Snapping his gaze past Memphis, Adair felt that small protected part of himself crack, falling into oblivion. Falling into darkness. “Get out of my way now, or I will make you.” Memphis’s eyes widened slightly, the only sign of hurt flickering across his face. Adair’s anger was liquid fire in his veins, consuming him, incinerating him. It was effortless to abandon himself, diving into his ability that was always waiting just beneath the surface. Waiting for him to come home.
Memphis’s mind was an iron seal, but he overtook him within seconds. Adair didn’t waste any time and dove deeper into Memphis’s muscle memory, and he poured his breaking heart into his actions. Memphis clawed against him, ripping and tearing at him, trying to stop him. But he barely noticed. Adair felt his power overflowing, tipping the scales, knowing he was about to land the finishing blow.
“Adair, no.” Memphis voice was distant and weak. Diving, he suffocated him, pushing him farther down. Until darkness snapped liked a whip and consumed them. Taking a gulping breath as he was snapped back into his body, looking at a crumpled Memphis in front of him.
“What did you do?” Adair raised his gaze to a pale face boy with flaming red hair.
He spat, “He is just knocked out, Alby.”
Rushing to Memphis, Alby yelled something at him, but Adair was already running, his adrenaline fueling him, pushing him harder, faster. What had he done?
The concrete world around him was a blur as panic sank its steady claws into his mind. He had crossed a line. He pushed the thought down. Memphis wouldn’t have let him go otherwise. How could he have possibly started to explain what had happened? Who would understand? Who would listen to the shadows of his heart when they kept him at a distance? Who would see that he was desperately trying to just be a man. And not a weapon. A choked cry escaped from him as Adair threw the doors to the Academy open, the afternoon sunlight pouring over him. Cesan was in the courtyard, his gruff voice snapping commands at several senior students.
“Dad!” His voice cracked across the courtyard as Cesan slowly met his gaze, taking him in. Adair took one step, his mind reeling. When the entire school behind him shuddered.
“Cesan!” Roque’s voice made Adair flinch as the door exploded open behind him. Roque, Nei, and his mother appeared first. Tadeas and his entourage quickly followed behind them.
He was swept to the side, Bresslin crouching down to cup his cheek. “Adair, did he do this to you?” Ice crusted over his skin at his silence, and Bresslin stood, her eyes slits as she took in her husband.
Cesan, in a fluid motion, gripped a hilt beneath his jacket and, with a hiss, brandished a black steel blade as he took in the group. His grin was twisted, contorting his handsome features as he yelled to Roque alone. “No more, Roque! I will not bow to you! A desolate, a weak man! How dare you string me along on your empty promises for years! How dare you go back on everything you promised my family! Promised me! I will be king, and I promise you, you will wish you didn’t cross me.”
The Faes’ faces darkened, as Adair could practically taste the anger rolling from them. Roque walked down the steps, appraising his best friend. “Cesan, listen to me. Don’t do this. What are my choices? The world constantly changes, and it demands that people either accept it, or they will fall stagnant in this life. I will not make my father’s mistakes. For the first time in years, we have the chance to make our alliances stronger instead of continuing to break them more. Stay with me. Please.”
Mad, crackling laughter erupting from his father, and dread filled him as Cesan raised a dark eyebrow and whispered, “No.”
Adair saw it in slow motion at first, Cesan running full tilt toward Roque, that mad dark gleam shining in his eyes, and Adair knew in his heart exactly what he was about to do before anyone else could react. He was born from ice and darkness, and he was his father’s son through and through. He was the only one who could stand up to Cesan.
“Dad, No!” Adair exploded past the group, shoving arms and bodies out of his way, and he flung his physical body off the step, but his ability was already soaring, pouring out of him. He felt the rip, the expanse as his ability was elevated and wrapped itself around Cesan. It was like hitting a brick wall, battering repeatedly, all of his energy pouring into this single action. Only to get pinned. He was slammed back into his physical body, the air knocked out of his lungs from the force of his father’s ability. Landing hard on the ground, his head cracked from the impact. Wheezing, he rolled, white spots dancing in his vision. Cesan’s blade slammed into the ground right where Adair had been a second before.
“Do you think you are strong enough to stop me?”
Adair scrambled back from his father, from his words, from his violence. His voice cracked as he begged, “Dad, please. Stop. Listen to them. Listen to me. I’m asking you not to do this. Don’t leave.”
Cesan leaped forward, forcing Adair back onto his feet, to duck and dive from his onslaught. Steel hissed through the air, harsh and relentless. Tripping, he fell onto
