Page 84 of Magic Forsaken

I darted forward. “What did you…”

“He’s fine.” Faris reached out and smoothed the boy’s brown hair—an oddly tender gesture. “I only did to him the same as you did to Talia the other night. Yanked his earth sense away. He only passed out because he’s suffering from exhaustion and malnutrition.”

He shot me an indecipherable look. “I don’t know how you ended up with these two kids, and I won’t ask. But you need help. Logan needs help. He has his magic chained, so any timeit gets loose, it’s a disaster waiting to happen. He needs to learn finesse. Control. Before he knocks down an entire city in the throes of puberty.”

I knew he was right. I’d known it for months. But how could I make this choice? How could I ask for help, knowing that it could expose us and make us fugitives once again?

I had no idea what would happen once the truth about our magic came to light, but I knew it would be ugly, and how could I ask the kids to face that? Being judged or reviled—or worse, locked up again—for a crime they didn’t commit?

“I know.” I couldn’t meet Faris’s assessing gaze. “But I can’t risk…”

“No risk.” He was immovable as a mountain. “I’m not going to judge your choices. Not going to dig into anyone’s background. The kid needs help, and I’m offering. If it helps, think of it as my apology.”

Logan began to cough and sat up. “What happened?”

“You tried to destroy a few city blocks,” Faris reminded him dryly. “But I told you, this is my city, and I’m not going to let you knock it down out of sheer ignorance. Besides, if you want to scare someone, earthquakes aren’t the way to do it.”

I saw the thoughts warring behind Logan’s eyes. On the one hand, he really wanted to refuse to talk to the man who’d just knocked him out. On the other… he was now very curious.

“How would you do it?”

Tension bled from my shoulders. Somehow, Faris had reeled in my stubborn, cautious teenager—with curiosity.

“Turn the ground against them. Yank it out from under them. Make it move, make it soft, then hard. You want them feeling like they can’t trust the earth beneath their feet. Messes with their heads. Makes them angry, and angry people do stupid things.”

Logan scowled a little as he rose to his feet, but I could tell he got the point. “I can do that a little,” he said. “But only with dirt. I haven’t figured out how to do it with rocks or concrete.”

“You want me to show you?” Faris regarded him steadily.

“What’s the catch?”

That was what happened when life kicked you in the teeth one too many times. You began to believe it always would.

“You agree to let me teach you,” Faris replied, not budging an inch. “You show up. You listen. You work hard. And I get to decide when you’re safe enough on your own.”

Logan thought about it. I could see how badly he wanted it.

But he turned to me before he answered. “Is this… okay?”

It was the same question I’d been asking myself for days now. The same question that haunted us both, and might someday haunt Ari too when she was old enough to understand.

Was it okay to pretend that this magic was truly our own? Were we right to embrace what fate had handed us?

I guess I’d been keeping them all safe for long enough that Logan thought I would know. That I would have all the answers.

Sadly, I didn’t, and one look at Kes confirmed that she didn’t either.

“It’s up to you.” I tried to sound calm and encouraging. “But I don’t think Faris will hurt you. He might even be able to help you.”

“What if we have to leave?”

The months of running and hiding had taken their toll. It was now branded on his mind that we might need to leave at a moment’s notice. And we still might. But no one here needed to know that.

“We’ll discuss that if it happens,” I told him.

He turned back to Faris. Squared his narrow shoulders and lifted his chin. “Okay. I want you to teach me.”

The giant elemental gave him an approving nod. “Then come with me,” he said. “First lesson starts now.”

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