“I have so many questions,” Allyra said, only half-joking.
“So uneducated,” Jason said without venom.
“One, if people can just go around Evanescing each other, isn’t that the perfect way to kill someone?”
Jason lifted an eyebrow at her. “I like your thinking—you’re developing quite the mind of the killer. But no. Think about it—just getting the leaf wrong nearly made you lose your lunch, and when I turned a pebble to mud, I was struck down by the world’s worst migraine. I couldn’t get out of bed for two days. Destroying a person through Evanesce will most definitely kill you—I would advise most strongly against it, which probably means you’ll go out and attempt it at the first possible opportunity.”
Allyra shot him an exasperated glare, and he grinned, utterly unrepentant.
“Next question?” he prompted.
“What in the world does Tethered mean? I assume it’s not some Gifted version of BDSM?”
“Hmmm, you in leather with a whip,” Jason mused, deliberately ogling her. “I might be convinced to get behind that.”
“Ugh please don’t,” Allyra replied with a grimace. “Not unless you want my lunch in your lap.”
Jason let out a huff of laughter but then composed himself quickly. When he spoke again, it was with a strange seriousness. “Tethering means to bind your mind with another. It allows two or more Gifted to work in concert, like the Assembly of Wind. Tethering can be a powerful tool, but it means opening your mind up to someone else.
“Tethering was once revered amongst the Gifted,” Jason continued, his voice soft and distant. “It was almost sacred—a bond of trust so deep you were willing to open the darkest corners of your mind to another. In the past, it was only done for the best reasons—love, trust, protection. Now it is done simply to win an advantage in The Five Finals.”
There was an unaccountable wistfulness in Jason’s voice, and he seemed to be lost in a memory. Yet, he spoke steadily and confidently, bringing the past to life almost as if he’d lived it. She was suddenly reminded that once, in the Elemental Trials, Gemma had suggested Jason was the person to go to for a history lesson. Perhaps if she had heeded Gemma’s advice, she could’ve spared herself the torturous boredom of listening to Master Marais.
“It sounds—complicated,” Allyra said with a shudder. The very idea of having someone permanently in her mind—accessing her memories, her dreams, her fears—sounded utterly monstrous. Though, she could acknowledge how it might be useful in The Five Finals. “And if you think you’re getting in my head, think again.”
“As if I would want to open my mind to the chaotic mess going on in there,” he said, tapping the side of her head with his finger.
Faster than a cobra striking, Allyra grabbed his finger. “Stop,” she said. “Unless you want to lose this finger.”
He laughed, and for a moment, Allyra glimpsed the man hidden behind the arrogant mask—young and maybe more brittle than he cared to admit and so, so handsome. With his looks, Jason already had so many people—female and male alike—desperate for his attention, but if he showed them this open, more sincere version, they’d probably fall over themselves offering him love and devotion.
Allyra hardened her heart, reminding herself that she would not be naïve or gullible enough to fall for his deceptive charm.
“I’d like to keep this finger,” he said, gently extracting it from her grip. “And no, I’m not suggesting we get Tethered. That usually takes months and years to build the requisite amount of trust. Time isn’t exactly on our side. Besides, your mind should always be your own, Allyra.”
The seriousness of his tone made her look up, surprised. It wasn’t what she’d been expecting.
He met her eyes frankly. “Once you give your mind away, you can never truly have it back again. It isn’t something to take on lightly, and certainly not just because you want to win The Five Finals.”
She let out a small, sarcastic laugh. “I thought you’d feed me to the wolves if it meant having a chance at winning.”
He didn’t smile, and the intensity of his indigo eyes sent a shiver thrilling down her spine. “I’m serious, Allyra. Be careful. Protect your mind.”
“So, some of the pairs are Tethered?”
Jason nodded. “I’m not a hundred percent sure, but there are small signs if you watch carefully enough.”
“For example?”
“For example—I’m pretty sure Xolani and François are Tethered. They seem to know what the other is going to do a split second before they should. Besides, they’re in it to win, and Tethering is a significant advantage they wouldn’t forego.”
“Also,” Jason continued. “I’m fairly certain that Henri and Adriana are Tethered too.”
This particular tidbit of information made Allyra sit up, reanalyzing every one of her previous interactions with the pair. The quiet shared glances, the practiced touches. Had each been some kind of silent communication between shared minds?
“They’ve never mentioned it.”
“They wouldn’t—it’s not something you scream from the rooftops. Tethering is a strength, but it can also be a weakness. Hurt one mind enough and any others linked to it will also be destroyed.”
* * *
The corridor was quiet, filled only with a warm, heavy silence that hinted at the lateness of the hour. Not even the most committed of insomniacs would still be awake, and tonight, she’d only been kept from her bed by a nasty gash in her arm that had resulted in a visit to the infirmary. The wound in question had been the result of a late-night training session—a pointed reminder that sharp objects and exhaustion did not mix well together. Jason had been exhausted as well since he was usually far too skilled and precise to actually cut her.
The cut was neither deep nor particularly serious, and her Gifted healing
