Chapter 8

EIGHT

COLLINS

“This is not the kind of practice I had in mind when I said I needed training.” I stood in the middle of a clearing surrounded by Ellie, Stellan, Nickel, Savina, Maren, and Bash.

Each of them was at the ready with their powers flowing all around them – or their wand, in Maren’s case. But I was happy to have something unexpected to fight. Stellan stood there all princely in his tailored black suit coat, with elaborate gray embroidery down the lapels. His dirty blond hair flowed back from his head in perfectly messy waves. His green eyes were sharp and reflected the silvery magic winding up and down his arms. Small rocks, sticks, and leaves flew in a whirling motion over his head.

“Look, this is all I’ve been thinking about for two and a half days while they had me locked in that infirmary.” He winked, and even with that charming British accent, it still didn’t set me at ease. Especially since he was almost entirely back to full strength. “Don’t take this from me.”

“Right, okay, but say for example you all hit me at once, then what am I gonna do?” I spun in a circle. “And I mean, this is a bit much, no?”

“Tephine is a bit much, no?” Savina wagged her eyebrows. “You may have killed two of her daughters already but there are three more, right Bash?”

“And my piece of shit father.”

Stellan chuckled. “I had one of those.”

Savina rolled her eyes. “My point is Tephine is either going to attack with what’s left of her family, or attack you one-on-one – either way, you’re not prepared. You’ve gotten a taste of what she’s capable of but after what we’ve done she’s going to be so much worse.”

“So much worse.” Ellie held her hand out and magic floated down to the ground. “The realms themselves are so powerful, if she’s bound herself to Third then she’s got even more power than ever.”

“And ours is the Chaos Stone.” Bash cringed. “I believe we can expect her mental stability to crumble.”

“Which means we have to kick your ass now so you can be prepared.” Stellan grinned and rolled to the balls of his feet to get into fighting stance. “We’re just going to build your muscle memory.”

I opened my mouth then closed it. “Muscle memory?”

“There are things out bodies, our muscles, are trained to do on their own without us having to consciously instruct them to. Like walking. You don’t tell yourself okay, move the right leg now. Your legs just do it.” Bash smiled encouragingly at me and got into a fighting stance just like Stellan had. “After some training – some practice – your body will react without thinking.”

“Oh.” I blinked and glanced around at the others. “Right. That’s . . . logical.”

I didn’t know what was worse, knowing the power they all held or the fact it was about to be aimed at me. Not that I thought they would hurt me intentionally, but we were talking about some major power here . . . and accidents happened.

“All I’m saying is . . .”

“You’re nervous. We get it.” Ellie let her purple power flow over her arms. Even standing several feet away, I felt it brush against my skin.

Every one of them had such bright auras that it was nearly blinding, and mixed with so much power, it was a bit overwhelming. “To say the least."

“We got this.” Ellie held a ball of magic in her hand like a baseball ready to throw at me.

“If you’re uncomfortable, I will put an end to it all.” Bash stood there so casually smooth, like this wasn’t a nerve-wracking situation. He was perfectly unruffled in his pressed pants and button-down shirt.

I hopped on the balls of my feet and shook my arms out. My wings popped from my back, and I let them flutter to warm them up too. I wasn’t sure if that’s how they were supposed to warm, but it felt right. I let my power flow from my body and the ground shook beneath my feet.

“Begin!” Ellie threw that ball of magic right at me.

I pulled the stones beneath my feet up around me. They jutted from the ground in sharp, raw stones of all colors and sizes. The magic smacked into the rock and exploded around us. I dove to the side and forced my vines to wind up in a huge wall in front of me.

“Good, Collins.” Nickel held a long spear in her hand, and her wings were pulled back behind her. They were so different from my own. Hers were gold and feathery, mine were translucent and glittery. She hauled her arm back and shot the spear forward, letting it fly right at my chest.

“Holy shit.” My wings fluttered and I twisted in midair. The spear flew past me and I landed on my feet. “I thought we weren’t trying to kill me!”

She shrugged.“I knew you'd dodge.”

“Knew I’d dodge! You’re severely overestimating my abilities.”

“Not yet . . .” Bash said every so calmly.

“ YET? ”

All at once, Maren, Nickel, and Stellan leapt forward. Stellan threw debris my way so I forced a wall of tiny pebbles to swarm around me. It moved like a sandstorm around me, knocking anything flying toward me off course and away from me. Nickel tried to get closer, but I lifted a stone from the ground and forced it to triple in size. I hurled it toward her. She leapt to the side, but I forced the stone to explode before it stopped moving. I yanked my arm back and the pieces of the stone smacked into Nickel. Before she could move, I made the stone re-form around her. Chunk by chunk, I forced the pieces back together, each of them hitting her harder than the last.

When she looked like a bowling ball with arms and legs, she rolled onto her back like a turtle. “Lovely.”

I didn’t have time to stop and look at my handiwork before Stellan threw more debris at me. A piece of metal got too close and nicked my arm. I reached to the ground and a long shard of labradorite shot from the ground. I threw my magic out and shot it toward him like a bullet. I opened my fingers and it split into four separate pieces. They stabbed through the sleeves of his jacket and the sides of his pants. He flew back with the force and crashed into a tree. My vines shot from the ground and wrapped around his hands, forcing them into fists. His silver magic dropped, and he grinned up at me.

I reached for the one stone I knew would protect me well. The one stone I saw in Bash’s eyes. Moonstone. A wave of warmth rolled over me and a white filmy cloud settled over my body. Suddenly, the mood lifted, and I spun for Maren. The power from her wand crept over the ground around my feet. It tried to get through my moonstone film of protection but couldn’t find an in.

With my power, I felt the stones beneath me until I located the one I wanted.I yanked it from the ground and shoved it in front of Maren. Her power hit it and began to rise up like a wave in front of her. It arched toward me, and I smiled at her.I forced the amplification of the stone into reverse, throwing her own amplified power back at her. Maren’s eyes widened and she took a step back.

A gust of wind hit me so hard it knocked me off my feet. I spun and flipped through the air. My wings fluttered as I tried to right myself. Before I could, a jolt of electricity smacked into my side and my wings froze. I dropped to the ground, hitting it hard. I was definitely going to have bruises from my hip to my ribs. I struggled to push myself up off the ground. Before I got to my feet, the ground rumbled under me and a boulder shot up and hit me right in the chest. I shot backwards and crashed into a cluster of bushes. Sticks and sharp prickly things scratched and poked at my skin.

I opened my hand and my power flowed over the bush, forcing it to curl away from my skin. I hopped to my feet to face Ellie. “ Dude. ”

“Come at me, dude .” Purple power swirled around her entire body and sparks danced in her hair. Her eyes glowed with magic and rain started to fall on the two of us.

"Show-off.” I chuckled. Ellie was intimidating as hell.

She crooked her finger at me. I threw my arms up and four huge stones shot from the ground. They covered her hands and feet. I shoved my hands down and my power yanked them into the ground along with Ellie’s arms and legs. Ellie tried to wiggle back and forth but I made sure she was in there good and tight.

I spun around just as red magic rushed toward me, and panic had me frozen there. All I could do was stare at it and wait for the pain I knew would come.

The magic was only a few feet away when everything went black and all I could see was Bash. He stood there alone, all calm and commanding. “Focus and use what you know. Do not freeze.”

I shook myself. “Right.”

“You can do this.”

“I can do this.” I let my power go and said a silent prayer that I could just withstand this moment. Bash dropped the blackness and my eyes widened at how close her power had gotten. I reached for the diamonds I felt under my feet. I didn’t want to use them as a shield, but I had to reach for them and use them. My instincts screamed at me to try and do the one thing I didn’t even know was possible.

The second my power touched them, the diamonds gave me their physical power. I let it spread through my body and out toward my skin. I closed my eyes, feeling my body take on exactly what I wanted it to. When I opened them, I was like one big shining diamond. Savina’s power touched my feet and I felt . . . nothing. The red magic reflected in my many facets, sending shining red streams of light in all different directions.

I spun in a circle. I wanted to speak, but my lips were fused together.

Savina chuckled. “She’s like a diamond disco ball. Smart. Very smart, Collins. But what about?—”

All six of them attacked me. At once. There was a lot of screaming. A ton. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew it was coming from me but my brain was too focused on not dying to even care to stop screaming. Nickel and Maren charged at me from opposite sides of the circle with their weapons drawn. Before I could think of what defensive moves I knew my body just moved. It wasn’t graceful or skilled but it was in the right direction to not get skewered or sliced. I jumped over Nickel’s spear then somersaulted out of Maren’s attack.

Red magic slammed into my back. I shrieked as my back arched. I’d accidentally dropped my diamond shield. Savina’s magic was the most painful thing I’d ever experienced. My bones rattled and burned like they were being melted. Diamonds. Shine bright like a diamond! Go full Rhi-rhi! I forced those diamonds to cover my body again until I was gasping for air. Savina’s red magic swirled around me like it was searching for an opening.

Silver magic coiled around my body, lifting me up . . .up . . . and up until I had to be fifty feet in the air. Every muscle in my body trembled and twitched. I couldn’t feel my limbs. She’d only hit me for a matter of seconds and yet my body hadn’t recovered.

And then Stellan sucked me back towards the ground.

I screamed as my stomach shot up my throat. But my wings caught me ten feet off the ground. For a moment I’d forgotten about my own wings. Lightning struck the ground in front of me so I leapt back right into another bolt. I hissed as the electricity sizzled against my skin. Rocks, trees, and boulders all flew at me. A river of water rolled through and swept my feet out from under me.

And then it was chaos.

I didn’t have time to register what they were throwing at me. It was too much, too fast. Red, purple, silver. Spears, daggers, and swords. All at once. From every direction. Every inch of my body burned and begged for this to be over. I smelled blood and tasted dirt. My heart pounded faster than a woodpecker pecking at a tree. My lungs seized up, making me choke on my own spit.

But then everything went black.

I knew it was Bash. I knew it. Yet my magic freaked out anyway. It balled in my stomach like a volcano about to erupt, building and brewing hotter by the second. So I screamed and pushed it out as fast and hard as I could.

“Did you do the black bomb thing?” I heard Stellan ask. “Like you did to us?”

Bash chuckled. “No. I hid the two of you back then. Just now I let everyone see her.”

I groaned. “Give me my vision back.”

“You’ll have to open your eyes first.”

My eyes flew open – and found all of them standing over me in a circle. I frowned. “When did I get on my back.”

“You went full Katy Perry firework on us.” Ellie grinned. She held her arms out. “See?”

Bash held his hand out to help me sit upright. Then I looked around and my jaw dropped. The rest of them were covered in crystal flecks. “Did I hurt anyone?”

“As long as this comes off easier than actual glitter then no.” Ellie winked. “Otherwise it’s kind of a vibe.”

Savina laughed and wiped the flecks off of her arms. “Okay, I think we’re done here.”

I took a deep breath and let my power drop. My skin turned from diamond back to normal in a slow wave over my skin. The moment I was back to normal, I opened and closed my mouth. “It’s a weird sensation.”

Stellan rolled his neck. “Well, if you wanna spar again before the portals open you know where to find us.”

Maren flicked her wand and all the mess we’d made went back to normal. “That’s enough for her first multiple attacker spar.”

Bash helped me to my feet but my body was exhausted so I crashed into his side. I frowned. “Do you do that a lot?”

“Oh yeah.” Maren nodded as she shoved her wand back in its special pocket. “You should see the Rebellion train. It can get bloody.”

“Am I bloody? I’m afraid to look.”

Golden magic coiled around my body like a tornado then vanished. Nickel grinned. “Nope.”

We all laughed.

Nickel winked. “All right. Well if that’s all the ass kicking we’re doing for today then I think I ought to get back to First?—”

“Wait, Nickel, I thought Zuriel locked all the portals? How’d you get through?”

“He did. Nickel didn’t get through.” She winked then her purple-tipped gold wings changed to pure white. She still looked like Nickel, but not exactly. Because she wasn’t Nickel. She was Hecca. Nickel’s mother, the angel with healing powers. “But fortunately Zuriel’s little tricks don’t work on angels – well, some of them do but he has to try harder.”

“Wh . . .wha . . . why . . . huh?” I stuttered. When everyone else chuckled, I gasped. “You all knew this whole time?”

Savina shrugged. “You didn’t ask.”

“Because my brain is at capacity right now!”

They all laughed.

Hecca pressed her fingertip to my nose like I was a puppy she was booping. “I wanted to check on Stellan.”

Savina snorted. “Zuriel let you?”

“That’s all the fun for me.” She winked to Savina then turned her attention back to me. “It was supposed to be a quick pop over to make sure he was healing . Then I discovered your plan for this sparing session and I wanted to make sure you didn’t kill everyone.”

My jaw dropped. “You thought I’d kill everyone?”

“No. But I know the Chaos Stone runs in your veins.” She backed away. “Though I recommend doing that drill again before the portals all open. Good luck everyone.”

“Bye, Hecca!” We all said at the same time and waved.

Hecca vanished into thin air.

Savina cleared her throat. “All right, well, let’s call it for now. Give Collins some time to cool off before we suggest attacking her again.” She waved for the others to follow her.

“I can hear you,” I called after her. Then I turned to Bash. “She’s gonna kick my ass again, isn’t she?”

“Yes.” He grimaced. “You must be ready . . .”

“I don’t think I’ll ever feel ready, Bash.”

“If anything were to happen to you . . .” When his eyes met mine, I knew he didn’t want to finish that sentence. I didn’t want him to finish it because I knew how he felt. This was a dangerous life, and if anything were to happen to him, it’d break me.

“I know.”

He pulled me tight to his side but didn’t say anything else. Each of his fingers pressed into me like if he held on a bit harder, nothing could happen to us. But we both knew that was unrealistic in this life, especially with Tephine waiting in the wings to kill us both.