Page 84 of The Last Aether

“I do, but I found some old texts that shed some light on your situation. When an aether bond is formed in situations of extreme stress, it can become more…”

Phoenix sat up straighter in his chair. “More what?”

Quincy turned towards me. “Have you noticed any extra abilities lately? Maybe sensing what your bond is feeling or even hearing what they’re thinking?”

My jaw went slack. “How did you know?”

Riven stiffened next to me. “How can you hear what we’re thinking?”

I shook my head. “Not exactly. Yesterday, I swore I heard you sigh in my mind when I said I would back off training if it got to be too much. It was like I could feel your relief. And tonight, I could feel Atlas’s embarrassment at us talking about his cooking and your amusement at me figuring out your stalking ways.”

Quincy practically bounced in his chair. “What about the rest of you? Have you noticed anything?”

All of the guys but Atlas shook their heads. He looked down at his plate. “It’s weird, but I thought I felt when Aura was in danger from the attack. It was just seconds before Phoenix shouted for help. I brushed it off as intuition, but I’ve felt a few other flickers of things.”

“That makes sense with your truth-telling gift. You’re predisposed to empathy,” Quincy said.

“But what the hell does it mean?” Phoenix pushed.

“It’s called Quintessence. It means the purest essence of something or the perfect embodiment of it. In this case, aether. You have truly been given the highest calling an aether can be given. The aethers of Quintessence were created in times of great peril, and for that reason, were given extra gifts.”

He smiled gently at me. “Greater strength in each of their four affinities. Increased healing ability within your bond. An empathy that will allow them to sow harmony between all people. And the ability to mind link with their mates to strengthen the bond. Ultimately, you will be able to speak into one another’s minds, to share thoughts and feelings.”

“Why?” I rasped out. Because if this was all true, there had to be a reason.

A shadow passed over Quincy’s eyes. “Because a battle is coming, and you’ll have to fight with everything you have.”

47

Atlas’s fingers dug into the muscles along my shoulders. “You’ve got this. Don’t let last night get in your head.”

My gaze swept the gym, the students clustered in groups. Some laughing, others looking nervous. We’d made it back to our first rotations of pairings and that meant I’d be facing Drue and Aiden again today.

Kerry looked over at me. “What happened last night?”

“Just the usual drama.” I was an asshole for lying to my friend. But I didn’t have the luxury of telling her everything either. It would only put us both in more danger. The less people who knew, the better.

She studied me for a moment, and I wondered if she could read the lie in my voice, but then she simply nodded. “Atlas is right. You’ve got this. You’ve been practicing like crazy for weeks.”

“I’m not the only one,” I said with a grin. “You have to be logging some major hours in the gym to be kicking as much butt as you are.” Kerry had made a serious one-eighty in this class. There was no more out-running her opponents, she was simply taking them down.

A little bit of pink hit Kerry’s cheeks. “It feels good to finally excel at something at this school.” Some of the pride slipped from her expression. “Not that my dad would be thrilled about this.”

“Who cares what your dad thinks? You’re a badass. Own it.”

She beamed. “You’re right.”

A throat cleared, and I stiffened as Eva walked up with a smirking smile. “Atlas. Freshmen.”

It was obviously meant as a dig, but if Eva was seeking us out, it meant she was the insecure one. I guessed that was because Riven was keeping his distance. A flicker of guilt rose in my stomach. I hadn’t meant for him to cut off a friendship with Eva, just for him to no longer play doting boyfriend.

Atlas straightened to his full height. “What are you doing here?”

She shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. I heard there might be a hell of a show today.”

Great. People were talking about my rematches with Drue and Aiden. I thought there had been some unfamiliar faces in the sea of students. Now I knew why.

“Get lost before I tell Riven you’re stirring up trouble,” Atlas shot back.