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THE NEXT WEEKS PASSED in a kind of blur.
While the worries and troubles that plagued Simon remained, they grew considerably easier to bear each day that something catastrophic didn’t happen. Each day that the sky didn’t come crashing down on his and Beth’s heads for looking at each other a bit too long. For lingering glances in the locker room hallway. For the way their hands ‘accidentally’ brushed every time they walked by. For the way his heart quickened when she moved or he heard her laugh.
The rumors were still flying, of course. Gossip of any sort was a favorite Guilder pastime, and when two beautiful girls showed up out of the blue to train, there was natural speculation as to who they might be interested in, and who might be interested back.
Fortunately, speculation was so rampant that nothing really stuck. Simon had been ‘tied’ to both girls, multiple times. As had Tristan. As had Jason. As had Isaac. As had anyone who had ever bothered to look at them twice. Coincidentally, ‘looking’ at Beth and Jennifer had become yet another favorite Guilder pastime, so with everyone implicated Simon received none of the blame.
Only Tristan knew what was going on, but he’d had the decency so far to keep it to himself. It would bubble over one day; both he and Simon knew this. Their fight in the parking lot had only been a preview of things to come. But until that day arrived, neither one seemed particularly inclined to cross the other.
It helped a lot that Tristan liked Beth. He and Jennifer had taken to hanging out with her and Simon in almost all their free time. There was rarely a moment the four of them weren’t seen together on campus, and the rumors surrounding them were especially juicy.
But between Simon and Tristan’s clout, and the fact that the two of them were still running an exclusive ‘study group’ that everyone seemed to want to join, no one ever brought said rumors to their face. If nothing else, they only enhanced their budding reputations as Guilder rebels.
Plus, Guilder students were under strict orders not to mention the girls on campus. To forget they were even there. They were simply there for Privy Council training, not part of Guilder Boarding School. They were living off-campus, also sanctioned by the Privy Council.
Simon grinned as a pair of first-years gawked at the four of them as they strode confidently into the Oratory. The doors swung shut behind them, but before they did he could already hear the beginnings of another salacious story taking shaping...
“Rather easily impressed, don’t you think?” Jennifer quipped as she removed her signature leather jacket to reveal a shocking lack of clothing beneath.
Tristan chuckled and shook his head, while Simon suppressed a grin. Over the course of the last few weeks he had actually grown rather fond of Jennifer, despite the fact that he suspected she was growing slightly too fond of him as well. Beneath her rather bristly exterior, there was actually a lot there to like. To start, she was one of the most sarcastically hilarious people he had ever met. There was rarely a situation that didn’t get a healthy dose of her caustic commentary. It had gotten to the point where the second anything especially ridiculous happened the others would automatically turn to her, already anticipating her rather skewed take.
And while she was quick to display what she took to be her most winning attributes—those winning attributes being her feminine curves and toned body—it was the things she tried to hide that Simon found the most interesting.
The vulnerability. The shocking lack of self-esteem made up for by a loud display of bravado and confidence. The fact that she had grown uncharacteristically affectionate and protective of Beth. Two attributes which Simon could relate to entirely.
There was also the fact that there seemed to be gaping holes in her personality. Holes that should have been filled somewhere in childhood, but somehow were not. Like just the other week, when the four of them went into the city to see an old playback of The Wizard of Oz in the local theater. It was one of Beth’s favorites, and she had forced them all to go. Simon and Tristan had agreed reluctantly, more out of indulgence than anything else. But it quickly became clear that, not only had Jennifer never seen the film, but she’d never even heard of it.
It was the same way with a lot of things. Foods, movies, music, clubs in the city. Basic cultural references that every child of Britain grew up knowing by heart were somehow completely foreign to her. It was a source of constant ridicule and great amusement for everyone involved.
“Maybe if you put on some clothes every now and then, they’d stop staring,” Beth suggested lightly. She had grown equally fond of her new friend over the last few weeks, and the two of them never stopped bantering back and forth.
“Not a chance,” Jennifer swore, proudly flashing her long legs and bare midriff as she headed to the spears and targets resting against the far wall. “This body was meant to be seen.”
The other three watched her with a set of identical smiles, shaking their heads indulgently as she snatched up the nearest weapon and began threatening a hastily-retreating telepath.
“Doesn’t have a problem with confidence, that one,” Tristan remarked.
Simon grinned. “She talks like a guy.”
“I love it,” Beth cut them off, flipping her hair back as she, too, stripped down into her standard workout gear. While it was slightly less revealing than Jennifer’s, it was no less impressive.
As usual, Tristan had to elbow Simon sharply in the ribs to get him to avert his eyes.
“And you said it yourself,” Beth continued, seemingly oblivious to the interaction. “She talks like a guy. You wouldn’t give a guy a hard time for showing off, would you?”
Tristan watched Jennifer back-flip off the wall with a look of amusement. “Would I give a guy a hard time for dancing around in that sports bra? Yes, I would.”
Beth giggled and smacked him on the arm. “I’m serious. I think you guys need a healthy dose of estrogen around here. Now, if we could only get some in your damn school...”
The conversation grew abruptly tense as all three of them averted their eyes. The ban of all women on campus had been a continued source of consternation between none of them in particular; all of them happened to agree, but it was a source of consternation nonetheless.
Beth and Jennifer had been forced to share an apartment directly outside the gates of Guilder. It was a nice place, to be sure, but the fact that their backyard ended in the high iron wall was a constant reminder, a daily slap in the face that said the same thing.
We might let you train here, but you don’t really belong.
According to rumors, even the matter of them training in the Oratory had been under heavy administrative debate. There had been many on the Council who were pushing for a separate training facility altogether. One that would ensure the least amount of interaction as possible between the adolescent boys and girls.
One time, after a long day when he was feeling less guarded than usual, Jason had returned to the Oratory in nothing short of a rampage, ranting against the ‘antiquated bastards running this place’ who ‘wouldn’t be able to last three seconds against one of these girls.’
Beth and Jennifer had beamed with secret pride, and returned to their session with double the energy. As many people might be against them, there were people out there fighting for them as well. They would just have to do whatever it took to ensure that they were on the winning side.
It was for this reason that, when Jason wandered over and suggested an alternative form of training for the day, Beth was eager to comply.
“By now, we’ve established very clearly that your power is tied to your emotions,” he began practically, leading her to the center of the floor. “I suspected it the first day in my apartment, when I asked you to show me the flame. A little calm encouragement, and you were able to control it no problem. A little deliberate snub, and the flame vanished entirely.”
Simon listened carefully as he pulled the moment back to mind. He had remembered being frustrated with Jason for his lack of encouragement. Not understanding the sudden shift of tone after they had seen the flame for the first time. Now, it made sense perfectly.
There was always a plan with Jason. No matter how convoluted it might seem, there was always a plan.
Beth nodded quickly, piecing it all together as well. “So what do you want me to do?”
Jason came up behind her and set his hands lightly on the tops of her arms.
“I want you to close your eyes.”
Beth did so without hesitation as Jason waved the others off to the mats to continue to work on their own. Simon, however, stayed rooted to the spot. Unable to pry his eyes away.
In what looked like slow motion, Jason lowered his head so that he and Beth were at the same level. She might have been unable to see it, but they were standing just inches away. And while she might not have been able to see him, she certainly felt his presence. When he lowered his voice to a soothing calm, she leaned in, instinctively closer, every muscle in her body ready and waiting.
“This isn’t a meditation,” he murmured, “but it’s something close. Something that my old trainer used to do with me when I’d hit a plateau to get me up to the next level.”
“He used to whisper seductively in your ear?” Simon said sharply, unable to help himself.
Jason’s lips twitched up into a grin, though he kept his eyes on Beth. “Actually, he used to give me heavy doses of narcotics, but it amounts to the same thing. Go train, Simon.”
But Simon did not move.
“Now,” Jason continued in that same, soft voice, “I want you to focus on relaxing every muscle in your body. One by one. Work from the ground up.”
Beth’s forehead tightened in confusion. It seemed counterintuitive. Usually, when she used her power, she was tensed to spring. But by now she had learned to trust Jason just as completely as the others, and she made a concerted effort to do as he asked.
Even from where he stood, Simon could see her relaxing. First her legs, then her arms, and finally even that little worry line in the center of her forehead smoothed away. She looked as she did when she was sleeping, and Simon wanted nothing more than to carry her away in his arms.
“Good,” Jason murmured, “that’s good.” He circled slowly around her before coming back to the front. “Now, I want you to slowly lift up your arms. Slowly, alright? Just stay relaxed.”
To help guide her he took her delicately by the hands, breathing with her as he stretched her arms gently into the air. There was something almost mesmerizing about the image—the two of them standing there, hands connected in the middle, suspended in a world all to themselves.
It made Simon want to light the room on fire.
But then, just as he was nearing his breaking point, Jason released her fingertips and took a few steps away. “Now...fire up those flames.”
Beth stiffened with panic as Simon simultaneously shouted, “Are you crazy?!”
For the first time, Jason spun around with genuine anger as the mood he’d tried so carefully to create was shattered into a million pieces. “Laps—Kerrigan. Now. If I have to ask you again, you and I will do a little sparring ourselves. I promise, you won’t like how it turns out. Now, bugger off!”
The look on Jason’s face said he was not to be trifled with, and there was no legitimate reason Simon could think of that would allow him to stay. With the utmost reluctance he backed away, breaking into a steady jog while keeping an eye on the proceedings the entire time.
Halfway across the room he grabbed Tristan by the arm, stealing his tatù in the process so he could still hear what was going on.
“Shit, Simon! What have I told you?!”
Simon waved him off with a dismissive “Carry on” before continuing with his jog. On the other side of the Oratory, Beth and Jason were hard at work once more.
Her hands were raised again in the air, but no matter his prompting she seemed incredibly reluctant to simply ‘let go.’ All of her curiosity about developing full-body fire, as they taken to calling it, had been successfully quenched the second she’d lit half of London on fire. To try it again now in a room full of all her friends? She wasn’t exactly open to the idea.
“I don’t know...I don’t know if I...” Her voice faded out as she shook her head nervously.
Jason wrapped his fingers around her wrists. “You don’t know if you can?” he asked softly. “I know that you can. You know that you can. I just need you to try.”
“No, it’s not that.” She shook her head again, trembling a little as she imagined the task he was asking her to do. “I don’t know if I should.”
At this, Jason told her to open her eyes. She did so nervously, only to find him staring back with that same steady calm.
“I promise you, I’m not going to let you hurt anyone in this room.” His eyes bore intently into hers, like a snake charming a mouse. “You have my word.”
It was kind of impossible not to believe him. Even Simon found himself taking a tentative breath as he rounded the corner and headed their way.
She wavered, and Jason’s face softened into a gentle smile.
“Do you trust me?”
There was a beat, then she nodded. “Yeah—I trust you.”
He nodded, too, looking pleased. “Then close your eyes, and let’s try it again.”
With a look of steely determination, she did as he asked. But in the split second before her eyes flickered shut, Simon ran past in his circle and the two of them locked eyes.
In a single heartbeat, a rush of calm washed over her. At the same time, a rush of ice-blue fire rushed over her entire body.
A gasp fell across the Oratory, followed by a simultaneous hush. Simon’s eyes danced and he froze where he stood. He had never seen anything like it.
No longer was Beth the fifteen-year-old girl he’d first met and fallen in love with. No longer was she the kind but bold teenager, hidden away on her family farm with her head in a book.
The person he was looking at wasn’t a girl at all. She was a full-grown woman.
A woman of complete, blinding perfection.
Jason paced back a few more steps as the front of his shirt started smoking dangerously. A second later, the mats she was standing on began to melt. Beth didn’t notice. She had eyes only for Simon. But it soon became clear that, unless the flames went out quickly, Guilder University would be one Oratory short.
“Beth,” Jason said in his same mesmerizing voice. Then a little louder. “Beth.”
She turned her head and seemed to notice him for the first time. The flames around her were so intense it looked like she was almost floating. If Simon’s eyes had been able to penetrate the light, he wouldn’t have been surprised if her feet were a few inches off the ground.
“I need you to put it out now, Beth.”
If anything, the flames only burned brighter. The rest of the students were beginning to back away now, their faces showing traces of genuine fear. Only Tristan and Jennifer remained on the outskirts, but even they were staring at Beth with a touch of anxiety.
“Beth,” Jason said again, more firmly this time, “I need you to put it out. Now.”
Her face tightened up in panic, as she shook her head. “I can’t!”
“Yes, you—”
“Jason, I’m trying! I can’t!”
There was another burst of heat as the mats around her leapt with flames. Jason took another step back, and with one hand discreetly waved the rest of the children out the door.
Again Simon silently remained.
“You can do this,” he said, although it was getting harder and harder to hear him over the roar of the fire. “I promise you can do this. Just take a breath—”
But the panic set in as the flames began to overtake her. Ice-blue tears poured down her face, and her eyes were so bright it was almost hard to look into them.
“Just get out of here!” she cried. “Knock me out or something!”
“No one’s knocking you out. You can do this on your own!”
But Simon was no longer sure whether or not Jason believed that. As Beth covered her face in panic, he saw his mentor glance discreetly around for something that would be up to the task.
It wasn’t a rational decision. It wasn’t anything he consciously decided to do.
It was a pure animalistic instinct that sent Simon into the fire.
“SIMON—NO!”
Jason’s face twisted up in horror, but it was at that moment that Beth lifted her eyes.
All at once it was like there were no flames between them. No roaring fire that could threaten to tear them apart. It was just the two of them. Beth and Simon.
The way it was always supposed to be.
He hurried toward her, flinching a bit as the heat bit into his face. He kept his voice calm. “Beth, you’ve got to stop the fire now.”
Her eyes widened as she glanced helplessly down at her hands. By now Simon was only a few steps away, and getting steadily closer. The flinching grew more pronounced, and little abrasions began appearing on his skin.
“You’ve got to stop the fire, or it’s going to hurt me.”
Another step forward. Another rush of pain.
Beth pulled in a series of deep breaths, her tiny shoulders rising and falling quickly behind a shimmering haze of heat. For a solitary instant the fire dimmed—before coming back in full force.
“I can’t,” she sounded exhausted. “Simon, please. Get out of here.”
A tender smile lit his face as he calmly shook his head. “Not a chance, sweetheart. You stay, I stay... remember? We’re in this together.”
Their gaze met again—one full of terror, the other full of the gentlest love. Although neither one seemed to notice, Simon’s shoes caught fire.
Then slowly, little by little, one by one, the flames began to disappear.
Simon walked forward at a steady pace as they shrank back before him. Each time he thought he was going to get burned for sure, they managed to dissipate the second before they touched his skin. When he and Beth were finally standing face to face, it was only her body that was still on fire, shimmering with that radiant icy blue.
“I’m going to kiss you now, Beth,” he murmured, unconcerned as to who else might be watching. “You’ll have to put it out the rest of the way.”
He leaned in and closed his eyes, feeling the heat of the fire dancing across his face. But a second later, his lips closed over hers. Not a flame between them. Not even any smoke.
The kiss was quick, but tender. Just a frozen moment in time. A solitary instant where they could be themselves, before their eyes opened and they were back in the real world.
“Well, I think we know the key to unlocking all your other emotions.”
Simon and Beth turned as one to where Jason was still standing a few feet way. His face was an indecipherable mask, and his voice was so soft it barely carried over the room.
“Love.”
