by Wendi Wilson
He laughed, tilting his head back with closed eyes. The sound made me warm and tingly all over, a little bit of normalcy going a long way to ease my tense nerves. When Easton returned his attention to me, his smile matched my own.
“There it is,” he said, his blue eyes shining. “I missed that smile.”
“Thank you for this,” I murmured.
“It’s my pleasure.”
There was a vibration in his voice on that last word, an almost-growl that I was sure I imagined until I looked up and saw his aura. It was the same color as my own, according to his description, a dark pink color that bordered on mauve.
I dropped my sandwich and lunged forward, wrapping my arms around his neck to delve my fingers into his silky hair. Our lips met, hard and hungry, the kiss feeling as essential as the air I breathed. I needed Easton. I needed to be held by him. To be loved by him.
His hands snaked around my back, pulling me forward until I straddled his lap, our chests pressed together. His tongue caressed mine and mine his, an artful dance that made the heat between us rise even more. I moaned and he returned the sound, one hand slipping up into my hair to grip it loosely in his fist.
That’s when it started to rain.
I broke off our kiss, lifting my face toward the ceiling. Fat droplets of water pelted us, despite the fact that we were inside the glass conservatory. I laughed, lowering my gaze to Easton’s face, but he wasn’t looking at me.
I followed his line of sight and barely suppressed a groan of frustration. There, hovering less than an inch above the water in the lazy stream, was a tornado of blue-green fire. Just like the one I’d created in the gym.
A lustnado.
Steam rose from the water, gathering into a thick fog above our heads. Droplets rained down as the fog cooled, our hair and clothes quickly becoming damp.
As I watched, the fire dissipated and the steam-cloud cleared. I slid from Easton’s lap and buried my face in my hands. Frustration and disappointment coursed through me.
“I can’t even make out with my boyfriend because of these stupid, out of control abilities,” I groaned.
“Hey,” Easton said, resting a palm on my shoulder, “it’s okay. You’ll get it under control.”
“When?” I demanded, meeting his eyes. “How long will it take and what havoc will I wreak in the meantime?”
“You’re not wreaking havoc,” he said, his fingers massaging the tension in my shoulder. “It’s normal for Sylphs just coming into their powers to have little to no control over them.”
“Normal? Normal Sylphs don’t black out and float in the air without using their wings. Normal Sylphs don’t knock everyone down with wind every time they lose their tempers.” I threw my hand out, pointing toward the stream. “Normal Sylphs don’t conjure lustnados every time they kiss their boyfriends.”
He tilted his head to one side, saying, “You’re right. You’re not normal.”
“Thank you,” I said, but the words came out harsh with self-loathing.
“You’re extraordinary, December. Not only are you powerful, but you are kind and generous, respectful of those around you, and you have a strong sense of the difference between right and wrong. All of those qualities combined make you who you are. Never forget that.”
“I won’t,” I promised, relaxing a little.
I just hoped it was a promise I could keep.
“The lustnado strikes again!”
After leaving Easton, I headed straight to the room I shared with Shaela. After chastising me for knocking, it was technically my room too even though I wasn’t staying there, she ushered me inside. We sat on my old bed and I told her everything. At the end, she’d pumped a fist in the air and shouted that bit about the lustnado.
I couldn’t help but laugh. God, I missed living in the same room with her.
“It’s not funny, Shaela,” I said, pushing the words out around my own smile.
“It’s kind of funny,” she argued, her tinkling giggles filling the air around us.
“What am I supposed to do? Cris was sure it was just anger that set off my destructive magic. I have to tell him what happened today.”
The thought of describing my make-out session with my mentor-slash-professor had my face heating with mortification. I could only imagine that he’d be as averse to hearing the details as I was to telling them.
“It’ll be fine,” Shaela assured me. “I’m sure Cris knows what it feels like to be young and in love.” She clasped her hands in front of her and mock-swooned before straightening. “Just gloss over the details of what you and Easton were doing and focus on the lustnado part.”
I felt better. Just like I knew I would after visiting my bestie.
“I miss you,” I said, my tone turning a little sad and sappy.
“Come home,” she urged. “Just pack your stuff and get back here. Everything will be fine. I just know it will. I miss you, too.”
I swallowed against my weakening resolve, shaking my head. It was too risky.
“I can’t, Shaela. Not yet.”
“I understand,” she said.
But she didn’t look like she understood. She looked disappointed, and sad, and frustrated with my choices. I knew the feeling, but I had to stand my ground. I had to resist.
I would never forgive myself if I accidentally hurt her.
“So how are things with Charles?” I asked after clearing my throat and putting on a happy façade.
A blissful expression lit up Shaela’s face, her cheeks pinkening and her eyes sparkling. I’d asked the right question, and spent the next hour or so getting all the details of her budding romance with Charles Everest.
We laughed, we snacked on her stash of chocolate bars, and we gossiped until I could barely hold my eyes open any longer. After saying goodbye and giving her an extra-long hug, I headed to my own room. The empty, lonely space stood out in sharp contrast to the time I’d just spent with my best friend.
I had to figure out my powers and get them under control. And I had to do it as quickly as possible.
Chapter Forty-Eight
15
Explaining the lustnado to Cris was slightly more embarrassing than I had even imagined it would be. His smooth complexion darkened with his own discomfort, and he quickly waved it off with a hand as he gave me his back and pretended to straighten a mat on the floor with his foot.
“We’ll just assume that any heightened emotion will work to amplify your powers,” he said, turning back to face me. “For now, let’s focus on the anger. That is the emotion that seems to trigger the most destruction.”
I internally flinched at his choice of words, but I could tell by his expression that he didn’t mean it as an insult. It was just a fact. A puzzle for him to help me solve.
“Okay,” I said. “What should we do first?”
“Who triggers your anger the most?”
“Tiana,” I said without pause.
Cris cocked his head to the side, his blue eyes studying me.
“Are you sure? There’s no one else?”
I thought about it for a moment, swallowing against the lump that tried to form in my throat. Gretchen and Todd Holt flashed through my mind.
“My foster parents,” I said, my voice quavering on the last word.
“Why do they make you angry?” Cris asked.
“Because they treated me like trash. Gretchen constantly doled out punishments for imagined infractions and Todd…”
I trailed off, unable to finish. Unable to say the words out loud, that Todd had made disgusting advances toward me and had attempted to push his way into my room to molest me. Thank heavens I escaped through the window before he was able to bust into my bedroom. I came to Oberon Academy the very next day.
“I can sense disappointment. Resentment. Even a little sadness. But not an inordinate amount of anger.”
“What, can you read people’s emotions, like Finn?” I asked.
Cris laughed. “No, just plai
n, old, everyday empathy.” He narrowed his eyes, pinning me with raw intensity. “Who are you really angry with, December?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” I said, discomfort trickling through me.
“I think you do know,” he said, taking a step closer. “Who are you angry with?”
His voice grew in volume with each word, and I nearly shouted back that I was angry with him for being such a dick. But I bit my tongue instead, taking deep breaths through my nostrils as the aforementioned anger welled up inside me.
“Tell me,” he ordered, his voice slicing through me like a whip. “Tell me who makes you so mad, you want to destroy everything around you in one fell swoop.”
I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, an erratic thump-thump-thump that made the blood whoosh through my ears. My face flashed hot and I swallowed thickly. Sucking in a deep breath, I shouted my answer.
“My parents! They made me, then deserted me on the steps of a freaking library. A little baby, alone in the world, not knowing who I am. What I am. They. Left. Me.”
My anger swelled with those last three words, and with it came a boom so loud that Cris dropped to the floor in surprise. I didn’t even flinch, my mind swirling with thoughts of my deadbeat parents and their lousy choices.
Wind rushed through the room before swirling around me. I felt my feet leave the floor as electricity sparked across my skin.
“They could have kept me. They could have given me to someone they trusted, who would raise me as their own and tell me all about my mom and dad. But no.”
I opened my clenched fists and lightning streaked from my palms. Once the energy dissipated, twin scorch marks were left on the mat below me.
“All I have is a threadbare baby blanket. A generic scrap of material is the only memento I have of them.”
“December.”
Cris’s voice cut through the haze of my anger, and I blinked a few times before meeting his eyes.
“Don’t let it go,” he said quickly. “Try to harness it. Don’t try to work against it, but with it.”
Listening to his words, I let the power flow through me. I willed myself to the floor, my feet touching down softly against the mat. The electricity running across my skin subsided a bit, dulling from an itchy annoyance to a somewhat pleasant tingle.
I stretched out my right arm, palm up, and focused all the energy there. The air spinning around me eased until it was twirling solely through my digits. A small tornado grew from my palm up toward the ceiling, growing longer and fuller as I pumped more energy into it.
With a single thought, I sent the cyclone of air away from me, toward Cris. He stiffened as it swirled around him, then barked out a laugh when his body lifted off the ground. I let the air go, setting him back on his feet.
I dropped to my knees, breathing hard after the exertion. A shadow fell over me and I looked up, meeting Cris’s blue-eyed stare.
“That was amazing,” he said, squatting down to sit on his heels. “You are amazing, December.”
“I did it,” I breathed.
“You did,” he confirmed, his voice filled with something that sounded like awe. “Do you think you could do it again?”
I stood with a nod, determined to ignore my exhaustion. I focused all my remaining energy on conjuring another tornado, but all I could manage was a light breeze.
My shoulders slumped as I said, “I’m too tired.”
For a split second, I thought he might argue, but a resigned expression crossed his face instead. He placed a comforting hand on my shoulder and gave me a smile.
“You go get some rest,” he said. “Good work today.”
We parted ways in the hall outside the gym and I somehow managed to sludge my way to my barren, lonely room. Collapsing on the bed, I fell asleep almost instantly, thoughts of whirling dervishes dancing through my head.
“So, going with the theory that being a Zephyr doesn’t automatically equate to being evil, what do you think motivates them to hold dominion over the humans? Why wouldn’t they just heal all the land and return things to the way they’ve always been? We explored the option of Queen Sebille using her power to control them all, but what are some other possibilities?”
Cris posed the question at the beginning of our next sociology class, and you could have heard a pin drop in the resulting silence. No one wanted to bite, content to believe that all Zephyrs are merciless creatures determined to rule the world.
“Maybe it’s fear,” I called out when it looked like no one else was going to answer.
“Fear?” he said, giving me an encouraging nod.
“Well, it’s a tale as old as time, right? The monarch holds all the power. She controls the army, and the army keeps the subjects in line, enforcing her edicts. Maybe the Zephyrs don’t want to subjugate the humans, but fear of the repercussions keeps them from making their own choices.”
Cris smiled, his dimples popping out. He opened his mouth to respond to my theory, but another voice rang out, cutting him off.
“Or maybe the Zephyrs are smart, and they know the stupid humans would just destroy the Earth all over again.”
Several sharp intakes of breath echoed through the classroom at Tiana’s words. I knew the barbed words were solely for my benefit, because she still thought I was half-human. I could see it as her navy eyes landed on me. She was pissed that I’d gotten such a positive reaction from Cris with my answer.
She was jealous.
“Wow, you sound like you’re pro-Zephyr, Ms. Avery,” Cris said, giving her a thoughtful look. “Would you like to expound?”
Tiana blushed. She’d obviously blurted the words before she thought about them, and was trying to come up with a way to backtrack.
“No,” she said, he gaze darting around the room. “No. I, uh, didn’t mean that. I just meant maybe the Zephyrs keep control because they’re afraid the humans will repeat history.”
“So they aren’t evil? They’re just protecting the planet?”
Easton’s soft chuckle sounded in my ears as Cris asked the questions, keeping Tiana in the hot seat. One side of my mouth ticked up and my eyes slid to Shaela, who was outright smiling, teeth and all. Tiana tried to stutter out another rebuttal, but Cris cut her off.
“Anyone else have a theory?”
“Maybe Sebille has them all brainwashed.”
I turned in my seat to face Easton. He cocked his head and shrugged before returning his gaze to Cris and continuing.
“Maybe she’s not using fear to control them. Maybe she is using her Glamour to make all Zephyrs think they’re doing the right thing. If they think they’re helping, that the humans need what they’re giving and it’s the only way, that doesn’t make them evil or cowards. It makes them decent people who’ve been tricked.”
I raised my eyebrows at him before spinning back to face forward. I had the biggest grin on my face, but I couldn’t help it. Easton had always been so anti-Zephyr, believing the worst of them and naysaying anyone who suggested otherwise.
Until he found out I was half-Zephyr.
I’d feared that he would turn his back on me. Dump me and revile me due to my heritage. But the opposite had happened. He embraced the dark side of me, making me want to embrace it, too.
And it made me love him even more.
Chapter Forty-Nine
16
“Okay, use your wings to hover in the air, then lean forward as you flap them to move.”
I followed Easton’s instructions, trying my best to ignore the stares I felt burning into my back. After the last fiasco with me showing my wings during gym, I was reluctant to try again, but Easton had insisted. I needed to learn some combat maneuvers. I didn’t have a choice.
Concentrating on keeping myself airborne, I tilted my shoulders down and I shot forward a few feet. I straightened and my momentum stopped, bringing me to a halt. I grinned at Easton, who returned my smile.
“That is so awesome!”
I’d spent so mu
ch time and energy trying to keep my wings hidden, I had never actually tried to use them before. Flying was exhilarating, and I quickly learned how to control my speed and direction with a twist of my body.
I was having so much fun, the hour zipped by before I knew it. Easton waved me toward him, and my feet touched down lightly on the floor next to his.
“You did great,” he said.
“Thanks, but we never tried any actual combat moves,” I said, giving him an apologetic look.
“That’s okay,” he said. “You were having so much fun, I didn’t want to spoil it for you. Besides, you have to learn to fly before you learn to fight.”
I started to respond, but a hard thump against my back knocked me to the floor before I could get a word out.
“Oops.”
I rolled onto my side, my wings aching from the impact, to see Tiana standing over me. She had her fists braced on her hips, her navy wings spread out behind her. Aubrey, as usual, stood by her side.
I climbed to my feet, ignoring the discomfort in my back. Easton stood at my back and said Tiana’s name in an impatient voice, ready to lay into her for basically attacking me. And I had no doubt that it was no accident.
I held up a hand, though, cutting him off. I needed to deal with this myself.
“I think you owe me an apology,” I said, keeping my voice as calm as possible.
Why the hell was she not of afraid of me? I’d lost control with her on more than one occasion, and any normal person would steer clear. It was like she wanted me to lose it, to prove how dangerous I was, and whatever injury she might incur in the process was worth it to her.
“I don’t owe you shit, human freak,” she spat.
Aubrey, true to form, giggled at her words. Tiana’s mouth pulled up into a self-satisfied smirk as other students gathered loosely around us. I looked from left to right, but there was no sign of Ms. Jeannie, our teacher, anywhere in the gym.
Tiana moved closer, her face morphing into an ugly scowl.