Page 23 of A Tempest of Intrigue (Tempest of Shadows #4)

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Ellery

I was loathe to pull away from Ryker, but there was still a lot of work to do on the farm, and we couldn’t stay here all day. Anyone could walk in and find us here, or a rider could arrive.

I was curious to know what had happened with the smoke, but judging how Ryker was when I first encountered him, I decided to tell him about what happened here. I’d ask him about the fire again afterward.

“Scarlet’s really mad at me,” I told him as I slid my foot into a boot.

He stopped pulling on his pants to look at me.

“I think she would have forgiven me until I told her that you knew before she did. She walked away after that.”

When he started to say something, I kept speaking.

“She’s been my best friend since I was born, and I hurt her… badly .”

“Not on purpose.”

“No, but that doesn’t make it any better.”

“Does she understand what we are to each other?”

“She understands we love each other, but she’s also very aware that we’ve hurt each other a lot too.”

“That’s our past.”

“I know it is.” And neither of us would ever go back to those days. “But she doesn’t understand what it’s like when we’re together. She loves deeply and always has, but she’s never been in love before, and she could never understand what our lightning does when it connects.

“How could she understand when we don’t either… not really. As far as I know, other amsirah who fall in love don’t experience the joining of their powers the way we do, even if they share the same ability.”

“We would have heard about it happening if they did.”

“My parents would have told me if it happened to them,”: I said. “They would have shared that phenomenon, if only to prepare me for it possibly happening to me. They would have told me, especially my mother, once she realized I’d fallen in love with you.

“And if that combination of powers happened between amsirah who shared abilities, then it would have happened between them. They both possessed fog; if it had linked them like lightning joins us, she would have told me. We also share rain, wind, and snow, but I haven’t felt those abilities join like our lightning.”

“Lightning is the rarest and the strongest.”

“Yes, but we still don’t understand why it’s happening, so how is Scarlet supposed to understand this connection between us?”

Ryker finished buttoning his pants and walked over to stand before me. “Do you trust her to keep your secret?”

“Yes,” I answered without hesitation. “Scarlet’s pissed, and she has a right to be; I’d be so upset if our roles were reversed, but she’d never betray me.”

“Then I trust her too.”

He kissed the tip of my nose before turning away to find his boots.

“I also told her parents, but they’re going to keep it from their son,” I told him.

Ryker stiffened before turning back to me.

“I trust them too,” I assured him. “And it was time for them to know. Things will get much more dangerous soon in this realm, and they have to be ready for it.”

“Do they know you can control all five of the weathers?”

“No.”

“Does Scarlet?”

“No,” I sighed. “Which means if she ever forgives me for this, it will only be in time to be mad at me again. I don’t know if our friendship will survive this.”

“If you’re as good of friends as you say, it will. She’ll forgive you.”

I gave him a small smile before bending to tie my boots. When I finished, I decided it was time to ask again. “What caused the smoke?”