“Don’t look so sad, precious.”
Wayla just shrugged, not looking cheered up in the least.“Marc has several shields going on at once, and some even activate without conscious thought.”
“We are all failures if we compare ourselves to Marc.”
“How do you do it?Layer in so many internal shields?”Wayla looked hopefully at him.Marc frowned.
“I don’t think that’s relevant until you can consistently pull up and keep one shield in place.”
“Humor me?”
“It takes finesse and locking them together in the right order.Not something you are ready for.Now, let’s try that again.”
Wayla’s face fell, but she squared her shoulders and faced him.Marc let the wind blow.
Chapter 28 – Wave
Shesuckedatshieldingso badly.Wave ground her teeth as she walked.She needed a moment to cool her temper because she just couldn’t figure out why her shields didn’t work like Marc explained.All she could pull up was an external shield on top of her trio.She had even tried to drop her third shield, but that had no effect beyond bruises on her ass from the falling.
The campus was quieter in the evening, but it never fully died down.There were too many nocturnal creatures and night classes to ever feel fully alone.Wave mulled over her options when a prickling at the back of her neck made her stiffen.
Was someone following her?
She whipped her head around but saw nothing out of place.Great.Now she was jumping at shadows.By instinct, she pulled up a flimsy external shield that they had barely practiced in time to avoid a fireball smashing into her face.
Another followed, and then a barrage of flickers and flames.Some part of her brain noted that the fire was meant to hurt, not kill.The heat was intense enough to burn her skin, so she wasn’t too comforted by the thought.
She focused on keeping up the watery shield and building it up enough that the fire didn’t blister her anymore.The narrow street looked darker and more menacing than it had a moment before, as the flames died down.
Wave didn’t need to guess who was behind this little ambush, and inwardly she cursed her inattention.When she tried to keep going, a wall of flickers greeted her.Behind her, more fire crackled.
So, Elena had dragged her entourage along.
Wave’s healing kicked in, soothing the burns on her face and hands.She really wished she could shield like Marc, since her shield walls didn’t exactly move with her.Hunkering down behind those shields forever didn’t seem like a wise option, but Wave pulled up a wall of water.At least she wouldn’t burn.
“Bitch,” Elena snarled as she stepped into her distorted view.
“I guess it takes one to know one,” Wave muttered.
A fireball hit her water wall, and Wave’s stormbringer powers threatened to slip.Fuck.She needed to stay calm.She was safe.The fire couldn’t burn her.Safe.No need to pull down an ice storm.
Her siren side wasn’t much better, eyeing Elena like a delicious snack.Just a little song and the bitch would lick her sparkly new sneakers.
No.Wave almost dropped her shield from the shock when the thought wormed into her head.
“Look at you, cowering in the corner.”Elena laughed.“Where are your males now, slut?Did they tire of your games already?”
“Fuck off,” Wave whispered, fighting to keep her voice in check.No power leakage.
“I’ll roast you,” Elena seethed.“Stay away from myfiancé, whore.”
She really needed to learn better insults.
“I’m not interested—”
A barrage of flames cut her off, and her shield wavered.If Elena pushed just a little more, Wave would either have let the shield fall or pull on her true power.The fire clan heir apparent didn’t have any qualms about punching down at a spirit, it seemed.
Lightning started to build in her veins, as her powers reared to fight back.
