THE FIRE SAGA

BLAZE 116 - VALIDATION

I follow Tayte up the hall toward his office, but I'm not hanging my head low like a properly chastised pet. His reaction is bound to be bad. If I can't avoid it, I may as well hold my head high and be petulant. You know, really earn it.

He takes his seat behind the desk. I sit in the chair closest to it. "I'm confused why you thought it prudent to strip my beacon of his light...in the open...without discussing it with me," he begins his raking. "I'd like to stress the part where I said out in the open. Are you trying to draw attention to us?"

I lean back in the chair, propping my wet sneakers on his desk. He doesn't like that the tiniest tad. Point to me.

"You're driving me to the brink of madness," he rants on. "Why must you test my limits?"

"You said I can't leave. I didn't leave. You didn't say how I can use my powers."

"I didn't realize you were so lacking in the basic area of common sense."

I drop my feet, leaning toward him. "You're the one who agreed to Tally's request, you're the one who walked out in the middle of the experiment, and you're the one who left me access to my powers. They're my powers, Tayte. Holding me hostage with them doesn't make them any less mine."

"Sleep deprivation makes you difficult to manage. I'll see you receive your own room. You need rest and quiet if we're to continue successfully."

He's mistaking my crankiness for being overtired, but I'm not correcting him when it benefits me. "I like that idea."

"Moving forward, please avoid public displays featuring your talent," he requests. "Discretion is paramount to our success."

"Too late for that," I counter. "He approached me."

"Why?"

"As we were in a time crunch, I didn't press him."

"Did he tell you what his specialty was?"

"He called himself a beacon."

"That's exactly what he was." Seriously Stressed Out is a good look for Tayte. "His ability lit a path to follow."

"For everyone or just Sumairs?"

"Just Sumairs." His jaw ticks. "This won't go over well with my darling daughters."

I shrug. "Don't tell them."

"I certainly don't plan to."

"Can I go? If you're keeping me here waiting for an apology, that's not happening in the near future...or ever."

"No, you've gathered a new spool. We need to evaluate it."

"Fine, but I'd like to keep it short if it's all the same to you. As you mentioned, I'm really freaking tired."

"I noticed." His condescending tone grinds my nerves. "Flint was a beacon. His energy was like a bug-zapper light. As you have a special knack for twisting things all around and doing everything backward, let's try you out with tracking."

"Tracking?"

"Yes, instead of people finding you, you're finding people. Clear enough for you?" He's beyond annoyed. Mission accomplished.

"Crystal."

He places a map on the desk.

"Who are we tracking?"

"Let's be bold and locate a Solathair," he suggests. "If Flint's ability drew Sumairs to us, maybe you can use it to locate a Solathair."

"Wouldn't it make more sense to locate a Sumair?"

"Let's try a Solathair first. That would be of great use to me."

"I'm sure it would," I sourly agree.

I close my eyes, envisioning the magical spool placed carefully in my hope chest. I hold tightly to the thread's end. Once Tayte opens the grate, I squeeze some fire fuel out. It's a bigger struggle than at first. Super sludge. Is the strain from being overly tired or from him tightening the leash? Either way, I have to work harder to get anything usable. After I've managed a sufficient amount, I form the flame into a fire needle, feeding the new thread through the eye. Tayte curses when it won't work for him. Again, it pricks my finger as he chucks it back.

"Locate Aella," he commands. "She's the Air Solathair of the Amazon Coterie."

"I know who she is," I hiss. "Why would I do that?"

"They're the only Solathairs in range, and I'd like them to keep their distance like they've agreed."

"Why did you make them agree to that?"

"They don't want to be involved in our war," he reminds me. "It's best they avoid the combat area, no?"

I hold tight to the threaded needle, skimming my finger over the map. I feel nothing. There's no change.

"Open your eyes, and check if you see anything different."

I do as I'm told, but the map is unmarked. With Gundy's spool, everything went grayscale. Flint's doesn't do that.

"Locate Molly. Perhaps it's restricted to Sumairs."

"I want to see her about as much as you do," I grouse.

"I thought you wanted this to be short," he challenges. "Locate Molly."

I repeat the process, caressing the threads while trying to locate Molly. There's no change on the map.

"This doesn't make sense." He's getting aggravated.

I bat my lashes at him.

"Locate your father."

I repeat everything, and upon opening my eyes, any doubts I was missing a minor flash previously are wiped away. The map is glowing from a singular location. I point where the light shows. "There."

"So, you can locate humans," he says in disgust. "That does neither of us any good."

What I don't mention is I could be able to locate any number of people, including humans, Sumairs, and Solathairs, providing they're clear of Barry's protective shield. Anything in range wouldn't show up. Tayte didn't think of that, and I'm not bringing it to his attention. The more I study with him, the less I trust him. Point to me.

"Well, I hope tomorrow's ventures are more fruitful."

"Can I go now?"

"Take the room across the hall from your current one. Just put your palm on the keypad. It'll open for you."

I opt out of saying thank you. Manners shmanners. I'm decent at maintaining civility, but this self-centered twerp controlling me is tough to tolerate. I've met my fair share of confident men. Cocky ones, too. He's winning the imaginary prize for being the biggest tool, beating out his runner-up son, who's just as loathsome on the opposite end of the smug spectrum.

I leave the session feeling less than my best, hopeful a solid night's sleep will improve my circumstances. It definitely can't make my mood worse. Fingers crossed, I'll get a patience boost. I still need two departure stones from Tayte. He won't dole those out if I'm in a biting frenzy.

I tell my team where I'll be if they need me, though my voice is slurred from prolonged exhaustion. Bright side: the keypad doesn't give me any issues. Honestly, I'd have licked it for DNA validation just to get inside. I kick off my wet shoes and crawl into bed without pulling down the covers.

Am I out like a light? Yeah, no. Of course not. My vilest nightmares couldn't compare to the real monsters standing on either side of me within minutes of lying down.

"Figured you two would show your ugly faces way before now," I mutter.