I shuddered.
“What is it?” Kel frowned and rolled onto his side to face me.
“Sorry, I just had a sudden random thought about the Corrupter.”
“Ew.” Kel scrunched up his face at me. “Don't do that. Especially not when we're together.”
“I'll try not to.”
“Hey.” He stroked my cheek. “There's something else bothering you. Tell me.”
“No, it's nothing. Just the usual.”
“You mean, the war, the Corrupter, and your love life?”
“The terrible three,” I said dramatically.
Keltyr laughed. “Forget about them.”
“You're part of that last one.”
“Well, forget about why I'm a part of it and just be with me.”
It sounded so close to what Taroc had said that I smiled. But then the sky darkened and thunder boomed. It happened so quickly, that we both flinched.
“What the fuck?” Kel sat up.
I sat up too, just as the first raindrops fell.
We scrambled for the remnants of our lunch and shoved everything into Kel's satchel, then folded up the blanket.
“I'll see you back at the citadel,” he said.
“I have to meet up with Xae and Rath. We're training Xae today.”
“Oh. Right. Well, then I'll see you at dinner.” He leaned down to kiss me as the sky opened up and drenched us.
Laughing, we pulled apart, and I nodded.
Keltyr faded back to the citadel.
I stayed behind.
I love the rain. Especially a thunderstorm. I didn't mind getting wet or cold. It was bracing. Made me feel alive. And if it got too bad, I could control the water. Lifting my face and closing my eyes, I had no desire to do that. I wanted to let the storm rage and feel its power surround me. I knew I should go back. What I'd said to Kel had been true. I had promised to help Rath train Xae today. But this felt so good. A cocoon of water, wind, and thunder. It blocked everything else and gave me what I'd been needing so badly—oblivion. Besides, we'd have to wait for the rain to stop before we trained anyway. Magical training was best done outdoors.
I opened my arms, letting the downpour soak my clothes, and smiled. A flash of light burned through my lids. Then, a few seconds later, a boom resounded. I opened my eyes and squinted through the rain. When you added lightning to a storm, it got dangerous. And the closeness between the lightning flash and the thunder told me it wasn't that far away. I should probably leave.
Another flash came, then a boom that followed even sooner than the last.
It was getting closer.
But the next boom was not thunder.
It was the sound of a Makhan Wraith Lord landing before me.
I gaped at Jathalion as he straightened from his landing crouch. He was as soaked as I, his clothes clinging to his body, outlining every muscle. Water dripped off his wings and his face, but he didn't seem to notice. He just stared at me. Jath had been staring at me a lot lately, but this stare was more intense. Volatile.
“What are you doing here?” I demanded, lifting my chin despite the trembling that ran through me.
