So I held his hand for the rest of breakfast, and I was relieved when the desperate screaming in his eyes faded a little.
“Princeps Jones said we could take as long as we needed to return to classes, that our grades would not be affected by our absence,” Calen said suddenly, breaking the heavy silence. “But I’m just not sure I can stay here without Ash. It’s … empty.”
That word was like a bullet to my body. It slammed into me, breaking through my skin and shattering the fragile bone, muscle, and organs beneath.
Empty.
That was everything I’d been feeling.
I was empty.
“We need to stay for Maddi,” Rone said, having spoken very few words since Asher’s death. He had taken it very hard, and outside of a few grunts I could not remember him saying anything or even being around much.
“What’s here for me?” I asked, wondering what the point of it all was.
“Atlantis,” Rone added. “Whatever is happening with Atlantis, that’s not going away just because of Asher. And it’s not going to leave Maddison alone … she’s an integral part of it all.”
Atlantis, right. I’d forgotten completely about that place, but the thought of that immediately connected to the next thought.Gods.One of those fuckers had returned, and they had killed Asher, and now they were somewhere close to Atlantis. I knew it. I knew this was the reason they were back, and now I wanted to find that fucking god and rip them into a million pieces.
“Holy shit,” Calen whispered, and I jerked my head to him. His eyes went wide.
“You’re looking a little freaky right now,” Axl told me. “Your power is visible … on your skin.”
I glanced down, shaking my head at the lightning streaks across my skin. “That’s not my power,” I said breathlessly, some of my anger fading. “That’s—”
“The power that killed Asher,” Jesse cut in.
It was. It was the exact shade and shape of those lightning bolts that had been in the tank with him.
“Is Maddison affected now too?” Rone asked, jumping to his feet in a rush. “She was in the tank with him when he exploded.”
I was fascinated by the power, watching as it zigged and zagged across my skin, only to raise my line of sight to find that there was no necklace around my neck.Holyfuckingshit.
I got to my feet as fast as Rone, which should have been impossible without vampire speed, but apparently I was full of surprises.
Like … my power. It wasn’t out of control. Did this new power on my skin somehow suppress my original energy? I could still feel the heat swirling inside, but it felt … more contained.
“I’m not wearing my necklace,” I said in a rush, trying to keep the panic from spilling over in my words. “I’m … what does this mean?”
The guys gathered closer, pushing in on me. I wanted to scream at them to run the other way, because if I lost control I could kill them.You’ve been with them for days de-necklaced,my inner voice reminded me, but it didn’t really help. I was still afraid.
“The grief might have been holding the power at bay,” Axl suggested, sounding very unsure for him. “But that would be unusual … out of the ordinary. Usually strong emotions render our powers even more out of control. So…” He trailed off, clearly not having a clue.
“Where are Louis and Princeps Jones?” I asked, hoping one of them might have an answer. Axl was the supe I turned to first, but when he was stumped, that left only a couple of other options. “I can’t just be wandering around here all free and shit. I’m going to blow up the school.”
“Not to mention…” Calen indicated the final jags of lightning across my skin, the power fading thankfully, but still there. “You probably want to get that checked out.”
Righhhttt. The thing that k—
Nope. Not going there. My fragile brain could only handle so much grief, and I was tapped out. I needed to rehydrate my tear ducts before I started to think about the gaping fucking hole in my chest.
A loud banging on the front door startled me. Jesse’s head shot around so he was facing that direction, his nose lifted slightly as he sniffed out the visitor. We didn’t have a lot of supes at our house; it was off limits to ninety-nine percent of the students and teachers at the school.
“Ilia,” Jesse said a second later, his posture relaxing.
“I’ll go let her in,” Calen said casually. However, by the time he was at the pool fence, my best friend was already on the deck at the back of their house. I blinked as she flew down the stairs, having no idea how she’d managed to get herself into the locked house.
Magic, no doubt.
