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“This Aurora you speak of,” Dominic mused. “What kind of magic did she have?”

“Every type,” Scarlet replied. “Every elemental power. Every mind power. Everything. She was rainbow. Full spectrum.”

Like Loren,Max thought.

“Do you know where Onyx is now?” he asked her.

She shook her head. “He ran off after we found him with Aurora.”

Magenta said, “It’s l-like he…he came out of a t-trance.” Her words were splintered apart by breathy sobs. “Like h-he…realized what he did—” She broke off and sobbed silently into her knees.

Scarlet consoled her and rubbed her back.

“I want you to keep an eye out for him,” Max said. “Let us know if he comes around. And stay away from him. Both of you.” He shot a firm glance at Magenta.

Her pink eyes slid to his. They were wary, but she nodded.

“Yo, pink one,” Malakai said. “What’s your magic?”

“White and red.” Magenta’s response was a crackle.

“Okay,and?”Malakai pressed. “What can you do? Give us a party trick, or something. Put on a show.”

“She’s an Empath,” Scarlet replied. “She can discern emotions even when the Sight fails. Even when a person’s aurais hidden, she can sense how they are truly feeling from a greater distance than we can.”

Aspen said, “So it’s not like fire for red and illusion for white?”

A shallow crease between Scarlet’s brows was the only indication that she was surprised by their level of knowledge. “Hers is different. She was part of a separate experiment. They wanted to see what abilities they could achieve if they blended different types of magic together in certain quantities. Magenta is not an Elemental, she is an Empath.”

Holy shit. This just kept getting more complex. Max wondered what that meant for Loren. Because she was human, she couldn’t use her abilities to their full potential without the risk of killing herself.

But…if she evercould…If they somehow found a way around it…

She’d be unstoppable. A goddamn powerhouse.

He glanced at the windows. It was getting dark out.

“We should go,” he said to Travis as he got to his feet.

Travis stood, and so did Jewels.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Malakai protested. “Where do you think you’re going?” he demanded of his sister.

“With Travis,” Jewels said, exasperated.

Malakai was shaking his head. “Uh-uh. I don’t think so. It’s getting dark out there.”

“She’ll be with us,” Dallas said. She struggled to don her jacket while her broken wings were in the way. Max went over and gave her a hand. She muttered a thanks as he draped the slits in the back of the jacket over each wing and fastened the buttons. “She’s not a baby,” Dallas added. “Quit treating her like one, you’re embarrassing her.”

“I’m going, Malakai, and that’s final,” Jewels said firmly. “You and Travis really need to sort your shit out. It’s gettingold.” When her brother opened his mouth to argue, she held up a finger, the nail painted a glossy black. “Donottry to argue with me.” She snatched her coat off the hook by the door and put it on.

“Fine,go,”Malakai snapped. Max was hopeful that he might be staying behind—forrealthis time.But after a moment, he sighed—growled, really—and got to his feet.

Travis seethed, “Oh, so now you’re coming?”

Malakai stalked up to him, getting right up in his face. “You got a problem with me, Devlin, say it, and I’ll take the liberty of loosening some more teeth for you.”

Travis merely shook his head, scowling. “You’re not worth my time.”