Page 54 of Hybrid Heroics

“How?” he asked, growing agitated with me.

I stopped pacing, tucking my hands in my pockets as I studied him. “Do you know how fast your wolf runs?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you know how fast your wolf runs now?”

“No,” he drawled. “That’s not something that has changed—Oh. Fuck. Okay... I need to race the vampire.”

I nodded quickly. “Uhm, yeah. I’ll bet he has more control than he’s ever had when he goes into bloodlust.”

“And York can make something out of nothing,” he added.

“What?”

Briggs smirked. “He can make life from nothing. No seeds. No water. Just poof. A plant.”

I snorted. “That’s new. Vaughn is still riding high, so I’m guessing he won’t be coming down from his power levels at all.”

“Stone’s always had exceptional control,” he pointed out. “So it’ll be hard to judge how much he’s grown.”

“We need him to play with fire,” I mentioned, sitting down for three seconds before I was back up and pacing.

“Basically, you want us to train with our born skills—”

“And see where they go from there,” I finished, rubbing my hands together. “Like... What if your wolf was covered in fire?”

He just blinked at me, unamused. “That would fucking burn.”

“No.” I huffed, exasperated. “What if the fire was part of it? Not burning you, but sitting atop your fur like armor?”

“I don’t know,” he quietly remarked, watching me as if I was a caged animal.

“I’m tired of not knowing everything,” I whispered. “We need to know what we’ve learned, what magic we can use, what abilities have changed.”

Briggs tipped his head and sighed, tugging at his beard. “I see what you’re saying. We’ve all learned something that hasn’t been shared. That could be the piece of information that keeps us from winning this battle.”

“That.” I pointed at him, excitement making me speak louder than necessary. “That’s what I’m trying to say.”

“I get it.” He chuckled. “Anything else knocking around your head?”

I sobered, frowning. “York said something about a mirrored concept between him and Sloane... I think I understand what he meant.”

Briggs furrowed his brows, waiting for me to continue.

“How much pain did she feel when I died? And how much did you feel?”

He filled his cheeks with air, blowing out a heavy breath. I nodded. That was answer enough.

“I didn’t tell her about the last email I sent to Alric. If I would have explained everything—”

“She still wouldn’t have wanted to kill you,” he assured me.

I shrugged. “But she would have understood. She would have made her decision based on all the facts, not just half.”

“Why did you ask about the pain?”

“Because that’s all I felt when she closed the bond,” I explained. “And that’s why my chest aches with an emptiness that feels never-ending. We hadn’t sealed our bond when I died, but her pain has echoed since she closed it.”