Forty-Six

Quell

Jordan left me after I told him I needed a bit more time at the beach, alone. When I make it back to camp, the chill on my skin from the ocean has nearly worn off. It was not nearly cold enough. The sun is on the horizon. Jordan is sitting by a fire. I don’t have to ask to know he hasn’t been able to go back to sleep. I give the flames a wide berth, wanting to hold on to the damp chill on my skin as long as possible. I’m not as hot, but I am weak.

“I’ll be ready,” I tell him when his head swivels in my direction. “The sun should crest the volcano soon.”

“Quell, if you need to rest—”

“I’m fine.”

“Stop saying that. We both know that isn’t true.” A war wages in his eyes.

“I’m tracking when the sun comes up.”

There’s much he doesn’t say; I can tell by the look on his face. Resigned, he looks for his brother. “Yagrin.”

It’s only then I realize Yagrin, who still looks like Liam, is also fully awake. “There’s a split in the trees to the south that has a really nice angle. I scoped it out earlier. Tried and counted to about twenty before my magic wouldn’t let me see anymore.”

“Great. But I’m going to try here first.” I sit down and my head swims, but I hold still. Jordan calls him over for a word. They chat at a volume too low to hear. Jordan throws up his hands in frustration.

Suspend, count, flare, cloak. When the sun rises over the trees, I pull on the wedge of cold that slumbers at my side. When the brothers notice me, their fighting stops and I have all their attention again. I pour a hill of Sun Dust in my hand and toss it in the air. Iciness simmers in my veins but my toushana doesn’t move. I hold my side and try again. But the cold resting inside is like a block of ice. I shift in my seat.

Jordan watches. Liam stands over me. I resituate myself and try again, willing my toushana to move, react, do something. It stirs weakly. I pull at the faint threads of its motion and try to force it into my hands, just to see what happens. But not even a wisp of magic appears.

“Concentrate on the cold,” Liam says. “Picture it growing.”

“Could you be quiet?”

I try twice more but it goes nowhere. I could scream. Jordan paces. Tears sting my eyes but I’m done crying. “I need space.” I stand but wobble a moment to catch my balance. Both boys freeze as if I’m a piece of glass that might shatter. “Find something else to gawk at!”

To my relief, Jordan gives me some space, instead watching from a distance. But Liam doesn’t move.

“I’m going farther up the mountain for a clearer view.” I shoulder my bag and it only makes the world more topsy-turvy. I stumble into Jordan.

“That’s it.” His tone brokers no argument. “We’re taking you to the bed-and-breakfast near here. You need an ice bath and proper rest.”

My grip tightens on my bag strap. “No, I need to sun track. Beaulah’s already ahead of us.”

“I’m not asking you, Quell.”

Yagrin opens his mouth to speak but snaps it shut, looking between us.

I drop my bag; the world is still a bit fuzzy at the edges. “Who exactly do you think you are?”

Jordan blows out a slow breath, then grabs my tent and starts packing it. “I’m not changing my mind on this. It’s what’s best for you.”

“Oh, because you suddenly want what’s best for me.”

“Don’t pretend like I didn’t care.”

“Deal! I won’t pretend. Because you didn’t.”

“It was real for me. Every single moment of it was real for me. You were the liar. The master manipulator, twisting my feelings to help you shine as a débutante.” He snarls. “We were something that should have never been.”

“You couldn’t be more right.”

Yagrin stuffs his hands in his pockets. “The inn has a nice porch that you could—”

“Shut up!” we shout at Yagrin. He backs away just as Jordan pulls the tie tight on the last of my things. He takes my bag from me roughly.

“I say when I need to rest. I say when and where I’m going to sun track. I have to do this myself!” My voice cracks and it burns me with rage. “Don’t you understand? It’s just me now. Just me, all alone!”

I try to wrangle my bag from him but his grip is iron.

“You are coming to the inn.” He wraps his arms around my legs, lifts me up off the ground, and throws me over his shoulder. The world tips upside down.

I kick and beat on his back, but he turns to his brother and says, “Keep watch here. Hopefully by midday, Quell is better. I was reading up in one of her Darkbearer books, and the ice bath should help.”

“You went through my things!” I beat his back harder.

He grabs the rest of our stuff and starts up the hill.

I pound his back as hard as I can, but it’s no use. He hikes up the hill with one arm clamped around my thighs. Eventually I run out of steam and hang there, limp, the rest of my energy zapped. After a long while, Jordan stops, and the world turns right side up as he sets me on my feet.

“If you’re done fighting me, you can walk.”

But the sudden weight on my feet is too much, and I almost fall.

He sighs and picks me up again; this time, one arm is cradled around my back and the other is beneath my knees. I try to muster the energy to argue, but my head lolls to his chest. I exhale, watching the sway of his necklace, losing myself in his cadence, when the stone of the Dragunheart pendant catches a glimmer of light. Beneath its surface are wisps of shadowed darkness. My heart skips a beat. I peer harder. His pendant is trimmed in metal with silver filigree. But the faceted stone itself is a radiant, unforgettable shade of red.

Like the gem from the cave.

My fingers twitch. I smile. One step closer to my plans for the Sphere.