Page 49 of The Freedom You Seek

Antas’ answer was swallowed by the voice of the man in question booming over the clearing. “What?”

“That’s our cue. Do you feel well enough to stand up?” Antas asked and offered me his hand. Worriedly, I accepted his help and followed him toward the noise.

After a few moments, we found ourselves amidst a heated discussion between Fig and Dion. As soon as I came into view, Dion’s head snapped around. He left Fig standing mid-sentence and stalked toward me with big strides.

“Are you hurt, Jama?” He grabbed my shoulders, letting his eyes roam over my body to check for wounds. It was clear to me that he was in an extremely volatile state, more so than usual. There was something primal abouthis posture.

“The moment I leave, you get attacked!” Dion sounded angry as if I’d personally arranged the ambush just to piss him off.

“Just a scratch on my left arm.” I couldn’t wrap my head around why his reaction was so intense, but I tried to soothe him nonetheless. It was a mystery to me how I could have ever believed that I truly knew this man. “And I fear I hit my head when I fell off the horse because I was dizzy and fainted. But I’m fine now.”

Dion narrowed his eyes, and the usual irritated muscle in his jaw twitched.

“About that,” Fig said, keeping Antas from walking away toward the camp where Ireas and Thain were sleeping.

I glanced at Fig, and Dion spun around to look at him. “What?”

Dion was on the edge while Fig’s gaze focused on him as if he were handling dynamite. A premonition of something dreadful was building up in my stomach, and my senses screamed at me to leave. Because one fact was certain: things werevery, very wrong.

My eyes stayed fixed on Fig. I was aware of my volatility, and I despised it, but no matter how hard I tried to calm down, I was too far gone. I’d lost all control.

For a long time, I’d managed to keep my temper in check, but it became harder and harder not to explode the longer I dealt with my shit instead of just pushing it away.

The mission earlier today also had done nothing to provide some release, and the guard had vanished from the face of the earth as well.

On top of everything, I felt Jama’s blue eyes studying me as if I was dangerous—I mean, she wasn’t exactly wrong, but I despised that she was looking at me like that. She was bewildered about what was going on, but I could tell she was aware of how close I was to losing any resemblance of restraint.

“Dion, while Antas and I check on the other two, would you be so kind as to explain to Nayana what an Amplifier is and what it means for her? She’s one, as it turned out,” Fig said, and I stared from him to Nayana and back.

I opened my mouth and closed it again before gaping at Fig like a fish. I couldn’t believe what I’d heard just moments ago.

There hadn’t been Amplifier in ages, and now the tiny woman we’d picked up almost randomly was supposed to be one? Feeling her gaze flickering from Antas to Fig, then to me, her cluelessness was palpable, and all I could do was nod. I was perplexed.

The implication hit me like a bucket of ice water, and for a few seconds, I was utterly lost.

However, as a very unpleasant and persistent thought crossed my mind, the cold numbness transformed into a dark fury, which crashed through me like a rising storm growing in my chest, destroying everything in its wake.

“Which type?” I stared at Fig, and my fists shook. I hadn’t even realized that I’d balled them in the first place. Fig hesitated, but there was no need to listen to his answer toknow. The way he had his arms crossed over his chest, his choice to keep Antas close instead of allowing him to leave, and his strategic positioning of Nayana between me and the camp allowed for only one conclusion.

“It’s fuckingfire, isn’t it?” I snarled at the two males before my gaze pierced Jama. “You’re a fucking fire Amplifier,aren’t you?”

“I don’t even know what that means!” Nayana glowered at me defensively, and her eyes were dull with confusion.

“Yes, Dion. It’s fire. Now calm the fuck down.” Fig’s sudden use of profanity mirrored the extent of my own emotional instability.

“This is it. I’m going to kill Thain. I will fuckingendhim!” The growl escaping my throat resembled something more animalistic than anything else, even to my own ears.

I spun on my heel and stomped toward the campsite when Nayana did something stupid. Instead of moving out of the way as every sane person would do when someone with murderous intent stormed their way, she stayed put and even dared to place her hands on my chest—I barely registered how gentle her touch was—in an attempt to stop me.

“Dion, for the gods’ sakes. I have no idea what your problem is, butpleaselisten to me. Thain got heavily wounded while he was protecting me! Without him, the mercenaries would have taken me away. Just leave him alone!”

Maybe she thought that her information would soothe me, but her words had the opposite effect. Her speaking his name fueled the fire inside my chest, and they also added an extra layer of self-loathing because it hadn’t been me who’d protected her—which was bad enough, even if I totally disregarded the whole fire predisposition disaster. It was too much, and it had to stopnow.

Something simply snapped in my brain, a red film slid across my vision, and like in a trance, I pushed Nayana out of the way.

I barely noticed that she lost her balance and fell to the ground. I was too far removed from reason. “Thain! You are so dead!”

“Enough, Dion.” Antas’ voice cut through the red mist as he appeared in front of me like an immovable mountain.