Page 56 of Echoes of War

“If not now, then when.”

“I liked it better when you were asleep.” He pulled the pillow from beneath my head and brought it down over his face. “The light is giving me a fucking migraine.”

“Here,” I said, using what little movement my body provided to reach for the curtains. Half my body on the bed, the other half struggling to maintain my balance.

I got halfway there before the curtain moved on its own. My breath caught, body paused in its tracks, and I swore I was seeing shit. “Ummm, did you?”

“Hear you still talking after I told you I have a migraine. A migraine I only have because you forced me to volunteer to kill myself? Yes,” Alexiares ground out.

“No, you imbecile,” I said. “The curtain moved on its own.”

The pillow lifted off his face slightly, concern taking over. “What?”

“I think … I think I got air magic.”

He reached hishand out toward the curtain, then frowned when nothing happened. “Either Reina’s injection is going to kill me or the incubation period will take longer than we thought.”

If Reina’s frame wasn’t so delicate, I would have sworn she possessed her brother’sSuprasenses. She opened the door, a smile that didn’t meet her eyes welcoming us awake. “Or?—”

“Reina, you have zero boundaries,” I hissed, yanking the sheets over my naked body.

She shrugged. “Nothing I haven’t seen before. Though some parts I find less pleasant to look at than others.”

Reina glanced down at Alexiares who had also stripped down from his fever to nothing. He pulled at the sheets, begrudgingly covering himself in its warmth.

“Here, try to do something with this,” she said, offering up the pot of soil in her left hand.

Alexiares squinted in confusion. “With dirt?”

Reina turned to me for confirmation. “I was speaking English, right? Or do I need to try one of the other three languages you know?”

Taken aback, I faced him, unaware of the remaining language he had yet to disclose. I’d only been aware of three: English, Greek, and now Spanish.

“You’re speaking English fine, Reina,” he chided. “I just don’t know what you’re asking of me.”

“It’s soil; the other magic Frankie possessed was Earth. If she has air and you don’t, then that means my cousin is not as much of a genius as she claims to be and has decided to do us all a favor by killing you instead.” Reina shot her cousin a glare over her shoulder,

“Or you have earth magic now running through your veins,” Sloan corrected, leaning in the door frame.

“Oh, he has it alright,” Moe insisted, sounding to be still lounged out on the couch.

Alexiares prodded for more information. “Fantastic. Any pointers would be useful considering my brain cells were fried as of a few hours ago.”

“If I told you everything that happened in the future, then the future would never be the same. You know this,” Moe protested, her tone tinged with amusement.

He groaned in frustration, hand hovering over the pot. Pity was never my thing, but in the moment I felt sorry for him. Alexiares had spent the last month trying to master the gifts that had brought him nothing but pain for years, shortly followed by training our Steamfire. Now this. It had to be frustrating, and I knew he hated the idea of appearing weak. I was proud of him though; he’d learned a lot in the last few weeks. That was no easy feat.

Minutes passed. Slowly, a tiny sprout formed in the soil. I wasn’t clear on what the hell it was, but it was something. Proof that we needed to stay motivated.

“Still a genius,” Reina said, tossing her hair over her shoulders. She threw her cousin a devious glare as she sauntered out.

“See you in the morning,” Moe called from the other room.

I watched as Reina and Abel trailed her out, Sloan remained in the door frame to Alexiares’ displeasure.

“Shouldn’t you be anywhere else but here?” he bit out.

She gave him a sinister smirk. “Nowhere I’d rather be than here. Keeping at least one of you alive. Sorry, both of you. Doctor’s orders.”

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