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Knock it off, River echoed. I’m starting to choke on all this lust. You’re like a furnace over there.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down.

Better?

No, I grumbled in my head.

Didn’t think so, she laughed again, tapping my knee mockingly.

“These are questions we can’t answer right now,” Elijah said, his voice even despite the tension pouring off him. “But we do have something pressing to talk about in relation.”

He stood and started pacing, and I knew I wasn’t going to like what he had to say next. Up until now, Elijah had been reasonably quiet— an unexpected treat. Besides that one small standoff with River, he hadn’t spoken. My reprieve was short lived, apparently.

Elijah pointed at me, looking between E.Z. and Griffin. “You guys still want her to go into town tomorrow?"

I sat up straight and faced him.

“It has nothing to do with them," I fired back. "Nothing has changed for me. I am going."

“You’re using Earth and have an Air Marking!” Elijah threw up his hands, his voice no longer calm. “Are we really still doing this asinine plan?”

“Wait, am I using it right now?”

“Yes.” Elijah leveled me with a look that said I had just proved his point for him.

“I’m still using it?” I gasped. “How do I stop?”

“See?” Elijah said, crossing his arms. “She can’t even stop using it.”

“Most Earth Users shut off our power occasionally to preserve. You seem to always be using yours. We can work on control if you don’t know how to stop.” I felt Griffin’s gaze even more acutely at the deep rasp of his voice.

I held my breath, feeling his eyes caress my neck and circle my face in his perusal. He wasn’t being inappropriate. Just assessing. It was me who made it inappropriate. I had to hold myself back from arching a little into his gaze, moving just a little closer. My chest moved in a wave, trying to control my breathing as my nipples hardened. And that was beyond inappropriate.

“You really think it’s safe to send Kaia while she can’t turn off her magic?” Elijah pushed.

Or turn off my libido,I thought.

“She’ll be fine,” River answered. “I can block her connection to the element, stop her from using it. No one would even know. I just need something personal that can store the magic. It won’t last forever but should give you a couple days.”

“What if it doesn’t work? Or it breaks?” Elijah interrupted. “If Kaia doesn’t know when she’s using her element, how would she know it stopped working?”

“It won’t break,” River said confidently.

I studied River for another moment, trying to judge whether or not to trust this new woman. I also couldn’t decide if I had a choice in the matter.

“You can trust her,” Aiden said, drawing my gaze as he leaned around his sister. “I know you don’t know me or trust my word, for that matter. But for what it's worth, I promise you can trust her. I swear it to the Goddess.”

I nodded. What else could I do?

“How personal does this personal item need to be?” I finally asked. “What type of item would work?”

“Something you can wear would be best. Something that wouldn’t stand out or draw too much attention. It needs to sit against your skin.”

I wasn’t sure what to offer. I had nothing with me. I made a note to ask Elijah for Liam’s bag, shocked that I hadn’t looked inside yet. Maybe that had something I could use.

Was I really doing this?

I studied River for a moment. I didn’t know her and felt very uncomfortable adding another block. I already had one I didn’t know how to remove.