She eyed the field and nodded. “Not bad. So I’m supposed to light another on fire?”
“Yep,” I said, withdrawing my flames. “Any pile you want, just make sure it’s one of the marked ones and nothing else.”
She sucked her lip between her teeth, her gaze wandering the field and the various targets.
I wondered which one she would pick. She should be conservative and choose the closest marker for her first try, but of course, that wasn’t my Claire.
She extended her hands, and flames licked at her fingertips. Stripes of blue wound through her fire like an elemental rope, sizzling with barely contained power.
That’s new, I thought.
The other fae murmured in reaction to the display. I leaned in closer to Claire and pressed my lips to her ear. “Is that water?”
She glanced at the flicker and frowned. “Yeah.”
“Can you rein it in and use just your fire?”
Her lips twisted to the side. “I don’t know.”
That was the problem—Claire’s powers controlled her, not the other way around. Which created an issue when she engaged non-fiery elements while surrounded by Fire Fae. If her water magic grew out of hand, I couldn’t help. And it would likely take the entire class to restrain her if she unleashed whatever was dwelling inside.
Which meant I’d have to speak to Cyrus about it since the element taking control of her now appeared to be water.
Great.
If only he hadn’t dismissed River…
Except we all knew that was the right move. Cyrus’s renowned familial ties to the Water Fae King made him exceptionally powerful and proficient in the element. Even if it wasn’t the side of his nature he chose to acknowledge most. He was too busy serving as the Spirit King.
Alas, he’d volunteered to take on her water mentorship, and given the strengthening blue swirl around her fire, he’d better get started sooner rather than later.
“It’s all right,” Claire murmured, her voice low and taut with renewed concentration. The winding strands of water extended over her flame, making a sort of tunnel for her to aim with.
Is that supposed to be an elemental gun?
Well, shit.
She pointed to the final marker in the distance, one even I would have had trouble hitting, much less without burning anything around it.
“That one,” she said, marking her target, and then heat emanated from her in a building storm that made my eyes widen and very inappropriate sensations run straight down to my groin. Damn, she was hot.Literally.
The inferno built until she was satisfied with her aim, and an explosion rocked the ground, sending a ball of fire directly at her target. It streaked across the arena, bypassing all of the other piles of straw without harming them. The tight collection of flames hit the final target, making the straws explode in a vertical strike that lit up the sky.
A hush fell over the Fire Fae students.
Then they roared their approval, making my chest swell with pride.
“Holy shit!”
“Did you see that?”
“She’s fucking amazing!”
Claire beamed and lowered her hands, her powers retreating inside of her with a measure of control I hadn’t expected. “I did it,” she breathed with relief as if she hadn’t anticipated a positive outcome. She shook her head as a low chuckle escaped her. “Every time I used my powers in public before, it felt like they always swept out of my control, but that wasn’t really my fault, was it? It was Ignis and the other girls messing with me.” Her blue eyes glimmered with a hope I hadn’t seen in her before. “Maybe Icando this.”
I gripped both sides of her face and pulled her in for a kiss. Hovering my mouth over hers, I tasted her embers and licked my lips in anticipation. “You can do anything, Claire. Anything you want, and I’ll be right by your side admiring every inch of you.”
I no longer cared who was watching. I crushed my mouth to hers, and she parted for me, allowing my tongue to slide inside and taste the lingering effects of her power and her elation.
