Cracking one eye open, I looked at my hand and squealed when I saw the flames on it. Unfortunately, my excitement made me lose focus and the flames traveled up my arm. I shook it in panic, but it kept going. Of course, it didn’t burn, but I didn’t want to set the towels on fire.
I breathed deep, focused on the flames again, and pushed them back into my hand, grinning when they obeyed my will. I’d done it. And Axoular had been right. I felt a lot better. More reasonable, less angry. I stood and walked toward the water, and let the flames have their way and consume me. My entire body flickered with orange and red flames, in some places the heat turning them white. It felt like I was letting loose, like the tension and worry evacuated my body in waves.
When I began to feel a little drained, I focused the flames back to my palms and then finally back inside my body, where they easily tamped themselves back into my core. I would have to make sure to let them out more, so they didn’t overtake my emotions again.
As I turned to walk back to the house, exhaustion overtook me, and I crumpled. I had sense enough to twist my body, so I didn’t fall on my stomach before blackness took me.
***
I woke in bed, facing Axoular. I twisted my head to see Elias and Anthony spooning each other behind me. I grinned at them, not surprised to see them cuddling,again.
Axoular was a surprise, though. His eyes opened when I fidgeted, and he smiled. “Glad to see you awake, Riley.”
“Did I sleep long?”
“All night, all day, and it’s…” He twisted around to consult his phone on the bedside table. “Three a.m. now.”
“That long? That’s crazy. All I did was play with my fire for a few minutes.”
“You’re pregnant, Riley. You’re using a ridiculous amount of energy creating a life. I don’t know how long you had your fire out, but it takes a big toll on our energy stores. If you’d seen us before, you’d have seen our soldiers often looked fat when they went off to war, but skinny when they came home. They bulked up, similar to the way your bears bulk up for winter then live off of their stored energy while they hibernate. You’ll probably find you lost a couple of pounds if you weigh yourself.
I looked down at my body, clad in one of Anthony’s t-shirts, and ran my fingers through my hair.Ugh. I need to bathe. How can they stand to be near me with their super noses?
“Let me up,” I whispered. Axoular hopped up and pulled me to my feet. I was a little wobblier than normal, even considering the pregnancy.
He followed me to the bathroom. “Do you want to use the one in the spare room, so you don’t wake them up?” he asked, nodding toward the bed.
I gave him a thumbs-up, stepped in the bathroom long enough to grab my toiletries bag, and headed across the hall to the spare bedroom. He followed.
There was no point in closing the bathroom door, he obviously wanted to talk. “Turn,” I commanded.
He turned.
“Why are you here?” I asked as I took off the tee and turned the water on. I found my toothbrush and made quick work of my teeth while I let the water get warm.
“When they couldn’t get you to wake up yesterday morning, they called me, and Cindy brought me right out. This place is amazing. It kind of reminds me of the old days in Galdiart. We had a lot of open floor plan homes with lots of glass.”
“What did you do? How'd you help, I mean?” I spat and rinsed in the sink and stepped into the shower, closing the curtain behind me. “I’m in, you can turn now.” The shower curtain was a thick black and gold material, he wouldn’t be getting any peeks.I can’t say that I’d mind letting him peek once or twice.I mentally shook that thought off. I had no business going down that road.
I worked the citrusy shampoo into my thick, unruly hair as he talked. I loved my hair, but it was definitely a pain to take care of sometimes.
“Uh, I didn’t really do anything.” I could hear the shrug in his voice. “But they said I’d be in for a free trip to the beach, so who was I to argue? I looked it up on my phone while I waited on Cindy to pop in and do the portal. Have you seen this place?”
I laughed at his reasoning. “Yeah, it’s fantastic. Best place to turn into a raging human fireball ever.”
“That’s true.” He sat quietly for a few minutes. “What’s going on with you, Riley? Why the inferno?”
“I was trying to channel the fire, like you taught me,” I said as I rinsed my hair. “With meditation. It worked, and I had fire in my hand. I lost it for a second and it wanted to go across my body, so once I'd mastered it again, I gave it free rein to have a little fun. I just didn’t realize how much energy I’d be using.”
“Did you feel better? After you mastered it and before you let it loose.”
“Yes! I felt so much better emotionally that I decided to let it have its head and see if I felt even better afterward.” I considered my leg hair, opting to skip shaving for one more shower.
“Yeah, that happens. You’ve got to let it out every couple of days. Just hold it in your palm, let it burn a little, then let it go. It’s simple, you don’t have to go all flaming-anger-woman to keep it from overwhelming your emotions.”
“You could’ve mentioned that before.”
“Yeah.” He chuckled. “Sorry.”
