9. Raelyna #2
“We don’t joke about untrained affinities,” Finn stated.
“Fine,” she said with a begrudging reluctance. “I’ll wait until my training starts.”
“Thank the stars,” Finn muttered as he eyed her cautiously.
“Kira!” I heard the shout from across the café and tilted my head, recognizing a group of my youngest sister’s friends as she darted over to join them.
“You’re still worried, aren’t you?” Finn asked, his green eyes narrowing as he regarded me.
“Worried about what?” Emberly chimed in as she slid into the seat beside Finn with an easy smile on her face.
“Worried about Kira’s results. Suppose she’s right . . . if they were tampered with . . . I don’t know how I can get her out of that mess. And why would the gods do that to her to begin with?”
“Her results were tampered with?” Emberly questioned as Finn began to catch her up on Kira’s Marking Day ceremony.
I stilled in my seat, feeling the nausea begin to creep in, and an internal groan arose at the feeling.
With a quick glance around the café, I spotted Kira across the building, chatting with some of her friends, letting me know that she wouldn’t be returning to our table soon.
My eyes squeezed shut on their own volition as I began to pinch the bridge of my nose, praying to Astara that the nausea wouldn’t get any worse.
“Rae?” I heard Emberly’s voice over the throbbing behind my eyes, and I cracked a lid open, looking over at my friend. “Are you even listening?”
“Sorry,” I mumbled, regret flooding me as I realized I’d entirely tuned out my best friend.
She let out a small huff of air as she swirled her lavender kava, directly moving the ice in the drink with her water affinity.
“Well, as I was saying, I was able to move our schedule around for our team’s dance time slots.
That way, we won’t lose any clients, but can still appease His Majesty.
” She said his name with as much disdain as I felt.
“You’re the—” I didn’t even finish the sentence as she interrupted, waving her hand.
“I’m the best. Blah. Blah. Blah. You don’t know what you’d do without me. Yada. Yada. You’re eternally grateful to have a friend like me.”
“Well, someone’s feeling proud of herself.” Finn laughed as he stared at Emberly, his dimples on display as he teased her.
Another wave of nausea rose, this time nearly threatening to force the contents of my stomach to heave as my fingernails dug into the wooden edge of the table we sat around.
A quivering groan slipped from my lips, and I felt the exact moment Finn’s emerald green eyes narrowed in my direction. Even with my eyes closed, I knew he was taking in every subtle shift of my body.
“Stars-damned,” was the only word I heard fall from his lips as he was already sliding out of his seat and moving to my side of the table in a swift motion.
However, my attention was already split at that moment as I felt the ever-familiar warmth of blood while it began to trickle down the back of my nose.
With a heavy, unwanted sigh, I shifted my attention, trying to block out the nausea that only appeared to be growing stronger.
My body curled inward, fighting the waves.
A smoky sand scent surrounded me, and Finn was by my side, handing me napkins from the café as I pinched the bridge of my nose, leaning forward once more.
“I thought they were happening further and further apart?” I vaguely heard Emberly ask Finn as he traced soothing circles across my upper back, supporting me. My body tensed, pain spiraling upward from somewhere deep inside me as I folded in two, forcing myself to breathe.
In.
One. Two. Three. Four.
Out.
One. Two. Three. Four.
In.
“—more and more frequently.” I heard the end of Finn’s statement to Emberly as the wave of nausea subsided, and my focus returned.
I sat there, unable to move, focusing on slowing the blood currently flowing from my nose.
An iron taste lingered in my mouth, my body shivering as I collected myself. Peeking up through my lashes, I thanked the stars that my sister was still across the café, none the wiser to what had just occurred at our table.
It was a short episode. Far shorter than usual, as of late.
A slight smile crept up one corner of my lip in relief, only to vanish just as quickly as my eyes collided with Finn’s.
“What was that, Rae?” His voice cut in harshly. ‘That’s twice,” he emphasized, “in one day.”
“I’m aware,” I bit back in frustration, still rubbing at my forehead as though I could force the lingering feeling away.
“You said your episodes were less frequent,” Emberly pointed out casually as she looked at me, a hint of pity marring her otherwise serene features.
“I thought they were,” I replied, looking between them.
“You clearly thought wrong,” Finn wryly retorted.
“You don’t say,” I replied sarcastically, eyes narrowing on him. “It’s not like I can control when they happen.”
“No one said you could,” Emberly replied.
“But you are in control of telling your best friends when they start occurring more often.”
I sighed, my body exhausted as I nodded. “It’s not that I didn’t want to tell you, it’s just—”
“No, Rae,” Finn interrupted, frustration evident across his face. “That’s exactly it. You didn’t want to tell us. You felt like it would have been a burden, and you decided it was one you could carry on your own, so you didn’t want to bring it up to us.”
“I—” But I didn’t have anything to say, because he was right. I didn’t want to burden them. “Fine,” I huffed. “You’re right, okay? Is that what you want to hear?”
He laughed, a hollowed huff of noise I despised. “No, Rae, that’s not what we want. We just want to be here for you.”
Kira slipped back into the booth at that moment, oblivious to the conversation that we’d been having. I shot Finn a venomous glare, ensuring he stayed silent about my episode as Kira settled into a seat.
“How long did it take before you could fly everywhere, Rae?” Kira asked for what we both knew to be the hundredth time this year alone. But I smiled anyway as her eyes lit up as I began recounting my flight adventures, knowing she was looking forward to learning to fly.
“I bet you I’ll pick it up even faster than you,” she teased with a cheeky grin.
“It won’t matter,” I replied. “I still have nearly a century of flight time on you. I will leave you in the dust . . . literally.”
“We’ll see,” she stated with a devious grin. “As soon as I can fly, you’d better watch your wings.”
“Is that a threat?” I joked back, a smile cracking on my face even after the day I’d had.
“It’s a promise,” she replied cheekily.
Kira turned to Emberly then, asking her something else about her water affinity, and I sank back into my seat, my gaze drifting across the three angels seated beside me, a content smile creeping across my lips.
Kira was safe.
She’d earned her wings and received her marking. And even though I didn’t know what would happen going forward after my meeting with Luc earlier today, or why there had been unauthorized angels entering into Kira’s marking room, I took the small win.
My sister was safe.
Orela was unharmed.
All my friends were sitting around the table with me, laughing and chatting, and for now, I’d thank the stars for that alone.