“I’m trying!” I cut him off, my body feeling like it’s going to explode. Like all the electricity I’ve been suppressing for weeks wants outnow.It’s a good thing Logan compelled Kieran to keep me away from the Ember Ring, because it clearly would have been a magical disaster.
Another bolt shoots off, hitting the wall behind Logan and cracking the stone.
“We should go back to the Void Pit,” I gasp, trying again to pull the power back into myself.
It burns, fighting against containment.
“No.” His voice is firm. “You need to face this. Not suppress it. Not hide from it.Faceit.”
“Easy for you to say. You’re not the one turning into an electrical storm!”
I try to aim the next bolt at the ground away from him. But it veers left instead, striking dangerously close to his foot.
The absolute madman doesn’t even flinch.
“Face it,” he repeats, his gaze locked on mine.
“I don’t know how,” I admit, feeling incredibly small, despite the intensity of my power.
“Yes, you do.” He steps closer, and I warn him back, but he keeps coming. “You controlled it during the trials. You controlled it in the dining hall when Callie approached you. You controlled it when we…” His jaw clenches, and my face flushes, because I know exactly what he’s remembering. “You can control it now.”
“That was different.”
“How?”
His question stops me short. Because he’s right. The power is the same. The electricity is the same. The only thing that’s different is…
“I’m scared,” I whisper.
Just like that, the electricity calms. Not completely—it still dances across my skin in silver threads—but the violent bolts stop. Like my power heard my realization and decided to stop its temper tantrum.
Logan’s here in an instant, reaching for me but pulling back at the last second, as if I might shock him.
Which, fair.
“There you go,” he says, his voice soothing me like it did when I was burning my hand in soul fire. “Your power responds to emotion, but not the way you think. Because it’s not about suppressing your feelings, but about understanding the difference between reaction and choice.”
I tilt my head, studying him. “Can you translate that from Cryptic Logan into Normal Person?”
His lips twitch into what almost might be a smile. “Reaction is wild and uncontrolled.” He gestures at the scorch marks around us. “Choice is focused. You feel the emotion, but you decide where the power goes. Or if it goes at all.”
“So, when I’m really emotional?—“
“You’re more likely to react instead of choose.”
“And you want me to become an emotionless robot like you?” The words come out sharper than I intended, and he flinches. Actually flinches. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”
“You’re not wrong.” His voice is quiet. “But that’s not what I’m suggesting for you. It’s not what I wantfrom you, ever, because then you wouldn’tbeyou.”
We both stare at each other, and as a breeze rolls through the air, I can’t help wondering if he’s regretting what he said last night about it being too risky for us to be together. So, I wait one beat, then another, hoping he’ll lean forward to close the space between us… and disappointed when he doesn’t.
“How do you know so much about this?” I finally ask.
“I’ve told you—I pay attention to you, Jade. Even when I shouldn’t. Definitely when I shouldn’t.”
The way he says it—like I’ve been the center of his universe all along—makes something flutter in my chest. But I can’t let myself get distracted. Not when electricity is still humming through my veins like a live current.
“ So… acknowledging emotions.” I take a shaky breath, forcing myself to focus. “How does that help me not electrocute my opponent on Thursday in an arena where I’m supposed to have zero access to my magic?”
