Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
Once we’re on the sandy white shore, we build sand castles, then use our magic to destroy our work. Olive’s air magic blows the models apart, Nick’s water magic floods each, sending them back into the sea, while Abel’s earth magic swallows them whole. Theo calls on his fire, helping me burn twigs from the nearby forest into ash. We get more and more ridiculous with our antics. The briny air and repetitive crash and lull of the ocean helps me relax and forget my worries for a while.
As waves wash away our destroyed masterpieces, Olive laughs. “So why did everyone come to Flighthaven?”
“Well,” Abel gestures between Olive and me, “you two obviously didn’t have a choice.”
“True, but we’ve made the best of it.” She tucks a wayward red curl behind her ear. “Why are you guys here?”
“To feed my siblings. My Flighthaven pay takes care of that. That’s why I’m so anxious to pass the upcoming trial.” Abel shudders. “I could never live with myself if I failed them.”
I pat his shoulder. “You won’t. We’re going to pass.” I hope.
“Damn straight.” Abel winks at me. “Although, I won’t lie…I was a little worried there at first when you never joined our flight training class. I can’t tell you how relieved I was to witness your flying skills in action.”
I offer a weak chuckle. “Yeah, well, that makes two of us.”
“What about you, Nick?” Olive takes the leather throng off her wrist to secure her hair in a low ponytail. “What inspired you to come to Flighthaven?”
“It’s a good career.” He cups sand in his palms and lets the grains fall back to the beach, repeating the process once his hands are empty. “And since I’ve always felt at ease with horses, I figured I’d be the same with alicorns.”
“With all this,” Theo makes a sweeping gesture that spans the length of his body, “how could I not join? Who can resist a hot guy in uniform?”
Everyone chortles, and a sense of peace settles over me as I enjoy the comradery. I’m not confined to a castle, and no one’s trying to poison me or holding a blade to my throat. It’s a good day. I should try to appreciate the positives while I can, even if all the worries weighing on my mind make doing so difficult.
Speaking of… “Hey, Olive, will you come look for seashells with me?”
“Uh, sure?”
I climb to my feet and help her to hers. “Let’s try over there first.” I point at a spot where the beach rounds a corner.
We walk in that direction, Abel’s teasing following on our heels. “Hey, is looking for seashells code for hooking up? If so, can we come watch? I promise we’ll be really quiet.”
“Pig!” Olive flips him off behind her back, triggering his burst of laughter.
Once we disappear from sight, she slows her pace. “Okay, but seriously, why did we really come over here? Is it something to do with Theo?”
My jaw drops. “How did you know?”
She bumps her shoulder against mine. “I was watching you guys walk up to us. I saw him play with your hair, and you were blushing when you first jogged up.”
I shake my head. “If Flighthaven doesn’t work out, I think you could have a lucrative spying career.”
She makes a funny noise. “Yeah…if I had a choice, I’d pass on both of those. But we’re getting off topic. Theo. What are you thinking? He’s super cute. And funny.”
I nibble on my lower lip. “Yeah. He is…”
“But let me guess…he’s not a grumpy flight instructor.”
“Ugh. Am I that obvious?” I rub my hands down my face. “I’m so pathetic.”
“Hey, stop. I would never say that. Sometimes, the heart wants what the heart wants, and there’s not much we can do about it.”
“Yeah, well, the grumpy instructor all but told my heart to take a hike and look for someone else.”
She stops to give me a hug. “I know, and he’s an idiot for that. You’re good people, Lark. If he can’t see that, it’s his loss. Besides, do you really want to sneak around? At least with Theo, you can have a relationship out in the open.”
I lean my head on her shoulder, digging my toes into the wet sand while watching a big wave curl in the distance. “Yeah. I guess.”
Something thumps behind us. Olive rolls her eyes. “Abel, I swear to the gods, if you—” As she whirls, her tone changes. “What are you doing here?”
I spin, and my muscles clench. Elijah, Mark, and the stocky blond fledgling with a buzz cut and wide nose who I recognize as another member of their flight unit all stand too close for comfort. Notable in her absence is Helene. I wonder if we can expect a late arrival to this delightful gathering or if she had better things to do.
Elijah and Mark fan out to each side, working with the third fledgling to surround us. Edging backward to remain out of reach, the frigid tide rushes over my feet and ankles. The icy water bites at my skin.
Mark sneers. “We’re here to do what Torno and Bigley are too chicken to do.”
Olive widens her stance and rolls her shoulders back. The top of her head barely reaches his collarbone and he’s double her weight, but my courageous friend refuses to be cowed. “Oh, yeah? And what’s that?”
“Weed out the traitors.”
Olive and I exchange an uneasy glance before she faces off with them again, curling her lip. “Are you sure? Or is it that you’re worried about our flight unit beating you in the trial rankings now that you’ve seen that Lark isn’t dead weight?”
Despite the tense situation, I can’t help but protest. “Hey!”
Olive directs a tiny, apologetic smile my way. “Sorry, but you can’t blame us for worrying.”
The blond fledgling shuffles his feet. “So what? I’m not afraid to admit I want that first pick of assignments. My best friend’s older sister’s flight unit placed second to last her year and got sent far north during winter. A blizzard hit, and she and two others in her unit froze to death in the mountains.”
Elijah glowers at his friend. “Don’t be a wuss, Trevor. We don’t need any help kicking these losers’ asses in the trial. That’s not why we’re here.”
I’m tempted to ask the obvious question—why are they here—but self-preservation silences my tongue. Somehow, I doubt hearing their plan to “weed out the traitors” will do much to tame my rampaging nerves. “This is stupid. Abel, Nick, and Theo are just around the corner. One shout and they come running, and then it’s five to three in our favor.”
Mark’s soft chuckle sends a chill zinging down my spine. “Go ahead. See that?” He gestures at something overhead. “We planned ahead. Trevor’s been working on his air shield just for this. We tested it until we were sure it was soundproof.”
Trevor’s focused on the translucent dome that engulfs the five of us. If not for the sun glimmering off the shield in spots, the barrier would almost be invisible.
Olive tries anyway. “Nick! Theo! Get your butts over here. It’s an emergency!”
The blond fledgling flinches, and he and Elijah crane their necks to check the beach. No one shows.
Shit.
Fear constricts my lungs, and my breathing becomes labored. In reaction to my emotions, my magic builds, ballooning into an almost painful pressure inside me. If I don’t use the power soon, I worry it will explode through my skin like a supermova.
And the outcome if I do use it could be even worse.
Olive strikes first, conjuring and heaving a mini gale at Trevor. Mark blocks the wind with a wall of sand. The wall remains solid for a moment before exploding, and thousands of tiny grains pelt Olive in the face.
Her pained yelp rings out. “My eyes!”
I lunge and grab her by the arm, pulling her backward into the ocean. “Use the water to wash them out.”
With tears streaming down her cheeks, she drops to her knees in the surf. I wait until I see her cup a handful of water and splash the liquid over her eyes before turning back around. As I do, I fumble for the dagger strapped to my belt. Elijah tackles me from the side. The dagger goes flying, and my left shoulder hits the sand hard. His oversized body lands on top of me, collapsing my lungs and forcing out every last bit of oxygen.
I wheeze. Thrash my limbs. Attempt to shove my elbow into his ribs and reach for the dagger in the sand. It’s no use. Elijah’s a brute of a man. Probably two times my weight and ten times more skilled at grappling, and my disadvantages come on top of getting the air knocked out of me.
Elijah wrenches my arms behind my back. My shoulders shriek in pain, but I refuse to give our assailants the satisfaction of crying out. Mark darts out of view and returns dragging Olive by the ponytail. Squinting with red-rimmed eyes, she manages to roll and punch him in the groin, missing her target by a hairsbreadth. Mark curses before putting her in a headlock.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way. The easy way is, you tell us what the Kamorian who snuck onto campus wanted, and we’ll take you to Bigley without hurting you…much. Don’t tell us, and there’s no telling how much damage we might inflict.”
Now that Elijah’s no longer crushing me, I suck air into my burning lungs. “What Kamorian?” I cough. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You should. You’re the one he wanted to stab.”
That gives me momentary pause. “My would-be assassin was Kamorian? That’s the first I’ve heard of it.”
Elijah cranks my arms back harder. I choke on an agonized whimper as my magic thrashes like a living beast beneath my skin. “Maybe so, but I bet it’s not the first your little roommate here’s heard of it. Is it, Olive?”
“What are you trying to imply? That I had something to do with it? Because it’s not true. I’d never do that to Lark.” Olive’s frantic gaze seeks mine. “You believe me, right?”
“Of course I do.” I’m surprised she’s letting them get under her skin. Obviously they’ll say anything to rattle us.
Mark tightens his grip across the front of her neck. Olive claws at his forearm to no avail. “Sure you wouldn’t. Kamor-lover. Did you know my cousin lost his leg in the last battle, defending Aclaris from those heathens?” he snarls. “I should do us all a favor and kill you now. If you tell us why he went after Axton, though, I promise just to maim you a little.”
He eases the pressure off her neck just enough to let her speak. “I told you, I don’t know!”
She whips her head back and connects with his nose. He screams, blood streaming down his face.
“You bitch!” Hacking, he spits a crimson glob onto the sand.
Taking advantage of the distraction, I squirm and kick behind me. My foot collides with flesh, but Elijah only grunts and tightens his hold.
Olive tries to scramble free, too, but the sand flies out from beneath her legs. She drops into the hole up to her waist. The sand fills in around her, trapping her in place. Mark uses a vine to bind her wrists behind her.
Olive continues thrashing. “Let me go!”
“You lost your chance. I’m gonna enjoy this.” Grabbing her ponytail, Mark yanks her head back as far as it will go. Using his earth magic, he levitates a thick glob of wet sand until it hovers just above her mouth. “Open up.”
When she refuses, Mark pinches off her nose. More tears stream down her cheeks as she struggles to evade his grip.
The pressure from holding back my power grows and grows, hammering at my bones and the inside of my skull. My teeth hurt. My joints swell. My pulse drums throughout my entire body. “Stop! Let her go, please. Before I?—”
“Before you what? Pass out like you did that first day in flight training?”
Well, damn. Apparently everyone and their brother noticed that.
Even Trevor starts to act uneasy. “Hey, are you sure about this? I don’t mind injuring them to give us a leg up in the trial, but no one said anything about suffocating or, you know, killing anyone.”
Ignoring us both, Mark focuses on Olive. As soon as she gasps for breath, he drops the wet sand straight into her mouth. When she gags, he shoves a second handful up her nose.
I don’t realize I’m screaming until Mark palms his dagger and glares at me. “Shut up, bitch!” The weapon flies, glancing off my shoulder.
I snap. Power bursts from my body like a flood crashing through a dam, shattering Elijah’s hold as my magic unleashes.