“Hey, everyone.” Hope hopped into the room, yanking on one boot as she clutched the other under her arm. “Faith told me to hightail it here. Maslin dropped me off.”
Her tan Stetson wobbled and Silas nabbed it and set it back on her head. “Maslin was here?” His gaze darkened.
“Don’t go fixating on Maslin again. You promised.”
“Your hair’s wet.” He steadied her as she tugged on her other boot. “You went swimming without me?”
“Yep.” Done with her boots, she cupped his face. “Mmm, kiss. I need one now.”
Okay, I understood how close Faith was with Davio, and Hope with Silas, but really? I was in crisis. I tapped the ground to get their attention. It didn’t work. “Ah, excuse me, guys. Some serious help, remember?”
Faith grinned as she pulled back from Davio. “Oops, she’s right. We’ll pick this up later.” She crossed to me. “I asked Hope to come since she can use her water skill to counteract your new ability with fire.” She glanced at Guy. “Thank you for looking after her when it first came in.”
“Yes, thanks from me too, Guy.” Hope hugged him, then me. “Congrats on your new skill. It’s amazing.”
“Thanks. I didn’t know all this would happen.” She shouldn’t have hugged Guy. I gripped his hand. Mine.
Faith winked at me. “I always wondered if a secondary reason existed for your fiery temper. You’ll have to take care not to consume and devour. Your skill’s about to heat up, and when it does, keep a level head.” She struck a look at Silas and Zayn. “It’d be best if you two found some water. We need it, pronto.”
“Gotcha.” Silas flashed away and Zayn followed in his ’porting airstream.
Davio turned Faith by the shoulders. “What do you need me to do?”
“Make sure the windows are shut. We don’t need a breeze stirring the flames.”
“Flames?” Hmm, I really liked the sound of flames.
She rubbed my arms. “Don’t get too excited. I need you to remain calm.” She faced Belle. “Could you grab as many of the books from the shelves closest to Silvie and stack them behind the desk. We’re after minimal damage.”
“I’ll help with that.” Hope chased after Belle.
“Minimal damage sounds good.” No damage at all sounded even better.
“Guy.” Faith squeezed his shoulder. “Don’t move from her side. You’ll have to make certain she listens to you when things go beyond her control. The rest of us don’t want to become toast.”
“Toast?” Okay, I didn’t like the sound of that either.
“I’ll count you down, Silvie.” Faith gave me a thumbs-up as she backed away.
“I’m going live now?”
“Three.”
“Three already?” Could she not have given me more time? “What happened to counting down from ten? Everyone counts down from ten.”
“Not me. Two.”
Heat infused my blood and simmered out. “You could have given me—”
“One,” she yelled as she dove behind the desk. The other girls lunged in behind her.
“Your hands!” Davio bellowed as he covered the girls and kept them down.
Tiny red and orange flames danced on my fingertips. Wow. This was one hot skill. “Am I emitting heat again?”
“A blast of it,” Faith called out.
The air swirled and Silas and Zayn flashed in. Between them they carried a metal tub. As they lowered it to the floor, water sloshed over the sides. Zayn ducked behind it. “Looks like we got here just in time. You okay, Silvie?”
“I’m not sure.” I curled my fingers inward and the fire played over my skin. It didn’t burn, but soothed and stoked my need for more. Oh, I liked. “Actually, yes.”
“Hope, you there?” Silas crawled toward the desk where he must have guessed she hid. “I’ve got your water.”
“I’ll come to you.” She squirmed free of Davio. Silas met her halfway and covered her as they crawled back to the tub.
“Get that water into the air, Hope.” Faith poked her head out.
“Onto it.” Hope flicked her fingers, and the water lifted. The tubful rose in a gurgling bubble. She wiped the sweat from her brow. “Gee, I’d rather douse myself in this, but I’ve got you covered, Silvie.”
“I don’t want to be covered.” The flames from my fingers dazzled in their brilliance. Ah, so nice, and with a single thought for more, the fire I’d brought to life spurted and lengthened.
“Cold thoughts!” Belle screamed. She was such a party-pooper.
“Right.” Icy water. Ew. No, I couldn’t do that, but a scorching hot day, where sunshine baked the ground, and me. Yes, now that I could do. Oooh, all that delicious warmth would be wonderful. So good.
“Silvie!”
I jerked as Guy snapped my name.
“Look.” He pointed upward.
From my raised fingertips, the flames shot and skimmed the ceiling. “Holy moly. I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
“Not for long.” Hope hit me with the water, square in the face. I knocked into Guy.
He righted me. “Hope, a little warning, please.”
“I’ll give her warning,” I spluttered as I shook the water off and relit my fingers.