He shook his head. “Nope. That was all you.”
I had no idea how I did it, and I wasn’t sure it was safe, but before I could voice that worry, Calen shot himself out of the water and straight into the shimmer.
“Shit,” I cursed. “What if I fucked up and that leads to like … the moon or some crap?”
Axl shrugged. “The likelihood of the step-through leading somewhere you haven’t been before is very slim. What were you just thinking of?”
“The Academy,” I said. “Wanting to go home.”
Everyone looked relieved. Axl shot me a confident smile. “If you take into account our current circumstances and your thoughts at the time, I’ve now weighed both sides, and I think the step-through is the safest.”
He didn’t wait for a reply. Having made his mind up, he followed Calen, and then Jesse did as well. Rone hesitated, gesturing for Asher and me to go first.
“What if it closes after I go through?” I asked.
I mean, how do these things work?
Rone let out a breath, a low pissed-off sound, but he didn’t argue, sending his huge body into the shimmer. “I’m sorry if I hurt you,” Asher said, dark green eyes destroying me with their glittering intensity.
“It’s okay,” I told him truthfully. “Please just get me home.”
His gaze dropped to the blade and the slow pulse of blood still lighting those Atlantean symbols. “Hold on to me,” he said softly.
I wasn’t quite at the place where I was ready to tell him that there was no way I’d ever let him go again.
* * *
The next monthat the Academy was rough. My step-through took us exactly where I’d intended, inside the grounds and everything, which was supposed to be impossible. I was immediately separated from Asher and the guys and sent into a reinforced medical wing in the herbalism rooms. Asher’s tincture was applied to my wound, and over several days the blade slowly slipped out of my skin, until finally I was free.
It took another week of the tincture for the wound to heal, and I was not allowed any direct contact with anyone, even when I could hear Ilia shouting in the hallway outside of my room.
It wasn’t just because of the blade though. It was because of my power. Once the blade was free from my skin, my power grew uncontrollable. I’d already destroyed everything in the room but me.
Asher came every single day—the first day he wasn’t allowed to enter, and he demolished the three rooms around me. Luckily, Jesse and Rone were with him and managed to calm him down before he leveled the entire building. Between the two of us, we were quite the destructive pair.
After that day, Asher still came, but he just sat on the floor outside my door. We couldn’t talk to each other—the magical seal was strong—but I could see him through the glass, and the simple fact of knowing he was there, that we were close, was enough to stop me from losing my mind.
Princeps Jones did his best to keep me abreast of the school’s happenings while providing me with as many books as I could read through a small enchanted entrance that allowed things in but not out.
Louis made his appearance twenty days after I returned from Atlantis, having been stuck in some sort of scuffle with the American army that had almost exposed all supernaturals to the world.
“I’m so sorry,” he said, stopping by my bed. He was the first person I’d been near in almost three weeks, and I found myself a little teary as he sat down beside me.
Isolation was not something I would wish on anyone.
“How are you feeling?” Louis asked. “Your injuries took a long time to heal.”
I nodded. “Yes, the blade was Atlantean steel, engraved with powerful symbols. My blood activated it, but I’m good now. Free of pain and fully functional. It’s my power that has everyone scared. It’s a bit of a volatile, violent mess.” I didn’t blame the princeps for keeping everyone away from me. I would not survive if I hurt one of my friends. “Please tell me you can block my power again.”
Lights exploded around me, shattering glass across the room. That was the fifth time this week. I was now an expert at replacing light bulbs and also at giving myself magical baths.
He wrapped one arm around me in a strong hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay. And I’m sorry, Maddi, but I can’t block your powers again. They’re too strong. That’s why I was a little late getting here; I’ve been trying to figure out a way to help you ease into this level of power. I spoke with a few of the top magical users, and we think we have a short-term solution.”
I sniffled. A short-term solution was better than nothing.
Pulling back, I wiped at my eyes. “What’s your solution?”
He smiled. “I’ll give it to you in a moment, but first … let’s talk. Have they told you anything about Atlantis yet?”
