“Try calling earth. Focus on that feeling and see if you can do it.”
He furrowed his brow in concentration and zeroed in on one of the roots. It shrank back, offended. After trying several times and with several different flavors of the element, each one ignoring him and some even outright doing the exact opposite just to spite him, he gave up with a shake of his head. “It’s not working for me.”
“Me either.” Leo shrugged. “I mean, I can feel the humming on my skin and all that, but I can’t get it to channel into a call.”
“Interesting.” I sent the roots back into the ground while Bryan smoothed the grass, returning it to its normal size and repairing the surface where the roots had broken free. “Looks like we can’t call an element not already within our power to control. We can just channel it to protect us. And if that element is the opposite of your primary, you can’t charge it up.”
“That’s still better than nothing,” Rob eagerly pointed out. He didn’t want me to strike up the conversation about removing the ward again. “Should we try fire, just in case?”
“Or water?” Leo added. “Bryan is the only one who can’t call fire. How about we work on an element only a few of us have the power to control?”
Water was my weakest call. Rob’s too. It wasn’t a bad idea to find a way to tap into Leo’s power to boost ours. “It won’t work on Clay or Bryan, and fire won’t work on Bryan. You saw how earth reacted when Rob tried to call it. It did the exact opposite. Having an elemental without the power to call the element seemed to offend it.”
“I felt that too.” Bryan moved up next to me. “I think we should probably stick with the one element we all have in common.”
“At least we stick to the elements we can call,” I amended. “We’ll work on fire with Rob while you sit that one out, and work on water with Leo while you and Clay observe.”
That…was the exact opposite of what he apparently wanted to hear. Bryan suddenly stiffened as he forced out a sharp breath. His nostrils flared as he inhaled just as sharply. The look of betrayal that flashed across his face tore at me. “You’re sidelining me?”
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
“That’s what you said.”
“No,” I repeated with stronger conviction. “I said those who can’t control the element we’re working on will sit that one out. Quit making this about you. Clay will be right there with you when we work on water.”
“Dude,” Clay jumped in. “Why are you getting all riled up? You said you felt your primary resist Rob’s call. We don’t want to piss off the elements. Chill.”
“Don’t tell me to chill.” Bryan bared his teeth, shocking me. He wasn’t acting like my levelheaded earth elemental. He was, dare I say, acting like my hotheaded fire elemental. The wards had us tapping into more than our elements. It had us channeling each other’s emotions, the traits that made us who we are. Rob and his short temper. Clay and his carefree attitude. Leo and his detached mannerisms.
What did the other guys pick up from Bryan?
“Bry.”
“Stop.” He brought up his hands and backed up. “I get it. This is turning into the trio club. The more power, the better.”
“I’m not a trio,” Clay pointed out.
“Your primary is the one element we all share. That makes you pretty fucking powerful.” He retreated several more steps. “Rob, our leader, the most powerful trio at the academy, got to be the first to meet Katy, the first to bond with her, and is now running patrols for the Council. Clay, the one who blows off any level of responsibility, gets to have the power over our common element and has influence over the direction the Council takes Clearwater. Leo is a trio and running patrols alongside Rob. Katy is the prophecy, the one destined to save our world. You all have a purpose. Where does that leave me?”
“You’re my rock.” And I refused to have his insecurities—wherever they were coming from—drive a wedge in this group. We were stronger together, as Rob had said. That meant all of us had to be onboard and be confident in our direction. I closed the distance between us as I went on, “You’re the one who grounds me, Bryan. When my crazy gets out of control, you’re there to pull me back in. When I’m at my breaking point, it’s you who gives me the strength to keep going. When I don’t have the confidence to do something, you build me up until I do. You don’t talk me out of whatever batshit insane plan I’ve concocted. You just make sure you’re there for me if I fall. I love you.”
He cleared his throat as he looked away. After bringing his hands to his hips, he finally spoke. “I love you too.”
“We’re all scared.” It sucked to admit, but there it was. “This isn’t going to be easy. I get that. If you want to tap out, I’d totally understand. No one is asking you to lead a revolution.” That’s my job.
“I’m not going anywhere.” He pulled me into his arms and sighed into my hair. “Sorry for freaking out on you like that. I just feel like I’m not bringing enough to the table.”
Several sets of arms appeared as the guys all stepped in for another one of our epic group hugs. God, how I loved them. They charged me while at the same time centering me.
“You’re my best friend, bro.” Rob slapped Bryan on the back harder than necessary. “Don’t let me catch you ever thinking you’re not worthy of the title.”
“And you’re my nemesis, but in a good way.” Clay grinned and gave the classic Bieber flip. “We’re opposing elementals, and yet you’re still one of my brothers. It makes no sense, but I love it.
