Page 48 of The Lost Elemental

“Your Highness,” Acker greeted.

The man stared at me with light blue eyes that were hard as stone. “You don’t bow to your king of air?”

I struggled to my feet, tipping my head. “I’m new at this whole royalty thing.”

King Zephyr chuckled, but it wasn’t an entirely warm sound. “You’d better learn quick.”

No one argued with him. In fact, no one said a word for a long moment. Finally, Headmaster Acker cleared his throat. “Was there something you needed, Your Highness?”

King Zephyr’s eyes narrowed on Acker. “You didn’t think you should share with me that an extremely powerful half-human elemental was discovered?”

Acker’s expression remained completely calm, but there was something in his eyes that spoke of anything but. “We are still trying to determine if that’s the case.”

“Which is why I’m here. Thankfully, there are those on this campus who still keep me in the loop.”

His son, I was sure. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out where Riven had gotten his pompous assholery.

King Zephyr rolled up one sleeve of his dress shirt and then the other. “I will do a double bind testing.”

Acker sucked in a sharp breath. “Your Highness—”

“That is inhumane,” Quincy sputtered.

King Zephyr glared at them both. “Do you deign to question me? I have ruled for decades. I know the tough decisions to keep our people safe. I do a double bind test or have her expelled, effective immediately.”

The entire room went silent.

My stomach twisted into a series of intricate knots. Quincy strode towards me and patted my hand. “He’s going to unlock your power for just a moment.”

“Isn’t that what you did at the testing? Won’t the same thing happen?”

He shook his head. “He’ll be unlocking you in a different way this time.” He frowned. “There will be pain, but—”

“She’ll deal with it so we can have the answers we need,” King Zephyr finished for him.

Quincy’s gaze hardened on the King and for a moment, I thought he might lunge at the man.

“It’s okay,” I hurried to say. “We need to know, right?” I couldn’t stand the idea of Quincy being hurt because of me.

He squeezed my hands. “You’re stronger than you know.”

When he stepped away, King Zephyr took his place, grabbing my hands roughly. The second our hands joined, a sick feeling swept through me, dark and foreboding.

A moment later, heat flared where our skin touched, quickly blooming to a burning pain. It swept through me like a wildfire raging. I doubled over, crying out in pain.

A foreign energy swirled through me, lighting every nerve ending on fire in the worst agony imaginable. I tried to hold onto it to not let it go, but I couldn’t.

Light flashed, followed by a deafening boom. Windows shattered, lights extinguished. And then there was nothing. Nothing but the knowledge that was exactly what Riven had accused me of being.

Combustible.

27

“For fuck’s sake, someone contain her magic,” King Zephyr bellowed.

I was aware of guards charging into the room, of people moving around me. But all I could focus on was the pain coursing through my body. It was as if a fire blazed along each nerve.

The door to the office banged open and everyone in the room spun in that direction. The ground shook. “What the hell did you do to her?”