Page 80 of Enchantment of Silver and Sea
What of thatwas right. “I’m not sure what to do about that yet. I just need to get Kieran out of Cyllene.”
The water spirit studied me carefully. When they spoke, it was with a slight sense of accomplishment, as though they had figured out the answer to a puzzle. “You are, to again use a phrase invented by your kind, in love with this Kieran.”
Hearing the words spoken aloud should have alarmed me. It had been driven into me over and over again, all my life, that having something to love was having something to lose. But instead of feeling panicked, I felt a strange sense of peace.
“Yes,” I whispered. Then I added, “Larimar, I can’t lose anyone else. I had a family who loved me, and they were taken from me. Ripped away from me. I thought I would die from the pain of losing them. And in some ways, I think I did. But now I have someone in my life who I love…and not just Kieran. I have multiple people in my life who I care about, who mean something to me. And I can’t let them be taken from me, too.” My voice had gained strength as I went on. “Iwon’tlet them be taken from me. Especially not Kieran.”
The smooth skin of Larimar’s face adjusted slightly, a minor shifting. I couldn’t quite say what had changed. They still lacked any particular expression, but something about them seemed…softened. “You are aware,” they said. “That Kieran is not of your kind. He is descended from the Oryxians on his father’s side. Heis living alongside humans now, as one of you, but that cannot last forever. It is not the way of things.”
The words were not said harshly. They were not even said as a warning, really. They were merely a statement of fact.
“Yes,” I said without hesitating. Then I realized I hadn’t known that, not exactly, so I amended, “I don’t care.”
There was a long pause. Then, “Very well.”
Larimar extended their fin. It took only a moment for me to realize what I was meant to do. With a deep breath, I extended my hand to meet them.
The second we touched, my senses were overloaded.
A blast of sunlight. Salt air. A ripple on a pond. The taste of fresh spring water. The darkness at the bottom of the ocean. The thunder of a waterfall. Gliding through a school of fish. Splashing through rapids. The birth of a dolphin calf. A toad resting in a puddle.
And something that spread through me, making my hair stand on end. Zapping every nerve in my body as it passed.
It was strength.
It was power.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“Hey, there,” Bergam said with forced friendliness as I opened the door. “You look like you’re feeling a lot better!”
I stepped into the hallway. I was wearing a tank top, a pair of form-fitting athletic pants, and boots. My hair was still tied back in a braid. My book bag was slung over my shoulder, stuffed to capacity. Tucked beneath the collar of my shirt, hanging on its chain, was the larimar stone.
“I need to see Kieran,” I said simply.
The Enforcer didn’t miss a beat. “I’m afraid that’s not an option right now.”
His response was as I figured. It was all I needed to hear.
I had wanted to give him at least one chance.
I extended my right hand. Nothing happened, and Bergam raised a brow at me. I focused on my hand, centering my will, my energy, my focus. Every ounce of intention that existed in me.
“Maila, are you okay?” he asked, his confusion beginning to morph into concern.
Damnit. This was not how Larimar had said it would go.
I took a deep breath, flexed my fingers. Imagined relaxing the intensity of my focus, then reestablishing it. Refocusing.
I felt it the moment everything snapped into place.
Like a spark under my skin.
A moment later, the symphony of dozens of crackling and crunching noises filled the air as ice encased Bergam on all sides.
Heat had formed in my palm. Prickly. Tingling. In alternating moments, bearable and unbearable. It snaked down and around my wrist. I took another deep breath and let it flow through me. Imagined the air traveling through my veins, reaching every corner of my body. Imagined it fueling the fire that burned under my skin.
I didn’t stop until Bergam was completely incapacitated. His head exposed, the rest of him a pyramid of thick ice. Larimar had been right—releasing their magic, which was rooted in the various forms of water, as ice had been the perfect way to disable without hurting.
