Chapter 15 – Wave
“What are they saying?” Wave asked Salis when they were walking to lunch. No one had pestered her directly, but rumors were running rampant. Salis sighed.
“Pretty much what you would expect. Lots of nothing about your love life.”
“And?”
“You don’t need to hear it, buttercup.”
“Just spit it out, pumpkin.”
“Your stormbringer status is pretty well spread by now. Don’t be surprised if they start calling you lady, or try to belittle your title.”
“Salis, I love you like an almost brother, but if you don’t stop avoiding the truth, I’m going to be a pain in your ass.”
Salis stopped and pulled Wave to the side. Even the one-day difference showed how quickly Tracthesian grounds were being repaired. Most of the plants and hedges were back in top shape, any signs from the battle already swept away.
“Well?” she prompted, when Salis stayed silent.
“The consensus is that the Powerhouses knew about you and that’s why you got all that attention,” Salis hurried the words out, looking worried.
“Okay?”
“Wayla, they are saying that they were only interested in securing an alliance, or that they were scoping out your power levels and since you got dumped, you can’t be that powerful.”
“Sooo? I’m not following. What’s got you looking like someone peed into your morning cereal?”
“If they think you’re weak, they will come after you. Especially now that the Powerhouses, Hellion especially, have made sure that the breakup is real.”
“Ah. They think I can’t hold my own, and now that I’ve lost the Powerhouse favor, they are going to sort the pecking order?”
“Pretty much.”
“And I should be worried about that?”
“Aren’t you?” Salis looked wary. “You always shy away from confrontation unless it’s the Powerhouses you’re going up against.”
“Honey cake, don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”
“What’s fine?” Irishen asked behind her and Wave gave a little shriek.
“Don’t do that!”
“Stop holding your aura in, and I couldn’t do that,” he retorted.
“Holding in? She’s not holding—”
“She is.” Irishen wrapped an arm loosely around her waist and tugged her a half a step back and kissed her cheek. “Good morning, morsel. Did you get your coffee?”
“It’s not morning.” Wave huffed but couldn’t help relaxing against his chest. Part of her wanted to drag Hellion up once again, and another part of her just wanted to enjoy the coolness seeping out of him. Salis’s eyes rounded comically when he looked at their interaction.
“Okay, this is messing with my brain,” he said. “Cupcake, your love life is worse than any human TV drama.”
“Ha,” Wave snorted. Irishen tensed at her back, but when she didn’t pull away, he kissed her cheek again.
“Well, what can I say? I’m smitten with my m—”
Wave slammed her elbow back as hard as she could and shut Irishen up. He grunted but didn’t release his hold on her. She spun to face him.
“I’m not—”
“Yes, you—”
“Never—”
“Time out,” Salis cut in.
Wave blinked and realized that Irishen had wrapped her hair into his fist and was tilting her head back, while she had sunk her nails into his neck. Their noses were touching and the power under Wave’s skin was writhing.
It took Irishen a bit longer to return to the moment, but even when he did, he didn’t flinch or release his hold. He just changed it and began rubbing her scalp with his cold fingers and Wave was seconds away from moaning, as tension bled away from her neck, when Salis cleared his throat again.
“Way? Back at the dorm—is he…?”
Slowly, Wave straightened, and Risha let her go. When she was standing steadily and had taken time to look around to see how much attention they had gathered—plenty, it seemed—she turned back to Salis.
“It’s complicated, okay? Both officially and unofficially.”
“One of these days,” Salis muttered, but then nodded. “Okay. So, what’s the official version?”
Wave looked pleadingly at Risha, and with a sigh, he replied.
“Our ice is compatible and I’m a power-hungry leech.
” That didn’t make Wave happy, but before she could snap back at him, Risha smiled softly.
“She doesn’t like to hear that, though, so people better keep their mouths shut around her about it. ”
“Idiots,” Wave muttered.
“Yeah, well,” Risha said and reached out to push a strand of hair behind her ear. “Officially, unofficially and any -icially, really. My engagement with Elena is over. They will see it like I traded up.”
“Did you?” Salis demanded.
“In every way that counts,” Risha said softly.
The truth of that statement made Wave uncomfortable, so she turned away. “I’m hungry.”
Neither man called her out on her deflection. Irishen just sighed and Salis rolled his eyes before changing the subject.
“So what was that about holding back?”
“She’s still pulling her powers in despite the toll it’s taking.”
“I’m fine,” Wave muttered over her growling stomach.
“Why would you do that, Way?” Salis frowned. “I saw what that did to you last time.”
“Everyone is doing it,” she argued back.
“Not at the expense of their well-being and definitely not just after claiming the well.” Risha rubbed his temples like he had a headache.
Instinctively, Wave reached over and trailed a finger over the bridge of his nose, letting her own icy power seep out.
When his breathing slowed and deepened, she pulled back.
Salis looked at the whole interaction with narrowed eyes but waited until Risha opened his eyes again to speak.
“Why don’t you just let it roll out, Way? Trust us to tell you if it’s too much?”
“But I—”
“It would shut up a lot of mouths if the idiots couldn’t even get close to you,” Salis continued, undeterred. The temperature around them dropped, and Irishen’s eyes flashed. Wave held up her hand to stall him.
“Fine, fine. I’ll try, but you have to tell me if it’s too much… I-I’m shit at controlling it when I get mad. It’s safer if it’s tucked away.”
Irishen stepped forward and cupped her cheeks in his palm. A cascade of cold rushed over her at the contact, steadying Wave.
“You only get better at controlling it if you use it, morsel. Trust me on this? Let go.”
Wave took several deep breaths. Sinister promised to keep her secret.
She didn’t have to hide her stormbringer powers anymore, at least not as hard.
It was all right. All through it, Risha’s cool touch kept her tethered.
It wasn’t enough. It wasn’t grounding her like she needed, but it was something.
“Okay,” she whispered eventually. “Here it goes.”
With a single exhale, she loosened her hold on her stormbringer aura.