Page 56 of Stormbringer (Tracthesian Academy #1)

W hen Wave opened her eyes, she didn’t know where she was. Nothing looked familiar in the ceiling. After a moment of thinking, she realized she didn’t know the date or time either. Based on how hollow her stomach felt, it could be weeks from her little show.

Her next assessment assured her that at least she wasn’t chained. And the bed was actually pretty comfortable and clean. So was the t-shirt she was wearing. She sniffed hard and almost smiled. Jarred.

But mixed in with that were other scents that she didn’t know. Wave frowned and carefully turned her head to look around.

Her head started to pound the moment she moved it, and a pitiful whine broke free. In fact, everything ached, and not in a fun way. Still, considering her last memories, she felt remarkably good.

Testing out her limbs, Wave moved them one by one. Everything worked, it just wasn’t fun to sit up. Still, she managed it. The change in position told her she needed to use the bathroom immediately. Where the fuck was she?

The door opened when she was halfway up to her feet.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Jarred said and rushed over to catch her. “What are you doing up?”

“I need to pee,” Wave whispered, her mouth dry.

“All right, let me carry you,” Jarred said and then did just that. Once she was in a small, but very clean bathroom, he stepped outside, and Wave heard him call for Marc and Ilijas.

She took care of things, washed her hands and face in the sink and wished for a toothbrush.

“Jarred, is there any chance of getting a toothbrush?” she called out to him.

“I’ll go pick up whatever you need a bit later. Come on, let’s get you back into bed.”

Wave stepped outside, and Jarred swept her up with no hesitation.

“What day is it?” she murmured.

“Saturday. You’ve been out for almost a week.”

“Oh.”

Just a week? How the hell was she functional? They made it back to the bedroom, and Wave saw Marc finish making the bed with fresh sheets. Ilijas focused on her as soon as they were through the door.

“Good to see you awake, Wayla. How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine.”

Both Marc and Jarred growled. Wave flinched a bit at the sound, and Jarred’s growl cut off. Ilijas just smiled and motioned for Jarred to carry her over.

“That’s good to hear, but I’d like to know a bit more detail.”

Wave snuggled back into the bed and sighed since it felt so good to lie down as she pulled the blanket over. Ilijas handed her a cup with a straw, and once she drained it all, she replied.

“Umm… My head hurts and everything aches, but other than that, I’m good. Everything moves and seems to work as it should. I think I can remember most of it,” Wave told him.

“Very good. May I?” Ilijas held out a hand, and Wave clasped it. Her headache eased and her muscles relaxed. “Yes, you seem to be alright, all you need is a lot of rest to recover fully. Now that you are awake, we can skip the more invasive healing.”

“You… healed me?”

“Well,” Ilijas looked at Marc and Jarred.

“After Jarred, Marc, Irishen, and Hellion sucked out the excess, yes. Before that, you were a bit of a difficult patient. I’ve been doing my best to keep your body functional and muscles active.

If you hadn’t woken up soon, we would have had to move you to the hospital for an IV and a catheter. ”

“I—you—what?” Wave stammered. She couldn’t bear to look at Jarred or Marc. What did they think about her? What did they know? And Risha ? Digging a hole and hiding in it sounded good right about now. She didn’t even want to think about what all Ilijas’ healing had entailed.

“You do know what happened, right?” Suddenly, Ilijas looked worried. Wave swallowed and nodded carefully. She did, but she hoped to all hells that they didn’t. The bed dipped, and Wave found herself looking into Marc’s eyes.

“Sparkle, why didn’t you tell us you were struggling? Or that you already knew how to shield?” He tried not to sound hurt or pissed off, but Wave could hear it clear as day. “I—we had to hear it from Irishen of all people.”

“I didn’t tell him,” Wave hurried to assure him, but Marc didn’t look any happier.

“Why Wayla?”

“Your shielding technique is better. I wanted to learn it!” Thanks to whatever Ilijas did to her, she was now able to turn her head without black spots swimming in her vision, just searing pain tearing through her neck muscles. That didn’t mean she wanted to move, but she could.

“I would have still taught you.” Marc glanced over his shoulder. “We both would have. What did you have to gain for hiding it?”

Wave couldn’t speak past the block in her throat.

Jarred moved to stand at the end of the bed.

He looked hurt, too, and internally, Wave cursed.

This was the other reason why she didn’t do relationships.

If they didn’t try to kill or capture her, she always ended up hurting the people she cared about.

It was shitty timing to admit it to herself, but she cared about them. All of them, enough that she didn’t want to pull them into the crap storm that was her life. She forced her eyes away from Jarred’s, ignored Marc’s question, and looked over at Ilijas.

“Thank you for healing me,” she said quietly.

“Anytime, Wayla,” he replied. “How is your power level feeling now? Any strain? Can you access everything like you used to?”

Wave took some time to check. Her siren side was still brimming, but it wasn’t pouring over, yet.

She would need to do something about that soon.

Her stormbringer powers had gone back down to their normal levels.

She could control them now, but Wave wasn’t sure how long that would last. It seemed that ever since she had come to Tracthesian, her powers were destabilizing, growing, pushing at her limits.

“I’m fine. Thank you for taking care of me,” Wave said and meant it. There was a hole in her memory, where she wasn’t sure what happened. Had she lost control? She took a fortifying breath before asking, “How much did I level? Damages? Casualties?”

“Nothing,” Marc said, sounding a bit weird, but Wave didn’t look at him.

“Am I expelled? Where am I, by the way?”

“You are at the Powerhouse, in a guest room,” Ilijas answered this time. “And why would you be expelled?”

“You know,” Wave mumbled. “Destroying school property and all that.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Marc said stiffly. “Hellion and Irishen took the blame for that. No one batted an eye. It wasn’t the first time they destroyed property.”

Now Wave finally looked at him. “What? Why?”

“I don’t know why, Wayla,” he said with a closed-off expression. “Maybe they wanted to take care of you.”

“No, that’s not necessary…” Wave trailed off when there was a flash of fury on Marc’s face. Jarred piled on.

“It absolutely was necessary.”

Wave blinked. Her eyes didn’t want to open again.

“You should rest, Wayla,” Ilijas cut in.

She fought to open them, but it was a losing battle. She fell asleep while clinging to Marc’s hand.