Page 100 of Renegade Kings

Fucking brat.

This was the problem with letting people get to know you. They knew exactly where to poke to annoy you the most. And Ryder also knew there was no way I’d back down from a challenge or ever admit that I couldn’t do something. Especially not with all these people watching.

“Sure,” I seethed, gritting my teeth and snarling at Ryder, who just laughed harder.

He was lucky that he had our beautiful mate next to him, or I’d have shown exactly what I could do with my water.

But concentrating on glaring at Ryder while I imagined all the things I’d do to him wasn’t the best idea I’d had, because I barely avoided the fireball that flew past my head. I hit the deck hard, still feeling the heat of the fire on the side of my face as I did.

I really, really hated this fucking place.

Pushing back up to standing my glare was firmly on Maddox this time. I didn’t even look behind me to make sure there wasn’t a fire smouldering on the ship, which I probably should have been putting out.

“It was an accident,” Maddox rushed out, his eyes wide as he held up his hands in surrender. “I didn’t mean to.”

My eyes squinted in annoyance as I tried to decide if he was telling the truth. When I realised my wolf was just laughing in the back of my mind and not raging for violence, I decided it probably was. Or perhaps he just wasn’t as concerned about me as he was about his own furry hide.

As Ryder rolled about on the deck in laughter, I plotted my revenge. And without even an outward sign of what I was going to do, I let the magic free to do what it wanted to. It flowed freely, almost dancing through the air and straight to the biggest source of our energy. Latching onto the ocean, it drew up a massive wave, crashing it down on top of Maddox and flooding across the desk, soaking Ryder as it went. Alyssa was unfortunately caught in the crossfire, but thankfully, she saw the funny side as she wiped the seawater from her eyes.

Maddox stood as still as a statue. His arms held out to the sides as every muscle bunched from the shock of the cold water.

“Un…called. For!” Maddox shouted, before shaking his entire body in disgust.

I could only imagine what his lion was saying right now, and it had my wolf huffing in amusement.

“It was an accident,” I deadpanned. “I didn’t mean to.”

Maddox squinted in annoyance, and if it wasn’t for Fizzle landing between us and drawing our attention, things probably would have escalated to the two of us hurling magic at each as our tantrum got out of control.

“You realise that was the greatest display of magic that you’ve achieved to date,” Fizzle informed me as he carefully stepped around the puddles that were now left on the deck. “It’s almost like you finally grasped the idea of control.”

Even his compliments sounded like insults. But he had a point.

Ryder pushed to his feet, coming to join our conversation, and I could see the intrigue lighting up his eyes. “So, you’re saying that control comes from where?” he asked, genuinely interested. “Is it instinctual? Like the less you try, the easier it is to grab hold of?”

“It could be based on emotion,” I reasoned aloud. “I was annoyed and…”

Then a funnel of wind slammed into me, picking me up off the deck and hurling me through the air.

Panic hit me hard as I realised I was about to go over the edge. Ending up in the ocean would be bad enough, but who knew what kinds of slimy critters lived out in the depths of the Nymeria sea?

As I felt myself falling, the world seemed to slip into slow motion. I could see the panic on Ryder’s face as he ran for the edge of the ship. Alyssa was surging to her feet as her mouth opened in a shout. Of course, Fizzle looked nothing but amused as he watched my descent towards the ocean.

But the magic inside me rose, and I instinctually allowed it to burst free. It reached for the water, pulling it up and around me. Where I was once falling, I now found myself sprawled on a slab of ice, floating on the stationary crest of a wave that shouldn’t have been able to exist.

As soon as I thought that, the wave pitched forward as if it had suddenly realised it needed to continue with its journey and the ice crashed down onto the deck of the ship, shattering as it did, and sending me skidding along the wood.

I came to a stop in the centre of the deck, lying on my back with my legs and arms spread out as I breathed a sigh of relief.

That had been close.

No one moved, no one said a thing as everyone stared at me in shock.

I actually did that. My first instinct was to look to Alyssa as the source, but I’d felt the magic move through me, reacting as simply as involuntarily ducking when someone threw something at you.

At least I had the answer to my question now. Ryder was right, this all came down to instincts… and maybe being scared shitless as well.

Alyssa’s soft hands bracketed my cheeks and my eyes focused on the beautiful woman now crouched over me.

---