Except tight roots had bound my ankles to the spot.
Claire had used her spirit to create life, causing the ground to shift beneath us to secure her new creations.
“I’m okay,” she said through gritted teeth, her voice distorted by the heavy magic weaving its way up her arms. “I can control it.”
No. You can’t.
I glowered up at Exos, who merely shrugged, clearly at ease with this display.
Jackass, I growled in my mind. Not that he could hear me. Not that he even mattered.
I refocused on Claire. I wanted to yell at her, strangle her, crash my mouth against hers and distract her from this nonsense, but I knew better. She possessed a fire that rivaled my own, and a passionate ambition that no one could take away from her. I would be a hypocrite to try.
My fingers curled into fists as she worked the fireball and tried to rein in the elements. A small smile played on her plump lips. “I think I’m doing it.”
Exos joined us, his blue eyes glimmering in triumph. “That’s beautiful, Claire.”
Of course he approved.
“Yes, let’s encourage her to work with elements we have no power over.” Claire’s fire might be mine, but the rest of her did not belong to me. If she lost control now, I would be useless to help her.
I did not like to feel useless.
“What’s going on?” an approaching voice asked from the edge of the courtyard.
Exos frowned, eyeing the monstrosity growing around Claire. “Prepare yourself, River. We may require your affinity for water in just a moment.”
I glanced over my shoulder at a gaping River, having forgotten about Exos inviting him over today. Claire was steadily gaining control over her powers, and while River couldn’t reach her elements the same way Exos and I could—thanks to our bonds—he could still help guide her when it came to water.
Good thing, too, because that was the first element to rip free from Claire’s careful grasp.
Her smile faded as the churning water around her intensified, spiraling up into the sky like the ground had erupted in a geyser.
“Claire!” I shouted, straining against the vines, which only dug deeper into my skin in response. I winced as the prick of thorns threatened to make my imprisonment even worse.
Of course, I was a stubborn son of a bitch, so instead of obeying Claire’s magic, I sent my fire writhing over the vines.
“Don’t,” Exos bit off.
A single word—a command, one that needed to be obeyed.
My teeth grated together in defiance, but I dispelled the flames only because Exos had an edge to his voice. One I wasn’t used to hearing—panic.
Claire had stumbled backward, her body blurring behind a waterspout mingling with violent gusts of air that would soon turn into a full-fledged tornado if not brought under control.
“Now, River,” Exos said.
River grunted as he thrust his arms out. An invisible force shifted, twisting the geyser the wrong way to make it lose momentum. A sound of pain came from inside the vortex, making me jerk against my restraints.
“Claire!”
The vortex thinned enough for us to finally see her, causing the blood to drain from my face. Her skin glowed with a silver hue while white flowers came to life and died over and over again at her feet in a panicked cycle of renewal.
Exos stepped inside, braving the whirlwind of power, and gently took hold of Claire’s arms. I couldn’t hear what he said to her, but her eyes flashed up to him, full of silver and blue power that swirled with distress. He calmed her, then she looked at me and the fireball still in her hand grew.
/>
She let out a long breath before she set the vortex on fire. It was a terrifying sight as the very air around her burst into a swirling inferno, but I immediately understood what Exos had told her to do. By allowing fire—the power she maintained the most control over—to engulf the other elements, she could mingle everything together and draw the energy back into herself.