Part 20 (1/2)

I made the mistake of smirking. Snarling, he rushed me. Thrust, block, counterattack. He took a step back and twirled his stick. The stick s.h.i.+fted and changed shape until it was a sword. A nasty sword with serrated blade and a guard that looked like it was forged by an evil monster.

What are you doing? someone snapped inside my head. Sir Kellion or Master Kenta, I wasn't sure.

Teaching the little imp a lesson, Sir Norath snarled, and swung.

I tried to block his sword, but the blade sliced through my staff like it was made of b.u.t.ter. Dang! I needed a sword. I ducked and teleported to escape his blade. But he was waiting when I reappeared. The sound of metal hitting metal resounded in the air.

My sticks had changed into swords. Sweet. They didn't look as evil as his, but they would do. I didn't have time to marvel at my first non-clothing solid transformation. He had me on the run, but I knew it was only a matter of time before I turned the tables on him. The silence in the field was thick.

From my training with Master Kenta, I knew that I loved sword fights, and I put every trick I knew into use. I let one sword go, controlling it with my mind and forcing Sir Norath to deal with attack from two angles. The more I outmaneuvered his moves, the angrier he got. Soon, I had him on the defensive. He tried to get inside my head, but I pushed back hard.

He stumbled, his free hand going to his head. Why did you do that?

You tried to get inside my head, Sir Norath. You don't want to do that.I could hurt you.

He lost it. The rage that shot out of him told me he would to do something stupid. I must have teleported, or maybe I was having out-ofbody experience, because one second I was facing him, and the next I was in the air watching the two of us fight.

Yelling, he swung his sword at me, hoping to knock the swords off my hands or slice me in half. A tingle started at the base of my spine and shot up my back. With it came a surge of heat. In seconds, my entire body was covered with the ancient writings. They were the same writings that often appeared before I healed someone. I started to glow. Not just my hands. My entire body.

It was weird being in two places at the same time, seeing and feeling the same things. Sir Norath's eyes grew red as he closed the gap between us. The glow from my body was for healing, but this time, it did something different. It sent off a pulse of light.

Sir Norath's sword burst into flame before it could connect with mine. He dropped it and reached for my arms, his right knee lifting to ram my ribs, but he didn't touch me. His face contorted as though he was in pain, and then he, too, burst into flame. The crowd scrambled back, people tripping over each other to get away from me. Those closest to me burst into flames, too. Lightning came from everywhere and blasted them.

The next second, I was back on the ground, watching Sir Norath advance toward me with a murderous expression. Realization hit me hard. What I saw hadn't happened yet. It was just a premonition.

The tingle at the base of my spine came alive and panic coursed through me. My premonition was about to come true.

Stop!

Sir Norath froze. Not in shock. He became like a statue, his face contorted and teeth bared, and his sword raised to attack. I sighed with relief, but it was short-lived. Sir Kellion and everyone on the field were standing still, too, weird expressions on their faces. To my left, Master Kenta, Callum, and Ruby were also frozen.

I stepped back and racked my brain. What had I done? How could I unfreeze them?

”What happened?”

I whipped around, so happy to see Green Eyes that tears rushed to my eyes. He closed the gap between us and I walked into his embrace. His arms closed around me. My tongue tripped as I recounted what had happened.

”It's okay,” he said. ”This is perfectly normal.”

”Normal?” I asked, my voice squeaking. I pushed his arms away, but he wasn't letting me go.

”Yes. That powerful mind of yours does amazing things all the time, and you always fix them.”

I believed him. For a moment, I let his warmth and strength steady me. Calmer, I became aware of his body pressed against mine. His tense muscles. His scent. He smelled amazing. My heartbeat picked up its tempo.

I didn't get our relations.h.i.+p. I had walked into his arms as though I'd known he'd comfort me. Everything about him, his scent and warmth, was familiar. I wanted to stay in his arms. Hang on to him and never let go.

It would never work between us. I stepped back and avoided making eye contact. ”How did I do this? How do I fix it?”

He cupped my face and pressed a kiss onto my forehead. ”You stopped time. You've done it before, so don't worry about it. You'll unfreeze them by just willing it. But the premonition is new. It's going to become handy in the future.”

I didn't care anymore how he knew so much about me. What mattered was that he was here to help me and he'd kissed me. Well, kissed my forehead. I could still feel the imprint of his lips. He stroked my face, his touch gentle.

”I control time,” I murmured, remembering Solange asking about my abilities after my lightning fiasco.

”Yep, and from what I saw from my hiding place, your earth powers are coming along great. As for me, your ability to stop time and everything in it doesn't work on me anymore.”

”Anymore?”

He grinned, dimples winking on his cheeks. ”Yep. Know why?”

”Why?”

His eyes gleamed. ”Because you're crazy about me.”

I turned my head, forcing his hands to drop from my face. ”I don't even know your name.”

”You do; you just don't remember it. If Raphael ever crosses my path again, he's leaving wingless. Hear that, you sanctimonious p.r.i.c.k?” he called out, and shook his fist at the sky.

Having a conversation with him was maddening. ”Look, just tell me what to do to fix this. You can rant against the Archangels later.”

”But I was just warming up to the subject of us,” he said, faking hurt.

”How about you focus on them first?” I pointed at the frozen fighters. ”What if I've frozen the entire island?”

”You haven't,” Green Eyes said. ”Now, if your powers were fully back, you would have done it.” He walked around Sir Norath. ”Poor b.a.s.t.a.r.d. He should have known better than to agree to fight you. What do you want to do with him?”

”Not kill him.”

”What were you thinking before you froze him?”

”I wanted to stop him before he attacked. His attack was the reason I turned into a murderous torch.”

Green Eyes laughed. ”You're not a murderous torch. That was your body protecting itself from an attack. Perfectly normal.”

I stared at him in disbelief. ”My body turns into a weapon when someone attacks me?”

His eyelids dropped, so I couldn't read his expression. ”Something like that. Okay, unfreeze him.”

I studied Sir Norath while trying to wrap my head around my body being a weapon. Unfreeze, Sir Norath.

Sir Norath staggered forward, the sword arcing down hard and sinking into the ground. I locked it in place. He tried to pull it from the ground, his eyes darting right, then left, as though expecting me to attack, a growl rumbling through his chest. Then he saw the frozen people and me. Green Eyes was long gone. His eyes narrowed suspiciously. ”What's going on?”

”I froze them so you and I could talk,” I said.

He glanced at the others again and tugged at the sword. ”You cheated.”