“Who called for the healer?” Unibrow demanded.
I ignored her and reached for him. He had blisters all over his beautiful face, his uniform had been charred beyond recognition, and his crazy curls were singed. I laid my hands on his chest and called water, pushing my control to him. He stirred and cringed, weakly trying to push me away.
“No one called for you, healer.” Unibrow just wouldn’t let it go and grabbed me by the shoulder.
Big mistake, unibrow pixie bitch.
I sent her flying with a giant fireball. She wanted to play rough, I’d play rough. She wanted to fight with fire, she could fight me with fire, not my water elemental. I called more fire, keeping it dancing on her, intensifying it to purple, until she didn’t look much different than Leo. Blisters. Charred clothes. Singed hair.
You’re welcome.
“Stand down, Reed.” Rob grasped my wrist and called water, killing my fire call. I dropped my hand and returned my attention to Leo.
It was then I realized I’d had my other hand on him the entire time I’d called fire. He no longer moved. “Leo?”
No answer.
I placed both hands on him and called water. He still didn’t move.
“Leo? Leo! Answer me. Leo!” I called more water, which had no reaction. I switched to light and sent it through my palms, centering it in Leo’s core.
Still, he didn’t move.
“No,” I whimpered, horrified at what I’d done. “No, no, no. Leo. Come on. Come on!” I increased the strength of my light, pushing everything I had to him.
“Katy,” Syd said from somewhere behind me. “Back away. Let me do this.”
“No. I’ve got this.” I had to save him. I did this to him. I had to undo it.
“Back away. That’s an order.”
“Reed.” Rob hooked me around the waist and forced me back. I kicked. I dug my nails into his hands. I even tried headbutting his chin, but he’d expected every move.
“He’s got a pulse, but it’s weak. Let’s get him to the infirmary.” Syd stood and nodded for a Council member to approach. Brooks, the tattooed hulk, gave me a look conveying exactly how I felt. Appalled. Frustrated. Defeated. He knelt next to Leo, placed his hands on his shoulders, and teleported them out.
“I’m going with you.”
Syd faced me and adjusted his rimless glasses as he squared his shoulders and shook his head. “You’ve done enough. Stay here and stand watch over the rest of the tribunals. Only enter the field when signaled. Is that clear?”
“But—”
“Katy.” He cut me off, his hand up. “Is that clear?”
“Crystal.”
He nodded to Unibrow. “You. Teleport us to the infirmary. I need to be sure you didn’t suffer any permanent damage from my assistant’s attack.”
Attack? That wasn’t an attack. That was me defending my boyfriend. Way to turn this on me, Doc.
“First years, take the field.” Dean Carter’s voice sounded above the chaos.
“You’d better get to the sidelines,” Rob said and released his hold on me. “And when this is over, you and I are going to have words, Reed.”
“I didn’t mean for him to get hurt. I was only trying to help. It wasn’t fair that two Council members ganged up on him like that.”
“You don’t think that was by design? You heard Trina. This was two tests rolled into one. That requires two attackers. Leo agreed to it.”
I didn’t realize any of that until he’d just pointed it out. Now I felt like an idiot. Humiliation burned my cheeks that I hadn’t put it all together. Then again, Leo was the master of the obvious. I was…not. Clearly.
“We already had a plan. Leo knew he’d be battling two of us because I told him. When I found out they planned a double assault to speed up the testing, I volunteered as the second attacker. That’s why the guys were at the cabin last night. We were working out the plan and just finished when you texted me. Knowing you’d freak out if we told you, we covered it with that stupid board game.”
“Y-you lied to me?”
“No, we didn’t tell you everything. That’s not the same thing.”
That made about as much sense as calling a huge guy Tiny or naming a Chihuahua Killer. “You kept it from me. That’s the same thing in my book.” I stormed off as betrayal burned behind my eyes.
The rest of the day went by in a blur. The remaining first years were tested, most passing without issue, those discovered to have dark magic enhancing their powers escorted off. It was brutal, inhumane, and I wanted to cut every last member of the Council for putting these poor kids through it.
I also just wanted it to be over so I could go to the infirmary and check on Leo.
“Tomorrow,” Dean Carter announced, “we begin with second years.” He then regarded me. “Katy Reed, join me.” Cautiously, I did, glancing around at all the stares and whispered comments. When I reached the headmaster, he turned me to face the crowd. “We will begin with our most famous second year.”
Wait. What? “You’re testing me?”
“You are a second year,” he pointed out. At least he no longer broadcast his voice for the entire arena to hear.
“But I’m also the prophecy—well, I was.”
“No one is above reproach, Ms. Reed.”
“The fact I saved us from dark elementals trying to destroy our world not once but twice doesn’t earn me a pass?”
“Not this time. Besides, with the rumors circulating about you turning dark and attacking students, this will put everyone’s mind at ease when you prove to them you aren’t magically enhanced.”
I held my hand against my side, hiding my palm in case it decided now, of all times, to glow. The throbbing, although faint, was there, the darkness pulsing through me. Shit and shinola. When they tested me, they’d find the magically enhanced element inside me for sure.
I was so screwed.
9
By the time the sun had set on day two of the tribunals, I barely remained upright. Calling element after element, deciphering an
