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p; Realization crackles through me like the icicles forming on the lampposts. “You have to keep your distance from people so you don’t end up hurting them, don’t you?” When he nods, the churning in my stomach increases. “I think I’m going to be sick.” As my throat burns with vomit, I stumble away from him and toward the frosted bushes that border Nina’s property, away from the light trickling from the porch and the moon, to puke my guts out in privacy.
When I’m positive I’m out of sight from everyone, I drop to my knees and start heaving out the contents inside my stomach.
How can this be? I mean, I was never Miss Social, and it’s not like guys were lining up to date me, but the idea that I’ll never have anyone, that I’ll be entirely alone in this life, is frightening.
In the middle of my puking and sobbing and full-on pity party, I feel fingers brush against my back. I’d worry who it is, except the light sparks his touch brings gives it away.
“I know this is hard to take in,” Foster says, holding my damp and now frozen locks of hair away from my face, “but I promise it’ll get easier with time.”
Wiping my lips with the back of my hand, I tilt my head to the side and meet his gaze. He’s kneeling in the snow beside me.
“Did time make it easier for you?” My breath puffs out in a cloud of smoke.
He gives a wavering nod. “It kind of did.”
I assess him, debating whether he’s lying or not. But I don’t know him well enough to be able to tell.
“I’m not lying.” He tosses a nervous glance over his shoulder, then looks back at me, his jittery nerves still evident. “I can prove it to you, too.”
“Really?” I ask, and he nods. “Is it dangerous or something? Because you seem really squirrely.”
“Squirrely?” he questions amusedly.
I shrug. “It’s a word.”
His amused smile breaks through, then he sticks out his hand toward me. When my hands remain at my sides, he sighs. “If you want to see if I’m lying, you have to take my hand.”
Part of me doesn’t want to, wants to hold a grudge against him for being such a jerk. But the other part of me is curious, so I place my palm in his.
Heat singes through my veins, making my heart rate accelerate, along with the snows downward trek.
“Are we doing that?” I whisper, glancing up at the frostbitten sky.
“Yeah … I’m usually better at controlling my powers, but I think being this close to another elemental enchanter is making me a bit … off.” His cheeks are flushed, probably from the cold.
“How does it even work? I mean, our powers … We get them from the elements, right? But how exactly? What makes us different from humans? And why do you have other powers as well? And do we live longer or do we have the same lifespan as humans? Are we human at all? Are we …?” I drift off as he stares at me with wide eyes. “Sorry, that was a lot of questions all at once. I’m just … curiously confused.”
“Curiously confused,” he mumbles with a trace of an amused smile.
Why he finds my verbiage so amusing is beyond me.
“Why are you smiling like that?” I wipe a few snowflakes off my head with the sleeve of my shirt. “I wasn’t trying to be funny.”
“I know … You’re just … You’re cute.” He hastily clears his throat then encloses his hand around mine. “But to answer your questions; we’re different from humans and can control elements because our bloodlines are connected to element gods and goddesses. There’s a really long story behind it that I don’t have time to get into right now, but I’m sure you’ll learn about in history class. As for living longer, most elemental protectors live about twice as long as a human. As for us …” He pales a bit. “Elemental enchanters have a much shorter lifespan, mostly because we’re hunted.”
“Oh.” A shiver rolls up my spine, and not from the cold. “I guess that makes sense since we’re the only two left.” My voice sounds so hollow, numb, but inside, my heart is racing.
Shorter lifespan? Gods and goddesses? How is this my life now?
“That we know of,” he corrects. When even more puzzlement sweeps through me, he adds, “There may be a chance that there are more around, but they’ve gone into hiding. Not that we have proof or anything. It’s all just speculation.”
“Have you ever thought about going into hiding?”
“A couple of times, and sometimes I think my parents would prefer I did. But going into hiding means either being away from my family or forcing them to leave their lives and hide with me. Neither of those are what I want to do right now. But I also have a family that has a good balance of different elements.” He threads his fingers through mine. “Most families usually have the same elemental powers amongst everyone, and as far as I known, none have an elemental enchanter, so the fact that we have two fires, one wind, two ices, and two waters makes us very powerful when we’re together.”
“How did you guys end up with so many different types of elemental powers if it’s not that common?”
