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“Sure, you start,” Zach said.
“I don’t know how,” I said.
Matt turned his hand and flames flickered to life in his palm. He grinned. “It’s easy. Now you try.”
“Don’t I need to say some magic words or something?” I asked.
“Only in the movies,” Zach said, turning his hand and creating his own flames. “If you have the magic, you call to it and bring it forth.”
I looked down at my hands and frowned. I’d created fire once before and it ended in destruction and death. Balling my hands into fists I reminded myself again that I was in the right. I shouldn’t feel bad for what I did. And I did want to control it.
Blowing out a breath, I copied their hand movement, willing fire to come.
Nothing happened.
“Maybe you’re not good with fire,” Matt said. “We can try water.”
I shook my head. “No, I know I have fire. At least I think I have fire.”
Zach closed his hand around his flame. “Try this.” He stretched his arm out and splayed his fingers wide. Then he turned his hand slowly, so it was palm up, then closed his hand into a fist. When he opened it, there was a tiny flame burning in his hand. “If you’re a fire mage, you should manifest fire easily. The other elements are harder to create.”
I can do this.I had to learn how to do this. It was the only way out of this place. If I could play along and graduate, I could move on with my life. Whatever the hell that looked like after walking away from what I’d left behind.
My hand shook as I stretched my arm out. I took a steadying breath as I turned my hand palm up. Squeezing my hand into a fist, I closed my eyes, imagining fire springing to life as if I held an invisible lighter. I opened my eyes and carefully opened my hand.
My heart skipped a beat as I watched a tiny flame breathe to life. It danced in my palm as if it had always been there. I laughed, my stomach twisting as relief mixed with disbelief. I’d had doubts before but here it was. Absolute proof that I could create magic.
Suddenly, the flame expanded, growing beyond my control. The fire spread as if my arm was kindling, working its way up. I screamed and shook my arm, trying to put the fire out.
“What the fuck?” Matt said.
“Stay calm, control it,” Zach said.
In a matter of seconds, my entire body was alight with fire. I stood frozen, terrified, numb, confused. It didn’t hurt but there was no escaping the fact that I was still engulfed in flames.
Zach slammed into me, throwing his arms around me, knocking me to the ground. I landed on my back so hard it sent white dots dancing in my vision.
Zach stood and dusted the soot from his burned clothes before offering a hand to me.
The flames were gone, but I was left smoking on the ground, my clothes burned away. None of my skin was injured, but I was naked. In front of my entire class. The whole room was silent.
The blush I felt was hotter than the flames that had burned up my clothes. I stood, doing my best to cover myself.
Matt threw his jacket around my shoulders. “Here.”
I tugged it closed around me, my lower lip quivering in embarrassment.
“New girl’s pretty hot,” someone said.
Someone else whistled.
“Enough,” the professor called. She marched over to me and glared, her expression cold. “You better get control of yourself or you’ll never make it out of here alive.”
“I didn’t mean to,” I said. “It’s my first day.”
“No excuse,” she said. “Matt, Zach, get her back to her room. She’s in your group, she’s your responsibility. She fails, you both fail, too. The rest of you, get back to work.”
