“Why?”
Wave blinked and then looked over at Salis.His hair was tousled, and he looked confused.She debated on confusing him further, and it felt wrong.He had been nothing but nice and supportive to her.
“Uh,” she began, but Salis spoke over her.
“You are a storm spirit.Water and wind clearly come naturally to you.I just didn’t expect you to be so…”
“Out of control,” Wave supplied.
“I was going to say robust or something along those lines,” Salis defended.“Besides, storm spirits mature early, right?Not like us baby-face angels.”
Wave nodded.“How old are you anyways?”
“Ouch.”Salis held his heart dramatically.“You wound me.”
“Ha,” she snorted.
“I’m forty-five,” Salis confessed easily.“Late bloomer.”
“Doesn’t really matter on the bigger scale,” Wave replied.
“True.Storm spirits live up to five hundred, right?”
“Something like that,” Wave evaded.Storm spirits, like any other spirits, lived so-called middle-tier lives that equaled hundreds of years.Stormbringers could reach thousands of years like archangels or archdemons and other higher beings.
The whole class system was idiotic in her opinion.There were enough crossbreeds, most in fact, nowadays to throw all those predictions to whack.Hell, she was one.
“Don’t tell me you’re fifteen or something like that,” Salis groaned.“I couldn’t take that.”
“Twenty-five,” Wave murmured.“Officially,” she added and then immediately cursed.Stupid to let even that much slip, but shelikedSalis.He was the closest thing to a real friend she hadeverhad.
Salis’ brow shot up.“Twenty-five, got it.”He nodded enthusiastically.Wave smiled, relieved.“All the Powerhouses are close to a hundred, as far as I know,” he said, leaning in closer.Now his face turned serious.“They are not called Powerhouses for nothing, Wayla.”
Wave bit her lip.Age wasn’t necessarily a sign of power.It gave you more time to hone what you had, but in most cases, you were born with what you had.She really should keep her mouth shut.She really, really should.Glancing around them, she pulled Salis closer.
“Where would you rank them?”
Salis arched a brow but leaned closer too.“You know this is general gossip that everyone guesses about?”
“Well?”
Salis sighed.“No one knows for sure.But their parents are mostly from top tiers or top of middle tiers, and I’ve seen enough to know that they can hold their own in most cases.”
“And there are twelve of them.”
“Yeah, well… Wayla, most beings are afraid of that much power.The auras alone…”
“Um, are you?”she asked.If he said yes, she didn’t know what she’d do.Wave couldn’t be sure, but her guess was that her powers and aura would easily mingle with the most powerful beings on this campus.Salis looked over her and then slowly shook his head.
“Not as such.”
The relief that swept over Wave must have been evident because Salis quirked his brow at her.“Thank fuck,” she whispered faintly.
“I’m guessing some other things are official only too,” he muttered.Wave started to pull back, but Salis grabbed her arm.“I’m not going to ask, Wayla.Just, if you want to talk, I’m here, okay?”
She gave a slight nod, and that seemed to be enough for Salis.He returned to their previous subject easily.
“So, the Powerhouses.They could have been at each other’s throats.Instead, they banded together.Safety in numbers and all that, I guess.I bet not all of their parents were happy about that.All the politics involved must be a headache.”
