Elemental Release

Chapter Thirteen

Gabby showered first, as her lessons required her to be downstairs before dawn. I laid in bed and listened to her hum over the water, trying not to imagine her without any clothes on. I pretended to be asleep when she came out of the bathroom, but when the bed moved, I gave up the act.

"Hey," she said, smiling. She sat on the edge of the bed, fully dressed and much too far away.

"Hey," I said.

She fiddled with her fingers. "This...this isn't weird, is it?"

I sat up and scooted to sit next to her. I took her shaking hands and held them in mind. "No, it's not weird."

She nodded, but I could tell she didn't believe me. I gently lifted her face so she'd look at me. "Seriously, okay? I want everything to be right between us. I need everything to be right between us. So I'm willing to go as slow or...whatever that you want."

She gripped me in a tight hug, and I stole a few thoughts from her mind. Of all things, she felt grateful for my willingness to go at her pace. "Thank you," she whispered into my neck. "I'll see you at lunch?"

"Definitely."

She gave me one last timid smile as she left the bedroom, and I made the shower as cold as possible.

#

Morning lessons found me on the cliffs again, about ten miles northeast of Tarpulin. I gazed at the city, thinking about Gabby. I wondered if I could ask her outright what she needed from me to speed things up. I dismissed the idea. Doing such a thing would only make me look overeager and exactly the opposite of what I claimed to be—willing to go at her pace.

"Adam?" Airmaster Rusk put his hand on my shoulder.

"Hm?" I turned to find concern etched on his face.

"I called you twice," he said. "What's on your mind?"

"Gabby," I sighed before thinking. My stomach tightened, but Rusk motioned for me to continue. I wasn't used to talking about my feelings, and I took a moment to clear my throat. "She's the last thing on my list, sir."

"And how are things going?"

"Okay, I guess," I said. "She invited me to stay at her place, so that's good. It's progress, at least."

"Do you trust her?" he asked.

"Explicitly."

"But she doesn't trust you."

My shoulders felt heavy. With all the progress I'd made over the past couple of months, I'd felt lighter in both body and spirit. But this still felt like too much to carry. I shook my head. "No, sir. I don't think she does."

"She will," he said. "Give it more time."

I nodded, knowing he spoke wisely. Still, I felt like I needed to make things right immediately. Let go of what you can't control, I told myself. I looked up. "Okay, so what's the task this morning?"

My mentor grinned, but it held a wicked tilt. "Grip the jet stream, tame it, and break it into pieces."

I looked into the sky, wishing the act of completing his request could be done as easily as speaking it.

I could find the jet stream easily now. It roared like thunder through the atmosphere, on a path only it could find and follow. "That's not true," Rusk whispered in my ear. "As an Airmaster, you can make the jet stream follow the path you want it to."

I ignored him as I listened to the air in the stream. It loved to soar, wild through the sky. I did too.

The air sang when it found my presence lurking, and the currents on the ground whipped around my body. I took more time listening to the jet stream, trying to find its core. With my eyes pressed closed, I finally found the absence of sound—the eye of the madly rushing currents.