Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The sand is cool under my feet when I drop into a low stance and try again. We're expecting Khylie and her brother to join us, but so far, they haven't shown up.
"Relax." Wylder steps in behind me, his deep voice close to my ear. "It's your affinity, the same as spirit magic. Stop bracing for the worst."
"I'm not bracing."
He chuckles and kisses the back of my head. "Your shoulders are at your ears."
Oh, so they are. I drop them, step forward, and stretch out my neck. The breeze coming off the water is warm and smells like salt and coconut sunscreen. It's nothing like the heavy, charged air I'm trying to manipulate.
A wild peal of laughter down the beach draws my attention to Clara, knee-deep in the surf, threading ribbons of seawater up into spirals above her head like she's conducting a personal orchestra.
Further out, Izzy is a tiny figure in the waves, surrounded by a pod of dolphins that found her twenty minutes ago and apparently decided she's one of them now.
I refocus on my new affinity, hoping to at least gain a basic understanding of what it is and how it works.
"Try the compression spell again, P." Asher is stretched out on a sun lounger, watching on with the same excited encouragement he has for all things. "You almost had that one."
Did I? Did I, really?
"Don't think about the wind itself," Orion suggests, sitting up on the lounger next to him. "If wind isn't the affinity, maybe that's throwing you off. Try thinking about the space that the moving air occupies and see if that helps."
"The space that the moving air occupies," I repeat, wrapping my mind around how that works.
"You said you feel the pressure of the movement, right?"
"Yeah, I think so. It's hard to describe."
Orion shrugs. "It's early days. Just keep experimenting until you get a feel for it."
Wylder nods. "Orion's right. What's emerging is more than wind, and until you have a grasp on what it is, try different approaches to see what works. Think about it like a courtship. You're getting to know your new partner. Learning what works and what doesn't while trying not to offend."
"And getting none of the sexual satisfaction," Asher adds.
Wylder frowns. "Are you contributing anything useful here, Hendrix?"
Asher flashes him a wide grin and pops his mirrored sunglasses to wink. "Oh, broody boy, if you don't understand what I contribute, I can't help you."
I roll my eyes and shut them out. Reaching for my new affinity still feels like trying to grip wet glass. The moment I think I have a hold on it, it slips and squeaks through my fingertips.
Spirit magic has weight, texture, and a presence I can grab, push, and pull. This is nothing like that. It's the absence of something. The gap between things.
I find the thread of it and pull. The air in front of me shudders…
And then, nothing.
"Almost," Wylder says.
I scoff. "You say that every time."
"Because you're almost there every time."
Asher raises a fist in solidarity. "You've got this, P."
"Thanks."
"I genuinely believe you're the bomb, baby girl."
I smile. "I know you do."
Orion rolls off his lounger, picks up a rock the size of a cantaloupe from the tideline, and sets it in the sand in front of me. "Try crushing it."
I stare at him. "With air."
"With pressure. Atmospheric compression. Squeeze the space around it until it gives."
I look at the rock. The rock looks unbothered.
I reach for the affinity again, find that slippery thread of absence, and this time I try to think about density instead of movement. Not air rushing, but air tightening. I pull the space around the boulder inward like tightening a fist, layer by layer.
The rock develops a hairline crack down one side.
Then the pressure blasts sideways, and Orion takes the full force of it square in the chest. He stumbles back two steps, hits the wet sand, and sits down hard.
There's a moment of dead silence.
Asher sits up and lifts his sunglasses.
I hurry forward, reaching out to him. "I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Orion looks down at himself. Then back up at me. Something flickers in those silver-blue eyes that I can't quite read. "Holy hell, Pops. That was impressive."
Asher makes a noise in the back of his throat. "Pick another victim for collateral damage, baby girl. The only one knocking Orion on his back should be me."
Wylder crouches to examine the rock. There's a clean crack running halfway through its center. "Look what you did to this rock."
"I'm more concerned about what I did to Orion."
Asher chuckles. "Look at you multi-tasking."
Orion brushes sand off his palms as he stands, undaunted. "Don't worry about me. You did something cool here. You created enough pressure to crack the rock."
"And you bore the backlash."
He tilts his head and shrugs. "But we learned something useful about your power. It's definitely not wind."
Wylder smiles at me, and there's no missing the pride in his eyes as he returns the rock to the sand. "I'm with Orion. I'm surer than ever that it's atmospheric. Come on, try again."
I turn back to the rock and shoo both of them to stand back.
The second attempt goes better than the first.
The rock doesn't crack, but the air around it shimmers and compresses into something visible, a lens of distortion that makes the boulder look like it's sitting at the bottom of a swimming pool. I hold it for three full seconds before the pressure collapses outward and I stumble.
Wylder catches my elbow.
"Better," I say before he can.
He smiles. "Better."
"You're picking it up fast." Orion has reclaimed his lounger and is relaxing next to Asher. "Faster than I expected, honestly."
"Should I be offended by that?"
He makes a face. "No. I mean it as a compliment. I have no idea how second affinities work, but it's only been forty-eight hours and you're compressing rocks."
"She almost compressed one rock." Asher picks up his lounger and carries it past us to the waterline.
Damn, he has the kind of skin that soaks up the sun's rays and makes it look like he was born on a beach.
"Which is great, but it won't keep her safe from the chaos that plagues her. Not yet, at least."
True story.
I'm about to try again when movement from inland catches my eye. Two figures are picking their way down the pale sand path that descends from the Order compound, and even from a distance I recognize Khylie's easy confidence and her brother's hulking form.
Xavier moves with the deliberate, unhurried weight of someone who has never once been in a rush in his life, like the earth itself would simply wait for him.
I brush sand from my hands and abandon my training to go to meet them.
Khylie raises a hand in greeting the moment she spots me. Xavier keeps his eyes on the shoreline and his arms folded across his chest.
"Good morning." Khylie takes in our group enjoying the beach and smiles. "I guess outdoor training here is a little different than back home at the moment."
I chuckle. "A little, yeah."
"So, how are things going?"
I shrug. "I'm struggling to figure out what my new affinity is all about, and, unfortunately, Orion bore the brunt of the learning curve."
"I'm fine," Orion calls from behind me.
Xavier's gaze moves from the group assembled behind me and back to the sea, but says nothing.
"Xavier." I extend a hand. "I want to thank you for all your help. You were head down and hard at work yesterday when I stopped by, and I didn't want to disturb you. I'm Poppy."
He shakes it once. It's firm, brief, and impersonal. "I know who you are."
Right then.
"I'm sorry about what happened, and completely understand your dislike of me. But please know that I abhor everything that happened, and I would never have knowingly or willingly allowed Tharuzel to damage your lockstone."
He dips his chin but doesn't respond.
Khylie clears her throat with the practiced ease of someone who has been smoothing over her brother's silences her entire life. "We have news. Good news. Xavier, tell them."
He unfolds his arms long enough to pull a piece of paper from his shirt pocket.
He opens it and holds it toward me, though he doesn't quite offer it.
"I have four stone witches lined up to help with the repairs.
Including me, there is one for each of the remaining damaged lockstones.
All you need to do is arrange transport. "
I take the paper, examining the list of names, which mean nothing to me because I don't know any of these people. The information includes their names, addresses, and contact numbers, listed neatly over half the page. "Xavier, this is incredible. Thank you."
"Don't thank me. Make sure I don't regret putting myself out there for you. The people on that list are putting themselves at significant risk to clean up a mess they had no part in making. They are my friends and are good people."
"Hey, now," Asher says, joining us.
I hold up my hand and take the hit of his words like a slap to the cheek. "You have every right to be angry and to be worried about your friends. I won't be part of the repair teams, so you don't have to worry about me putting them in danger."
He pierces me with a long, measuring look, and then lifts his chin. "What about Khylie? Can you say the same for her being on your spirit witch team for the warding reinstatement?"
"Xavier, stop." Khylie flashes me an apologetic smile. "I told you this is important to me. What happened wasn't Poppy's fault."
"But if it happens again, will you be any less dead? And even if her demon doesn't come to stop you from performing the ritual, will her best intentions keep you alive?"
I open my mouth to speak, and Khylie shakes her head to stop me.