Chapter 666

"Can you...can you move it, Ari?" I hear my mom whisper, and I glance to the side to see tears streaking down her face, her fingers pressed delicately to her lips as she stares up at this incredible thing that we've created.

I turn back to the fire, concentrating, and as I sway slightly to the left...yes! My smile deepens when I discover that the whirlwind itself moves left too. I move back to the center and again to the right, moving like a dancer – like the ballerina I was raised to be. The whirlwind of flame and shadow goes too.

"Amazing," Tony whispers, delighted and awed.

Suddenly, Luca lets go of my hand and steps away.

The shadow fire immediately sinks to the ground and I scramble, a little, to catch it in my surprise. But ultimately it's easily done, the fire simply obeying gravity again, attached to the ground instead of lifted high in the air.

Jackson turns his head to glare at Luca, having felt my shock and surprise, but Jesse exhales a long breath and takes his hand from my neck too. "Okay,” he whispers. "I think that's enough for me too. For right now."

The shadows rise like smoke from my flames and suddenly there the colors are back - cheerful and yellow and red, burning happily through the little pile of wood.

I turn my head to Jackson next, who grins at me and drops my hand.

And then, when I look back at the fire it's...

It's just a normal bonfire, burning happily through the wood provided for it. Just...any normal thing.noveldrama

We're all silent for a long, long moment, each of us just staring - I think trying to figure out if...if we all shared some kind of insane group hallucination right now or something? Or if -

Jackson's snarl breaks through the silence with a sudden vehemence that makes me jump - and suddenly I'm wrapped up in his arms, being twirled around, laughing so hard that there's no time to draw air into my lungs. Breathless, I wrap my arms around my mate, letting him spin me around, loving it - loving him.

"That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen!" he roars. "That was so fucking fantastic! That was incredible! Ari!"

He stops spinning me, holding me high against his chest so that I beam down into his face, my hands already running through his hair.

"You," he says, staring up into my face like I'm the great marvel of his life, "are the most incredible thing on this pl, Ariel Sinclair."

I bite my lip as I stare down at him, tears springing to my eyes, completely overwhelmed by how much he means it and how much he loves me and how proud he is – all things I feel radiating down the bond.

"It was really cool, wasn't it?" I whisper, still stroking my trembling fingers through his hair. "It didn't hurt you, did it? Didn't take...too much of your energy?"

“Nah,” he says, his smile deepening. "I'm good, tiny - it took less energy than I'm sure it looked like. Two croissants tomorrow, instead of one." "And it didn't hurt?" I ask, desperately hoping it didn't.

But he just shakes his head at me, and snarls again, and drops me a bit in his arms so that my face is even with his, so that the kiss he presses to my mouth is as simple as it is fierce.

I kiss Jackson back with all of my

heart for a long moment before breaking away, aware that we're not i

alone here. I wiggle in his arms,

begging to be put down, and ho

growls-hating it - but obeys,

letting me slip down the length of his chest and stomach to set me again on my feet.

I'm only there for a moment before Rafe catches me up next, roaring his own pride and pleasure in his little shrimp sister, spinning me around in turn. It goes like that for a few

minutes, everyone gathering el.ne

close and talking about how amazing it was, the details of it, the possibilities for how we could use it, each of their tones thrilled.

It doesn't miss my attention, though, that when Luca hugs and congratulates me his words are stilted, his wall still up. I peer up at him, curious, and he does his best to give me a warm smile - but suddenly I'm pulled away into my mother's arms.

"Little tiny fire goddess,” she murmurs into my hair, hugging me so tight that I'm pretty sure she'll crack a rib if she keeps going. I mean, not that she couldn't heal it immediately - just...let's avoid that if we can, right?

“Ma!” I squeak, laughing hugging her much more loosely. "Loosen up!"

et

She sighs and does so, tears still all over her face as she pulls back and stares into mine, tucking an imaginary strand of my hair back behind my ear. "It really is incredible, little girl. What you've always been capable of. We've always known you were special and fierce and capable of great things and this is just the beginning."

"Mom," I say, my own eyes again filling with tears. "Geeze it was...just a bonfire."

"Oh, and she's humble," mom murmurs, hugging me again and rocking me back and forth.

“Um, I think I am getting far too little credit and attention!" Jesse calls, even though his own mother is crying and hugging him too. "I did the cool part!"