Page 10 of November Reign
“Can I try healing a cut?” he asked.
“Where—?”
Too late. Damon used a knife he had on his person to cut along the back of his hand. I felt ill seeing theblood. I rushed around the table to his side, ready to step in.
“Damon! Hold on, that looks deep!”
“I’ve got it,” he assured me. Sure enough, he directed the water over the cut and focused his gaze. He didn’t use words like the rest of us would, but his intent to heal clearly came through because the water washed away the cut, leaving a white line behind.
“Here,” I took his hand, inspecting the healing. “I’ll get rid of the scar.”
“Not like I’m not covered in them.” Damon tried to wriggle free. I held firm. With a muttered word, I smoothed away the fine scar his cut had made.
“All done. You could have probably done that yourself. You were amazing with the cut! Wasn’t he, Oak?” Damon needed the praise to encourage him. If I knew him, he’d feel like he hadn’t done enough because of the mark left behind. He hadn’t known it was possible to remove small scars, though.
“Yeah, you did great,” Oak affirmed. “Will we do fire now? Cody, are you okay with water?”
I smiled at Oak as I returned to my place by his side. Our hands brushed, giving me a jolt. I tangled my pinky with him for a minute, earning myself a sharp look from Damon.
“Sure. I don’t want to cut myself, but I feel like I’ve got a hold of water easily enough.” Cody lookeduncertain, like he thought we would ask him to injure himself so he could be tested. Toth would murder us.
Echoing my thinking, Oak shuddered. “Nope, staying alive, thanks.”
It made me laugh. Oak grinned at me, standing close enough to touch. He was so tempting. I wanted to hold his hand, kiss his cheek, bask in all his smiles.
Damon struck the match. “So, what do we do with fire?”
The kitchen was on fire. Well, the table was. Fire had gone well, with both of them working up to creating fireballs in their bowls without the need for matches. A click of their fingers and a spark word for Cody, and they had fire ready to burn at their command.
We got too cocky.
My little brother thought he was so proficient at the elements that he was able to handle two at once. Of course, instead of earth or water, he had to go for air to blow the fire around the kitchen.
Floating fireballs were cool and all. Until they grew too big to handle. The fireball hung above our heads, doubling in size as the air fed the fire. That was whenDamon’s shaky control of air wavered. The fireball expanded again and shot across the kitchen!
We ducked and dove as fire spread onto surfaces, papers, a dish towel. Nothing was safe from the fire’s rage.
The fire alarm started wailing, bringing the rest of the inhabitants of the house to the kitchen.
Toth took one look at the situation, ran for Cody, threw him over his shoulder, and ran outside.
“I’m fine!” I could hear Cody cry from the yard. Not that the demon would listen. When it came to Cody, he was always cautious.
“Damon! Call off the air.”
“Can’t!” he cried. His horrified face took in the state of the kitchen. If we didn’t get it under control soon, we’d need to replace everything.
“Call water with me,” I said, taking his hands. “Come on, you know this one well. Ask it to wash the fire away.”
A cloud formed above the worst of the fire, on the table we’d been working on. All it took was a little push for it to rain down on the fire, putting it out.
“Good,” I praised. “Now for the rest, okay?”
Damon’s eyes met mine. Trust in those blue depths. The same eyes I had.
Together, we put the fires out. With more practice, Damon could just ask the fire to sleep, but he was a long way from that.
We surveyed the damage. Really, it wasn’t all that bad. Some burned patches in places, but the kitchen was fully functional once it dried out a bit. At least the coffee machine was safe.
