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There was truth in her words, and it gave me the strength to lift the cup and drink from it. Here went nothing.
The first taste was a shock. I didn't know what to expect, but the last thing I would have imagined was the sweetness that coated my tongue and then the slight peppery, spicy aftertaste that tingled in my throat. It made me want to drink more, and I happily gulped down every drop until there was nothing but a few random bits of leaves at the bottom of the cup.
I was going to have to get used to having all eyes on me, that much was for sure. Everyone looked like they were hanging on my every movement, my every breath.
“Relax,” I sighed. “I feel fine.”
I also spoke too soon.
“Support her.” Delphine’s voice sounded like it was coming from far away, even though I saw her sitting exactly where she was before.
Garret held me up because yes, I was starting to sway. Worse than that. My entire body was humming, the ground beneath my ass vibrating. And it was almost pleasurable—not quite up to the levels of my beloved magic wand but not too far off, either.
The result wasn't anything sexual or arousing, though. But it was a rush. Like I could feel every drop of blood zipping through my veins. I could hear every rustling blade of grass, could feel every ripple from the bucket of water beside Delphine when a breeze passed over it. I looked up at the sky, wondering if it always sparkled the way it was. It was as if the sunbeams were made of glitter that pierced the clouds.
“Feel the elements course through you,” Delphine murmured from somewhere roughly a hundred miles away. “Allow yourself to connect to them. You need not grasp any one of them too tightly. Simply allow your awareness to touch upon them. Feel the earth beneath you, the energy brewing beneath the surface. Identify the fire’s warmth and power to both give life and to destroy it. The same with water, which comprises so much of your physical body. It is in you always, serving and protecting you.”
“You're safe,” Parris said.
I knew Parris was nearby, but he sounded just as far away as Delphine. I closed my eyes, overwhelmed by the intensifying sensations, the sounds, and the low buzzing in my ears. I could have sworn I heard the grass growing.
“Now. Open your eyes, Jaide.” There was something in the way Delphine said it that made it impossible to do anything else. “Focus on the fire.”
I did, watching the flames dance.
“Make them reach higher,” she instructed.
“How?”
“See it in your mind. Watch the flames grow.”
“Forget what you think you can do.” Elliot settled in beside me. “Remember, you can't limit yourself to who you were before. Stop telling yourself you can't do it and see what happens.”
His words struck home. I felt the truth in them. So when I focused my attention on the fire, on strengthening it, the flames leapt into the air high enough to make me fall back against Garret with a gasp.
“Holy flame shooters!” I shouted, while Delphine only laughed.
“See? Stop telling yourself it isn’t possible.” She nodded in the direction of a pile of kindling. “Now take the fire and send it over there.”
This time, I didn’t feel that impulse to tell her it was impossible. This time, I wanted to play around and see what I was capable of. I imagined gathering up the fire like I did the wind and earth, holding it inside me in a tight, blazing ball—then sending it out, directing it to the kindling, which instantly began to smoke and crackle.
We watched as flames began to lick at the sticks.
“Whoa! I did that? You’re not tricking me?” I asked.
“You did that.” Elliot almost glowed with pride, while Parris and Garret beamed their approval.
“What else can I do?” Now I was eager, my pulse racing and my body tingling.
Delphine didn't seem so eager. “Time is of the essence, but I want to caution you against overwhelming yourself.”
“I get it; I get it.”
“You're not going to convince her,” Elliot informed his mother.
“Very well.” She picked up the bucket of water and placed it between us. “Now, to put the fire out…”
This took longer, with me trying to send the water from the bucket into the blazing kindling.
