Page 45 of Take No Prisoners
"He stole his power from me," Vadim said. "I don't know how he did it, but he did."
"What evidence do you have of this?" Elder Beatrice asked.
"A lock of his hair turned yellow," Efren said. "I saw it myself, before he killed again, and it disappeared."
Elder Beatrice shook her head. "You saw, but you did not understand."
Vadim turned his vicious glare on her, which was a relief to Niall. Vadim's stare made his skin crawl, and knowing the death weaver could drain him unconscious with one bare hand raised in his direction only made it worse.
"Nature seeks a balance," she said. "Though he is untested, I assume we will find Niall completely balanced in the middle between death and healing. You know nature exerts a price. It had nowhere to go for him, since he wasn't balancing out a death with a life. Instead, it went into you."
"I don't need balance." Vadim stared at his hands like a petulant child.
"You do," she breathed. "You'll need to find it to save your seeker's life before we lose you both." She patted his hand. "I believe in you."
Niall didn't feel balanced, whatever that meant. He hadn't known he was a weaver at all, and now they said he had all elements at once. "This doesn't seem real."
"It's very real," Elder Beatrice said. "You've shown you have at least two variations of power, possibly more."
"Lightning and life." Efren nodded.
"Is that how I knew Jasmine was a fire weaver before I saw her?" Niall asked.
"Yes." Elder Beatrice nodded. "You can detect all elements because you have all elements."
Niall waved to an elder whose power he didn't recognize. "I don't recognize yours."
"Ice," the elder said, flashing him a smile of bright white teeth in his dark face. "It's rare outside Hearthstone. I'm surprised you recognized the fire weaver." The elder turned to Elder Beatrice. "How did we miss this? He's spectral like you."
She nodded. "It's only fair. He is my grandson."
Niall almost fell out of his seat trying to put a little distance between them. He'd grown up with his mom's father, but he and his mom had always looked sad when Niall asked about his grandmother. Now, he could see the resemblance. She had his mom's brown eyes, and her hair, if she would have grown it out and twisted it.
"They acted like you were dead."
"In a way, I am," she said. "I can't leave my duties on Aquarion, and they weren't safe to come here, with you."
"Weren't safe?" Niall didn't understand. They'd sailed past Horseshoe Island numerous times on their way to Glamiere.
"Did you see the school building where your young friends were taken?" Vadim asked.
Niall nodded.
"From this day forward until they have full command of their abilities, they cease to be children," Elder Beatrice, his grandmother, said. "Your mother wanted better for you, especially when she sensed you had more than one power within you."
"But I tried," Niall said. "She tried to teach me to use water, but I couldn't."
"Your grandfather worked his magic, then." She closed her eyes, but not soon enough to hide her deep sorrow. "He was a grand suppressor. When he became too sickly to sail with them, he did the next best thing. He must have cast a shadow of suppression over you."
"That isn't supposed to be possible," Efren said.
Niall's grandmother nodded, eyes still closed. "Everyone was so disappointed when Willamina was a plain old water weaver. Lawrence must have been so proud of you, my dear."
"She was one of the best water weavers I've ever seen." Efren met Niall's gaze with a sad smile. "I have my own talents, but she could call krakens from the depths and send storm surges crashing hundreds of miles inland."
"She couldn't outrun death." Niall glared at Vadim.
"She knew the cost," Vadim said. "I told her what would happen if she was still in Landale that evening."
