“Come on.” I grabbed Clay’s hand and dragged him toward the training field. “We need to be there for him when he goes through this. You and I both know he’s not magically enhanced, but he’s nervous, distracted, and might wind up calling the wrong element.”
“What do you think we can do about it?”
“We can help from the sidelines.”
Clay slowed. “That’s not permitted, Montana. Interfering in a tribunal could get you kicked out.”
“It’s better than standing back and doing nothing while he goes through this alone.”
“No.” He jerked his hand back. “That’s exactly what tribunal is. He has to go through this alone. That’s the only way they know he’s ready. This is his right of passage.”
I hated the fact he was right and, reluctantly and grumbling—okay, bitching—I followed him down to the field.
8
“Leo Jackson, take the field.” One of the Council members, a brunette with a pixie cut and a unibrow that cast a shadow and a black suit that didn’t quite fit right, like she had to borrow it from her big sister or maybe her mom, stepped out of the crowd of Council members, each one in their own black suit.
Leo proudly took to the field, his trim shoulders squared, his head held high, his crazy blond curls all over the place, courtesy of the slight warm breeze keeping the temperature tolerable. Then again, it was only nine in the morning. He buttoned his blue blazer as he approached the Council member, stopping once he reached her.
“In an effort to speed up the process, we will be assessing you for both magically enhanced elements and carrying out your first test in your final tribunal. Are you ready?” She faced him and brought up her hands.
He did the same.
And then it began.
Unibrow’s hands caught fire. She pulled back her arms and sent two steady streams of flames at Leo, who countered with a wall of water. The elements battled, hissing and spitting at each other, until both calls died. She hurled a fireball at him with lightning speed. He created an airfield, protecting him from the opposing element.
She killed her fire call and switched to air, shattering Leo’s airfield with a blast so strong, it not only sent him flying, it knocked back several of the students standing too close on the sidelines.
I hurried over to the students to make sure no one was hurt, doing my job as a healer while keeping my eye on the test. By the time I made it to the students, they’d all gotten back up and were once again engrossed in the show.
“Wait, can they do that?” one student asked.
Unibrow was now joined by Rob. They teamed up and battled Leo together. Not only was it unfair to have two Council members attacking him, but to have one of his best friends battling him, a best friend who knew every one of his weaknesses, was un-fucking-fair.
Rob hurled fire at Leo, who deflected it with his primary. Unibrow called air, blasting a hole in Leo’s wall of water and leaving him wide open for what happened next. Rob sent a huge fireball through the opening. Leo dove out of the way just in time, rolled, and came back up, hitting Unibrow with a wave of water she didn’t see coming. It slammed into her, knocking her ass over teakettle. She pushed to her feet and wiped the excess water from her face, shaking her hands and sending drops flying.
She leaned forward and took off at a sprint, running faster than humanly possible, which meant her air call must be powering her Bionic Woman impression. What was she going to do, body slam him? Was physical contact even allowed?
Apparently it was, because that was exactly what she did. With her shoulder, she slammed into Leo’s midsection and sent them both flying. When they landed, she got back up. Leo stayed down.
“Leo!” I shouted and ran out onto the field.
Syd appeared out of nowhere and blocked me, shaking his head. “Healers do not take the field unless called.”
“But he’s hurt!” I tried to get around him, but he continued to block my path. I could always teleport around him, but, knowing my luck, I’d wind up landing on the other side of the island.
“Katy, I said no. The rules are there for a reason.”
“I don’t care about the rules. He’s hurt.”
The crowd clapped when Rob helped Leo to his feet. My fire elemental placed his hand on my water elemental’s shoulder, said a few words that earned him a nod, and backed up.
Time for round two.
Unibrow stepped up next to Rob. While she called fire, Rob switched to water. I smiled inwardly. Water was his weakest call and Leo’s primary. No way would he be able to take down my blue-eyed guy with his own primary, and I’m pretty sure he’d planned it that way.
The two Council members fired at the same time, which I didn’t understand. Their calls canceled each other out. Leo used air to block the attack, which was exactly what I would have done.
But then he did something I wouldn’t have done. He used air to send the water at Unibrow and the fire at Rob. The elements collided with the elementals and sent them both flying back. That was very cool.
The audience erupted into cheers. He grinned weakly and glanced into the stands.
“Leo, look out!” I cried.
He turned just in time to catch the fireball Unibrow hurled at him right in the chest. He went down and rolled, but the fire wouldn’t go out. It grew in intensity and turned blue, much like my fire when it turned purple. Leo hollered and writhed.
And then he stopped moving. Unibrow killed her call.
Oh no. Oh God, no! I pushed past Syd and rushed to Leo’s side,
