Page 90 of The Lost Elemental

I shook my head. “The Unveiling is tomorrow. If it turns out I do have a fire affinity, I need to be able to control it.”

Phoenix laced his fingers through mine. “I’ll be there. I’ll be able to help you if things get out of control.”

“Unless I’m a Nova.”

His spine snapped straight at that word.

Hurt flared in me at his movement. “You know about them.”

Sparks danced around Phoenix, but he didn’t speak right away. “Most people don’t know about them because they’re so rare. Usually, the kind of power surges we see are just from strongly gifted elementals.”

“But you knew about them.”

He nodded. “You’re not a Nova, Aura.”

“You don’t know that.”

Phoenix’s hands framed my face. “You’ve had outbursts of power, but you’re not unstable. I would’ve felt it.”

I shook my head. “I have that weird double binding in place. That could be disguising it.”

“I think I would still feel the instability through that.”

“You should’ve told me it was a possibility.”

His thumbs swept back and forth across my cheeks. “Why should I worry about something that I know isn’t true?”

I looked up into those fathomless eyes. “Because I deserve to know the truth. Even if it’s ugly.”

Phoenix let out a huff of air. “Fine. I promise to share every morbid possibility with you no matter how impossible.”

“Good. Thank you.”

He chuckled and climbed to his feet, extending a hand to me. “Now, let’s prove that you can control your magic.”

I let Phoenix pull me up. “Please don’t make out with me and make one of us go boom.”

He sent me a wink. “That’s for later.”

A laugh escaped me even though it was the last sound I expected.

“But you have to work for your reward.”

I groaned. “Fine. What’s the grand plan?”

Phoenix leaned forward and brushed his lips against mine. There was a flare of that buzzing through me, but it subsided the moment he pulled away. “Just a little to power you up.”

My hands trembled, but I nodded. “Walk me through it again.”

“Fire is life. It’s the burn that spurs us to chase our dreams, that enflames our passions, that feeds our fight. You have all of that. I’ve seen it. So I know there’s fire in you. But I also think you’ve done your best to shove it down because of what happened to you as a child.”

I let out a shaky breath. “You’re probably right.”

Phoenix held tight to my hand with one of his, then he lifted the other. “I’ll never hurt you.”

“Okay,” I breathed.

A small flame erupted in Phoenix’s palm. My breathing picked up its pace, but I didn’t pull away.