Page 78 of The Last Aether

Atlas pressed his lips to my hair. “Scared the hell out of us.”

“She seems to like doing that,” Phoenix grumbled.

“What about the attack? Are they…?” I wasn’t exactly sure how to finish that question.

“They’re gone,” Riven said.

I stared down at my hands. “You mean I killed them.”

Phoenix moved in closer to me, crowding me with his warmth. It was always several degrees warmer than the other guys, maybe because he had such a strong fire affinity. “You stopped the people who were trying to hurt us.”

I worried the inside of my cheek. “It was like I wasn’t in control.” The idea of that much fire coming from me, causing that much destruction, made me shudder.

Kai moved to the bed, sitting and taking my hand in his. “Your power was responding to the people you love being in danger. That’s a good thing.”

“Not if I have no control over it. I could get pissed off and accidentally kill one of you.”

The corner of his mouth kicked up. “Let’s be honest, the only one you’ve ever been in any real danger of killing is Riven.”

Riven scowled at him. “You aren’t helping.”

Kai squeezed my hand. “Control and understanding will come with time. For now, we can all be grateful that you had that power burst.”

I looked up at Riven. He was standing still, but the energy was practically vibrating through him. “How did so many get through?”

A muscle along his jaw ticked. “The guard received orders from their chain of command to investigate an attack outside of campus. No one can pinpoint where the orders originated from, but they left us completely exposed. And The Network knew that.”

A shiver ran through me, and Atlas pulled me tighter into his side. “We’re lucky we had you, Pip. You saved all of our lives.”

I wanted the ability to protect the people I cared about and myself. But I also was terrified that their lives could rest in my hands. I wasn’t ready for that kind of pressure. I didn’t trust my abilities to show up when I needed them.

There was only one solution to that. I’d have to train. In the fight circles. In my classes. And outside of them too. Phoenix had promised to train me, and I was going to make him live up to that promise.

Riven stared down at me. “What did you feel when you unleashed your fire?”

My hand gripped Kai’s harder, some instinctual reaction I didn’t have control over. I didn’t want to think back to that moment, but we needed answers. All of us. I tried to bring those moments to my mind.

The panic flared in my memory. The deep terror. “I was so scared that I’d lose one of you.”

Phoenix nestled in closer to my side. “We’re right here.”

“There were so many of them. I knew there was no way we could win hand-to-hand or affinity-to-affinity. It was like the fire came without me calling it. Almost like it was telling me what to do.”

Riven frowned as he studied me. “I’ve never had that kind of experience. The air is a part of me, yes, but I’m always the one controlling it.”

I toyed with the hem of the blanket. “It’s like it was whispering in my mind to let it free. So, I did.”

“And it took every one of those assholes out,” Kai said with a grin.

No one else shared in his humor.

He sighed. “Come on. Pip is an amazing badass. That’s something to celebrate.”

“But we also have to make sure she’s safe,” Riven argued.

“And that the people around me are safe too.” That was what I cared about the most. I wouldn’t put the people I loved at risk because of some crazy power.

Phoenix traced a circle on my now fully healed shoulder. “It’s going to take time, but you’ll get there. We’ve all struggled with control.”