Page 51 of Stormbringer (Tracthesian Academy #1)

Irishen and Justin moved to flank her on either side and Dr. Kelsey had nothing more to say. As soon as they were out in the hallway, all three of them converged on her. Wave held up her hand.

“I’m fine.” Her voice had a tremble in it, too. Not good. “I just need to shower and get a clean set of clothes.”

“Wayla, you are not fine,” Jarred said. Justin looked worried, and Irishen frowned.

“Morsel, you are shaking.”

Wave gritted her teeth. They were worried, and she truly appreciated that they seemed to care so much, even Irishen, but she needed to get away. To make matters worse, furious-looking Marc was marching down the hallway with Sinister on his heels.

Great.

“I’m fine,” she called out.

“She’s not,” all three men next to her replied. They all started talking about her, over her, around her, and with high tempers clashing, she felt it. It was like an itch under her skin, begging her to let loose. To tap into that power. To— no!

Wave closed her eyes. She knew they were shifting, turning brighter. Electricity coursed over her skin, making the hairs on her arms and legs stand. Thunder crashed, both outside and inside her head.

Someone grabbed her arm and hissed. “Morsel, you need to cool it.” Risha’s voice was quiet, even. The hand on her arm didn’t loosen up. Wave could barely breathe, the power pushed at her from all sides. She gnashed her teeth.

“Way—”

“Shut up,” Irishen snarled to whomever. Even that spike in his tone pushed at Wave’s control. Electricity sizzled between her fingers now.

“What the—”

“Fuck—”

“Silence!” Hellion’s voice cut through all of the commotion. Wave didn’t even know when he had arrived. Another hand, a warm contrast to Risha’s cold touch, landed on her other arm. Another hiss of pain.

“Overflow from pressure?”

“That’d be my guess,” Risha said quietly.

“All right,” Hellion said, equally quietly. “Everyone, link up and brace. Wayla needs to let out some steam.”

“No.” She forced the word out through gritted teeth and almost closed lips. If she let off steam in here, now, she would level the whole fucking place. She wasn’t in control enough to do a neat release of power. All she could do was hold back until she was somewhere remote enough.

“Yes,” Hellion snapped back.

“Hellion,” Risha murmured. “Listen to her.”

“I am—”

“No,” now Risha was the one snapping. “Listen!”

It was Jarred who put the pieces together. “The thunder.”

“She’s practically crackling,” Justin said.

Another pair of hands cupped her face. This time, there was no hiss of pain, and Wave almost opened her eyes, but she knew who it was. Marc could shield against her little power trip.

“What do you need, sparkle?”

Why the fuck were they being so nice? They had ended things. She was no longer their problem in any sense. Wave debated claiming she was fine one more time, but it seemed a bit redundant now. Her mind moved sluggishly, trying to find a solution.

What she really needed was an ocean to sing to. Or a willing victim. Neither of those was an option, and she couldn’t let her siren side surface. It was pushing against the barrier of stormbringer powers, bringing them forth with a vengeance, so she needed to figure something out.

The whole building shook as lightning struck close.

“Oh fuck,” someone gasped.

“Morsel,” Risha’s cool voice broke through the haze in her mind. “Can you channel through someone?”

“I’ve never tried,” she whispered.

“First time for everything,” he said, and Wave heard the smile in his voice. He wasn’t laughing, but there was something reckless in him that pulled at her.

“You are not sharing power with him,” Jarred snarled.

“And what is she supposed to do then?” Irishen replied. “Push this amount of power into you and explode your little kitty cat?”

Suddenly, the room turned unbearably hot, and Wave’s eyes flashed open in panic. Had she turned the floor into lava by accident? No, she hadn’t, but someone had pulled up a pillar of hellfire. It blazed in the middle of the hallway, and Wave vaguely wondered why no one was sounding an alarm.

“Irishen, freeze it over,” Hellion snapped an order.

“But—”

Hellion cut Jarred off. “No. All of you, shut up. Irishen, do it. Wayla, keep pumping power into him until you have it under control.”

Marc was still holding her face and met her eyes without flinching. “You can do it, sparkle.”

“How?” she whined, and hated how the pain was evident in her tone. Marc smiled ruefully.

“Let it flow.”

“I—”

Marc turned her head so she was facing Irishen and his white, glowing eyes. He leaned even closer and whispered into her ear, “Kiss him.”

Both Wave and Irishen jerked. Jarred growled, and Hellion’s hand tightened on her arm. Before anyone could say anything, Irishen pulled back. The moment his hand left her arm, Wave groaned in pain.

Hands caught her as she crumbled, but none of them gave her the relief. The storm inside of her rose, crushing her ribs, her lungs. Time and space started to lose their meaning. Desperately, Wave tried to latch on to some shred of sanity. She couldn’t lose control. She just couldn’t.

With the last bit of clarity, Wave turned the power inward. It was the last resort; one she had been forced to use once before. She had survived that cell, she had made it through then, and she would do so now. It had taken a few years to heal, but what were her other options?

First, she needed to suck in the electricity coursing over her body. Every last spark and current until there was nothing left. It hurt, but it was nothing compared to what was to come.

She no longer heard the voices around her. Every breath was pain, but she forced herself to suck in electricity with every gulp of air. Once she could feel her skin again and the hands holding her up, she knew she had managed that.

Her bones creaked, too fragile to bear the load without the support they should have. Too many powers fought inside of her, and she couldn’t tap into any of them.

Just suck it up, buttercup.

Next, she needed to disperse the storm. Usually, if she was in control, she could push out and release it slowly. Now she had to pull all of the power in the storm in, not push it out. She couldn’t let anything out.

Her heart beat so hard, it felt like bursting. Maybe it was. For all Wave knew, her body couldn’t handle the strain this time. It was still better than releasing it and leveling the whole campus. Mother would disagree.

She counted the beats and with each one she pulled in more of the storm. The roaring in her ears drowned out all sounds. The lightning behind her lids blinded her. Ozone and the scent of charring flesh clogged her nose. She tasted blood.

Flashes of cold, and hot, and soft, and hard brushed against her skin, but they couldn’t break through. If she made it through this, she would have to leave. Hide. No storm spirit could do what she was doing right now.

They would know. Hunt her. Hurt her. Wave wanted to scream, but she didn’t dare. Siren’s wail crushed her throat. More heat, followed by freezing cold. Something seductive slithered against her mind, and she batted it away. Softness that felt wrong caressed her skin. She flinched away.

The storm was almost gone. A drizzle of rain fell on her upturned face. It was rain, right? She kept pulling it to her until blackness greeted her.