Page 175 of Emylia

“The center of my chest, where the sternum is.” It was hard to ignore the power once I’d siphoned it, so the answer was easy. Instant.

“Then guide it.” She spoke the words softly, but there was weight behind them–like they meant more than they let on.

I turned to face her, my question barely more than a breath. “How?”

She tilted her head slightly, eyes narrowing as if she were watching for something only she could see. “Once you start to feel the power manifest,” she said, her tone sharpening, “capture it immediately. Don’t hesitate. Then sever the bond with Akaela–cleanly. Completely.”

“You’ve got this,” Sebastian added.

He was lounging in the grass just under the canopy, looking bored. But I knew he was just as alert as the rest of us, waiting to leap forward should I need anything from him. It was all a facade for me, to show he believed in me. It didn’t have the desired effect, I was more nervous than ever.

Taking a deep breath, I placed my palm on Akaela. Tendrils of dark power swirled into me—inky and wild. Like a storm made of shadows and stars.

It knew me. And I knew it.

The chaotic storm of mass destruction, almost obsidian, swirled inside me like a midnight sandstorm. But it wasmyhectic hurricane of destruction,my powerto wield. As that thought consumed me, it almost shuddered to a halt, turning to face me, as if I was its master and it recognized me.

“I’ve got a grasp.”

“Now sever the bond with Akaela.”

It was harder than I anticipated to break the bond with Akaela, as though the magik froze my hand in place. It took everything I had to sever the bond, prying my fingers from the Akaela’s bark.

“Focus on harnessing the power and drawing it to your fingertips. Imagine water flowing from your fingers until you can mold it into a single droplet.”

Air punched from my lungs at the mental force I expelled trying to force this tornado of a storm through my limbs until it reached the tips of my fingers.

Sweat dotted my forehead, soaking my hair and making me sticky with perspiration. But I did it. Just when I could feel a single droplet of water form on my fingertip, the magik withdrew.

Gone.

The power non-existent.

What in Nexus?

“It’s gone. I can’t feel the magik anymore.”

My mother stepped forward, taking my hand in hers. A minute passed, and then another. “I can’t feel a single trace either.”

“Is that normal?” I asked cautiously.

Her brow knotted, creasing her forehead with barely visible lines. “No.”

Well crap.

That wasn’t a good omen.

“Try again,” she ordered, her voice stern.

The second time I managed to form the connection to Azalea quicker, drawing out the ancient power and claim it as my own. And a second time as soon as I pushed the power to my fingertips, the water dissipated before I could produce a single drop.

Mom checked me again, finding no residue power.

“Again.”

Six times I tried.

Six times I failed.

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