I stood staring in the direction that Mr. Terlecky had casually strolled away from me. He had turned the corner and left my sight minutes ago, but I couldn't move. Indecision kept me rooted in place. Stuck between wanting to get as far away from the school as possible, and wanting to go after him. I wonder how his screams would sound when my acid hit him. The desire to know that answer bubbled low in my gut. Someone bumped my shoulder from behind. I spun to my left, ready to throw a punch.
"What's got your panties in a knot?" Nix asked.
She stood beside me nonchalantly, as if my fist hadn't almost slammed into her jaw. I lowered my hand when I saw her. Something about her presence gave a warm, safe feeling. I gave her a half hug.
"Terlecky's one of you guys," I whispered in her ear.
She returned my embrace. Stepping completely into me and wrapping both of her arms around me. The softness of her body swept the tension out of my back like debris in a hurricane. I put my other arm around her. She felt like safety, like home.
"What do you mean, one of 'us' guys?" Nix asked.
"Oh, he's in that organization. He showed me the mark and told me to watch my back, basically."
She nodded, biting the inside of her lip.
"That makes sense. I wouldn't be surprised if half the staff isn't in it. This is like ground zero for awakenings."
She didn't sound surprised, but I could tell she didn't know he was one of them. That concerned me. I pulled away from her and led her by the hand out of the building, heading toward my house.
"So you didn't know he was a member?"
She laughed as if the question were ridiculous.
"The only members anyone meets are in their initiation group."
Paranoia encircled me like a spotlight. I didn't like the idea of being attacked randomly by strangers or people that I once considered harmless.
"Being constantly on guard sounds exhausting. I need people I know I can trust," I said, more to myself than her.
She stared into my eyes.
"Trust me and your parents. I had to live with keeping things from you before, and I hated it. All I wanted was this right here," she said and raised our interlocked hands. "I will never hide anything from you again."
I knew she meant it. I gave her hand a gentle squeeze and smiled. As we started walking, I thought about my parents. They were so open and honest. I knew too much sometimes. I couldn't imagine what it was like being raised in a weird cult-like organization.
"What's that face for? You better not be teasing me, Stormie."
She pulled her hand out of mine and gave me a shove. I threw my hands up in surrender.
"Not judgement, I was trying to imagine what your childhood must've been like."
She stared at me through narrowed eyes for a long beat before shrugging.
"My childhood was more normal than you'd think. The Ancient Eye was more like a playgroup when I was young. We met after school and on weekends for a few hours at a time. The real difference is that I was raised knowing that I would have powers someday."
I nodded.
"That would've been nice to know beforehand."
Nix looked down and tucked a strand of loose hair behind her right ear. That must've stung. I didn't mean for it to be a jab at her.
"I really did want to be there for you. I got as close as I could without crossing the line. I should've chosen you over them sooner," she looked guilt-ridden as she spoke.
I took her face in my hands as we came to a stop in front of my house.
"Hey, you chose me when it mattered the most. That's what counts."
The smell of saltwater suddenly passed under my nose, and clapping came from behind me. I let her go and spun around. Before I understood what was happening, pillars of water rose from the ground. It encased everything from my shoulders down and then solidified. It didn't freeze, just turned hard as crystal. When I saw the long brown ringlets covering his face, I knew who had ambushed us.
"What the hell, Joul," Nix said, with unbidden rage in her voice.
I looked over at her, and she was trapped as well. He stepped in front of me. Studying me like something he had never seen before.
"I can't believe you actually fell for this… thing," he said.
His better than thou tone pissed me off.
"Let me go, and I'll show you what this thing can do to a prick like you!"
He rolled his eyes at me before waving his right hand casually in my direction. A thick glob of gel-like water splashed over my mouth, and it solidified in seconds. He turned to face Nix.
"The storm cannot be contained. Break free," Typhon said.
I struggled against the binding, but I couldn't move anything below my neck.
"What happened to you, Phoenix? We were good together." How could you leave it all behind for a creature like that?
He ran a finger through her hair, and I screamed. My stomach churned as the rage built inside of me, but I had no way to release it. Nix yanked her face away from his touch.
"There was never a we."
Joul's eyes flashed with anger. He gripped a handful of her hair and yanked her head toward him.
"That's because you never gave us a chance."
Realization flashed across his face as quickly as the anger had, and he let her hair go. I continued straining against the water prison to no avail.
"Listen to it. It's more animal than man, there's no way you actually care more about that than me."
Nix gave him a sinister smirk.
"If you think those sounds are bad, you should hear the sounds he makes come out of me. You'll never be able to do what he can."
He raised his hand to slap her with the back of it but stopped himself. The jealous sneer on his face was replaced by a nonchalant smile. It was fake, and I could tell.
"You're lying. You always did love to make me jealous. You win Phoenix. I'm jealous. Now come with me before it's too late."
Nix's eyes narrowed at him.
"What are you talking about?"
The bastard smiled, looking all too satisfied with himself. I wanted to melt his entire face off.
"The sea cannot contain the storm. Burn free," Typhon said.
"They're coming to collect you, Phoenix. I don't know who or when, but the order was given," Joul said.
"So you just decided to do it yourself?" Nix asked.
She was eerily calm for someone who had just learned she was about to be 'collected'. Joul shook his head.
"No, this is a friendly chance for you to do the right thing. Kill this thing and come back to me. I'm sure they'll be lenient for a first offense."
Nix broke into a laugh so loud I thought she had snapped.
"Come back with you? I would rather die beside him every day than ever do that."
She spat in his face. He smiled as he wiped it off his cheek. It reminded me of where my acid had hit Mike. Then I knew exactly what Typhon was telling me to do. I closed my eyes to concentrate on what I wanted to do. If I could push acid out of my arms and legs the way I had somehow done with the wind, I could get free.
"Okay, that's your choice," Joul said.
Smack!
I opened my eyes just in time to watch Nix's head rock to the side as blood dripped from the corner of her mouth. Joul's fist was still in the air. That sent me over the ledge. My skin heated as the acid beneath it poured out of tiny holes that opened up along my arms and legs. The water hissed loudly and released saltwater steam into the air as the heated acidic mist burned it away. I was free in seconds.
Joul looked at me in shocked horror as I dashed toward him. I gripped him by the collar. He vanished in a swarm of bubbles. I ran over to Nix and wrapped my arms around her the second her water prison splashed to the ground around her.
"That bubble-blowing bitch punched me in the face," she seethed into my shoulder.
"Yeah, he's not getting away with that, trust me."
Joul was going to pay for what he did today.
"The storm does not forget," Typhon said as I wiped the blood from Nix's lip.
I hated how much I agreed with him.