Page 60 of Gift from the Wing

I cock my head curiously as Neil walks over to the far side of the gym and lays his hand on the wall. My eyes nearly bug out when a door pops open, and he just walks into the secret, mysterious room. With a chuckle and a grip on my arm, I’m brought back to reality as Tillman laughs and shakes his head at me. My curious little heart took control there for a second and my feet were moving faster than my mind.

“Did you all know about the cool secret room?”I ask.

“How do you know it’s cool, Primary?”Caspian asks instead of answering me, with a little twitch to his lips.

“Because it’s a secret. That automatically makes it cool. Will one of you answer me?”

“No, princess. We were unaware of the cool secret room. This is my parents’ private gym. This is probably the first time any of us have stepped in here since we were kids. We did most of our working out with our dads down at the palace E.F. compound,”Corentin fully explains. Thankfully. But that just makes me bounce on my toes in more excitement.

I love a good surprise. Good being the operative word.

“Okay, kids, no one panic. Nor do we need your help,” Neil says cryptically as he comes back out of the room holding a glowing box.

“What’s that?” I ask.

“You’ll see,” Roye says as he cracks his neck and shakes his limbs.

What the hell is about to happen?

Neil sets the box down about six or so feet in front of Aurora and the others, then moves to stand in the single file line they’ve created. I watch intently, with my heart thudding wildly with excitement, waiting for whatever they’re about to do with that box.

Together, Aurora, Roye, Dyce, Neil, and Theo all raise their palms and command the box to open.

There’s a quiet beat before literal chaos explodes around the room.

I jump, startled at the sudden noise and bodies piling out of the box.

Not just any bodies. Mastery members.

I attempt to step forward, but Tillman grabs hold of me. Whipping my head up to him, I see a mixture of confusion and astonishment written across his features.

“They’re not real, little warrior. Watch.”

Focusing on what’s going on in front of me like he commanded, my breathing quickens when I rapidly count out the fifty or so Mastery members circling Aurora and her men. They’ve moved now into a defensive position, with Aurora tucked in the middle of their protective ring.

Suddenly, the first Mastery member strikes out, and Theo throws out…well, I don’t know what that is that just came out of his hand, but it threw the Mastery member across the room. When he or she, whoever’s behind the robe hits the wall, they vaporize and fade to nothing. The glowing vapor gets sucked back into the box and then all hell breaks loose.

I swiftly realize I only know Aurora’s and Dyce’s gifts and elements. The others I’m completely clueless about and I’ll be learning on the go.

We stare, enthralled at the sight before us. Like a choreographed dance that they’ve done a million times, Aurora and her Nexus work seamlessly together, fighting off the massive gathering of fake Mastery members.

With graceful steps and precise moves, Aurora twirls between the men, shooting out her earth element, laying her hands on them for support, and her blue eyes are glowing as she mutters so low I can’t hear her.

Each of her men cast out elements, moving around in the circle with exact steps and synchronized strikes. It’s as if every one of them knows when to attack, when to move out of the way, and which one is to be the closest to Aurora. I’ve never seen such a display of a group of people being so in tune. I thought my guys worked flawlessly together, but this…this is something else.

“What the fuck?” Caspian mutters.

“This is amazing,” I respond breathlessly.

“Yeah, sure, but did you all just see earth come out of Theo or am I seeing shit?” he asks frantically.

“You’re not seeing shit,” Corentin says sternly, with his eyes narrowed, following every move his parents make.

“And that’s not normal because…” I trail off because obviously I don’t know what they’re talking about.

“Uncle Theo’s element is air, Will,” Tillman says, watching the show just as keenly, if not more now.

What?

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