His eyebrows remain raised. “You think?”
“Well, I haven’t actually tried it on anyone…”
“Do it to me,” he says.
“You’re serious…”
“Yeah.”
I shake my head. “No.”
“Why not? When I’m on the verge of drowning, just take it away.”
“What if I panic? What if I can’t focus and can’t take it away. What if I hurt you?”
He reaches out, steadying my shoulders as he looks into my eyes. “You won’t.”
I still hesitate, but he steps back and braces himself. Like it’s already decided.
“What are we doing?”
Raef and Meela emerge from beyond the trees.
“He’s trying to make me drown him,” I explain.
“Nice. Can I do it?” Raef says with a grin.
“Yes, please do,” Meela says.
“I don’t want to drown anyone,” I protest.
“I already volunteered,” Daegan adds blandly. He’s standing in front of me, waiting.
“Too bad,” Raef sings, stepping in front of him, blocking most of Daegan out with his own hulking frame. “You’ve been voted out.”
“I didn’t vote,” I protest again.
“Wouldn’t you rather hurt me than him?” Raef asks, placing his hands on his hips.
I lift an eyebrow in an exaggerated manner, sizing up both of them. “Not necessarily.”
“Yeah. I’m pretty sure she’s fantasized about killing me before. This is the perfect opportunity to live out that fantasy.” Daegan folds his arms and looks at me with mild amusement.
He’s wrong though. Even when I was scared of him, unsure about him, I didn’t ever think about murdering him. Not even after he held a knife to my throat. I’ve never had those thoughts about anyone, to be honest.
I have had other fantasies about him, though.
I hope my eyes don’t reveal as much, because as I glance at him, his eyes flash with something I can’t name, and he averts his gaze.
“What are we even doing?” Raef asks.
“I’m going to trap your head in a water orb. You need to try to escape.”
“Nice,” he says, clapping his hands together and widening his stance. “I’m ready.”
I still hesitate.
“For the love of all curses, just quiet him already,” Meela adds. But when she looks his way, there’s a smirk on her face.
