Relief surged within me. “I bet you were.”
“Next time,” he called over his shoulder with a simple wave.
Fully relaxing in his absence, my arms free fell to my sides. “I don’t know how I feel about him.”
Delani rubbed her forehead. “He was okay when he brought me to Lumosia. We actually had some decent conversation.”
“Really? I find that hard to believe.”
“Yeah. He told me how he arrived in Lumosia—maybe twelve years ago now. He used to live in Caelestis with his grandparents, but when they both passed, his sister and him were placed in Craterra’s children's home.”
“So how did he end up here?”
“I guess they tried to escape one evening. A day later, they found themselves lost in the mountain ranges bordering Caelestis. Fortunately, Dad happened to be exploring nearby land and heard Kade’s sister crying. He brought them both here.”
“That's…tragic.” I forced down a teaspoon's worth of sympathy before reminding myself of how standoffish Kade had been thus far.
“While we’re here and while we're presumably alone, I kinda want to try summoning starlight again. Are you okay with that?”
Delani’s throat bobbed. “Don’t you think someone more experienced should be here for that? I don’t know the first thing about magic, let alone magic as complex as that.”
“I’m only going to summon a little bit, just enough to make sure it really works.” I stole a quick glance out the nearest window to ensure the evening was upon us—I assumed summoning starlight during the day wouldn’t work.
“From what you say you did to the Draemornians, it works.”
Ignoring her concerns—and my own, for that matter—I ushered her back and steadied myself on the mat. With both hands flexed, my fingertips grasped at the heavens. Utilizing the same tactics that were required to harness my mind compulsion, I focused intently on only the things that calmed my inner soul.
The ocean.
Chocolate.
My friends.
Delani.
Sebastian?
Unsure.
Going back to thinking about the ocean.
Reasonably relaxed, I clutched the tingling magic inside of my bones, tugging at it with every ounce of my willpower. Within seconds, my face began to prickle. After a few more seconds, a new sensation made my face scrunch.
The celestial markings on my arms warmed like they were ablaze—sparking with the charm of the cosmos. The marked skin emitted a glimmering glow, lighting the space surrounding me in a bright white radiance.
I hardly made out Delani’s whisper of awe, coercing myself to instead focus on retaining and controlling the rumbling power.
The sensation was hard to pinpoint, but I could feel the surge of power building up inside of me. Towering over every single bodily sense, cascading through my veins and darting straight into my psyche.
Before I could do anything more, an excruciating noise reverberated through my inner eardrums.
I plunged backward, a blinding blast of pure starlight pushing me onto my ass. My head bounced on the padded mat beneath me, and the air quaked as it tried to recover from my power.
Crumbling bricks filled the arena with a deafening blast.
“Maeve freaking Willawood! What did I tell you?” Delani shrieked, a look of panic pasted on her face as she pushed back to her feet. She approached with her hand outstretched and pulled me up.
“Shit.” There was a gigantic hole blasted through the wall, the evergreen treetops now visible through the onyx sky. “Nice view out there.”
