me forever to get the basics of each one.
Without a word spoken, my next attack came. The air whipped around my face, pulling my hair free of the ponytail I’d fashioned at the last minute. The force of the wind pushed me back, as if trying to level me to the ground. My mind raced for a worthy defense. Fire needed air to grow, but how could it combat a tornado? If anything, it would make things worse. All I needed was to not be able to breathe or, worse, be incinerated. The difficulty between the two was probably why they’d chosen this element. I’d have to use something other than fire to get out of this one.
I reached inside, searching for any resource, but when I found a blazing ball of fire in my belly, I yielded to the wind. My body flew back a few feet until I met the ground with a thwap.
I’d never been a wuss, and I didn’t intend to become one now. With all my strength, I tried to stand, but I might as well have had an invisible hand pressing my chest to the grass. My lungs ached from lack of air, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t draw breath. The pounding of my heart drummed in my ears until it became a battle march. No one was going to take my life from me, especially not a pack of smirking fae lords. I imagined a tranquil bubble around me. At first, nothing happened. If I didn’t figure this out soon, I’d be out of it. Maybe to get rid of me was what these guys really wanted. Was I competition to them? Were they trying to take me out for something I hadn’t even known I’d done?
The fight in me kicked into gear and roared. I pushed with my mind, since I couldn’t do anything with my arms. A sliver of oxygen hit my lungs, which they greedily sucked up. More came, along with the release of the burden weighing me down. I jumped to my feet, raising my fists to protect my face.
No one was anywhere near me. In fact, not one of them had moved. They stared at me through the haze of a cyclone. A tube of calm surrounded me while the whole world between us came apart. Luke, in particular, looked impressed. Taylor wasn’t paying attention at all, identifying him as my a ttacker. Zach had his arms folded, studying me with those wicked cool eyes of his. They belonged on a malamute or something. Finn had his back to me, and Jett nodded in clear approval.
As quickly as it had come, the chaos dissolved into a pile of dust. I couldn’t hear a thing. The bubble I had created hadn’t popped. A slow smile spread along my lips as I took a casual stance. Those suckers could do their worst, and I’d feel zilch.
Zach came to stand in front of me. His expression revealed a fat load of nothing, but his intimidation tactic wasn’t going to work. I’d faced down tougher than him.
He smiled. It wasn’t friendly at all, which made me wonder if he did the mind reading voodoo Rayla warned me about. I only had a second before my bubble became a shrink wrap meant to entomb. If I couldn’t breathe before, I couldn’t think now. My body didn’t seem to fit in the space around me. It was like I was in my own little black hole, and I was about to implode. Pushing didn’t help this time. Nothing did. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to have to worry about Lambert anymore. I wouldn’t be capable of thought in a moment.
The pressure released, and I collapsed, tasting dirt when I bit it. I could hear myself moaning, but I couldn’t move. I wasn’t even sure how my lungs or heart were functioning. My mind hadn’t let go of the movement of the fall, and it was as if the ground swallowed me whole.
“No more,” I said. At least I hoped it came out of my mouth before everything went black.
Rayla
NOTHING CAME TO MIND, BUT I wasn’t about to give Cassie platitudes. “Have you gotten the test results yet?”
Since Finn and Cassie bonded, the doctors had pored over her, trying to figure out what the bond was doing. They had even been looking into reversing the process, just in case. If it were up to me, we would
Without a word spoken, my next attack came. The air whipped around my face, pulling my hair free of the ponytail I’d fashioned at the last minute. The force of the wind pushed me back, as if trying to level me to the ground. My mind raced for a worthy defense. Fire needed air to grow, but how could it combat a tornado? If anything, it would make things worse. All I needed was to not be able to breathe or, worse, be incinerated. The difficulty between the two was probably why they’d chosen this element. I’d have to use something other than fire to get out of this one.
I reached inside, searching for any resource, but when I found a blazing ball of fire in my belly, I yielded to the wind. My body flew back a few feet until I met the ground with a thwap.
I’d never been a wuss, and I didn’t intend to become one now. With all my strength, I tried to stand, but I might as well have had an invisible hand pressing my chest to the grass. My lungs ached from lack of air, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t draw breath. The pounding of my heart drummed in my ears until it became a battle march. No one was going to take my life from me, especially not a pack of smirking fae lords. I imagined a tranquil bubble around me. At first, nothing happened. If I didn’t figure this out soon, I’d be out of it. Maybe to get rid of me was what these guys really wanted. Was I competition to them? Were they trying to take me out for something I hadn’t even known I’d done?
The fight in me kicked into gear and roared. I pushed with my mind, since I couldn’t do anything with my arms. A sliver of oxygen hit my lungs, which they greedily sucked up. More came, along with the release of the burden weighing me down. I jumped to my feet, raising my fists to protect my face.
No one was anywhere near me. In fact, not one of them had moved. They stared at me through the haze of a cyclone. A tube of calm surrounded me while the whole world between us came apart. Luke, in particular, looked impressed. Taylor wasn’t paying attention at all, identifying him as my a ttacker. Zach had his arms folded, studying me with those wicked cool eyes of his. They belonged on a malamute or something. Finn had his back to me, and Jett nodded in clear approval.
As quickly as it had come, the chaos dissolved into a pile of dust. I couldn’t hear a thing. The bubble I had created hadn’t popped. A slow smile spread along my lips as I took a casual stance. Those suckers could do their worst, and I’d feel zilch.
Zach came to stand in front of me. His expression revealed a fat load of nothing, but his intimidation tactic wasn’t going to work. I’d faced down tougher than him.
He smiled. It wasn’t friendly at all, which made me wonder if he did the mind reading voodoo Rayla warned me about. I only had a second before my bubble became a shrink wrap meant to entomb. If I couldn’t breathe before, I couldn’t think now. My body didn’t seem to fit in the space around me. It was like I was in my own little black hole, and I was about to implode. Pushing didn’t help this time. Nothing did. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to have to worry about Lambert anymore. I wouldn’t be capable of thought in a moment.
The pressure released, and I collapsed, tasting dirt when I bit it. I could hear myself moaning, but I couldn’t move. I wasn’t even sure how my lungs or heart were functioning. My mind hadn’t let go of the movement of the fall, and it was as if the ground swallowed me whole.
“No more,” I said. At least I hoped it came out of my mouth before everything went black.
Rayla
NOTHING CAME TO MIND, BUT I wasn’t about to give Cassie platitudes. “Have you gotten the test results yet?”
Since Finn and Cassie bonded, the doctors had pored over her, trying to figure out what the bond was doing. They had even been looking into reversing the process, just in case. If it were up to me, we would
Similar Books
