Light danced in front of my eyes. You are mine. The thought finally settled in my panicked mind, and I tried to grasp onto the power, to leash the flames, but still, they spread. You are mine! The fire seemed to respond to my call, retreating back to the sphere in my palm. My hand trembled, and my vision wobbled.
“Enough.” I snuffed out the flames. “I need rest.”
He shook his head. “It is not yet morning.”
My shoulders slumped. “What now, then?”
“Do it again.”
I stared at him, and he motioned me to get going. “If your powers are stolen from you, it won’t be when you’re well-rested and raring to go. It’ll be when you’re near exhaustion.” There was sympathy in his bronze eyes, but mixed with it was resolve.
Once again, I created a fireball. I stared into the green and blue blaze. The flames undulated and writhed. Their beauty equal to their power of destruction.
The fire danced along my wall. I sat on my bed with Glacier as the flames devoured my room. Dad stood in the hallway, trying to figure out how to get to me, but then he left. He left me with no way out. The smoke burned my eyes and my lungs. It crawled over the floor, clung to the walls, and hung from the ceiling. I screamed as they leaped toward the bed.
Arms wrapped around me, holding me close. “Shhhh. You’re okay. It’s okay,” Cody whispered in my ear, and I snapped back to the present.
Malcolm and Cash kept my fire contained, and as soon as I quit screaming, Cody stepped away from me, rubbing his arms. I called the flames back to me.
“She’s done,” Cody said. His skin was red, and blisters dotted his hands and arms.
I pulled my hands through my hair. “Oh, God, what did I do?”
“You warned him.” Cody glared at Malcolm.
I reached out to Cody, not sure if he would touch me again. He placed his hands in mine, palms up. Closing my eyes, I focused on life and healing. He sighed as my energy flowed into him.
As soon as Cody’s burns were healed, Malcolm said, “What happened?”
“The flames pulled me into my memories … the night I killed my brother.” My heart clenched. I stood up, turning my back on them, not wanting to see their sympathy. I didn’t deserve it. My brother had deserved a life, but that night I’d ended his to save mine. One more death at my hands and I’d be a serial killer … or did taking my life count? Was I already one?
Soft footsteps padded up to me. Cody stopped in my peripheral vision. “You were six. It was an accident.”
“It doesn’t matter.” I wiped underneath my eyes. “Accident or not, I killed Jonathan. I took him away from my parents.”
“There was a demon in your house.” Cash’s voice was softer than I’d ever heard it. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it caused his death.” He squeezed my shoulder. “You have saved more lives than you’ve taken.”
I knew he meant well, but how many other people my age had taken a life, let alone two or three? And, how many more would I have to take before mine was taken?
Chapter 25
Building My Stamina
Malcolm came back the next two nights and trained me harder than he had before. When I asked him why, he said that if we were going to lure the Nephilim here, he wanted to make sure my stamina had improved.
We jogged through the passageways using my fire for light. Malcolm fought to wrest my powers from me as we ran over the uneven ground. I stumbled, and he reached out to steady me. “Careful.”
“I’ll heal.”
He nodded. “But you’ll bleed.”
By the time we got back to the chamber, my clothes were drenched with sweat. Cash shot me a look that let me know I needed to bathe.
I grabbed up my bathroom bag and stomped out of the room with Malcolm on my heals. “You’re not going to watch me bathe.”
“No”—he shook his head—“but I will stand guard and make sure you’re safe.”
“I’ll be fine on my own.”
He grabbed hold of my arm, and I looked up into his concerned face. “You are nearing exhaustion.”
I yawned in response.
“You will have your privacy.”
Heating the bath to lukewarm took more energy than it should have. I sunk beneath the water and rested my head against the ledge. Malcolm’s red fires illuminated the room. I looked up at the ceiling and wondered how my friends were doing. I hoped the Nephilim and other dragons were leaving them alone. I hoped Aurelia was figuring out a way for me to get out of this if my plan didn’t work.
Even though I was scraping the dregs of my power, I willed my eyes to see through the ground to the outside world. There was only darkness above me. I couldn’t even see the stars or moon. My heart seemed to drop further.
Being inside a cave with only fires for light, it was easy to adopt a new sleep schedule. As I laid down the next morning, I prayed that Mavros wouldn’t be able to pull me from my dreams and that nobody would stumble upon my hiding place. Then I fell into the deep sleep of extreme exhaustion.
When I woke up, Cash was gone. I sat up and shot Malcolm a curious look.
“He figured he should check in.” He tossed me a protein bar, and I let it drop on top of the blanket. “Eat.”
I picked it up but couldn’t bring myself to open it. “Couldn’t you teleport out and bring back bacon and eggs?”
He shook his head. “Not today. Not with Cash gone.”
I grimaced at my breakfast.
“Eat it, and I’ll get some different food when I go out again.”
“Thanks. There’s only so many of these I
