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“You hit that wall hard. You could have a concussion or something.” Harrison reached out to touch his arm. “You ripped your shirt, too. Maybe you should go see Dane.”
Hale looked at the tear in the arm of his blue chambray shirt and shrugged. “Man, I really lost it, huh?” He laughed again. “But you should have seen me before I did.”
A smile teased Harrison’s lips against his will. He couldn’t help it. The Air Weaver’s enthusiasm was infectious. He could only imagine how thrilling it would be to fly. “What else can you do?”
He shrugged, that goofy grin still firmly in place. “I don’t know yet. I’m just getting the flying down for now. The goddesses didn’t give me any instructions.”
There were whoops of laughter coming from outside.
“Hey, Hale! You okay?” Calder called out, his words punctuated with chuckles.
The Air Weaver darted to the open French doors and peered at the others off the balcony. “I’m okay!” He turned back and began gathering papers.
“We’ll do that.” Wiley clutched a stack between his hands. “You need to work on your powers. Go figure this flying thing out before we confront the pestilents.”
Hale handed Wiley what he’d picked up and walked toward the balcony. Harrison went with him, his mouth falling open when he saw a swirling tornado of water coming out of the pool. Calder stood under the balcony, his arms lifted in the air like a conductor directing an orchestra. He glanced up at them and winked as he moved his arms and the water started spinning faster.
“That’s so cool,” Hale said.
It was incredible watching Calder manipulate the water. Next to him stood Lucien, who had a ball of fire balanced on his fingertips while he watched his mate work.
A little farther out in the yard, a black Labrador barked, urging Ruby to chase it as they played. That had to be Baer since they only had the one dog. He’d met Ruby last night at dinner, but he’d yet to see the cat they said lived here as well. What would happen to the animals when they left for Oklahoma? Where would they go if none of them returned? His heart ached at the dark thought.
The water tornado splashed back into the pool. The air danced with birdsong and happy conversation. It was hard to believe this was the same place that had been the site of a violent fight and massacre of dozens of pestilents less than twenty-four hours ago. They’d all worked hard yesterday to gather up the dead so Lucien could burn the bodies.
Clay had gone behind them and cleaned up the grounds where the earth had been scored and scorched in the fight. Trees and plants had already regrown under his care. Dane had been forced to fetch his mate and drag him inside after the sun set lest he work himself into a coma. But all that time meant there was now no sign anything unusual had happened at the house other than the broken windows temporarily covered with boards and the front columns pockmarked with bullet holes.
The day was pleasantly warm, nothing like the cold he’d left in Massachusetts. He’d known it was going to be warmer here this time of year, but it still surprised him, creating the illusion that he’d slipped away to a little slice of paradise. The calm before the storm.
“Come on, Hale, you can try again,” Lucien called out as he slung his arm over Calder’s shoulders. “You really were going there for a few minutes.” He started laughing. “Though I wouldn’t mind if you do that once more. It was too funny watching you disappear through that door.”
It was not funny. What about the books?
Harrison turned to Hale only to hold his breath when the man took a running leap off the balcony. He started to run to the edge just as Hale sailed off into the air. He swooped down and touched the pool water, then sailed up high into the sky with a loud whoop. His body flowed with the air, nearly translucent.
Wiley joined him on the balcony and together they watched Hale soar. “Now, that I’d like to do,” Wiley said.
“You can communicate with animals, right?”
Wiley nodded. His gaze automatically strayed away from Hale to ping directly on his mate and pup. “Right now, Ruby is in heaven, playing with Baer, and not too far from her, a couple of rabbits are watching them. My powers have grown a bit, but I can’t seem to call the amount of creatures Baer can. What he does is just awe-inspiring.”
“What they all do is.”
Harrison glanced down to find Lucien and Calder kissing, lost in their own little world.
Soul mates. What an unexpected thing. And beautiful. But would it really make a difference in the final battle? It certainly couldn’t hurt since these added fighters came with their own powers.
