Page 54 of Stormbringer (Tracthesian Academy #1)

I lijas pulled Jarred away from Wayla, and he shifted into a roaring jaguar in a second. Power wafted and crackled out of him as he paced and chuffed, eyes glued on Wayla. On Wayla, who wasn’t bleeding from her nose or mouth anymore.

Before Ilijas could try again, Sim reached over and then promptly found himself flying to the nearest wall. “Not enough,” he coughed.

Marc moved before Hellion could and touched her cheek. Nothing happened. He didn’t get thrown away, but there was no change in Wayla either. He frowned and apparently tried harder. Nothing.

“Wh—”

The jaguar roared and tried to push closer. When Ilijas barred the way, it growled. Ilijas just spoke soothingly.

“What did you do, Jarred? How did you pull it out?”

The beast shook its head a couple of times, and then in a flash, Jarred stood in its place again. He couched and fell to his knees. “I wanted it to stop hurting her,” he rasped. “That’s what I was focusing on. I wanted her to stop hurting. I didn’t do anyt—”

Marc landed on his ass next to Wayla; he was holding her hand. Tiny sparks of electricity ran up his arm, and he cursed softly, but didn’t let go. Wayla’s eyelids fluttered, but she didn’t wake up, and her breathing rasped.

Hellion moved over and pulled her head into his lap. He put both of his hands around her neck. At first, he felt nothing. He tried to focus, but there was too much chaos in his head.

“Let go,” Ilijas ordered Marc, and when he didn’t, he pushed him free of Wayla. He staggered and Justin had to grab him. Marc groaned and swayed like a drunk.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he muttered.

“Lay down before you hurt yourself,” Ilijas snapped, and then his focus moved to Hellion. “Anything?”

“I… no.”

“Precious, please,” Jarred pleaded as he knelt next to her. He would have touched her again if Sim hadn’t been there to stop him.

“You’ve had enough,” he murmured softly. “Anymore and we might end up treating you instead of her.” That was the right thing to say. Jarred wouldn’t risk her, so he held just out of reach.

Hellion cursed. “Why can’t I—”

“You are scared to let her in,” Irishen said softly. So softly that Hellion doubted anyone but Jarred, who was basically kneeling between them, heard. Irishen slowly lifted his gaze up to him and smiled self-deprecatingly. “I should know.”

What? Right, the kiss he had pulled away from. Hellion tried to clear his head, but it was no use. All he could focus on was the unanswered questions he had about her.

Slowly, giving Hellion all the time to stop him, Irishen leaned closer and then kissed Wayla. On the lips. Frost spread over her face, coated her lashes, and ran down her body. Wayla gasped for air, but when Hellion moved to push him away, Irishen inhaled.

With that, all the frost receded back into him, and Wayla took her first deep breath. Irishen half-slumped over her. Jarred caught him before he could crush Wayla.

“She was right,” he mumbled.

“What?” Ilijas asked.

Irishen sat back, no longer touching Wayla in any way. “She was right,” he repeated, now sounding a bit steadier but strained. “If she had let go, we wouldn’t have a campus anymore.”

“What do you mean?” Marc croaked.

“I mean, that if she’s a storm spirit, I’ll eat my crown and denounce my inheritance. I took in as much as I could without preparation, and she’s still leaking over.”

“Well, then it’s on you, hell-boy,” Sim said. He tried to make it a joke, but couldn’t quite pull it off. “If she bashed Sinister, me, and Ilijas over, I don’t see a point in getting Xuan over here.”

“She is stabilizing,” Ilijas said calmly. “If you can’t or don’t want to, you don’t have to. It’s up to you.”

Of their own accord, Hellion’s eyes moved over to Risha and pleaded for help. He nodded slowly and then moved to kneel behind him. Hellion found himself leaning back onto him, like he had done so, so many times before.

It had been him and Irishen against the world before it all went to shit.

Before they got torn apart. Before they tore themselves apart.

Before Tracthesian Academy, before Diana, before Elena, before all of it, it had been the two of them, and having Irishen’s arms around him and his head leaning against his chest felt so familiar.

“It sucks,” Risha whispered. “It sucks so, so hard to know you could have done something and didn’t because you were scared.”

“Rish—”

“You felt the pull. From the moment you laid your eyes on her, you felt it. Don’t fight it.”

“But I—”

Risha kept talking softly, while he just held him. “You don’t know what she is. Who she is. I get it.”

“Yeah. I don’t want her to be hurting though.”

“Don’t you? Just a little bit? There isn’t that tiny voice that wants to punish her for holding things from you?” Hellion jerked, but Risha didn’t let go. He whispered, “Did you tell her everything, Lion? Did you share your deepest, darkest secrets with her?”

“Of course, I didn’t,” Hellion tried to scoff, but it didn’t come out right. Risha turned his head just enough that his lips touched his ear as he spoke next.

“So, why are you punishing her for something you are doing yourself?”

Hellion blinked, his whirling mind slowed, and then stopped. He melted against Risha and was about to say something when the power slammed into him.

It was a deep, roiling storm. It crashed into his palms and up his arms. It filled him from heartbeat to heartbeat. Hellion gasped and funneled the power into his well. And kept pulling more and more out of her.

Or maybe it would be fairer to say, she kept pushing more at him. Like she was desperate to be free of it. Her power felt wild, untamed. It had the scent of morning rain and midnight mist with a tang of salt mixed in, like a crashing wave. He had never tasted anything like it.

“That’s it.”

Hellion blinked and realized Sim was pulling Wayla out of his lap. He… could touch her now. Hellion didn’t think he had pulled her empty, but she looked better now. Relaxed, breathing easily.

“Well done,” Risha said, still whispering into his ear. “How much did you get?”

“Maybe… maybe a third.” Risha gasped. Hellion let his eyes close and leaned more into him, allowing the excess power to settle. “Rish, I didn’t get nearly all of it.”