He released me and jumped up onto one of the tables.
“ATTENTION!” he shouted. Whatever conversations we hadn’t already cut off with our previous display, now ended. All heads turned in Yael’s direction. “There’s something you all need to see,” he announced, once everyone was silently waiting for him to continue.
I was standing there, waiting right along with everyone else. I wanted to know what he was going to say or do, but apparently his demonstration was done. He jumped down, his hands wrapped around my waist, and suddenly I found myself being lifted to the table.
“Show them,” he demanded. “Show them exactly what a dweller can do.”
I melted, my eyes on his. He hadn’t said show them that you’re not a dweller, but show them what a dweller can do. I wanted to jump down off the table and kiss him, and by the smirk on his lips, he knew that, but he shook his head, indicating the waiting people.
People. Ah, shit. I wasn’t ready for this. I hadn’t even attempted to use or unlock any new abilities since dying. My eyes darted toward Yael and he gave me a decisive nod. He believed I could do it, so I had to try.
Taking a deep breath, I turned so that I was facing the majority of those gathered about the room. I tried to widen my legs, for a more secure stance, but there were little grooves between the wooden planks of the table, and the edge of one of my boots got caught. My arms waved as I stumbled and I would have gone head-first into the marble below if Yael—no doubt anticipating my clumsiness—hadn’t caught and straightened me before any blood could be shed.
That didn’t mean the damage hadn’t been done, though. The crowd around us erupted into scornful laughter, the sound seeping deep into my soul. In that moment, I felt like I was a million life-cycles old, and so utterly tired. I’d been laughed at a lot in my life; so many times that I’d basically turned my every thought and movement into a joke. If you pretend for long enough that you don’t give a shit, and that it’s all fun and games, eventually some of it sinks in. Right in that moment, though, the raucous, biting nature of the laughter was too much.
I saw the flash of dark green in Yael’s eyes; his anger had my own flaring brighter. Just like Emmy, and so many others: I was no longer content to dwell in the dirt. I was Willa freaking Knight. Undead. With zero fucks left to give.
Flames shot up around my table with an almost deafening roar. I hadn’t been planning on doing anything quite that spectacular; they were a little wilder, and more out of control than I had expected. With a gasp, I yanked Yael into me, because he had almost been taken out by my wall of flames.
When he was up on the table with me, my breathing started to slow down. “Did I get you?” I asked, eyes frantically darting across him. I thought it looked like one of his sleeves was smoking a little, but he just shook his head.
“I’m fine. You did good, Willa-toy.”
In that moment, I realised that there wasn’t a single sound in the hall, other than the roar of my fire. I shifted from facing Yael to staring out over the top of the flickering flames, meeting the eyes of as many gods as I could. I needed to do this for dwellers, everywhere.
“You did that, Trickery,” a voice rang out. “She’s a damn dweller, they don’t have gifts.”
It came from a god I didn’t know. “Chalice, the Beta of suspicion,” Yael murmured to me.
Well, it did make sense that he’d be the one to question it. I lifted both of my hands then, letting that whirl of energy free, pushing it out further from inside of me. The panteras had tried to teach me about harnessing my energy. I hadn’t quite understood what they meant. But I did now. The moment those flames roared around me, I knew the reason my power had been locked away since I awoke undead. It was fear. Ever since my fire started hurting people, like Evie, I had feared it. And it seemed that now I had the strength to keep it locked down if I wanted to.
Which I no longer did.
I was going to show them who they were messing with.
As I shifted forward, my boot got caught in the groove again, sending me catapulting forwards off the table.
“Willa!” Yael roared.
He had reached for me, but my clothing slipped through his grip. My back slammed into the cool marble, and I let out a deep groan.
Yael got to me in a heartbeat. “Kill the flames,” he growled.
What? My head was fuzzy from the hit, and I couldn’t figure out what flames he meant. The marble was cool, nothing was burning me. As my head cleared, the flickering reds, oranges, and blues around me came into clear focus. I jerked upright, finding myself half-sprawled across the flame circle I’d created.
Yael attempted to grab me again—his arm looked to be burning as he reached into the fire.
“No!” I shouted, stumbling to my feet, shaking off the disorientation. I tried to push him back, only he wouldn’t move an inch. Instead he wrapped a hand around my wrist and pulled me with such force that I smashed into his chest.
He held me for a beat before he started to run his hands across me, patting every part of my body like I was on fire, even though not a single inch of me burned.
“I’m fine!” I yelled, still disorientated. I scrambled for Yael’s hand, tears already pooling in my eyes at the sight of the red, weeping skin across his forearm and palm. “I am so sorry,” I cried.
“It’s fine, Will.” His voice was nothing more than a gravelled rasp. He was upset. That was very clear. Still gently holding his hand, I lifted my eyes to his.
“How did you do that?” he asked, the look on his face like none I’d ever seen before. “I’ve never felt flames like that.”
I shrugged, trying to clear my throat enough to talk. “I … I don’t know. It didn’t feel like anything to me. Maybe because I created it …”
He shook his head, but before he could answer, a shout had me spinning around.
“Willa!”
The other Abcurses were standing at the edge of the fire, their expressions very much like Yael’s. The flames were still strong and high, separating us. Concentrating through my emotional breakdown, I tried to will the fire away, to suck the energy back inside. It took me more than a few clicks, the effort almost draining me. Apparently, I was better at starting the destruction than I was at ending it.
The moment the circle faded away, they were surrounding me, hands pulling me close. I closed my eyes and buried my face in someone’s chest.
“Yael,” I half-sobbed. “He needs a healer.”
I didn’t look up as whoever held me started to walk, but the silence around us was deafening. I didn’t hear a single whisper, or even any evidence of breathing. Maybe everyone had gone.
Shifting my head to the side, I peeked out through blurry, tear-filled eyes. Dozens of faces stared back. No one had moved. But they sure were staring hard as we strode past. I could see Rome and Aros on my right, and I was thinking it was Coen that held me, judging by the way we towered over everyone else.
By the time I managed to get myself together enough to want to walk on my own, we were in another expansive common area: I was carried through a kitchen, several small, intimate dining rooms, and huge marble-lined pool. Eventually, we ended up in a sprawling area of comfortable chairs and small, contained firepits, covered in ornate, carved metalwork.
“Out!” I heard Siret shout. “If we see your faces again tonight, you won’t have to worry about ever becoming gods!”
I was on my feet now, Coen keeping one hand on my back. I tilted my head around him in time to catch sight of the Abcurses’ five female students—all shooting me death glares as they scurried toward the main door. Siret closed it forcefully after them.