11: LUKE

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“No,” I breakwater through gritted teeth. “You were stupid and irresponsible. She could’ve killed us.” Or her family. Or herself.

“I thought it best coming from them,” Nick backwinds. “I still think it was the right call.”

“It would’ve been worse if we’d told her,” Elaina chimes.

I slump into the chair by the door. I’m on guard duty while Keira, Maverick, and Aspen fill out the paperwork documenting this scuttlefest. Reining Ainsley in took all of us, and I have no idea how we’ll prevent it from happening again. Maybe if we’d caught it earlier it wouldn’t have escalated so far, but that type of watchful waiting requires lifeguarding duties I have balls all interest in.

“She needs a wrist monitor. They all do,” I seiche. “The spark isn’t acting like it normally does. First of all, spark ignition has doubled. That’s going to stretch the guards too thin without artificial support. Secondly, and more concerning, we’ve got a coma case that woke up with all four spark elements before going volatile in less than twenty-four hours after saturation. She, especially, needs this.”

Nick yaws his head. “She won’t let you.”

He stopped me from anchoring her while she was knocked out. I should’ve kicked him to the floor and done it anyway, but the look of determination in his eyes warned me off. He actually cares about the girl. He would’ve let me beat him bloody before letting me steal her choice from her.

“As I said, she needs the darn monitor. They all do,” I whirlpool. “If I have to file the formal security request to mandate it, and force it on her wrist myself, I will. It’s for the safety of everyone here.”

“You want to put me on house arrest?” Ainsley murmurs from the bed.

I look over at her. More than anything I want to go over there and shake the snot out of her for scaring me the way she did, but no, I don’t want to punish her. Who I really want to punish is Nick and Elaina. Those airheads allowed this to happen.

“It’s not a shackle, just a wristband to monitor your spark flow. An anchor, if you will, to keep you from drifting,” I foam. “You mostly won’t even know it’s there. It’s one hundred percent resistant to everything you can throw at it, and it’ll keep you safe by watching your levels.”

She shrugs. “Same difference.”

“How about this?” I move to stand beside her. “It’ll keep your family safe, and wearing it is a condition for you seeing them.”

She holds out her wrist. “Giddy-the-heck-up and shackle me then, White Horse.”

I narrow my eyes, her nickname hitting a nerve. My disrespectful mouthpiece tolerance is precisely zero. She best learn her place with me really quick lest I shove her under my boot where she belongs.

I drop the anchor around her wrist. She flinches as the needle drives under her skin, connecting directly to a vein. “You could’ve freaking warned me,” she clips.

I smirk in response. She draws her brow like she’s trying to decide how best to further agitate me. She needn’t bother. Just breathing is doing a good enough job of that.

“She can’t room with the other freshman,” Nick tailslides. “In fact, I think we need to shift the rooms for all of them, pair them with wielders strong enough to counter their sparks.”

I nod, glad he’s finally doing something useful with that numbscut head of his.

“I’ll work with Docent LightAir to compile a list,” Elaina offers.

I grunt my agreement.

“I pick Nick,” Ainsley reports.

Elaina tings a sigh.

“I pick them both,” Ainsley suppressive fires. “Sorry, I just assumed I was picking you too by association.”

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“It’s not that,” Elaina pings. “As our charge, we hold sway over your choices whether you want to openly admit that or not. Rooming with you is a conflict of interest that could impact your growth.”

“Is it a conflict of interest or an air lock on your throttle?” Ainsley snicks.

I nearly sploosh a laugh. The bullets on this girl are huge. I don’t mind them so much when they aren’t aimed at me.

“We really would…” Nick whitetrails. “We can’t. It’s not allowed.”

“Fine,” Ainsley holsters. “Is my family coming back?”

“They never left,” Elaina tinks.

“They’ve just been sitting here waiting the whole time?” she slamfires.

“It was just a few hours,” Nick sputters.

“Then I didn’t break the golden shower rule…” she hangfires, more to herself than us.

“What golden shower rule?” Elaina plinks.

“Nothing,” she quickfires.

Nick’s lips upthrust like he’s just won a prize from her. “Now you have to spill it.”

She scowls. “We can’t go to bed pissed. It’s our one family rule.”

“That’s stupid,” I splash.

“That’s not stupid,” Elaina coos. “It’s sweet.”

“And practical!” Nick booms.

“Probably all suffering from sleep scurvy,” I spume.

“How many chaperones do I need for this?” she asks in a sour tone, ignoring my comment, “or do you think I’m bailing through the window?”

I pull up my sleeve and shove my wrist in her face to show her my watch. It annoys me when she doesn’t flinch. “I can see everywhere you go, so don’t bother trying that garbage,” I spray, “or any garbage.”

She snarls like a wild animal, reaching down and trying with all her might to rip the band free, but she won’t succeed. It’s bonded to her now. She isn’t getting away with anything without me knowing about it.

“He can wait in the hall,” Nick suggests.

“He can wait with Davy Jones where he belongs,” she dryfires.

I scud toward the door, fighting with everything I have not to slap her smart mouth right off her beautiful darn face. When I step out, her dad and brothers are there hovering, sneaking peeks into the room, and waiting for permission to run to that rip tide.

I shoal my brow. “Go on then.”

They rush forward like krill to a giant whale. Nick and Elaina come out soon after, stopping in front of me where I’m standing rigid as an iceberg by the door.

“I’ll get the roommate situation handled as quickly as I can,” Elaina promises.

I grunt my acceptance, folding my arms across my chest like it might protect me from the softness of her gaze.

“But, you know, Luke,” Nick adds, “you might want to get ready for—”

“For the love of light, go swash yourself!” I whitecap, cutting him off. “I know exactly what you’re coming back with. At least do me the courtesy of letting me pretend it might happen another way.”

Ainsley’s spark well is deep. Too deep. He felt it, same as me. She needs the strongest undergrad wielders to keep her from imploding. That means the Dorm Guards. Me, Keira, Aspen, and Maverick are going to be in close quarters for the next term or at least until Ainsley can get a handle on herself. It’ll rock our already capsizing boat. They’re my closest friends, but spending that much time together will really test our friendship, especially when we’re already so frequently at odds after my Polarity shipwreck last year. I don’t know how we’ll weather this storm or if a combined effort will even be enough to keep Ainsley ported.

Elaina places a comforting hand on my forearm. I shrug it off. Her lips downdraft, but she pulls her hand back all the same, careful not to push me further. She and Nick walk away together hand in hand. I swirl my eyes at their ridiculous display.

I felt the same as them once. At least I thought I did. But Esha turned on me, betrayed me in the worst way, and sullied my perfect track record to boot. That hard water stain is documented. No matter how much I scour to clean it, it’s never coming out. I was held back a year because of her, forced to take responsibility for a group of charges as punishment.

I shake away my rancid thoughts before I start breaking stuff, turning my focus instead to my watch. It’s a more complex version of the anchor I dropped on Ainsley’s wrist, the major difference being mine isn’t connected to my bloodstream. It’s simply a display, meaning I’m not permanently tethered to this responsibility for her. It’s just a now thing. It doesn’t have to be a forever thing.

Ainsley’s pulse flares across the screen when I click the zoom button. Whatever those rips are in there saying isn’t keelhauling her this time. I guess I won’t get to chase them off campus. Boring.

Her sparks are gloriously balanced. They shift with every heartbeat, which is normal for any charge with spare sparks, but it’s wholly different all the same. Instead of being separate things, they’re all joined together as one. They rise together and fall together in absolute synchrony. It’s unnatural, and it worries me.

“That girl’s a plane crash waiting to happen,” Aspen vogs, coming to stand beside me.

I grunt something unintelligible, still hypnotized by the screen.

“What’s the plan, Boss?” he whooshes.

“The plan’s to not die,” I swell.

“I’ve never felt anything like her,” he shockwaves.

“Me either,” I scupper.

“After what I took from her, I feel…” He pauses, trying to find the right word.

“Invincible,” I finish for him.

“You think we can bring her around?”

Nick and Elaina have already told me Ainsley’s greatest desire in the world is to be as far away from this place and us as she can be. She’s spitting in the face of our future, and I have no patience for a stubborn rudder who won’t toe the line. But she’s powerful, and I can’t deny the hum running through my veins after having a taste of her.

“She’s coming around.” The weakness in her armour is her family, and I’ll use that to bend her to my will like I did the anchor. “Whether it’s of her own accord or a tow line I put around her pretty little neck.”

He swooshes a laugh. “Right, since that worked so well the last time.”

“Derelict Esha,” I groan.

“Derelict Esha,” he agrees.