Chapter 14

 

 

Lonny plopped his ass into a chair and stared out the window, watching what he could of Lana and Alenathos.

“Her hair changed. Was that during the awakening?” Isa asked.

He nodded. “Yeah. I love it. She’s not sure what she thinks of it just yet.”

Toryn glanced out and back. “It’s her. She’ll get used to it. Now, how are you doing? I know you didn’t want to enslave her, but that’s not what you’re doing. You’re protecting her.”

He nodded. “Yeah. Doesn’t mean I like it. Look, Scotty’s parents were good to us. They were. That doesn’t mean I didn’t realize what I was by technicality.”

“Yeah, but they never forced you to do anything. You were more like extended family.”

He nodded. “Doesn’t change the fact that shit can mess with your head.”

Toryn continued. “And she’s nothing like Gebiet. Neither is Fuerah or Alenathos.”

“I understand. One dragon didn’t tarnish my opinion on all others.” Sighing, he sat forward. “Alenathos can be an ass, but he did help Scotty. He has helped Isa and you.”

Isa nodded. “Though, I nearly killed him when he nearly killed Toryn.”

“Yeah, and no one blames you for that.” He found Lana in the yard. Her hair had turned more blue. A smile spread. “Seems her hair changes with what she’s working with. Let’s hope she gets used to that quickly.”

“She’ll learn to control it if not. I think she’ll be fine, especially now that she has you.” Isa watched her as well. “I love it.”

“You don’t want to leave Seattle now, right?” Toryn asked.

He chuckled. “No. Not until she decides she wants to leave.”

“Good, because I hadn’t actually set up another assignment for you.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, I figured that.”

Isa sat back. “So what’s the plan? When are you going back to Seattle? Or are you hiding out until someone can find this asshole?”

“I’ll leave that up to her, but I will attempt to convince her to stay here for the time being.”

Toryn added, “And she’s not going to want to let you out of her sight. Where do you plan to stay? Her house or yours?”

Lonny held up his hands. “There are other things we need to figure out before living arrangements. And you know me well enough to know where I live has never mattered to me.”

“As long as you’re with her.” Toryn nodded to Isa. “Trust me, I know how that works.”

Isa rolled her eyes. “Lana is as independent as I am. However, I like feedback from Toryn. She will want yours.”

Lonny sighed. “I’ve always been flexible. Most sprites are. Ask Toryn.”

Toryn nodded. “But Lonny will fight when he needs to.”

Lonny stood up and moved to the door. “Always, and I have a feeling we’ll be fighting soon.” He sighed. “Maddock doesn’t fight fair. I’m worried about what comes next. I know Lana can handle herself in most situations, but this is nothing like she ever imagined.”

“She has more strength than she realizes. I’ve known her forever,” Isa said. “And with some training from all of us, she’ll be a fighter. If I wasn’t so pregnant, I would train her. But Toryn would have a conniption.”

Rolling his eyes, Toryn sighed. “Yeah, because that’s more than you need to do. You’re still working, working out, all those things, but certain things can cause you to go into labor early. And early is fine, as long as it happens without extra stress.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she said. “And I agree. I just said I wasn’t going to train her to fight.” She winked at Lonny. “But, she’ll learn fast. She does have a black belt in Jiu Jitsu.”

“She does?” Toryn asked.

Lonny nodded. “I know. I’ve seen her go to class. And she’s damned good. But class sparring is very different than a real fight.”

“Sure, but you have to learn somehow,” Isa countered. “So relax and help her. Unless you’re like Toryn and get all huffy with that.”

Toryn sighed. “Only when you hurt yourself and are too stubborn to let someone know.”

“And I only did that the one time,” she answered.

“And probably only because you learned to heal yourself since then,” Lonny flipped back.

Isa shrugged, a laugh bubbling free.

 

* * * *

 

Lana walked to the middle of the yard and sighed. “So, now what?”

Alenathos smirked. “You tell me. What do you want to know? What do you want to start with?”

“Everything? I have no idea where to start.” She held up her hands. “It comes so easy to everyone, but me.”

“Because you were trying to use magic you don’t have. So you need to stop thinking about what you can’t do and focus on what you can,” Alenathos answered.

“And what’s that?”

He held up a hand. Water formed in his palm, then turned to ice, growing in size until he had a ball in his hand.”

She snorted. “But how?”

His face screwed up a moment. Then he said, “Imagine it.”

One scarlet brow rose. “That’s it?”

He nodded. “Come on, is it that surprising that magic is simply your imagination coming alive?”

“Yeah, shouldn’t there be some spell with words or anything?”

He shook his head. “Look in your memories, you should see that I don’t use words to cast magic. I simply think it and it happens. And yes, you have some restrictions. You have to try to learn what you can do. Other than that, I don’t know what to tell you.”

She blew out a breath and closed her eyes as she lifted her hands. The temperature around her hands lowered, then ice enveloped her arms.

Blinking, she tried to shake, but nothing. The strange part was she wasn’t freezing. Nope, it was cold, but not uncomfortable.

“Relax. Think warmth, the sun.”

She did and her hands heated up. The ice melted, dripping into a puddle. “What the hell?”

“You’re a quick study. Control will come with practice. But while you’re in the human world, you’ll want to be careful. Very careful. Don’t want to scare the mundane.”

“Help me figure out control.”

“I will do everything I can to do that. Give me a moment to think of how.”

Nodding, she walked away, staring at her hands where she focused the cold. Instead of just at her hands, she focused it above her hands. Water started to gather, then freeze. And as more water was drawn to the ball, the ice grew.

“I’m doing it.”

“That’s it. Concentrate. Take my words and find your own interpretation.”

“I’m trying,” she answered.

Alenathos moved to her, placing his hands on her shoulders. “Relax. You’ll figure this out. With my help, your friends, even your mother’s.”

“I hope you two work things out.”

“Why?” he asked softly. “I don’t know that she can forgive me. I left without a word, never to see her again, in hopes she would live.”

“She will understand. I’ll help her see why you did what you must.” She squeezed his hands. “Come on, I’m ready for more learning.”