Page 38

Control

Adrian

The morning came heavy with silence, the kind that settled in your bones and coiled like a wolf in the brush, eyes locked and unmoving. Even the ocean felt different, still, expectant. Like it knew blood was about to spill.

I stood at the edge of the moon pond, a gush of wind slicing through my skin, carrying the sharp bite of salt and something colder. My fists curled unconsciously at my sides.

He won’t hold back.

Elora’s warning from yesterday echoed in my mind, a ghost of a threat, a challenge I wasn’t sure I could afford to ignore.

A part of me wanted this fight. Needed it. The quiet, seething part that had been drowning under too many unanswered questions, too much restraint. But there was another part of me, the rational, calculating part, that knew this wouldn’t be anything like sparring with Ronan.

Kieran wasn’t just strong, he was lethal. And he knew it .

The water stirred, breaking the surface like a blade slicing through flesh.

I didn’t need to turn. I felt them before I saw them, their energy pressing against the air, thick and suffocating.

Their presence sent something irrational through me, something dark, something that wanted to bare its teeth and fight its way out.

Kieran stood in front, unbothered, unaffected. A storm wrapped in skin.

“ Ready ?” His voice cut through the silence, steady, unshaken.

I exhaled. Today would be different. Today, I’d carve my place into this world or get torn apart trying.

Ronan leaned against a jagged rock, arms crossed, his ever-present smirk making my blood simmer.

“Let’s see what you’ve got, hybrid,” he taunted.

My jaw tightened. I didn’t rise to the bait. Not yet.

I clenched my fists, feeling the familiar surge of power beneath my skin, ready to unleash. This wasn’t just about sparring, it was about claiming my place among them, about showing I was more than just the human they’d so often looked down upon.

I turned to Kieran, meeting his gaze head-on. His stance was effortless, exuding control. He had no doubts about how this fight would end.

“I won’t go easy on you.” His lips quirked, almost amused.

“Wouldn’t expect anything less.” My voice was even, but the tension coiling in my gut betrayed me.

The second the fight began, he moved like lightning, because he was lightning.

A crackling bolt shot toward me, splitting the air with a deafening snap. I barely dodged, the heat licking at my skin as it seared past. No hesitation. No warning. He was already throwing his next attack, a barrage of shimmering, razor-sharp lightning blades.

I countered, summoning water, shaping it into a shield, but he was faster. Stronger. The impact sent tremors through my arms, my body resisting the force .

“Is this all you’ve got, hybrid?” Kieran’s voice dripped with amusement, his confidence infuriating. Mocking.

I gritted my teeth, heat rising in my chest. I need to turn this into my fight. Reaching for the water, but Kieran was already moving, already charging the air with electricity, feeding off the energy around him.

The moment I saw the flicker of power gathering at his fingertips, I knew it was too late.

The next strike landed hard.

A chain of lightning surged between us, pain lancing through my ribs as I staggered, breath stolen, muscles locked in searing agony. My vision blurred, the world tilting as I fought to stay standing.

And then came the last strike, merciless, brutal.

The impact sent me crashing into the water, knocking the breath from my lungs.

“Round one goes to Kieran.”

Ronan’s voice was casual, but I could hear the smirk in it, the satisfaction.

I sucked in a ragged breath, pushing myself up. My body screamed in protest, but I didn’t care.

Pain meant nothing. Losing wasn’t an option.

I wiped the blood from my lip, my breath still uneven but my resolve solid.

“Round two,” I called out, my voice steady. This time, we’d take it to the pond.

And this time, I wouldn’t fucking lose.

The shift came effortlessly, carving me like a blade through flesh. My body elongated, limbs reshaping into something more powerful. The water welcomed me, not as an old friend, but as a part of me, an extension of my will. Power surged in my veins, raw and untamed, a storm waiting to be unleashed.

Kieran mirrored my form, his dark eyes gleaming with something that could’ve been amusement or a warning. He wanted to put me in my place. That much was clear.

Let him try.

The ocean darkened, shadows slithering in the abyss. Kieran struck first, his body a blur of motion as lightning ripped through the depths. Bolts carved through the water, turning it into a flickering, electric graveyard. The force of his power should have terrified me.

Instead, I smiled.

I focused, calling upon the water, manipulating it into a swirling barrier that absorbed his lightning strikes. With a surge of confidence, I summoned the energy from the depths, merging with it until I felt sizzling power coursing through my veins.

He was strong, but so was I.

The power coiling beneath my skin demanded release and I let it.

“You’re not the only one who can strike,” I grumbled, surging forward.

The ocean bent to my will, a thrumming, living thing at my command. I moved faster than thought, a streak of gold and shadow slicing through the depths. The moment I reached him, I didn’t hesitate. I slammed my palm against his chest, releasing a pulse of raw, unfiltered energy.

Kieran’s body jerked as the force drove him back, his expression twisting, not with pain, but with something colder. Calculation. He wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.

Neither would I.

The fight unraveled in a blur of motion, water and lightning clashing with devastating precision. My mind sharpened, instincts drowning out doubt. I wasn’t fighting to prove myself anymore. I was fighting to win.

And I was winning.

I called upon the ocean’s weight, shaping it into jagged, crystalline spears, each humming with energy.

They struck fast and hard, relentless. Kieran dodged, countered, but I was already ahead of him.

The moment his balance shifted, I unleashed a tidal surge, dragging the currents into a merciless force.

The ocean roared at my command, a towering beast swallowing him whole.

For the first time, I saw it, just a flicker. The faintest crack in his mask of indifference.

Shock.

The realization sent a twisted satisfaction coursing through me.

The water settled, the currents steadying as I hovered, breath steady despite the lingering burn of exertion. Kieran righted himself, his expression unreadable. But I knew.

This round was mine.

I tilted my head, a smirk curling at the edge of my lips.

“Not so easy, is it?” My voice was quiet, but it carried.

Ronan’s voice drifted through the water, smug and amused. “Well, damn. The hybrid actually put up a fight.”

I swam to the shore, panting and still buzzing from the intensity of the fight.

A wave of disbelief washed over me. I couldn’t believe what I had just done.

The electricity had coursed through me like a second heartbeat, wild and untamed, yet somehow I had wielded it, bent it to my will.

Gold Lightning, I could control lightning.

I did not know this kind of power was even inside me.

I stared down at my hands, half-expecting them scorched or burned, but there was no mark, no sign of the energy that had flowed through me.

The water pulsed gently, reacting to my thoughts, almost as if it recognized something in me had shifted.

This wasn’t just about controlling water anymore, was much more.

What the fuck just happened?

My powers, these powers, had been a mystery to me since day one, and now I had unlocked something new, something terrifying and exhilarating all at once. It felt as if the ocean and the storm were merging inside me, their forces becoming one. Was this part of being a hybrid?

Kieran emerged from the water, his brow furrowed, eyes narrowing as he scanned me like I was some kind of puzzle he hadn’t expected to solve. His usually cool expression shattered by uncontrolled confusion.

“What the hell was that?” He demanded, his voice tight. “Since when can you control lightning?”

I met his gaze, still trying to grasp it myself.

“I don’t know,” I admitted, shaking my head. “It just… happened. I didn’t even think about it. It was like the energy called it to me, like the storm was already inside me, waiting to be let loose.”

Kieran studied me for a long moment, his usual confidence flickering. This time, it wasn’t him under control of the situation. It was me, and he knew it. The corner of his mouth twitched, not in amusement, but something closer to a begrudging respect.

“I’ll be damned,” he muttered, shaking his head. “I didn’t see that coming.”

“I didn’t just control it,” I said, more to myself than anyone. “I became it.”

“You tapped into something deeper with such ease, something most of us don’t even handle.

If you can do this now, there’s no telling what else you’re capable of.

But—” Kieran crossed his arms and leaned in, his voice low, almost warning, “you need to learn to control it, or it’ll burn you from the inside out.

I suggest you keep training once you return to your world. ”

I nodded, but what he said hung over me. Control. That had always been my biggest fear with this side of me. My powers were wild and unpredictable, and now they were growing faster than I could comprehend. But there was a thrill to it, too. The storm inside me felt powerful, almost untouchable.

Ronan stepped forward, his expression unreadable, but the glint in his eyes told me he had been watching closely.

“Seems the hybrid isn’t just a fish out of water anymore,” he said with a smirk.