Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 88265 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88265 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
His jaw hardens. “Ask Vitai if you can’t find Gaia.”
So he hasn’t forgiven Kian yet for taking me to the village yesterday. I have a feeling Kian did that on purpose, that he was trying to make a point. But what point?
Aruan goes to the trunk and removes a jacket. I walk to the archway, hovering a few paces away. Will I be able to part the wall one day? Otherwise, as with the waterfall, I’ll always be reliant on someone to do it for me. I suppose as long as there’s a window, I could always get out with the help of a pterosaur.
Curious, I focus my attention on the exit. Just like yesterday at the village, when I felt my power flowing through my body, fire zaps through my veins. I concentrate harder, willing the wall to open… and then a small crack appears.
“Aruan,” I exclaim, bouncing on the balls of my feet. “Look!”
He walks over, peering thoughtfully at the fissure. “Your power seems to be growing stronger.”
“This is so cool.” I clap my hands. “Do you think I’ll be able to do the evaporation trick too?”
He studies me with a strange light in his eyes. “I think you’ll be able to do whatever you set your mind to.”
Too excited to analyze the shift in his mood, I concentrate on the wall again. In my mind’s eye, I imagine the stone separating into grains of sand, and then the grains of sand breaking apart into individual molecules.
The gap slowly but surely grows bigger.
Aruan’s voice seems to come from somewhere far-off. “That’s enough, Elsie.”
The hole in the wall expands a little more.
Almost there.
A hand falls on my shoulder. “Elsie.”
Voila.
The exit is open.
When I come to my senses, I’m shaking, and perspiration beads on my forehead.
I gape at the wall, saying more to myself than to Aruan, “I did it.”
He doesn’t sound pleased. “You’ll wear yourself out. Coming into your power can be dangerous if you don’t know how to control it. You have to move slowly.”
I turn to face him, his words barely registering in my mind. “I did it!”
He sighs. “Yes, you did.”
I tilt my head. “You don’t seem surprised.”
“I never doubted that you would.”
“You have an awful lot of faith in me.”
He cups my shoulders between his broad palms. “You have a strong power, Elsie. You have to be mindful of how you use it.”
I’m still high on my achievement. “Do you think I’ll have the same power back on Earth?”
His gaze darkens, and his grip tightens. “It doesn’t matter. You’re not going anywhere.”
I almost waver under his broody stare. “I was just wondering how it works.”
Clenching his jaw, he says, “Going there is forbidden, so I guess you’ll never know.”
I stare at his handsome features, now hard and relentless when he was being so accommodating and considerate a few moments ago.
“It will be the same,” I say, throwing the statement out there for no other reason than testing my theory by whatever reaction it will evoke from him. “I became sick because I was a baby when your mother sent me to Earth, but adults don’t change when they go to Earth through a portal, do they?”
The truth shows in the cold, stony gleam of his eyes. “The subject is forbidden, or did you forget?” He bites off every word. “We won’t talk about this again. Did I make myself clear?”
All the fuzzy warmth that accumulated in my chest turns into ice. That fragile thing that almost bloomed to life dies a premature death when I shut down my emotions and say in a voice devoid of feeling, “Perfectly.”
I turn on my heel and walk through the archway, not bothering to close it behind me, or rather, not bothering to try.
“Elsie!”
Aruan’s voice chases me down the hallway, but I don’t stop to listen to whatever he wants to say. I march to the Earthlings’ quarters, half relieved and half disappointed that he doesn’t follow.
Chapter 11
Aruan
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve wanted to go after Elsie but let her get away instead. Some of those times, I knew she needed space, and I did my best to respect it. Granting her that space took immense self-control. Just like now, as I watch her march all three stones of her meager weight down the hallway, walking so fast the wall lights have a hard time keeping up. They go off in flashes, mapping out her angry steps as she stomps farther away from me until she turns a corner, and I lose sight of her.
I clench and unclench my fingers. And count to several moon cycles. The atmosphere between us was changing this morning. Finally, she was softening up to me. Then the possessive beast inside me reared his head, and I opened my big mouth and said things I wish I hadn’t. Trust me to spoil a perfectly good moment. I want to chase her down with everything I’ve got, but I have someplace to be, and I’m already late as it is.