The Elements of Rage | ✔

• T W E N T Y •

"They wanted a monster. I decided to give them one."

• • •

"Rage? Rage? You seem to be distracted," William notes with a frown, leaning forward. "Are you alright?"

I paste on a believable smile and reply, "Yeah, just lost in thought, I guess."

"Penny for your thoughts?" Kolton asks with a teasing grin.

Shaking my head, I respond, "Sorry, darling. You'd never be able to pay for my thoughts. Great thoughts such as these come at a high price."

"Oh?" Gage says with a raised eyebrow.

I stick my tongue out at him, knowing exactly what he is getting at.

"I'm good at keeping secrets if you want someone to talk to," Asher reminds me mentally.

I shoot him a thankful smile but shake my head slightly. I can't tell him or any of them about this. Besides, I already know that Asher is good at keeping secrets. He is hiding something, I know it.

You know what? Screw it. There's the chance that I could be taken any day now. It's been almost a week since I got that first card. I have gotten three more since. I know that I am powerful and could probably defeat this bony lady, but the chance is still there that I get captured and never see these boys again. I need to know what Asher is hiding. To start, I'll follow him home today.

That came out slightly wrong. But I'm still going to.

"So what is your assessment?" Gage inquires, making me jump slightly.

"Huh?" I ask, focusing on reality once more.

The fire in the cabin grew slightly as I jumped, but now the flames have returned to their normal size.

With a sigh, Gage repeats, "What is your assessment? Of our progress?"

"Oh," I say, blinking a bit. "Well, it hasn't been very long so it wouldn't be shocking if you hadn't made any progress at all. However, you guys have been doing well, remarkably so. Gage your control over the water has improved and you are able to create even more water than before. Darkon, you are doing well with finding the different rocks and your stone skin is much stronger than before. Boaz, I look forward to seeing you improve and grow comfortable with your own power. William, you still need to work on ways to attack with the plants and ways you can use your power in battle; however, you have done a better job of not letting their talking distract you."

Boaz grins mischievously at the thought of the plants talking. I sigh inwardly, knowing what he is thinking. Quickly, I continue so that Boaz doesn't say what I know he is going to.

"Asher, our success with the mental connection is huge. And, on top of that, you've gotten better at controlling the animals," I continue. "Nekoda, your skill with creating weapons out of ice has improved tremendously. Kolton, you are doing great with concentrated blasts of air and I am sure that you can use that in football if you work hard enough."

"Thank you, Rage," Gage says with a rare and genuine smile. "And I think we can all agree that it is thanks to you that we have improved."

"Oh, definitely," I agree with a nod of my head. "Y'all were sloppy and your skill development was lacking greatly."

"Aww, you flatter us," Kolton replies flatly, giving me a look that simply said, 'come on.'

"Rage," Nekoda groans. "You had to ruin it."

"I stand by my previous statement," I declare, raising an eyebrow as if challenging them to continue.

Gage rolls his hazel eyes and decides, "I vote we go do something. Ideas?"