Page 78 of The Lost Elemental

His fingers dug deeper, working on the knots that had taken root in my neck. “Do you know how many times the four of us lost control?”

“Too many to count,” Phoenix muttered.

“It’s a gift, Aura,” Kerry said softly. “Being this powerful. It won’t be without its challenges, but it means you’re capable of great things.”

“Greatness has nothing to do with how strong someone is. It has to do with their heart. The goodness that lives in them.” The desire to help others when someone had nothing to gain. I’d seen that in all three of my guys. Their need to help their people, to help me.

Kerry’s lips pressed together. “That may be true, but it’s a lot more helpful if you have the strength to back it up.”

That ache flared to life in my chest again for my friend. “You have your own kind of strength.”

She flushed. “Maybe.” She glanced towards the door. “I just wanted you to have a heads-up. To see if maybe there was something your, uh, friends could do.” The pink in Kerry’s cheeks deepened on the word friends.

Sparks flashed in Phoenix’s eyes. “Oh, we’ll do something.”

I groaned. “No decapitation.”

“How about breaking a few necks?”

I leveled him with a stare. “Not that either.”

Kai picked up his phone and began tapping rapidly. “I put the word out. Anyone hoping to stay on our good side won’t sign that damn paper.”

Kerry winced. “They already had a lot of signatures.”

Atlas muttered a curse. “We need to go to Acker now before they get to him. Explain the situation.”

“Drue’s family is well-connected. If she’s the one behind this, it’s going to be harder to put her off,” Phoenix said.

Atlas scrubbed a hand over his stubbled jaw. “We need Riven to talk her down. She grew up in Zephyr. She’s one of his subjects. He’s our one shot to get this whole thing under control.”

I bit the inside of my cheek. “Couldn’t we try going to Headmaster Acker first? I can explain what happened. Maybe he’ll believe me.”

The last person I wanted to involve was Riven. Especially not after our latest blowup.

Kai shook his head. “The guys are right. We need him. If Drue doesn’t stop pushing, it’s going to make trouble for you eventually.”

“She’ll never let up. She thinks she’s your aether.”

Kai let out a groan. “I can’t believe she’s that delusional.”

Kerry let out a huff of air. “Ever since it was clear she had three gifts and they were strong, she’s been saying that the fourth would manifest at The Unveiling. She goes on and on about how you’re all destined to be hers. And she makes sure we all know it.”

A chuckle escaped Atlas and then a full-on belly laugh. “I wouldn’t touch that girl with a ten-foot pole. She’s evil.”

Kai shivered. “She’d probably hex your balls or something.”

Shadows danced around Phoenix’s shoulders. “That one’s not right in the head. It’s obsession. I know that kind of greed. Aura’s right—she won’t give up that easily.”

A sick feeling spread through me, inky-black like tar coating my insides. He was right. I’d seen that greed flash in Drue’s eyes. She wanted the royals more than anything. Not because she desired them as individuals, but because she wanted what being with them brought. It made me ache for how often they all must’ve experienced that. People wanting to be close to them for what the princes could give them, not who they were.

Kai glanced towards the stairs. “We need Riven.”

Atlas’s jaw worked back and forth. “When we explain the situation, he’ll come through.”

My stomach flipped at that. Counting on someone who had done nothing but push me away was a risk I wasn’t sure we could afford. But we had to try.

Phoenix glanced at Kerry. “Could you give us a minute?”