Page 125 of Unbound

"It's complicated."

"It seems very simple to me. You desire him. He desires you. I fail to see what complicates this natural process."

"Everything else in the whole damn world complicates it, Typhon. He's keeping secrets. I'm keeping secrets. We're surrounded by people who want to kill us. There's possibly a siphon hunting on campus. And that's not even counting the Crucible."

"Ah, yes. The human tendency to overthink simple matters. In the elemental realm, desire is acted upon or it is not. There is no... what is the word? Angst."

"Well, I'm sorry we're not as evolved as you are."

"Apology accepted. Though I must note that even with all these complications, your body still responds to his proximity.”

I can't argue with that, so I don't try.

"So," Raith says suddenly, breaking the silence. "You can heal now."

I stumble slightly, caught off guard. "How did you?—"

"Pyrin told me."

I stare. "I only just figured it out. How the hell would he know?"

"Typhon told him."

There's a trickle of embarrassment and guilt through the tether.

"Perhaps I mentioned it in passing. I am proud of your power and wished to share with someone who would understand its importance. Nothing more."

I can't make myself feel mad, though. I only smile and shake my head. "An ancient and a fucking gossip," I mutter under my breath.

"Such disrespect,"Typhon scoffs.

"The healing is a good thing, Nessa. It's incredible." There's a kind of sadness in his eyes I can't figure out as he speaks.

"He thinks of someone who could have used your ability. Someone he lost."

"How do you know that?"

Raith stops walking, turning to face me. "You know how many people die here from injuries that could have been healed with the right skills? How many lives could be saved in battle with a single person who can do what you did?"

"I'm still figuring it out," I admit. "I don't even know if I can heal others, or just myself."

His eyes hold mine, intense and searching. "Just be careful who knows about it. There are people here who would kill for that kind of power."

"Bad news for them. Killing me isn't going to grant them the power."

"No, but it might convince them to go to desperate lengths to coerce you."

"People like Malakai?"

"Among others."

At the entrance to the water tower, Raith stops. His fingers graze mine—brief, barely there, but deliberate, sending a trickle of fire into my body.

"I’m not going to let anything happen to you, Nessa. Or your friends. Not even during the Crucible," he tells me. "The fires are with me on this. You know we're not what the others think of us. We're good people. Honorable, loyal. They know what Malakai and Serena are doing and they think it's fucked up. Veeni and Jirai excluded, of course. The rest of us will be there and we’ll be ready to watch your backs.”

Gratitude and appreciation swells within me. "Thank you. And... thank them for me, too."

"And I also meant what I said about you being a distraction." His eyes soften, just for a moment. "A fucking beautiful distraction, Nessa."

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