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Yoru is surrounded by fire too. He’s standing in the middle of it, engulfed in hot flames that can’t harm him at all. His eyes are black, and I can make out those strange symbols on the top of his head.
I feel my blood getting hotter and starting to boil. Yoru and I exchange a brief glance. We both know that we’re about to surrender to this special connection. My heart pounds, and my breath comes fast. Should I test out this new power? Every part of me longs to. I want to try it again – to completely give myself over to it.
But there’s still a part of me that holds back. A faint voice warning me to be careful. I know how dangerous what I’m doing is and how badly it could go wrong. And I can’t afford to have those doubts if I want to risk going farther. There has to be no hesitation, no fear. I need to fully trust Yoru and myself. But after everything I’ve been through, that’s not easy.
I take a deep breath and try to maintain my connection to Yoru. I sense its strength and the way it draws energy from me. I slowly raise my hand, and I’m about to send Yoru the command to attack. Fire is still dancing across my hand, and I can feel the heat and the power in it. But suddenly, I feel something else – a voice whispering to me: You’re not alone.
I spin around, but it’s too late.
I see another person in the gym, whom I quickly identify as Max.
“You actually think you’re better than everyone else and keep trying to merge with your spirit after you’ve been warned so many times. An outsider like you will never succeed at that. I’ll make sure of it. You need to learn you place.”
A gust of wind hits me in the gut and sweeps me off my feet, lifting me up in the air and flinging me around as if someone’s trying to break all the bones in my body. It’s only for a few seconds, but that’s enough to really hurt. When I finally drop to the floor unchecked, I’m winded. I try desperately to gather my wits, but I’m no longer in control. My connection to Yoru, the odeon, is in chaos. Like a thousand threads that I’ve lost my grip on, the power bursts out of me. Flames burst out of my body as if a bomb is exploding inside me. Yoru is knocked off his feet and flung beyond my field of view. If it weren’t for the enchantments on the walls of the gym, it would be totally destroyed, and I’d be buried under rubble.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Max staring at me in horror. She wasn’t expecting that. Her key spirit flies back to her in a panic, and my flames chase after them and force them both to flee. Before Max leaves, I catch a glimpse of fear in her eyes. And I’m not surprised.
I can’t breathe, and I feel as if I’m being torn into a thousand pieces. My blood pulses so hot around my body that I’m sure it’ll damage every vein. My flesh can’t possibly withstand that kind of strain. Now the very thing that Mr. Laydon warned me about is happening. A careless mistake that will cost me my life.
“Tess, oh my God! What’s happening to you?”
I turn slightly and make out Kate standing in the doorway. She tries to come to me, but the flames are too hot. She flings up her arms in front of her face to protect it and tries again. Gray throws up a wall of water in front of her, trying to protect himself and Kate so they can get to me, but even his wall can’t withstand my flames.
Kate hesitates, then shouts, “I’ll be right back.”
She turns and leaves the inferno. I’m so relieved. I couldn’t live with myself if she was hurt because of me.
I can feel myself growing weaker, but the inferno around me rages on. It feels as if it’s sucking the life force out of me and won’t fade until I’ve taken my final breath. The flames and the heat are so violent, so destructive, that I can’t believe they’re coming from me. But I know that the unbridled power of something you can’t control can be devastating.
My eyelids feel heavy, and my vision blurs, wavers, and grows steadily dimmer. I’m short of breath, gasping for air.
“Tess,” I hear another voice say. It sounds familiar.
I try to sharpen my vision, but there’s so much darkness.
“Don’t worry, you’re going to be okay,” the soothing voice promises me.
I lift my head a little and struggle with my vision. And then I see a creature of unearthly beauty. A human figure engulfed in flame. Like a god descended from the heavens. I don’t know what it wants from me, but I’m not concerned about that. I’m too enthralled by this being, which is making something reverberate inside me. Security, closeness, longing. Something draws me to this creature, and I’m so infinitely relieved when it comes to me through the fire. Of course this inferno can’t affect it.
The figure slowly approaches me, and my heart beats faster as it comes closer. When it gets to me, it kneels down beside me and reaches out to me. As soon as those burning fingers touch my flaming skin, I feel as if my insides will explode. But this time it’s not unpleasant. It’s like a wave of emotions surging over me. My whole being is suffused with these feelings, and the presence of the figure that’s unleashing them in me. I’ve never felt such intense yearning – as if I’ve found my counterpart. Our fingers intertwine and so do our flames. It’s as if they’re dancing together, attracting and combining. They become one. It feels like destiny. They belong together. They’re made for each other.
“Tess,” the voice murmurs.
I’m lifted up and embraced. The feeling of his hot chest against my face, his thundering heartbeat in my ear, beating in time with mine, is indescribable. I never imagined such intense feelings. I’m speechless and totally overwhelmed.
I look up and suddenly, with this fire creature at my side, regaining control is no longer a problem. With him I can do anything, I tell myself as I look into those deep green eyes that I know so well. Ayden’s flames gradually fade, and so do mine. The fingertips of his left hand are still resting against my cheek, causing a tingling sensation of unbelievable intensity.
“That’s it, let the flames go. I’m here.” His voice is sweet and soothing, an invitation that I can’t resist. And I don’t want to. All I want is…
“Ayden,” I whisper, looking straight at him.
There’s something in his eyes that captures me and won’t let me go. Familiarity, closeness, something magnetic that I can’t put into words. Every part of me wants to press myself harder against him, smell his skin, watch the play of sparks in his eyes, feel his strong lips, and the knowledge that I’ve finally arrived.
The flames around us fade away in steady unison until they die out altogether. For a moment, I’m frozen in this state of awed anticipation, sensing that he’s had the same experience as me. An unquenchable longing, a connection that’s absolute and incontrovertible, almost magical. We both felt it, our bodies and our souls calling to each other, pulling each other in, and there’s no escaping it now.
My chest rises and falls quickly as I look up at Ayden, seeking out the profound green of his eyes. I gradually become aware of how close we are. My hands are on his chest, and I can feel his muscles moving beneath them. The warmth of his skin is still enticing, and I ask myself: when was the last time I was this close to him?
When the flames die out, their smell brings me back to the present. Yoru comes to mind. Where is he? Is he okay? I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to him. I glance around and see him lying on the floor a few yards away. He scrambles to his feet and looks at me, and thankfully he seems unharmed. I quickly push a strand of hair out of my face and shuffle slightly away from Ayden. It’s hard for me, and I can see it’s no different for him. Or am I imagining that? Did he really have the same experience as me? Did I just invent that out of desperation? I mean, I wasn’t myself just now, and I was bursting with so many emotions. What if they weren’t real? I don’t know what to think or feel. I’m so confused.
