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Holden scratches the back of his neck. “Well, while we were in The In-Between, in the essences’ field, I talked Sky into touching an essence.”
“Really?” Intrigue sparkles in Hunter’s eyes. “What happened? No, let me guess. It bit her?” His eyes glint mischievously. “I know I would.”
Max rolls his eyes then winds around the table and takes a seat next to me. “I’m guessing a little essence bite isn’t what caused Mom and Dad to make everyone return home.”
“Nothing bit me,” I stress, fidgeting with the leather bands on my wrists.
“That could be changed right now. All you have to do is say the word.” Easton grins as I glare at him. Then he flops down on a chair and kicks his feet up onto the coffee table. “I, for one, am glad we got to come home—whatever the reason.” He kicks off his boots. “I really wasn’t up to dealing with the council today.”
“Nobody ever is.” Max reclines back on the sofa and fixes his gaze on Holden. “So, are you going to tell us what happened?”
Again, Holden’s gaze strays to Foster.
Foster narrows his eyes at him. “Stop giving me weird looks and just spit it out.”
“You might want to sit down first,” Holden tells him warily.
Foster crosses his arms. “No thanks. I’m good right here.”
Jeez, is it really that big of a deal? So what if I’m an elemental enchanter?
Holden must think it’s a big deal, though, because he frowns.
“Can you at least move away from the portal?”
Blowing out a frustrated exhale, Foster strides across the room and plops down on the end table near the sofa next to Porter. “All right, spill it.”
Holden rakes his hands through his hair. “When Sky touched the essence, every single essence in the field swarmed up to her.” Shocked silence sweeps across the room, but Holden presses on. “So, Mom, Dad, and I think that … well, with all the essences drawn to her … she might be—”
“Like me,” Foster finishes flatly, his expression neutr
al as he rises to his feet. “Awesome. Glad you dragged that out for an unnecessary amount of time.” With that, he storms out of the room.
Holden pinches the bridge of his nose. “Will someone please go get him and convince him to come back here? I need his help trying to get this wall around Sky down.”
“Can’t you do it without him?” The last thing I want is to let Foster put his hands on my arms like Holden did. “Because I doubt he’s going to help.”
“He will.” Max smiles tightly at me. “He’s just … He’s thought for years that he’s the only one of his kind, and it’s going to take him some time to adjust to the reality that he’s not.”
My gaze skims across the five of them. Holden appears worried. So does Max. And Porter, Hunter, and Easton are staring at the doorway that Foster disappeared through, tension flowing off them.
“You guys aren’t telling me something,” I say. “Is it bad that there’re two elemental enchanters?” Or is Foster just being a brat?
Maybe he likes being unique, and now that he’s not, they’re all worried he’s going to throw a fit.
“No, it’s not a bad thing.” Max rotates in the chair to face me. “It is a bit dangerous, though, to be an elemental enchanter. Not that I want to frighten you, but you need to understand that, because of your immense powers, your kind are always at risk for being … hunted.”
“Holden explained a little bit of that to me.” I hug my arms around myself as chills break out across my skin. “So, how does Foster stay safe?”
“He has us.” Hunter winks at me, but the typical glimmer in his eyes isn’t present.
“I’m not going to be, like, restricted to the house or something, am I?” Not that I’d ever agree to that. In fact, I still plan on continuing with my plans of leaving when I graduate. And I need to visit Nina and Gage soon. “I don’t want my life to change.”
“You’re not going to be restricted to the house,” Max reassures me, sliding his arm along the back of the sofa behind me. “But not everything’s going to be the same. You’ll have to learn to control your powers …” He pauses, his forehead bunching. “Wait. How long have you had your powers anyway?”
I stare at him, my lips refusing to allow me to answer.
“She can’t talk about anything directly related to her powers,” Holden explains, resting his arms on his knees. “I think the wall around her might have some magic laced into it, keeping her from doing so.”
