“Three … two … one … go…”
Grabbing hold of my magic, heat burst within me, and I whispered the word, directing my energy toward the shield. It reminded me of Atlantis, the way the energy wrapped around and rose above.
I shivered at the memories. It had been scary, and I hadn’t thought about it as much as I should have, mostly because I liked sleeping without nightmares.
The heat grew in my body, and I felt that uncontrollable shaking of my limbs from releasing too much energy.No.I cut it off immediately and would have fallen to my knees if Asher’s hand under my arm didn’t keep me up.
“Are you okay?” he murmured.
I nodded, but before I could reassure him further, gasps from the crowd stole our focus.
“What in the world…?” Axl muttered, and I turned to find he was staring into the sky.
Something clenched in my chest, and slowly I tilted my head back.
Fuck.Shit.Fuck.
“Did I do that?” I whispered. It might have been arrogant of me to assume it was my energy, but when there was an ocean above our heads, the large mass of water blocking the rain, it was hard not to think that was me.
“It definitely arrived through water magic,” Asher said, stepping forward, his forehead creased as he examined the moving ecological system.
“There are animals in it,” I choked out, noticing a school of fish dart by. And I heard someone shout about a shark over near the fey dorms.
“What were you thinking when you sent the spell out?” Axl asked, and I dropped my eyes to meet his.
“Uh—” I broke off as I tried to remember my exact thoughts. “Shield. I was thinking about how this felt the same as the shield I created when we were under the water…”
I trailed off as we all returned our eyes to the sky above.
Holy gods. I’d just brought the ocean here, probably the very ocean right where I’d been in those underground caves.
Well … this was bad.
8
The noise of students talking and freaking out was getting louder, and I swung to Asher, unsurprised to find his eyes on me, stare assessing. “Have you figured out a way for me to fix this?”
Asher tilted his head before he leaned in closer and inhaled. Almost like he was … smelling me. I mean, not the weirdest thing he’d ever done, but right now it didn’t seem like the best time. “You smell different,” he said.
Suddenly I was being sniffed from all angles, especially by Larissa, Rone, and Jesse. Vampires and shifters had the strongest senses, and sense of smell was very important to them.
“Her powers are evolving,” Larissa said softly, her eyes wide and glassy. “That’s worrying, considering how strong they were to start with.”
Amen, sister. A-fucking-men.
Reaching up, I gripped the pendant, holding it tightly, trying to calm the swirling of power in my center. It was so much harder when my emotions were erratic, but losing control was about the last thing I needed right now, so I had to calm my shit.
“What does my energy smell like now?” I asked Asher.
Despite his warm, reassuring smile, I could see the worry in his eyes. “You’ve always smelled like power and life, like the ocean as it dominates everything. Now it’s just … more. The ocean on its stormiest night, where a scent of hail and electricity lingers in the air.”
“A dark, tumultuous ocean that wants to destroy and kill,” Axl added unhelpfully.
I took a few calming breaths, trying not to freak and lose the small control I’d regained over my power. “They’re sending everyone back to the commons,” Larissa said, giving me another focus.
I turned to where Princeps Jones and the other teachers were dismissing students. When almost everyone was gone, he raced over to us, his normally calm features tight and unhappy.
“What’s happening? What do you know about this?” he asked Asher, who was the go-to when it came to anything water magic or Atlantean. “Is this an attack? Are the Arterians … or someone else behind it?”
