Page 28 of Echoes of War

Since that day out by the lake, my magic had become mine again. I hadn’t been in this much control since the immediate After, when my magic had first developed. Before I knew how deep my well really went.

Amaia was absolutely crazy. Fuck me, I loved every second of it. She was infuriating, and frankly, too self-sacrificial for my taste. Instead of running the other direction, against all logic, the woman drove me mad with desire. I needed that type of crazy in my life. Thrived in it. And she expected the best in me, required it. So I did everything in my power to make her proud.

I’d never had someone proud of me before. Not even my mother, I was a disappointment to everyone in my life in The Before. The outset of The After too. Tiago had neversaid the words, but I’d seen the disdain in his eyes the day I revealed I’d gotten hitched to Finley.The she-devil. That was the nickname he’d settled on for her.

But Amaia was different; when people made her proud, she was never shy on letting them know it. For her, I would be better. A shaky laugh escaped me; I saw where Riley was coming from now. Why he’d do everything to protect her, she brought the best out of people. Inspired you to get on her level, no matter how erratic her methods may be. That shit was getting old though, I’d make a point to nip it in the bud soon enough.

We’d worked on our Steamfire each night, finding an empty part of the city where Sloan could give less than a rat’s ass about what happened to it. I guess Covert Province had slaughtered them by section, not skill. There was no one left in that part of Duluth to be upset if our Steamfire melted their precious belongings or burned down their homes. Not that Amaia had let it get that far. She had an unprecedented amount of control.

She’d told me on the journey here that there was a time when she’d had no control. When Prescott had found her, he’d helped her. I found it hard to believe his training routine put his or her life at risk, but I digress.

The last few days were a blur. When we weren’t working on our Steamfire, Amaia had me train with the rest of the soldiers on mastering their gifts. Tomoe had only started the process of linking people, helping them powershare. None of them had been soldiers; if we were going to do it, we needed to do it the right way. Tomoe was strong, powerful, but she was not enough to get the job done on her own.

Which was why as soon as Sloan stopped running her fucking mouth, Amaia and I could be on our way to get some help. I just hoped Lola wouldn’t disintegrate us on the spot once we arrived.I’d sworn to her long ago that I wouldn’t bring anyone to her home who wasn’t in need of safety. I mean, we technically were, but not in the way she defined safety. To her, it was possible this would be seen as bringing trouble to her doorstep.

Sloan had summoned us all to the lab Reina had been working out of. Turned out to be a good decision to put her right next to Moe’s study, or all her work would have been lost in the explosion. She’d been tasked to work with a group of Tinkerers to figure out how to bridge the gap between Finley’s gas and Duluth’s magic-stripping powder.

Luck had not been on our side. Not that I believed in that shit. Whatever was meant to happen would happen, universe be damned. Tomoe’s visions were only proof of that fact. The future was always changing, and there were too many variables at play to make trivial things such as luck or blessings be true.

“Right, and you expect me to believe you have not a clue how this all works?” Sloan tossed her hair over her shoulder, sneering at me in disbelief.

I shrugged, unsure why it was hard to ingrain the concept into her smooth brain. “Don’t know how many times I have to repeat myself for you to understand Finley never let anyone into her lab to see the specifics of anything. She is the lone, as in singular, creator of it all. We were injected with vaccines that prevented the powder from working, and you have to be sure you only suppress the magic, not take it away. That’s all I can tell you.”

Abel released an audible gulp. “What happens if you accidentally take it away?”

Sometimes it was hard to remember he was a great deal younger than us, but I hated to say, the kid was growing on me. He reminded me of Reina, well, the old Reina. He brought a youthful vibe to the group. A reminder that there was positivity still vibrant in the bleak, gray world surrounding us.

The group. Damn that felt weird to say given I was a part of it.

“What happens when someone drains their magic without enough time to recharge?” Amaia’s tone wasn’t exactly harsh, but sure as hell not sugarcoating a thing, “They die.”

Reina mumbled as she peered through her microscope; she was beyond her depths here. “It’s a decent start, but I can’t figure out how to get the full seventy-two hours she has. It’s like whatever she’s using attacks your cells, mutes them. In all my years, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“You’re doing fine, Reina,” Tomoe reassured her friend, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder and ignoring the flinch Reina returned in response. “Don’t letSloan,of all people, make you feel dumb for doing what she can’t.”

“I never feel dumb,” Reina said in the least humble way possible.

A small grin tugged at Amaia’s lips, a proud sister. “Good, you shouldn’t. You’ve taken a powder that only lasts twenty-four hours to a solid fifty. We’ll get there, you just need time.”

“Time that we don’t have, you said so yourself.” It was a fair reminder, though it earned me a glare from all parties.

We were short on time, that was the understatement of the year. Our new team motto.

“Hate to say it,” Sloan relented, her next words making my bones turn to ice. “It may be time to consider bringing Finley in for help. She’s desperate for a trade, her people have no food.”

“If you can’t even work with me, I doubt you’ll be able to stomach the woman who gave every order.”

Amaia shrugged in agreement off to my side, Tomoe grumbled something about wanting to see that show. I could not imagine Finley and Sloan in the same room, let alone exchanging magic-sucking recipes. Finley would walk all over Sloan, especially if they were left alone in Duluth to their own devices. The only mitigator I could imagine containing the two is Amaia, and I never wanted to see the two of them in the same room again.

“Even the devil’s words sing a captivating tune,Bloodhound,” Sloan snarled, enough to shut me up for the moment.

I’d said my piece; if they wanted to destroy each other, it wasn’t my fucking problem.

“We’re not that desperate,” Amaia added in support.

She looked tired, but still beautiful. Her jeans hugged her hips, the black sweater she wore accentuated the curves in her waistline outlining the lean muscle in her arms. Her curls had been revived now that we had a steady diet of nutrients. She was still annoyingly verbal about her ache for a different source of protein. I hadn’t yet worked up the nerve to tell her the disaster Finley had caused that made fish a delicacy around here.

Duluth’s farm saved them from starvation in the dead of winter along with the greenhouses. There was one farm not yet available to the public that would make her the happiest woman here. All I had to do was convince Sloan to give me access to it.

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