Chapter 20

20

It had been days since Vega woke up from her mini coma. Days of learning that the buzzing through her veins would start to feel natural again soon. Days of learning about herself through someone else's stories. Days with Khort while he taught her how to use the fizzle of electricity that sparked at her fingertips and palms whenever her emotions flared.

Vega groaned, shoulders sagging as Khort stood across the training room from her.

"Try again," he told her.

"I can't do it. We've been trying for hours, Khort." They'd been spending a lot of time together while Arlet slipped back into her role here in Tolevarre. On Earth, Vega had felt like Arlet could convince her to follow her anywhere, and it seemed the rebels of Tolevarre felt the same. She could rule any world, and Vega would believe that was exactly where she belonged.

Arlet woke up every morning to meet with the other leaders of Castra, planning their next attack, their next move. It left little time for Arlet to train Vega or even spend much time with her now that she was back after being gone for a year .

"You're not giving up. Try again." Khort, who she'd learned was the leader of their tiny rebel army, was relentless in their training. The respect the people of Castra had for Khort could be seen in the way they bowed their heads when he walked by and how they lit up when he held a conversation with them.

Vega found herself curious if there was someone to keep his bed warm at night— stop it, you idiot. He might be hot, but he's supposed to be your best friend —but those thoughts soon faded when he didn't let up on her, forcing her to work through the fatigue. "Won't I just remember how to do this when I get my memories back?" Vega puffed, returning to the fighting stance Khort kept forcing her to start in. One foot in front of the other, feet spread the width of the hips.

Today they were trying to will her lightning out of hiding. There were so many more powers Vega held under her skin, but this was the easiest for her to control—this was the power that came first, meaning she'd wielded it the longest and it should be the simplest to control… but the sweat pouring down Vega's face proved otherwise.

She was struggling.

"Your brain will, but your body won't if you don't allow it time to remember how to react. And you certainly aren't in fighting shape," he replied. Everything Khort said made perfect sense, but Vega still rolled her eyes and mocked the last part of the sentence. "If you stop mocking me I'll make this your last time."

Vega took a deep breath and closed her eyes, focusing on the center of her body, where she could feel the zapping power rise. Warmth trickled down her arms, bubbling around her wrists until she could feel the tingle of her lightning at the ends of her fingertips.

When she opened her eyes, blue sparks danced in her hands. I did it! Her smile was huge, and while she felt cocky enough to try it, she pushed with all her strength, forcing her lightning towards the target wall on the opposite side of the room. A single bolt shot out and struck the large target, barely. "Ah-ha!" Vega exclaimed, jumping with a spring in her step out of pure excitement .

Khort's arms crossed tightly across his muscular chest, but he couldn't fully contain his smile. Vega saw the little muscle twitch at the corner of his mouth—he was trying to be the ever-strong dragon shifter everyone expected him to be, but Vega saw right through him.

"Oh, come on! I know this isn't new to you, but it is for me. Right now, this brain doesn't remember all the cool things I can do." Vega pointed to her head, her hair up in a high ponytail with braids roping the shorter layers together. The braids didn't keep all of her flyaways subdued, especially with the static of her power fizzing beneath her skin. Vega let go of the swelling power, allowing it to slink back inside of her body as she crossed the room to Khort.

"It was one bolt of lightning, Vega. You can create storms out of thin air. You've got more inside of you than even your original brain could comprehend," Khort said.

Vega smiled, feeling his words flutter in her stomach. Fuck. She hadn't forgotten his comment about their people losing hope, but she'd gotten over the hurt that came along with it. He hadn't said it to be an ass—he said it because it was true. "I don't actually get new brains every time, right?" She shook at the thought, grossed out by the visual.

Khort laughed, shaking his head. "No, no new brains. That's still you in there somewhere." He reached out and placed his large palms on either side of her head, giving her a little shake.

Vega smiled, giggling along with him. The bliss of finally feeling the power she'd been fighting to take hold of let her relax a tiny bit.

When Khort's hands fell away from her head, she reached forward and grabbed his right palm. Her eyes landed on the matching ring around their wrists. Her fingers glided over it delicately, the raised skin soft to the touch like hers and Arlet's.

When Vega peeked up at Khort, his eyes weren't on their branded wrists—they were on her. Vega's face hardened with a frown, glancing back down at the skin under her fingers. "Is this why I feel so close to you and Arlet? Even without my memories? It's like… I can't explain it." Her voice was soft as she rotated his wrist to look at the whole scar.

"It's like you can feel our hearts beating? You know where we are even without having to think about it?" Khort said the words she'd been trying to find.

"Yes," Vega said, exhaling.

Khort nodded.

"I can feel Bridger too." Vega kept her voice low. The words leaving her lips felt like a secret. A muscle in Khort's jaw ticked at the mere mention of Bridger. "Can you and Arlet still feel him?" she questioned, finally letting his arm go.

"No," Khort admitted through gritted teeth. "We haven't been able to sense him since he became commander."

"He's strong?" Vega asked. Learning more about the man she used to be in love with felt important, even if she knew she would get those memories back eventually. Soon, so soon, you'll feel whole, she hoped.

"The strongest warrior our people have ever seen. More so than Mars himself."

Mars, the god of war. Vega's knowledge of the Roman gods was minimal at best, but she could at least follow along with the names and what their powers were—Arlet's brief history lesson was proving to be more helpful than she'd realized it would be.

"Do you think he knows that I can feel him or is it an oversight since I've just gotten back?" Vega knew Arlet would be the better person to ask about Bridger, but if she didn't ask as the questions arose, Vega would have a list longer than the deepest point of the Sea of Ros.

"He knows. Bridger and Marlena don't have oversights. Bridger might have had a moment of weakness when he saw that ring and let you go, but he knows what that brand on his wrist can do. The sooner you remember that, the safer you'll be." Khort stiffened, signaling the end of this conversation. He took a breath before speaking again. "I need to put a couple more safety measures in order before we take you to Fraus to get your memories back, but it's coming soon. I promise." He took a step back and nodded toward the other end of the room. "Let's go again."

She could feel anger bubbling inside of her, threatening to blow. Vega had been back in Tolevarre for nearly a week, and all she kept hearing was that they were working on making sure it was safe to get her memories back—like she hadn't traveled through another realm and almost died with the promise of no longer feeling lost inside her own body. "Khort," Vega said, stepping towards him. She was exhausted.

"Again." His voice was deep, ringing with finality.

Vega wanted to keep digging, but she could see Bridger was a touchy subject with him—she wasn't naive. In this world or any other, jealousy was easy to pick up on. "Khort," Vega said again, not allowing him to fold into himself and hide behind a mask. Were he and Bridger ever actually friends? The frustration of not knowing was starting to wear on her.

"I said again," Khort spat, his tone that of a man talking to his dog.

His words pushed her over the edge. Thunder rumbled inside the room as Vega's blood felt like it might boil over. "You're not going to talk to me like that." One of the old versions of herself might have listened and followed along like a lost puppy, but this new Vega, the one who couldn't remember those variations of herself yet, wasn't going to put up with being talked down to.

On Earth, she'd embraced the sad and worn-down girl she'd become, but here she felt the fight she'd lost. Vega was sick of people thinking she was too weak to care for herself.

Chase.

Bridger.

Marlena.

She wanted to prove all of them wrong.

The walls rattled with the booming thunder. The fact they were miles under the sea never crossed her mind. All Vega could feel was the power flooding her senses. When she closed her eyes, behind her eyelids she could see the swell of the sea above them, the rising waves crashing against the coast of Imber. Am I doing that? Her eyes shot open.

Khort circled her in the room. Vega spun slowly, never allowing him to get behind her like he'd been teaching her. Like she'd allowed Meyer to do… Her breathing was ragged, sweat prickling her skin as her agitation grew. Khort shuffled his feet with the next boom of thunder, a little smile forming on his face.

Vega caught on to what he was doing, egging her agitation on to get a rise out of her powers.

"You feel that? That raw anger?" His smile made Vega even crankier—the lightning sparked and grew between her palms as she flexed her hands. The warmth building in her palm pulled her gaze to the source. Her eyes matched the color of the crackling power in her hand. She stared at it in amazement. "Use it." Khort's words were barely a whisper. "Remind everyone who you are and what you can do because they're forgetting." The words sank inside Vega. They weren't meant to make her mad; they were meant to make her strong.

Khort knew Vega didn't want to let anyone down—that she always wanted to be the hero to her sister's villain.

Vega wanted good to prevail in a world where evil loomed around every corner.

The wind in the small training center started to swirl, the thunder rumbling more as her lightning continued to crackle, making Khort's loose pieces of hair stand on end from the static in the air.

"Rein it in. Control the downfall. Don't let it consume you when you're mad. You will battle angry, tired, and feel more defeated than you've ever been, and that doesn't stop the fact that you have to continue on in order to survive. If you can't think while you control those powers, it'll consume you. You will end up like some of your other lives: dead before you even get the chance to fight for your life," Khort continued circling her.

Vega allowed herself to close her eyes again and feel the way her body tingled, the way her brain seemed to thrum along with the beat of the thunder. "Am I making those waves?" she asked, clenching her jaw while she watched the water above them settle.

"With your wind, yes. The water isn't yours to control. It's a reaction to the ability you do have."

Vega strained, her teeth grinding as she fought to control the storm brewing thousands of feet above.

"When those memories come flooding back, you're going to be mad. You're going to feel hatred, betrayal, sadness, all of it, all at once." Vega listened to Khort's words, grasping for the control she wanted, telling herself to bring her power back to a simmer and not a dangerous boil. "You have to be ready to remember everything, Vega. It's not all pretty." He was much closer now. Vega's eyes shot open when she sensed his proximity. Her breath caught in her throat as his dazzling eyes fixed on hers. "Do not falter this time."

Vega didn't flinch, only marveled at the calmness of the room around them now. There was no wind, no blue lightning nipping at her hands, no thunder rumbling the walls, and the sea above was back to flat waters. It was as if none of it had ever happened.

"Once you remember, don't forgive what he's done to you. Use that anger but never lose control, or you and everyone else will be dead." Khort stepped back.

Vega felt like her air was her own again, not a shared space, warm with emotions. She took a large gulp to steady her racing heart.

"That's enough for the day," Khort declared. "I'll see you at dinner."

She stood in the middle of the room, shaking from the release of power she'd exerted—from the realization she was needed here.

That finally, she was wanted.

Vega fell to the floor and rested her back against the bench in the outer corner of the ring. She was so tired, her muscles screaming from overuse.

You're not alone here.

As tired as she was, a smile still spread across her lips. Vega's head rested against the bench, and she stared up at the ceiling.

You were never alone. They were always with you.