Page 9 of Gift from the Tree

“Fuck,” he shouts. His shadows climb down his arms, engulfing my communicator that he’s staring at in disbelief and anger.

Grunting my agreement, I snatch it out of his hand before he crushes the damn thing. His lips are peeled back, and his eyes are voids of unchecked fury. I keep my mouth shut instead of laying into him for his carelessness like I want to ’cause all it’ll do when we’re both in this mood is cause a fight.

“Have you informed Tillman yet?” he asks after collecting himself with a few moments of silence.

“No, he just got back from the mission in Aquaria and the reports I received were better than the last. Eighteen out of the twenty-three kidnapped were still alive and recovered. But only five of the twelve guards were captured. Five escaped, two killed. The camp destroyed,” I robotically repeat the report I’d been given. Talking it through forces my rage to the side, replacing it with determination, remembering the importance of what I’ve got to do here.

“This is going to kill his high. This is the highest survival rate we’ve had in the last four missions.”

“Yes, I know that, Caspian.” I sigh.

Taking no offense to my shitty attitude, he sinks into my office chair, weaving a stream of water through his fingers. His nervous tick that he likes to pass off as some sort of party trick.

“We need to begin preparing for a larger scale mission. The success at Aquaria is good and all, but there are hundreds missing now at this point, and they must be hidden somewhere. The smaller, stealth missions are heeding good results and more information. With the new prisoners Tillman’s returning with, we should get even more,” Caspian suggests, like we haven’t had the conversation a thousand times already.

“We’re getting there, Cas. Now isn’t the time, though. When classes resume next week, we’ll implement more E.F. training. For those who plan to try to join the E.F. teams and those who just want to learn to protect themselves, we’ll be ready to provide them with what they need. That’s the priority of the academy, to prepare them, not force everyone to be soldiers.”

I understand Caspian’s desire to run off and kill every rebel soldier we can find and bring back our stolen citizens, but going in blinded with vengeance won’t end with the results that matter. My brother is the smartest person I know. Book smart, street smart, calculating, and so much more. But sometimes his need for revenge, his darkness, and bloodthirsty rage overrule all other emotions.

I love the monster in him as much as the man, but when he gives into that darkness fully, things get far more dangerous, careless, and it takes a lot to wrangle him back in.

“Quit looking at me like that, Corentin. I’m not going to run off on a murder spree,” Caspian snaps.

“You mean again, like last month?” I challenge his contradictory statement.

“That was different. You messaged me about a possible situation, and I was close by. The E.F. team you were sending out was still getting their shit together. I just happened to get there first and handled the situation.” He shrugs nonchalantly, implying that’s the story he’s sticking with.

“You weren’t close by, Caspian. You shadowed from the house and killed all the guards but one by the time the E.F. team arrived. There weren’t even hostages there. It was a rebel hangout.” I’m not complaining that he killed the rebels—they would’ve died either way—but it would’ve been helpful to interrogate them all first before killing them.

The one we brought back was no help at all and it was obvious he was just a grunt in this fight and had nothing of importance to tell other than they got instructions on what their objective was just hours before time. That’s how they keep their attacks so random and almost impossible to predict and intercept.

We silently stare each other down before Caspian rolls his eyes like I’m the one being dramatic and unreasonable about the whole thing. There’s no point continuing this argument, so I grunt, running my hands through my hair and down my face. He won’t think he did anything wrong, and I’ll continue to worry about his recklessness. I don’t know why he just can’t follow my fucking instructions sometimes.

The sound of my communicator going off is loud, echoing around the silence and breaking the rising tension between us. I give him one more meaningful look before pulling it out of my pocket, grimacing as I read the message.

Come see me tonight. You can bring one of your brothers if you’d like. Miss you ;).

“You need to cut her off. If she’s making you make faces like that, she can’t be worth fucking.” Caspian chuckles darkly.

He knows I made a mistake by sleeping with Gima. It was right after we returned from a successful mission, and I started drinking down at the training yards, celebrating our victory with the other E.F. members. It’s not uncommon for those of us who haven’t solidified our Nexus to fuck around. Even academy staff is allowed because you never know who you may awaken with or make a good match with, and all the students are plenty old enough. No one believes in celibacy around here, but I should’ve known better.

Since me and my Nexus brothers were one of the oldest groups to still be without our Primary, every eligible female has been vying for our attention, hoping for us to choose someone close enough to the power scale we’d need for balance. Even though they’d forever be second best to what could’ve been.

“There’s nothing to fucking cut off. First of all, I don’t know how she got my fucking number. It was a one-time thing, and now she’s asking me to bring one of you along with me like that’s going to sway me. Secondly, I’ve told her every way possible without being a massive dick about it, that I’m not interested, period,” I tell him, and he just lets out a loud laugh, one I haven’t heard come out of him in so long, I’m shocked silent for a few seconds before I break down and join him.

“Fuck, I needed that laugh. Maybe one of the others will take her up. I’m good on that.” Caspian gets out between his fits of laughter.

“No, fuck no. I won’t be making that mistake again. And neither of the others would be so stupid. I thought it was bad when she was showing up here and knocking on the door for five minutes before finally leaving. She’s getting desperate and delusional,” I say with a faux shiver. The girl’s barely a threat, but she’s getting more and more consistent in showing up wherever one or all of us are.

“Oh God, Core, you’ve made a stalker out of her. She thinks because she’s the highest-powered female here, she’s got a claim on you. Fuck, this is gold.” His teasing makes the tightness I’ve had in my chest all day lessen.

Hearing him call me by my childhood nickname and laughing this hard lets me know he’s still here, not too far gone. Out of all my brothers, he worries me the most. I never know for sure if I’ll be able to pull him out of his shadows when he withdraws from us.

Our laughter is still ringing loudly through my office, when out of nowhere, my door flies open, nearly coming off the hinges. In less than a second, both of us are in position, calling forth our elements and gifts, getting ready to end whatever idiot just decided to bust into my fucking space.

“Corentin. Corentin.” The academy’s Master Archivist—well, he means more to my family than that, but that’s his official title—bursts through, out of breath as if he ran here rather than just transporting.

“Gaster, what the fuck is going on?” I question, pulling my power back by the tight leash I have on it.

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