Healed

Chapter One

CHAPTER 1

It was warm on the roof. Stifling—like Ryker sat in a hot box. No breeze. No shade. He craved the swelter of the heat. It kept his head fuzzy, his blood from spiking. His feet swung off the eaves as he watched the ongoing competition from a distance.

He could move closer. Sit under the shady branches of a nearby tree or lounge lazily with the audience that gathered. It'd be too close for comfort.

He'd want to fight.

Ryker's eyes watched two powers collide in mid-air; he ignored the sonic boom that followed a shower of acid green sparks—Elemental powers. Showoffs, he thought. It didn't look like much of a challenge to him.

If he had it his way, he'd be down in the sandpit running someone else's power ragged. Every person in town possessed an Earthly or Elemental power. Everyone but him. He'd watched them use their powers for years. Outbursts, accidents, both friendly and lethal competitions. Putting power to power was commonplace. Here, it was a game.

Tomorrow it wouldn't be. Ryker Bennett had no idea how he was going to survive at the Academy, having never fought in a challenge himself.

Everyone in their world was required to attend the Academy. The moment you revealed your powers, you were registered and added to a list—shipped off at the brink of adulthood. In a world with so much power, people were dangerous—and the Academy was the place where you found out how so.

The fight ended with a bang and Ryker pushed himself off of the rooftop, rolling through the air as he stretched his arms overhead. He twisted, about to fall into a nosedive, when he noticed a tall figure trekking up the path to his home, clothed in black.

Ryker zoomed through an open window and into the hall, dropping down at the bottom of the stairs.

"Ryker, how many times have I told you? No flying in the house—"

"Mom," he croaked, his throat dry. "Were you—" Expecting someone? Loraina Bennett never left the house. "Who—"

A fist thrummed on the front door, and his mother flinched in reaction. Sparks shot from her fingertips. Ryker dodged them, looking at her hard. "I didn't invite anyone over."

Loraina eyed the door in confusion as the intruder knocked again. Ryker stepped in front of his mother and opened the door.

"Bennett?" a man asked.

Ryker scowled, narrowing his eyes at his sleek ensemble. Too hot for this heat. Much too foreign for Windsong. He nodded. The man squinted and looked him up and down.

"Oh god, you look just like him."

"Like who?" Ryker asked, taken aback.

"Your dad."

"You—"

"Is your mother home? I'm a friend—"

"My mother doesn't have friends," Ryker said as he pulled himself higher, shielding the man's view into the house.

"Relax, son. I have something for her. You, too." Ryker felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Let him in, Ry," Loraina murmured. Ryker glanced back at his mother and once she gave a curt nod, he let the man through the door.

"Tibe," he introduced, gripping Ryker's hand hard. "And you must be Ryker. You're quite protective, kid." He stopped in front of Loraina, sweeping his arms open, but she shook her head.