“You don’t know?”
“All my past generals could pull on my power in that way, yes.” His brow furrows. “But death itself is a dark energy, requiring the ability to end something. I didn’t think I could bond a general who was not entirely dark, but. . .”
“But?”
He swallows. “You—I’m not sure whether you can use that power. Your energy is not purely dark.”
I crouch beside the poor little bush, and I imagine it’s accosting me in the street. It shredded my dad’s last gift to me, a small purse, and it scattered the remains.
And then I sense it.
Its life force is a pulsing bundle of light at the base of the bush where the roots meet the stems. All I have to do is. . .compress it. And I do. The light winks out, and the bush withers.
Xolotl exhales, clearly relieved. “So you can.”
I straighten, unable to keep from smiling. “I am dark after all.”
“You are.” He beckons to me again. “Come join me, and let’s practice using water and air.”
I just have to distract him.
But when I splash through the water to reach the jet ski, I can’t help feeling a little guilty for extinguishing that bush’s life. And I’m also a little sad that I could.
Everyone wants to be light, right?
Maybe I’m dark because my dad died. Maybe it was the attack when I was in Columbia. Or maybe I’ve always been dark. Maybe that’s why I never felt like I quite fit in with my bright and perfect family. Maybe I’ve always been something different. It’s a little too easy after that, moving little bits of water around, causing wind gusts to buffet our sides and toss our hair.
“The thing is, I’m just not sure how this helps us.” I frown.
He starts flinging detritus at me then, chunks of a shattered tree, sticks, twigs, and he shows me how I must use air to prevent injuries from external forces. It’s tiring. It’s exhilarating. I have to remind myself this is just part of my disguise to distract him.
Because it’s actually kind of fun.
“Your aptitude for that is encouraging.” He nods. “Next, we’ll work on using fire to destroy attackers.”
If bushes were attackers, I would be pretty decent at that, too. And what’s more, I manage to learn to extinguish fire. Much more helpful, in my opinion. I have zero plans to go around torching things indiscriminately.
“But is all this what you really want me to do? I mean, as your general, what do you need?”
“Remember how you called your mother earlier?”
I nod.
“I was hoping you were reporting me to someone. I need the powers in charge to find me.”
I slug him hard on the shoulder. “No way.”
He scowls. “Why not?”
“Because you just bled in the lake. Why would I want to send the entire military after you?”
“You wanted me dead before.” He shrugs. “What’s different now?”
I open my mouth, but no words emerge. I’m not sure why, but I don’t want him dead anymore.
“What do you want?”
I realize, in that moment, that I want the impossible. “I want to change your mind.”
