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I glance at Charlie and Darwin. It takes no energy for me to maintain the Earth barrier, but they’re actively pouring their power into maintaining the fire wall. I can feel the constant draw on our connection. If they’ve had enough, I won’t argue with them.
Charlie’s focused and intent, but relaxed. He’s wearing the slight frown he often gets when he Works, but no other sign of stress.
Darwin’s a different story. Sweat’s beaded across his face; it drips down the marble column of his throat. There’s a muscle ticking in his jaw and a slight tremor in his shoulders.
“Maybe that’s enough for now?” I suggest.
Darwin shakes his head. “Go again,” he grits.
I swear, he would argue with me if I said the sky was fucking blue.
Gabe doesn’t wait for us to debate before he pulls hard on our quaternion. He slips his hands free and slaps them together.
A boom like a Red Arrow breaking the sound barrier has me crouching and covering my ears. A jet of aether shoots out of Gabe’s hands and smashes into the fire wall. White sparks rain down on us as it falls. Mist rises like a veil as Gabe’s water barrier breaks. My barrier explodes into chunks of rubble that bounce off the practice circle’s wards.
I hold my breath, waiting to see if the wards will fail. If so, I may have to Earth-Walk everyone out of here double-time.
There’s a long moment of silence. Hundreds of years, thousands of spells fortify the practice dome’s wards. Layer on layer of magic designed to ground-out rogue energy. Power snaps and sparks all around the ring, but slowly fades without causing any more destruction.
Charlie steps in to clap Gabe on the back. “Good job, mate.”
Gabe throws his arms around Charlie. “It worked.”
“It did.” I join their celebration for a moment before I turn to Darwin. He’s got his head down, rubbing his brow. I put my arm around him gently. “Let me heal you.”
“I-I’m okay,” he says, without lifting his head. He doesn’t shrug me off, though.
I can see the damage in his aura like a bruise. I stroke his cheek. “Please, let me heal you.”
He lifts his head and I can see he’s going to snap at me. Then his eyes lighten. “Not because you want me in your debt?” he whispers.
“Not because I want you in my debt. Because I care about you and can’t stand to see you hurting.”
He sags in my arms. “I keep questioning—”
“It’s okay. I get it. It took me ages to believe that Charlie would always have my back. Remember what Doctor Prince said? It’s not our fault. We have to work through the doubt and learn to believe in each other.”
His arms slide around me. “I want that.”
“We’ll get there, mate. Let me heal you.”
He nods and I reach up to rest my palm on his forehead, where the worst of the damage is. As my Earth energy flows through him, he relaxes, the jut of his muscle and bone growing heavy against me. There’s one particular jut that tells me that even though he might be part of the No D for Teddy Society, he’ll be more than happy to give it to me when the ban’s over.
I go up on my toes to kiss him. “Better?”
“Better.” He holds me still for a longer kiss. “Gabe told me how much he liked study dates with you. I’m seeing the appeal.”
“We have one tomorrow, right?” Gabe asks, sliding his arm around my shoulders.
I nod. “Doctor Prince gave me a list of primary sources I want to get started on.”
I told the boys all about my midnight meeting with Doctor Prince after I had my cry-out. But since we were all exhausted, I didn’t show them the list; none of us have mentioned it since.
Gabe kisses my temple. “Sounds good.”
Darwin chews on his full lower lip for a moment before he says, “Can I join you after my last class? I’ll bring snacks.”
I give his earlobe a firm tug. “You don’t need to buy your way in, remember? Wealwayswant you with us.”
