, along with their two older children, had made it out. Their youngest daughter, Claire, had been playing outside when the disaster struck. She was still missing.

Rukia swam. With every stroke, she searched the waters ahead, the sense similar to echolocation. Prickly plants and debris scraped along her body, gauging when she searched too closely to the earth below. The small wounds were more a nuisance than anything, repaired almost instantly by her element.

In the shallow depths, she barely scratched the surface of her abilities. The deeper her descent into the water, the deeper the descent into herself.

Jeremiah, however, had been holding the camouflage for hours, and it required more significant energy on his part.

Scores of animals had taken refuge on higher ground, but her heart twisted with every small body she passed, hoping that it wouldn’t be the young girl she searched for. For the animals that were still alive, albeit wet or stranded, Rukia did what she could while keeping her attention on the search for Claire.

Fully surveying the affected area would take time they didn’t have. As minutes turned to hours, Rukia’s fear began to mount. When Gideon had made the call on who to deploy, she should’ve insisted on additional resources. He always preferred to keep a reserve of strong Elementals on hand in Paracel, but with only Jeremiah above and Brianna at the levee, she felt woefully underprepared for what she was facing.

Bringing Brianna had been important—not only for her assistance, but also for the experience—but Rukia needed more than one water Elemental to search such a large swath of ground.

It was only when the first hints of dawn began to lighten the eastern horizon that fate dealt her a good hand. She spied two small feet perched on a branch just below the water line.

Rukia’s head was out of the water within moments to confirm what she’d seen. There, clinging to a tree, was the six-year-old girl. Rukia could’ve wept with relief, her nose burning as she rose out of the murky waters. On instinct, the water that clung to her frame siphoned away, leaving her top half dry.

“Claire?”

Eyes wide with fear and trauma blinked up at Rukia from where she clung to the short tree. Small scratches abraded both cheeks, and her blonde hair was knotted and ragged. The little girl was soaked head to toe, and her princess t-shirt hung loosely off one pale shoulder.

Claire’s lower lip wobbled, and Rukia instantly had her arms around her. “Shhh, sweetheart, we’ve got you.”

Damp hair nestled beneath Rukia’s chin as little hands clutched at her. She hummed a nonsensical tune while she assessed the girl. Drenched, barefoot, and shivering, Claire nonetheless seemed to have avoided major injuries—and drowning.

Behind her, a muted splash signaled the arrival of Jeremiah, and his voice was yelling out for support only seconds later. He rounded her shoulder, his intense gaze focusing on the girl in her arms as he spoke softly. Holding her tightly, Rukia continued to hum the tune that erupted from her soul, withholding the tears of utter relief that burned behind her eyes.

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