Page 42 of Our Radiant Embers

“Water,” I said quietly.

“Water,” he agreed. He picked up a glass jar with loose tea leaves, holding them up for my inspection. For only a moment, they returned to a healthy, vibrant green before fading back to a dull brown.

I couldn’t breathe.

“Earth,” Liam said in my stead. He set the jar back down and unscrewed it to shake a handful of leaves into the sink.

“I believe you,” I said.

“Good.” His smile held the faintest note of smugness, and just like I’d expected, the leaves caught on fire. Without thinking, I stepped in and made them rise in a spiralling pattern, swirling faster and faster. The comfort of using my magic enveloped me like a safety blanket.

“Show-off,” Liam muttered, but he sounded more amused than upset.

I let the leaves flutter into the sink, where they turned to ashes. Forming words took a moment. “Hardly. What I just did?” I bit my lip, the sting of teeth anchoring me. “Utterly conventional. What you did? An hour ago, I would have sworn it wasn’t possible.”

“Just party tricks.” He shrugged. “I’m nowhere near as powerful as you.”

“But you control all four elements. Jesus, Liam.” My voice might have been slightly unsteady because Liam sent me a searching look. His expression softened.

“Do you need to sit down?”

“Possibly.”

Definitely.

I headed for the sofa corner, where a two-seater and an armchair were tucked between old wood beams, facing the fireplace. Behind the armchair, a door led out onto the sunny balcony. The flat wasn’t big, but it had everything I needed to get away for a little while.

After a second’s consideration, I stepped out onto the balcony. Cut into the roof, it granted the kind of privacy I’d found immediately appealing. While it offered a view over the nearest church and an adjacent green space, the hip-high wall that ran all the way around meant that if I lay down on the ground, there was nothing but sky. I hadn’t done much in terms of decoration—a small, round table of colourful metal and two chairs, that was it. Maybe I should get in an earth mage to spruce up the space with some greenery.

I sank onto one of the chairs, closed my eyes, and tipped my face into the warmth of the sun.

“You all right?” The scrape of the other chair suggested Liam had sat down as well.

“Yeah.” I sent him a look from underneath my lashes. “Really, I’m fine. It’s just…I always thought it was one of those fundamental truths, you know? And now it’s not.”

He tapped his fingers against the tabletop. “I don’t think it’s vastly different from, say, you also having some water abilities. Only for me, it’s all four, and they’re all at the same level.”

I sat up to give him my full attention. “How did you know I control water?” Fire was what I advertised. Water? Not so much. It was common for people to make a secret of their powers, or the full extent of them—like having an ace up your sleeve.

“Just a lucky guess.” Liam’s gaze shifted away, and no, I didn’t think so. The slight tension that pinched the corners of his mouth suggested otherwise.

It was strange to think that I was coming to know him.

I let it go for now. “How does it work? Your magic.”

“Like everyone else’s, I assume. Only it’s all four instead of one dominant element with maybe a weak secondary one.”

“Can you transfer energy from one element to another? Like, boost your reserves? You said something about how not having to handle fire and earth would allow you to focus on the other two.”

“No more than you probably can between fire and water.” He spread his fingers. “As in, yes, but it’s very inefficient—like trying to heat a room while the window is open. It’s more that each drain of my reserves is tiring, though, and it feels like it adds up. Draining two elements is tiring, draining three is worse, and if all four are drained, I just want to lie down and sleep for a century.”

My family had spent decades perfecting a power circle to replenish magical resources overnight. I’d learned to draw it from memory when I was eight. Granted, I wasn’t as good as Gale, who’d spent months poring over the theory until he managed to further tweak the circle, but I easily could have recreated it for Liam. It would have been akin to treason.

“Why keep it a secret?” I asked. “Wielding all four elements would get you quite some respect.”

“My grandma Jean—you met her, remember?” A fond smile tugged at Liam’s mouth. “She’s always been forceful about that, even when I was little. Don’t tell anyone.”

Which hinted that she might have the same ability.

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