“Rick’s dead,” she continued, not hearing him. “He’s dead!”
“Yes.” Exos didn’t flinch, just continued to stare her down. “Come on, princess. Hit me.”
“I hate you,” she said, tears glistening in her eyes. She opened her palms, unleashing an impressive stream of fire that I caught and absorbed before it could hit Exos. Another blast left her hands, weaker than the first one, followed by a third and a fourth until her knees gave out beneath her on a cry. I grabbed her before she could fall, catching her against my torso and holding her tight.
Exos met my gaze, his expression unreadable. “Welcome to the team, Titus.”
Titus
“You’ll fit right in at the Academy,” Elana said, smiling from the entryway. “Shall we eat? The food is getting cold.” She gestured for us to follow her, but Claire seemed unable to move.
“In a minute,” I replied, running my fingers through her hair.
Elana’s eyes grinned as she nodded and disappeared.
“What just happened?” Claire whispered, shaking against me.
“You expunged some built-up power.” My lips brushed her forehead, something that seemed to happen without my permission but felt right. “And I absorbed it.”
She gasped, pulling back to look me over, her gaze wild. “D-did I hurt you? Exos?”
“We’re fine.” I cupped her cheek. “I just wanted to show you how to channel your emotions into your gifts, to control it better.”
She shook, more tears glistening in her eyes. “I don’t understand what’s happening to me.” She swallowed, clearing her throat and letting out a sad little laugh. “God, I’ve never felt
so emotional in my life. You must think I’m a wreck.”
“No, I think you were stolen from your world and placed in a land you never knew existed. Pretty sure I’d feel the same if someone put me in the Human Realm.” I chuckled at the thought and shook my head. “I’d destroy, like, everything.”
She blinked. “You would?”
“Oh yeah. My power is barely contained here. Around mortals? I’d be like a firestorm.”
Her lips twitched, a funny look gleaming in her eyes.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing.” But that look didn’t go away. If anything, it intensified.
“Tell me,” I encouraged her, curious as hell.
“You… You sound like a superhero from one of those movies.” She giggled, her palm lifting to cover her lips, but a laugh escaped between her fingers. “Firestorm.” Her eyes crinkled, her shoulders shaking. “Oh God.” A burst of sound came from her, something I enjoyed much more than her shrieking and crying. And I couldn’t help joining her even though I didn’t quite grasp the joke. I just really, really liked that sound.
“Sorry,” she said, wiping the tears from her eyes. “God, I feel insane. All of this. I just don’t even know what to do, how to react… anything.”
“Well, I vote we start by trying to eat dinner,” I suggested, gesturing to the dining area. “Unless you’d prefer fighting more pixies?”
“Pixies?” she repeated.
“The fairies that tried to guide you to the dining room.”
“Oh.” She scrunched her forehead. “Is that what you meant about a path to follow?”
I shook my head. “No, I meant for you to trace my essence of fire.” I trailed a line of fire along her forearm to her hand, causing her lips to part on a big O. “But it seems the pixies were eager for you to join us. They don’t want the food to get cold.”
“Right,” she whispered. “Okay.”
“Okay, you want to eat? Or okay, you understand?”