Braving the Elements (Darkness #2)(3)

“Maw, yes! That is wonderful. I have trained humans before, so don’t you worry. Now, who is this big, strong male next to you?”

“Charles. I’m a Watch Captain. Here to monitor my charge.” He jerked his head in my direction.

“Wonderful, yes.” Master Bert’s gaze slid down Charles’ body, noticing each bump and groove, stopping at his crotch.

In human-land, this teacher would get fired for that kind of behavior. But here in crazy-land, he got an erection and Charles preened at the notice. Good Lord.

“Alrighty. Elements. How exciting!” Master Bert rounded the room, eyeing each student. “Some of you are closer to harnessing your magic than others. Some will work with the elements immediately, and some will slide into it slowly.” His eyes touched me and then moved on. “Maw, we are not here to race, we are here to stroll.”

A couple students puffed up with a smug grin—overachievers. I could spot one immediately.

“Is it possible to cheat in this class?” I whispered out the side of my mouth. I was terrible at school and great at survival. I wasn’t proud of how I got by, but I did get by.

Judging by Charles’s scoff, he didn’t think cheating was necessary. Although, he’s not a valedictorian, either, so who is he to judge?

“Now, let’s talk elements, shall we?” Master Bert fluttered around happily. “Maw, as we know, we need to receive the elements. We need to open up, spread our arms wide, and pull from the very fiber of nature. Maw, yes, what a treat!”

My mind slipped sideways, like it always did when teachers started to drone on about important information. I tried to rein it back in, forcing myself not to care about the ballet bar against the wall…

I’ll bet the padded walls actually covered mirrors, though. I wonder if they have ballet lessons. I’d love to dabble with a shuffle ball change or two. Wait, is that ballet or tap…?

The nudge nearly had me sprawled on the floor.

“Pay attention!” Charles whisper-yelled at me.

I scowled at him, rubbing my arm where an elbow-sized bruise was sure to crop up.

“Maw, so let’s give it a try, shall we?” Master Bert waved everyone on, the rest of the class scrunching their faces in concentration.

“What are we trying?” I asked quietly.

“He talked for, like, two minutes. You can’t pay attention for two minutes?”

My heart sank. Because no, I couldn’t. Learning magic turned out to be no different than math or social sciences—I just couldn’t retain information when it was lectured at me. I tried to pay attention, and soak it all up, but my focus just wouldn’t stay put. Before I knew it, I’d been staring at a butterfly and thinking about random goings-on.

It had always been like this. In the past, I’d been so scared about all my secret box items, I didn’t want to tell my foster parents that I might have a learning problem. Through high school, I’d always had Jared to help me manage.

Tears clouded my vision as I once again felt the loss of my ex-boyfriend. He was in Florida in a job Stefan hooked him up with on the sly. I’d wanted to be mad that Stefan was reorganizing my life without my say-so, but in this instance, I couldn’t. Jared was doing extremely well, making a lot of money and approved for a loan to buy a house. Without me to drag him down, he was rising like bubbles in champagne.

But now I had no safety blanket and no tutor. Just a brooding giant pissed off that he had to learn elements with a girl who couldn’t even pay attention long enough to learn names.

“Sorry,” I muttered, lowering my face. I took a breath through a constricted chest and tried to feel for elements. Opening my mind, and feeling that heat in my chest, got me a firm feeling of expectation. But nothing happened.

“So?” Charles asked, trying to bend down to get a peek at my expression.

“Very good, Salline! You’ve pulled water. Maw, congrats!” Master Bert clapped for Salline, a beaming girl owning her overachiever status.

I took a deep breath. I could do this. I’d done it before. Somehow.

I closed my eyes and focused. Blackness greeted me, like I was meditating. I mentally searched, feeling for fire. I wiggled my toes, thinking of dirt. Air was easy—it was everywhere. I strained with it, trying to suck at air somehow.

“It is okay not to touch the elements on your first few tries,” Master Bert reiterated, but then quickly followed with, “Oh Marc, fabulous! Great work. And James—great!”

“You don’t have to hold your breath to wrangle an element,” Charles said with amusement.

Desperately, I strained harder, searching. I needed to be good at this! Without this, I had nothing. No job, no place to live, no friends— Panicking, trying to turn my misting eyes away from Charles, who was grinning at me in mockery like he thought I was joking with him, I tried to pull. Except, I didn’t know what I was pulling at or with. I tried to focus on the heat in my chest, which usually meant magic; but it just sat there, like a lump. I scratched my palms against my jeans—a nervous habit I did when I was staring down at a test filled with foreign information. It was a telltale sign of failure.

A light hand pressed my shoulder gently. Master Bert wore a kind expression. “It’s okay—it often takes humans much longer to access their magic. Maw, some are never able to—it is cultural conditioning, not a personal matter. You should not take it personally.”