Chapter 37
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Ireally wanna smack Flint for his smug maleness and his obvious enjoyment. “Do what feels right.” How the hell do I know what feels right? I’ve never done this before.
“Have you ever done this?” I ask. “Train someone like this, I mean.”
He shakes his head. “No, but I called for reinforcements.”
Before I can ask what the fuck he’s talking about, the shield he put up seems to shimmer in the light and Betsy appears.
WHAT
THE
FUCK
“Hey kids!” she signs out, gaily.
“Bits?! What the fuck–” before I can finish my sentence, she gestures with her hand. A sudden breeze kicks up, teasing some loose dirt from the ground and creating a mini-tornado.
I can’t even speak as Flint makes a similar gesture and a moment later, there’s a second tornado, a bit larger than the first, dancing around the circle.
Betsy laughs. “Race, cowboy?”
I’m completely fucking speechless as the two tiny twisters race around the inner barrier of the shield Flint constructed, Flint laughing like a boy and Betsy’s giggle sounding in the air. Betsy’s smaller funnel beats Flint’s by a hair.
“I leave the field to you, my lady.” He grins at her.
“As you should,” she nods, regally. “Now — what’s up, pumpkin?”
I can feel my mouth working, but no sounds come out. She smiles at me, indulgently and then turns to Flint.
“Care to fill me in?”
He walks her through what happened at home leading up to when she “stumbled upon” us in the park. “So you want me to…?”
“To help. I’ve never trained anyone, not like this. I figure you’re probably the most qualified person I know.”
This is too much.
“You too?” I manage to blurt, still staring at where the two tiny racing cyclones have settled into nothing.
“Me too, what?”
“You’re— you— you’re a…”
Betsy lets out a burst of laughter. “You can just consider me your fairy godmother.” She winks.
I feel like the rug has disappeared from underneath my feet. Everything in my life has gone ass up and the people in my life are being really fucking nonchalant about it.
I’m beginning to find the idea of a grippy sock vacay very appealing.
“But you knew…”
“I knew you were special, pumpkin. You always have been. Now you’ve just got extra… pow.” She laughs again.
“Is there anyone else like… this?”
“Not that I know of.” Flint answers.
“Wait — you knew?”
He shrugs. “I could feel your power. How else could you talk to a dragon in your mind?”
“And… what? Neither of you thought to mention this? Like, this wasn’t an important fact? Seriously?”
Flint stares at me for a few long seconds before saying “Would you have believed me? If I had said you had magick before you had any evidence of it?”
I don’t want to concede that point. “But I was supposed to readily believe that Goira was real? Not to mention you? Calida?”
He has the decency to look sheepish.
“You can touch me. You talk to Calida. Fuck — she sleeps at your feet! But would you have believed this? Really A– Cas? With no evidence?”
He’s like a dog with a bone. “Fine. Your point.”
“So, now what?”
“Now,” Betsy chimes in, “we work on getting you trained so you don’t accidentally bulldoze the town the next time you get overstimulated.”
“Oh.”
As the shock begins to wear off, the excitement starts building. I mean, come on. I have fucking magick!
My excitement is short lived as I learn that magick is not going to be quick, nor easy.
“You want me to what now?”
Betsy gestures to where I’ve set up the rocks. “I want you to learn to work with Earth.”
She takes my hand and leads me to the circle of stones. “Take a deep breath. Feel the Earth under your feet. Solid. Steady. That’s your anchor. Now, reach down, into the ground. Earth is stubborn, like you. Ask it to move with you.”
I close my eyes and… nothing happens. I feel the smallest of vibrations and open my eyes to see one stone give a tiny… was that a hop?
“Did you see— ?”
“I saw,” Flint says, smiling.
“You need to stop trying to force it. The harder you try to muscle it, the more it will keep slipping away.”
“So it’s not about control?” I ask Betsy.
“Not right now. Control will come later. Right now, you need to build a friendship. Think of the elements as your friends. You can’t just… just march into their home and bark orders. You need to introduce yourself; bring a pie.”
What the fuck? “Exactly what sort of pie do I bring to a rock?”
“Lemon,” Betsy responds, not missing a beat. “Earth likes tart things. Now shut up and try again.”
I bite my bottom lip to keep from smiling and try to re-focus on the rocks. This time, the stones roll inward, clicking softly together. Then, just as it feels like something is swelling in my chest and breaking free, they rise together, in a perfect tower, one balanced precariously on the other.
“Holy shit! I did it!”
I meet Flint’s grin. “You did. And we’re just getting started.”