Ellora's Sun

Chapter Seventeen

"Somebody ordered hot chocolate?" Christoph joked, walking in with a big mug and a small plate with a blueberry muffin. Adelaide smiled at the gesture, but her stomach revolted at the thought of eating.

"Thanks." She told him politely, accepting the mug to at least hold something warm. Christoph placed the muffin on the side table next to her, grinning down at her. Stefan made no efforts to move or make room for him, so Christoph was left standing.

"So," Adelaide started, looking between the two boys who refused to acknowledge each other, "what's the plan now? What are we doing?"

"We aren't doing anything. You're staying here and resting." Christoph told her pointedly. He raised his eyebrows at her, daring her to argue.

"Oh come on," Adelaide protested, "the Ellora murder siblings and their gang aren't just going to leave me alone all of a sudden. We need a plan."

Christoph frowned at the mention of his father. Adelaide watched him, waiting for an answer, but huffed when he stayed silent. She turned back to Stefan, who just shrugged his shoulders.

"Okay well you guys are welcome to sit around and do nothing," Adelaide set her untouched mug of hot chocolate on the side table next to the uneaten muffin. She pulled herself to the edge of the bed, bracing the side as she pushed herself up, "I, for one, finally have my magic, and I intend to learn how to use it."

Unfortunately for Adelaide's argument, she stumbled standing up from the bed. Christoph reached an hand out to stabilize her, putting his arm around her waist. Adelaide did her best to brush it off, but Stefan saw right through her.

"Adelaide, you just came back from the dead. You lost a lot of blood. You've still got a lot of healing to do before you can go out and start learning magic." Stefan told her, shaking his head. He laid back on the bed, putting his arms behind his head as he lounged.

"Okay, fine," Adelaide crossed her arms over her chest stubbornly, "I can heal and learn at the same time, Stefan."

Adelaide moved away from Christoph's arm stabilizing her. She was intent on proving her point, and wasn't going to let Stefan baby her. She looked towards the door, considering walking into the other room. She heard James and Lorenzo arguing about the TV channel, but Adelaide feared that might be too far away.

After a moment, she decided on walking to the armchairs in the corner. She sat down carefully, giving Stefan a pointed smile. Christoph followed her all the way to the chairs, hovering like she was going to fall at any moment. Adelaide ignored any attempts to help that he made, despite the soreness in her abdomen.

"Alright. What now?" Stefan turned on his side, leaning on his elbow to look at her. He raised his eyebrows at her, "Show us some magic."

Adelaide hesitated. She had no idea how to learn magic. With school, whenever she needed to learn something, she turned to the internet. She doubted that would be any help this time.

She thought about the brief lesson Christoph had given her on how to get in and out of Ellora. Magic was all about feelings, emotional and physical. She may not know any actual spells, but Adelaide had a lot of feelings. And after seeing the challenging smirk on Stephan's face, she'd have to make that work.

"Okay, fine."

"Wait, I don't know if -" Christoph stopped short when Adelaide shot him a look. He held his hands up in defense, falling into the armchair next to her. She looked around, her eyes landing on a candle sitting on the small coffee table between the chairs. She remembered the simple trick Christoph had showed her in the coffee shop. She could do that, right?