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Kaio is angry, so angry. J’onn is trying to calm him.
And now it was Kaio who held a stormy sky inside his skin, it was his hands exploding with ruining power. He burned down the royal garden that day. He was sent into a month-long isolation to contemplate his loss of control.
And he vowed never to do magick again. That was why he was struggling so much with himself because he’d used the powers here, to keep himself and me alive.
“You don’t have to feel guilty, Kaio.” I touched his arm tentatively.
Another fireball pulsed toward us, somehow igniting the snow near the elevator. How could snow burn? It defied reality.
“All you did was save us. All you did was keep us alive.”
He shook his head, guilt coursing through him. “You do not understand, Gwen. I have to be better than the dark ways. If I am not, then why did my grandfather imprison the Incendiaries?”
“You’re not trying to burn down the world, Kaio! There’s a difference!” I moved closer, wrapping my arms around him. “You can win this. I believe that. You’ve got as much power, if not more, inside your body. I saw J’onn in your memories. I heard what he said. Saving us now doesn’t make you less righteous. If anything, you’re more decent than you’ve ever been. You risked dying by coming here, just to save your citizens.”
After what felt like an eon, while fireballs raged around us and the snow continued to catch fire until an inferno burned around the elevator, Kaio finally nodded and embraced me back.
“I am breaking half a century of teachings if I do this.”
“If you live to be the ruler Orenda deserves, it will be worth it, Kaio. And I’m here, by your side. Screw Earth. I’ve never been happy there, Kaio. Win this and take me to your home. And you can teach me about the mating magick. Okay?”
He pulled away from me, expression unfathomable, but then I watched as he moved his hands through the air, symbols in the sky, and hope flooded through me. The fire around us began to fade.
Blue lightning was shining beneath Kaio’s skin.
It matched the dark cobalt of his hair.
He was more beautiful than ever.
“Kaio! Son of the oh-so-righteous House of Ramzen! It is time for you to answer for your sins!” The voice was filled with so much hatred, it cut through the atmosphere like a knife. “I am Zyair Morte, descendent of Raveen Morte. And I have come to seek justice for my people.”
Kaio stood, eyes wild, the power fading quickly.
Whoever this gladiator was, he shook Kaio to his very core.
I grabbed his hand, squeezing it tightly. “Concentrate, Kaio. I don’t know who this person is, but he’s not stronger than you. He’s not.”
Kaio turned to say something, his mouth beginning to open, but his words caught in his throat. Or at least, that’s what seemed to be happening.
Because I couldn’t hear anything all of a sudden. And my vision was fritzing like an old television without an antenna. “What’s happening?” I murmured, staring down at my body. It too was fritzing, shimmering in and out of focus.
He tried to say something to me again, letting go of my hand and shaking my shoulders. I was never very good at lip reading.
You’re… maybe you’re?
Being. That one was clear. You’re being…
Trans.
Ported?
Transported.
You’re being transported.
It was my turn to feel wild, heart-racing fear flooding through me. I needed something to save me. Anything. I was slipping through Kaio’s fingers like quicksand.
Looking down, I found my damned samples case.
It hadn’t saved me yet. Not once, and I’d been dragging the damn thing from Timbuktu to Kingdom Come.
But maybe this time…
I slipped out of Kaio’s grip easily, my body pulsing in and out of focus. And I snagged the stupid case.
Because heaven help me, wherever I was going, it was going with me.
