Chapter 322

“Can you…can you move it, Ari?” I hear my mom whisper, and I glance to the side to see tears streaking down her face, her fingers pressed delicately to her lips as she stares up at this incredible thing that we’ve created.

I turn back to the fire, concentrating, and as I sway slightly to the left…yes! My smile deepens when I discover that the whirlwind itself moves left too. I move back to the center and again to the right, moving like a dancer – like the ballerina I was raised to be. The whirlwind of flame and shadow goes too.

“Amazing,” Tony whispers, delighted and awed.

Suddenly, Luca lets go of my hand and steps away.

The shadow fire immediately sinks to the ground and I scramble, a little, to catch it in my surprise. But ultimately it’s easily done, the fire simply obeying gravity again, attached to the ground instead of lifted high in the air.

Jackson turns his head to glare at Luca, having felt my shock and surprise, but Jesse exhales a long breath and takes his hand from my neck too. “Okay,” he whispers. “I think that’s enough for me too. For right now.”

The shadows rise like smoke from my flames and suddenly there the colors are back – cheerful and yellow and red, burning happily through the little pile of wood.

I turn my head to Jackson next, who grins at me and drops my hand.

And then, when I look back at the fire it’s…

It’s just a normal bonfire, burning happily through the wood provided for it. Just…any normal thing.

We’re all silent for a long, long moment, each of us just staring – I think trying to figure out if…if we all shared some kind of insane group hallucination right now or something? Or if –

Jackson’s snarl breaks through the silence with a sudden vehemence that makes me jump – and suddenly I’m wrapped up in his arms, being twirled around, laughing so hard that there’s no time to draw air into my lungs. Breathless, I wrap my arms around my mate, letting him spin me around, loving it – loving him.

“That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen!” he roars. “That was so fucking fantastic! That was incredible! Ari!”

He stops spinning me, holding me high against his chest so that I beam down into his face, my hands already running through his hair.

“You,” he says, staring up into my face like I’m the great marvel of his life, “are the most incredible thing on this planet, Ariel Sinclair.”

I bite my lip as I stare down at him, tears springing to my eyes, completely overwhelmed by how much he means it and how much he loves me and how proud he is – all things I feel radiating down the bond.

“It was really cool, wasn’t it?” I whisper, still stroking my trembling fingers through his hair. “It didn’t hurt you, did it? Didn’t take…too much of your energy?”

“Nah,” he says, his smile deepening. “I’m good, tiny – it took less energy than I’m sure it looked like. Two croissants tomorrow, instead of one.”

“And it didn’t hurt?” I ask, desperately hoping it didn’t.

But he just shakes his head at me, and snarls again, and drops me a bit in his arms so that my face is even with his, so that the kiss he presses to my mouth is as simple as it is fierce.

I kiss Jackson back with all of my heart for a long moment before breaking away, aware that we’re not alone here. I wiggle in his arms, begging to be put down, and he growls – hating it – but obeys, letting me slip down the length of his chest and stomach to set me again on my feet.

I’m only there for a moment before Rafe catches me up next, roaring his own pride and pleasure in his little shrimp sister, spinning me around in turn. It goes like that for a few minutes, everyone gathering me close and talking about how amazing it was, the details of it, the possibilities for how we could use it, each of their tones thrilled.

It doesn’t miss my attention, though, that when Luca hugs and congratulates me his words are stilted, his wall still up. I peer up at him, curious, and he does his best to give me a warm smile – but suddenly I’m pulled away into my mother’s arms.

“Little tiny fire goddess,” she murmurs into my hair, hugging me so tight that I’m pretty sure she’ll crack a rib if she keeps going. I mean, not that she couldn’t heal it immediately – just…let’s avoid that if we can, right?

“Ma!” I squeak, laughing hugging her much more loosely. “Loosen up!”

She sighs and does so, tears still all over her face as she pulls back and stares into mine, tucking an imaginary strand of my hair back behind my ear. “It really is incredible, little girl. What you’ve always been capable of. We’ve always known you were special and fierce and capable of great things – and this is just the beginning.”

“Mom,” I say, my own eyes again filling with tears. “Geeze it was…just a bonfire.”

“Oh, and she’s humble,” mom murmurs, hugging me again and rocking me back and forth.

“Um, I think I am getting far too little credit and attention!” Jesse calls, even though his own mother is crying and hugging him too. “I did the cool part!”

“Oh, you’re wonderful too, cutie,” mom says, stumbling over to Jesse to wrap him up in a hug. “Now come on, everyone! We need to get back to the classroom – we have to talk about the potential consequences and use of this! And how to similarly experiment with everyone else’s magic too! We’re going to do great things!”

Mom and Cora turn towards the palace with Jesse between them, talking closely to him about what the fire felt like mingling with his own magic. Rafe and Luca follow, likewise talking close, while Jackson and Tony fall in on either of my sides.

“That was incredibly cool, Ari,” Tony says, grinning delightedly at me, his eyes crinkled with joy.

“Thanks, Tony,” I say, bumping shoulders with him, likewise pleased.

“Makes me wish we had a bond,” he says, gesturing between us.

Jackson snaps his head towards Tony and lets out a low growl.

“Oh back off, biggy, I don’t mean like that,” Tony says, reaching out his long arm to give Jacks a shove on the shoulder. Jackson narrows his eyes but nods, letting the statement stand. Tony turns back to me. “Just like, imagine what we could do –“

“But wouldn’t we just like…” I smack my hands together and bounce them apart, “clash? Your water just putting out my fire?”

“Nah, I don’t think I’m just water, I think it also has to do with like…breath?” Tony says, shaking his head at me, clearly excited. “But even then – fire and water don’t just cancel each other out,” he says, talking fast. My eyes go wide as I realize that he’s right.

“We could like – boil oceans –“

“Make like, a whole bunch of steam –“

“It could be like a fog that spreads out over a countryside –“

Tony’s eyes go wide. “That is such a good idea. What if we could like –“

Jackson walks stoically at my side, still warm and proud, as Tony and I chatter all the way back to the castle.

Even so, I can’t help but notice that even as Rafe moves forward to join in on the conversation with Jesse and our moms, Luca doesn’t fall back to join in with Tony and I.

Instead, he walks alone between the two groups, his head hanging.

And when I send my wolf forward to try, I already know what she finds to be true.

That our bond is completely shut down.

Luca leaves us when we get back get back to the classroom, wanting to get a little study time in while the rest of us debrief. I beg him to stay but Cora comes to my side and puts a hand on my shoulder, giving me a gentle smile, and I sigh and give in, giving Luca a hug and a kiss on the cheek, telling him that I’ll see him at dinner. Luca kisses me back and gives me a squeeze before heading on his way, carrying the note that mom gave him to take to Blaze, begging for me to take the afternoon off so we can further work on the question of my magic.

Inside the classroom, our little group talks eagerly about what happened with me, Jackson, and Jesse each describing what it felt like from our own angles. Then mom and Cora – as they should – turn their attention to the rest of their students, discussing similar possibilities for experimentation and connection. In particular, we spend a great deal of time brainstorming with Tony.

“I guess it’s true,” he murmurs, looking at me consideringly. “Like, if you melting a marble and lighting the logs in your fireplace is the equivalent of me breathing underwater…I wonder what my fire tornado is.”

“I can’t wait to find out,” I say, beaming at him, meaning it.

“I have some ideas,” Cora murmurs, looking at Tony consideringly. “But…I want to do more research. You good with that, if I come back with next week with more for you to try?”

Tony eagerly agrees and the group breaks up then, everyone chatting interestedly and in high spirits. Both Rafe and Jackson turn to me, expectant, even as I stay in my chair.

“Do you have a minute?” I ask, raising my eyes at mom and Cora. “To stay after?”

“Of course, babes,” mom says, beaming at me. “What’s up?”

Jackson waves to Rafe and turns back towards his chair but I bite my lip and look up at him, a little pleading. “Um, do you think we could have some girl talk?”

Jackson goes still, staring at me like he desperately wants to stay but also like I’ve said I’m going to participate in the most dangerous sport in the world.

“Oh, just wait outside, puppy,” Cora says, laughing and flapping a hand at him. “We’ll only be fourty-five, sixty minutes. Tops.”

“Why does it take so long?” he whispers as Jesse and Rafe call their goodbyes, heading out the door with Tony.

Mom laughs, wrinkling her nose at Jacks. “She’s kidding – just give Trouble a little space for a second, Jacks. I need to talk to my girl.”

Jackson sighs and nods to me before he heads outside.

“Don’t you listen!” I call after him, scolding already.

He just sighs and waves over his shoulder, as close to a promise of privacy as I’m going to get.