My stomach dropped. My mouth opened, but nothing came out.
Rhodes went very still.
“She doesn’t, does she?” Fallon’s smirk deepened. She tipped her chin toward me; her voice slid into my mind without her lips moving. “Ask him why he didn’t run from you when you channeled into a mage.”
My brows knit. “What?”
“Askhim.”
She nodded toward Rhodes, who hadn’t moved. Hadn’t even breathed.
Her expression shifted—arrogance draining away, replaced with a cold indifference. “Wylders can’t be trusted,” she said aloud, eyes still locked on mine. “Our family learned that the hard way.”
Rhodes snarled. “You are speaking of a rumor.”
Fallon didn’t look at him.
She took a slow step back toward River. She shifted automatically to give her a hand up, and a moment later, theyvanished into the trees. Nash clapped Rhodes on the shoulder in passing before following them, leaving us alone. Lakota and Noemi stayed put.
The silence that settled was suffocating. I could barely breathe.
Thoughts clawed their way forward—memories from Mageia I’d shoved aside. His sudden absences. His sudden appearances. That dried, rust-colored stain on the back of his neck I’d brushed off as mud. He was an expertly skilled fighter like his brother, but both of them kept that tidbit hidden about them.
Everything changed the day I ran into the pit during the Burn Trials. That was the moment Shayde branded me the villain—the elemental the Grim had sent him to find. In his eyes, I was hunting the power of a mage to bring ruin to our people.
So, he chose to run. While Rhodes chose to chase after me.
He didn’t hesitate. Not for a beat. When Lakota targeted me, Rhodes threw himself into the pit. He didn’t care who saw him with a mage, didn’t care about consequences or whispers. All that mattered was pulling me out. And when I rose from being burned alive, he wasn’t afraid.
“Which elements do you wield?” My voice shook more than I wanted.
Rhodes exhaled sharply.
I nudged his shoulder with a puff of air.
“Which. Elements. Do. You. Wield?”
His mouth twisted. His gray-blue eyes begged me not to ask.
I threw a gust that knocked him back a few steps.
Rhodes barely regained his balance before I felt the softest breeze push a stray lock of hair behind my ear. My fingers flew to the spot, heart hammering.
“You channel air.”
He dipped his chin once.
“You watched me hate your brother—scorn him for being a mage, the very thing I am—when in reality, you’re a natural-born mage too?”
The only sounds for miles were our labored breaths and my breaking heart.
“You didn’t run from me because you weren’t afraid of me. Because you are like me.” Anger surged in my veins, boiling within my skin, begging to be let out. I squeezed my fists and felt drops of hot water in my palms, but I ignored it. “What haven’t you told me, Rhodes?” I took a step closer, heart pounding.
His eyes pleaded with me not to push.
“I asked you once how you learned to fight when Mageia only enforces elemental battle. You told me you’d answer my questions—but not that one. And Shayde? He’s also a trained fighter. Your father is the general of a secret war legion in Arya that nobody knows about. From the moment I woke in the Hollow, I’ve trusted you blindly. So tell me, Rhodes—what else am I missing?”
He swallowed hard. “Scarlet…” His voice was barely above a whisper. “There are things I can’t—”
