Chapter Forty-Three

I look at Bodin. He looks at me.

My mind whirls. It’s just the two of us now. He outweighs me by a good fifty pounds. He has multiple inches on me, not to mention superior strength. Ordinarily, I’d never dream of taking him on. It’s just not a fight I can win.

But now…I have the ability to bend the world to my will in order to protect myself from danger. That changes the equation. It evens up our skills. It might even tip the scales in my favor.

I crouch into a fighting position, my muscles bunching as I prepare to charge.

“Don’t do anything foolish, Alaia,” Bodin says, the first time that he’s spoken tonight. “Let me explain—”

Too late. I rush at him at full speed, trusting that my abilities will kick in. I will the cave to rise up and slap rocky handcuffs on him. I summon the double-edged sword to fly into my hands from…wherever it is.

I crash into Bodin, and we both fall to the ground, our heads inches from the molten liquid. I hear it sizzle—and then the smell of burned hair fills the air. So much for my immunity.

Before I can check on my singed locks, however, Bodin flips me over so that he’s trapping me against the hard rock.

“You—you shouldn’t be able to do that,” I stutter. “I’m supposed to be immune from danger.”

He shifts onto his elbows so that he can hold his body weight off me. “That’s because you aren’t in any danger from me. Your ability knows that, even if your mind doesn’t. Will you please listen?”

“I don’t have much choice, do I?” I slide out from underneath him and retreat several feet away.

“I’m not escorting you to any cell,” Bodin says, rolling to a sitting position. “I’m not going to lock you up. I didn’t betray you, Alaia. I just didn’t tell you the whole truth.”

“Same thing,” I mutter. I keep my eyes trained on his collarbone, the muscular curve of his shoulders, so that I can avoid looking at his face.

“No, it’s not the same thing. At least I don’t think so. Xander’s got me so messed up that it’s hard to figure out right from wrong.” He hangs his head, which brings his forehead closer to my lips. “We needed to know if you were the Lotus Flower Champion. But I didn’t want you to cross the lava Xander’s way. You heard what he said. He was planning on this big torture show to persuade you across. He didn’t mention your parents, but I know for a fact that he was keeping them in reserve. I wouldn’t be surprised if he took them into custody as soon as you left camp. If all else failed, their torture would’ve broken you.”

I blink. “My parents?”

“Yes. Xander gave you a glimpse of joy, just so he could rip it away. He granted you time with your parents so that it would hurt even more when you lost them for good.”

So we were right. That was the true reason behind his “kindness.”

I glance up at Bodin. My mistake. Because his eyes capture mine, and I’m unable to wrench my gaze away from his.

“I know you,” he says softly. “I know you would walk over hot lava to save your parents. But I also know how much it would hurt you to see them suffer. I didn’t want to put you through that, but at the same time, we had to know if you truly are the Lotus Flower Champion. Our next moves depend on it. I…compromised. I’m sorry that I tricked you. But it was the only way I knew how to get you across the lava while keeping your parents safe. If you knew it was one of Xander’s challenges, I don’t think you would’ve crossed of your own volition. Am I right?”

Yeah. I have such an aversion to playing Xander’s game, to being under his control, that I probably would have flat-out refused. My OCD would never have allowed it…until I witnessed the torture of my friends, my parents. And Bodin’s right again. That would’ve broken me. Bodin’s way is gentler, kinder—even if it is deceitful. The story is a good one, the explanation solid…but only if it’s true.

“Why should I believe you?” I ask. “Give me one good reason why I should trust anything that you say.”

“I’ll give you two.” He stands, holding out his palms. “I am no threat to you. Your ability knows this. But I want your mind and your heart to know it as well. Check out that corner.” He gestures to indicate the one he means, next to the yawning black space where Xander disappeared.

I catch a glimpse of something shiny and metal. A warm glow outside of the cave glints off the blade, and all of a sudden, I know what I’m looking at: the double-edged sword.

“I stand before you, vulnerable,” Bodin continues. “You held a blade to my neck before. Do it again. I won’t stop you.”

I walk to the sword. True to his word, Bodin doesn’t react as I arm myself. He simply stands there, motionless. Watching me.

I stride over to him and hold the sword at his throat. “Let me get this straight.” I press the blade against his Adam’s apple. “I can do anything I want—even kill you—and you won’t try to stop me?”

“No. I won’t lift a finger.” He looks directly into my eyes, trusting, calm. I can feel the peace in the slow, steady beating of his pulse. In contrast, my heart beats erratically. I don’t know how this scenario will end…even as I settle on a course of action.

“Why?” I ask.

“I like you. I trust you,” Bodin says immediately, as though he’s been giving the matter some thought. “Your ability is a powerful one. So immense that I’d be very nervous if almost anyone else had control of it. But I’m not nervous, because it’s you.”

I raise my eyebrows. “You might change your mind after I do this.”

And then, I lean over and kiss him.

He startles at first, but he recovers soon enough, his hands coming up to lightly graze my back. I shiver into his lips, and he groans as his mouth moves deeper. It might be the most intimate kiss we’ve ever had, since it holds so many emotions. Forgiveness. Fear. Trust. Hope.

I’m used to an amalgam of emotions coursing through me at all times—but they tend to be negative. Sticky, intrusive thoughts. Doomsday what-if scenarios. Self-reproachment over my past behavior.

But this…this is the calmest my mind has ever been. I wish I could keep kissing him…for more reasons than one.

But here is not the place, and now is certainly not the time.

I break the contact between our lips. “Um, Bodin? What’s that glow right outside the cavern?”

He moves to the exit of the cavern, retrieving the crystal orb that lives in the crocodile pit, the same one that healed my mother and gave her life. It throws a sky’s worth of sparkles onto the cave ceiling.

“Let’s go,” he says. “I’ll explain on the way.”