I’m not going to argue, but I do pick up my pace so I’m at the front of the pack when we reach the walkway. The younger students shouldn’t have to take most of the risk.
Our shoes rap harder against the pocked concrete. I focus on the tickles of ephemera all around us, braced for any shift, still feeling Byron’s hidden presence trailing behind us.
I reach automatically toward my imagined other him, as if the blend of memory and conjecture will be able to explain.
“When I dedicate myself to a cause, I’m never backing down,”that Byron says, which I suppose might be a true enough answer. I never could completely shake the feeling that he saw me as a duty rather than a prize.
I want to believe I’ve seen more earnest affection than that in this version of him…
Is that hope a different sort of betrayal?
Jovak comes up beside me, ambling along like we’re out for a pleasant stroll. “You’re handling the challenges well.”
I’d rather he wasn’t potentially distracting me by talking to me, but being rude doesn’t seem wise. “Thanks. I’m doing my best.”
“You must be looking forward to getting your glim soon. With your family history, I’m sure it’ll be an impressive one.”
His tone is casually conversational, nothing remotely accusing in it, but my lungs constrict.
Does he suspect somehow?
I flex my fingers in the glove that, yes, is still covering my bond mark before matching his blasé attitude. “I guess we’ll see. It seems like it’s impossible to predict these things.”
Who could have imagined that bloom talents like myparents would have a kid with one of the most selfishly brutal blight glims there is?
I suppose I should be glad I have it and not someone who’d actually enjoy the benefits. Who’d throw themselves into every possible vice because any harm they did to their body, their power would just transfer to someone else. Who’d let their glim sap away strength from everyone around them just to keep themselves in absolutely perfect shape.
Who’d hurt themselves near anyone they dislike, dealing out damage without anyone knowing the source.
I wish powers like this didn’t exist in the first place.
“Something to look forward to,” Jovak says. “And clearly you’ll master it well too.”
I think of the years I spent digging up every esoteric theory and magical tale I could uncover, hoping for more answers to stifle my power and failing, and nearly choke on a pained guffaw.
Before I have to answer, the professor drifts farther away from our group.
Apprehension ripples through my senses. Why would he be getting some distance, unless…?
We’re just coming up on the corner of the building. Only a paved throughway about ten feet wide stretches between this building and its neighbor.
When I hesitate, peering into the darkness, the impatient guy shoulders past me and strides onward.
“Cam!” one of the others protests, and we hustle after him.
Just as an immense shape lunges out of the shadows with a blood-curdling roar.
My legs freeze in place. All I can do in those first few seconds as my heartbeat thunders in my ears is stare at the massive grizzly bear that’s somehow barged into the schoolyard.
The creature swings its head from side to side. Thenearest—previously dead—security lamp sizzles on with a spurt of electricity I suspect I can thank Byron’s glim for.
It’s hard to feel thankful about anything when I get my first clear glimpse of the creature’s eyes.
They’re dull and unfocused, like the cat I crossed paths with a few weeks ago that Salvatore slaughtered for me.
My voice spills breathless from my lips. “It’s void. Get back!”
The ephemera-less bear swipes out a paw at the same moment. I whip a strand of energy around Cam’s waist and yank him out of the way as I propel myself forward. The protective shield I’ve practiced more than almost any other technique hums into place around me.
