Page 71 of Take No Prisoners
"It will astound you to know Niall used death magic to shove Renald's spirit back into his body."
"Then how do you explain your hair color?"
Vadim chuckled. "Beatrice explained it to me. He used death to give life, but he didn't have his own life magic. I have just enough healing to heal myself, so he found balance through me."
Efren thought that was the end of it, but Vadim frowned. "Now that you mention it, I might have sensed something when Niall healed you. A pull of energy, and then it was gone." He sat on the floor with his legs crossed, back against the bed, and closed his eyes.
"We probably should return her to the cot." Vadim's eyes were still closed, and his voice soft, as though he was speaking more to himself than to Efren. "Niall might be gone a few hours."
"He'll be back within two," Efren said. He had a feeling he knew where Niall was going, and what he planned to do. Efren only hoped the little girl knew how to call her flames. Just because Niall had identified her as a fire weaver didn't mean she had any control of her element.
For his part, Niall was quickly learning the other elements. Efren doubted Niall's ability to consistently fillStarlight Specter'ssails the day after he learned how to harness air weaves, but he had other elements to call. He could create a current using his water weaves, or propel the boat by pulling it toward land, or even skate it across the top of a frozen glaze of ice. Niall's options were only limited by his imagination.
"I would have made a horrible spectral mage," Efren said aloud.
"Neither of us can harness two," Vadim said. "Stan was the best at that."
"Before Hannah," Efren reminded him. "Gods, Hannah scared the shit out of me the first time they called lightning."
"Also scared the shit out of that merchant vessel they blew out of the water, as I remember."
Efren laughed. "That, too."
He sobered. Speaking to Vadim of their shared past hurt. The deep ache in his chest only tightened the longer they stared at each other. Vadim closed his eyes and straightened into a meditative posture, which only made it worse. They shared the same physical space, but Efren was still alone.
He missed their conversations more than he missed their physical relationship. They had been friends before Vadim left for the capital, and they'd easily returned to their friendship when Vadim had agreed to sail with him as his first mate.
Their physical relationship had been explosive at first, but it lacked any sustaining passion. Now, kissing Vadim would be like kissing his brother. If he had a brother. And if his brother had betrayed him.
Efren didn't know if he had a brother, or more than one sibling for that matter. His parents might have had more children after they left him on Aquarion at the first sign of magic. He was born to sea merchants who traded between Glamiere, Aquarion, and Bantora. His little sister had still been in swaddling clothes when they'd dropped him at the door to the barracks.
In lieu of parents, Elder Holden had taken him in and trained him in water magic. He wondered if Beatrice had taken Holden's role as water trainer after he passed away, or if she chose to teach Niall because she wanted to spend more time with her grandson. Most of the island's other water weavers sailed on their own vessels since command of the waves lent itself to sailing.
Niall had asked Efren about his family, but he didn't have much to tell. He couldn't remember their faces. His real family were his crew and the islanders he'd come to love over the years.
"Have you checked on Elsie?"
Vadim cracked one eye open, then shut it again. "No. You trying to get rid of me?"
"Only wondering."
"I can feel her through my connection with Klaus. She's still living here. I thought she would have moved to Aquarion by now."
Vadim's aunt was a lightning weaver. His mother had been an earth weaver, and his father a suppressor, an old man even when they were children. He'd passed away while Vadim was away at school.
"Don't," Vadim said.
"What?"
"I can feel your pity from here."
"I'm sorry. You don't have to see her, that's all. Martiz likes to get under your skin, but you're not obligated to see your family."
Vadim's eyes eased open. "I know. Thank you. Now, leave me alone. I'm trying to control my healing magic."
Efren slumped to the floor on the opposite side of his containment bubble. The water distorted his view of Beatrice only a little, but the curve and the amount of water between him and Vadim made his features almost unrecognizable.
He pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, rested his head on his knee, and waited for Niall to return.
