“It’s all right,” Claire murmured, her voice low and taut with renewed concentration. The winding strands of water extended over her flame, making a sort of tunnel for her to aim with.
Is that supposed to be an elemental gun?
Well, shit.
She pointed to the final marker in the distance, one even I would have had trouble hitting, much less without burning anything around it.
“That one,” she said, marking her target, and then heat emanated from her in a building storm that made my eyes widen and very inappropriate sensations run straight down to my groin. Damn, she was hot. Literally.
The inferno built until she was satisfied with her aim, and an explosion rocked the ground, sending a ball of fire directly at her target. It streaked across the arena, bypassing all of the other piles of straw without harming them. The tight collection of flames hit the final target, making the straws explode in a vertical strike that lit up the sky.
A hush fell over the Fire Fae students.
Then they roared their approval, making my chest swell with pride.
“Holy shit!”
“Did you see that?”
“She’s fucking amazing!”
Claire beamed and lowered her hands, her powers retreating inside of her with a measure of control I hadn’t expected. “I did it,” she breathed with relief as if she hadn’t anticipated a positive outcome. She shook her head as a low chuckle escaped her. “Every time I used my powers in public before, it felt like they always swept out of my control, but that wasn’t really my fault, was it? It was Ignis and the other girls messing with me.” Her blue eyes glimmered with a hope I hadn’t seen in her before. “Maybe I can do this.”
I gripped both sides of her face and pulled her in for a kiss. Hovering my mouth over hers, I tasted her embers and licked my lips in anticipation. “You can do anything, Claire. Anything you want, and I’ll be right by your side admiring every inch of you.”
I no longer cared who was watching. I crushed my mouth to hers, and she parted for me, allowing my tongue to slide inside and taste the lingering effects of her power and her elation.
When I released her, the Fire Fae had gotten even more out of control. They loved passion and clapped their hands, cheering us on for more.
“All right, that’s enough,” Professor Vulcan griped, even though I could see a gleam of approval in his eyes. “Claire, I’ll discuss a schedule with Elana in the morning. You need advanced training, not intermediate. Well done.”
Vox
Bacon came from pigs.
Pigs.
Fuck. That.
Why would anyone want to eat a pig?
River had assured me it was a delicacy in the Human Realm after I asked him about it, but I would not be entertaining that in our shared kitchen, no matter how adorable Claire may have looked earlier in those little shorts and tiny tank top.
Or the way I’d felt after she used magic on Cyrus.
The feeling of her element brushing against mine had stuck with me all day. Not only did we share magic, but she seemed to like cooking, too. I had to admit sharing a joy of cooking—even if her tastes were questionable—made me want to like her.
But yeah, nope, not going there.
I only went to River to ask about bacon because Sol wanted to try a proper egg pie in the morning. Not because I wanted to please Claire. And fortunately, we didn’t have pigs. But we did have fatty meat from the hide of a troll, something River assured me would be similar. Although, he also suggested I not tell Claire what it was and just call it bacon.
It’s an innocent lie, he’d promised.
Well, we’d see tomorrow morning when she cooked another monstrosity for breakfast.
Sol’s eyes lit up when I stumbled into the Spirit Dorm. “You brought food!” he cheered, sending the floor cracking as he stormed over to me and snatched up the weight as effortlessly as if I’d been carrying feathers.
“Careful with that,” I grumbled as he threatened to rip the bags and send the ingredients scattering.