Page 261 of Awakened

I cry and shake as I struggle to put an end to the torrent flowing from my palms. Branwen inches closer, murmuring gentle encouragement, but I can’t focus on anything except stopping the destruction.

My jaw starts to ache from clenching it so hard. Blood flows from my nose in steady streams, dripping over my lips and chin, before falling to splatter against the floor.

I pay it no mind. Not when I’ve finally begun to feel my fingers twitch—bending little by little. With one final scream of effort, my hands snap shut, curling into fists and trapping the flame inside.

Panting, I stare at my hands in awe as fire peeks through the skin, pulsing so bright I can see the bones of my skeleton. With one last mental pull, I yank the flame back inside of me.

The fire disappears.

I stagger back, unable to get a breath. I can taste the copper and iron of blood coating the back of my throat as I bend over, planting my fists on my thighs.

That—that was not like anything I’ve ever experienced before. It felt like something latched onto the flames and pulled, forcing it to the surface. What the absolute hell just happened?

“Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and all the Saints,” Branwen curses, running to my side. “Are you alright?”

I grind my molars, frustrated with my absolutely abysmal first go at this whole figuring out my own power thing.

“Well, I almost blew us up, so… no?” I stand, swiping the blood away from my face with the sleeve of Caelan’s sweater. Just like last time, my body feels weak, and my arms and legs feel like they weigh a thousand pounds.

I’m so tired I could fall asleep right here, right now. It’s not nearly as bad as it was before, but it’s still awful. Which is kind of strange, considering the amount of fire I just produced must have been fifty times more than the fire I used to kill the Severed.

“Well, it was certainly epic, at least,” she replies, and I glare at her.

“Sure. Epic. So epic I couldn’t even get it to stop, and I blew out the entire wall of the cave.”

The rock is still sizzling, dust and smoke billowing off what remains of the wall. Eyeing the mess warily, I hesitantly make my way toward the destroyed section of the wall.

Branwen falls into step beside me. “Listen, it wasn’t a total disaster. Look. Our clothes are dry!”

Her optimistic outlook has the corner of my mouth tipping into a smile. “Silver linings, I suppose.”

The wall I destroyed is about forty feet away from where we were, and as we get closer, I realize the destruction is much worse than I thought.

It looks less like a bomb went off, and more like some kind of laser ate through the stone and Earth like acid. Rock is warped and glazed, and in some places, entire sections have hardened into rippling waves like black glass.

Thin tendrils of steam and smoke are still escaping, hissing from hairline fractures in other areas where the damage isn’t as catastrophic. The scent of burnt minerals hangs heavy in the air, making every breath taste metallic and kind of sweet.

The light is concentrated in the middle of the cavern, so it’s not until we get close enough to touch it that I realize the hole isn’t just a hole—a shimmer of movement flickers, twisting back and forth between the misty veils of smoke. Curious, I lean in closer.

“What are you doing?” Branwen asks, bending over alongside me. But before I can answer, she gasps.

“What the bloody hell...?

At first, all I see is darkness. Then I realize the glimmer I saw through the smoke is actually light from the cavern reflecting off polished surfaces in the distance.

“What in the world is this?”

Before I can consider what to do next, Branwen’s moving. She scurries forward, climbing over the rocks and glass and dashing into the chamber.

The chamber that was apparently hidden behind this wall. The one we absolutely never would have found, because there’s no way to get to anything behind this part of the cave. The rivers split off, but unless one of them twists around and doubles back, they don’t lead this way.

With a curse, I hoist myself up and pick my way carefully over the rock, making sure not to step on anything sharp.

The moment my feet land on top of the polished stone floor of the hidden room, I gasp.

Branwen turns at the sound and reaches out, wrapping her hand around my upper arm.

“It’s a hidden chamber,” she breathes, voice full of wonder.