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My heart jumped to my throat. Thanks to Nash, Abby and Claire had time to escape. But would his heroics come at the ultimate price?
One heart-stopping minute of aerial acrobatics later, the dragon broke away for a breather, and Nash did too.
Grumbling, Harlon hurled a bolt of lightning at the house. All I could do was watch helplessly as it hit the weather vane and exploded into sparks.
Not so helpless,an inner voice said, faint but fierce.
I wiggled my fingers, trying to focus. At the sound of a battle cry, I looked up, fearing an attack from the newest dragon on the scene.
But that battle cry wasn’t the dragon. It was me, raging away. At Harlon. At the storm. At everything I had never been able to be or do. Raging enough to push my soul aside and reveal a bigger, bolder, braver me.
The next time Harlon released another bolt, I reached out — not just with a hand, but my mind.
Intercepting lightning should have been impossible, but it wasn’t. At least, not in the picture in my mind. A split second later—
I gasped, rattled by thousands of watts of power. Not directly, but out at that extension of my body and mind, where I was hit by blinding white heat. And not just hit, butconsumedby it.
As kids, Abby and I had played Jedi knight, while Pippa played Princess Leia with a seriously badass twist. We were pros at mimicking the sound of light sabers — exactly the sound that deafened me now as blazing white light flashed.
I stared through narrowed eyes. The lightning bolt was still flashing but suspended in place. Suspended, though not frozen — it went on crackling, kicking, and sparking like something in a mad scientist’s lab.
It was working! I was holding the lightning back! Or rather, the vortex was. Now all I had to do was redirect it.
I gulped.
My hammering heart sent adrenaline through my veins. Adrenaline, and something else.
Nash’s words echoed through my mind.Do you get it now? You have power. All of you.
Okay, maybe we did. But as Nash had pointed out, no one had taught us how to use it.
In my mind, I yelled at my father.Why didn’t you ever teach me?
But he’d tried, I realized. I was the one who’d resisted his efforts, insisting I didn’t have any power.
But I did. Lots of it.
And, heck. Maybe Pippa was right. Maybe magic came as naturally as sex when the situation called for it.
And boy, did the situation call for it.
My hair whipped in the wind, and a strand caught in my mouth. The lightning faltered, reflecting Harlon’s surprise. Then he scowled and threw his arms forward again, doubling the power of the lightning.
I reeled at the impact, barely hanging on.
You wanted my help,I sensed the vortex grumbling.Show me you’re willing to do your part, or I’ll quit.
I was. Truly. But I was a novice when it came to magic. Didn’t that earn me any mercy?
Apparently not. Not a bit.
Sweat beaded on my brow as I strained with each arm — one against the rock carving, the other in the air, aiming the vortex’s power. The lightning went on crackling and zapping, scorching the patch of ground it hovered over. But inch by inch, it advanced, pushing toward the main house with menacing power.
Harlon was winning. I was losing. It was inevitable.
You should have accepted my offer,Harlon’s triumphant look said.
Suddenly, the lightning bolt erupted into a shower of sparks, and he stumbled backward. I lurched as his resistance broke off, then jerked back as he recovered. The sound of dueling light sabers intensified. Now what?
