“We were talking about whether we had enough space to fit everyone, how to divide up the families in the rooms available, and then there were more.”
“What do you mean more?”
“What I said. There were four hundred and fifty rooms, and then there were five hundred, six hundred. We’ve been running up and down these halls and counting them, and each time, we come up with something different. You know something about that?” Rey asked me.
“No, this place is as much a mystery to me as to you. We’ve noticed it changing. Wanting something seems to influence the way the building presents.”
“Which is why my team should have been left to assess the building before introducing all these people into it,” Bea said.
“Why?” I asked. “If it responds to what you want, you could go into a room and ask to see what it was like at any point in its lifespan and it should show you.”
The woman blinked, then went to get to her feet, but Ashanti shook her head, indicating that she should sit.
“So we have unlimited resources at our disposal?” Ashanti asked.
“We’ll need them. Not enough food, medicine, or bedding.” Quinn walked in and took a seat before turning to look at me.
“Quinn…” Ashanti warned.
“We’re stretching things as far as they can go, but this is coordinated. He’s set up ‘riots’ in at least twenty different cities in the States alone. Known hotspots around the world are erupting, new ones cropping up every day. I don’t give a fuck if this place is the goddamn Ark itself, people are hurting, Mother.”
“I know, Quinn. That’s why you were called here today. Duke and the rest of the council will discuss our plans for evacuation and protecting our people. Now, let’s eat. Kira and Jake can meet me in the water training room in an hour.”
When I walked into the room, I noticed the moat of water around the edge, set up almost like a Japanese garden, with sand on the floor, strategic rocks, and beautifully designed waterfalls creating a peaceful atmosphere. It didn’t wash off on me though. I turned when I heard crunching steps to see Jake enter the room.
There was something closed off about Jake. His eyes kept meeting mine, only to be yanked away, those big broad hands picking at each other as he came to a stop. He wore jeans and an old white band T-shirt, the sleeves ripped out, the thick muscles of his arms on display.
“Hey,” I said, the word feeling odd and weird, but so was the silence.
“We’re gonna do that, are we?” he asked, nodding to himself. “Yeah, OK. Did you sleep all right last night?”
Flashes of memory hit me hard, despite trying to keep some decorum. Gasps escaped me as I felt those teeth digging into my neck, those lips tugging at all my most sensitive points, the thrust of two cocks—
“Mm…” he said, having appeared at my elbow. “Don’t you smell luscious? Who was it this time? Aen? Marlow?” His smile widened when I didn’t reply. “Both?” His eyes flared hotter when I just stared back at him. “Ohh, Kira, did you get double teamed last night?” He said the words like others would describe something delicious. “Did you take both of them at the same time? I bet you did. Opened yourself right up to those thick dicks.” He darted forward, drawing his nose across my neck but jerking back before I could swipe at him. “Fuck, you smell sweet, but the sugar cookie thing? It’s kinda caramelised. Getting more complex. You got it good.”
His grin faded, something fragile rising instead.
“That makes me ache. Makes all of us ache for wanting the same damn thing. If you’d just come to us, we could show you…” He shook his head, dismissing the thought. “Doesn’t matter.” He shifted back a step, moving restlessly. “I like the ache. Just makes me harder.”
I needed to say something. Everything I said the other day was true, but with Jake, there was something there, something that tugged at me, wanted to kiss the small frown away, hold him close, and make sure he never ached again. He was like six foot two. The need to smooch his boo boos away was ridiculous, and yet…
“I’m sorry I’m late,” Ashanti said as she walked in the door. “The discussions got quite convoluted. Now, Jake, your new affinity. What have you been able to do with it so far?”
“I can make it appear.” He leant his head back, holding his hand over his mouth, and a thin stream of water trickled into it. Some splashed wide, trailing down his cheeks, his neck. He brought his head back down, rubbing his hand through his hair, making it spike up messily. “But if you’re expecting me to save Kira with tsunamis and shit, I got nothing.”
“Well, that is promising for someone who’s come so late to their powers. You’ve never shown an affinity to elemental powers before now?”
He shook his head. “Never really given a chance though. My mother was one of Rutherglen’s sex slaves. No one spent time educating us. We were to be everyone’s meat when we got old enough, so why bother? Some showed hands of power. One kid smashed in the skull of some of Rutherglen’s most valued henchmen when they tried it on with him.” He shrugged. “They executed the kid, but he impressed Rutherglen.”
Ashanti just looked upon Jake, a heavy warmth in her eyes that made her designation as Mother make sense. There was something endless about it. A mother’s undying love.
“Look, you seem like a nice lady and everything, but don’t look like that. Everyone does…that.” He gestured to her face. “I’m not there. I don’t have to put up with that shit anymore, and Kira’s going to make it so no one does.”
I was? I met their collective gaze and fought to keep still, not back away from the responsibility being thrust my way, but he was right. I tried not to think about young Jake, in that room with all the brutality and squalor. He deserved more than to be seen as other people’s abuse, but really, if I was supposed to ascend and gain untold powers, what else would I do but end this? My brows jerked down as I thought about Dave’s stupid fucking face when I’d taken Marlow, Jen, and Vervain from him.
“Yeah,” I replied, “we will.”
“Admirable goals,” Ashanti said. “So, let us begin. You’re able to manifest water, which is good, but I want to see if you can manipulate the water that is around you.”
There was something beautiful about all of this, a quiet falling over me, over the room, that I felt like I could just sink into. Ashanti and Jake moved like dancers, with long sweeping movements that drew the eye, making you feel like you were performing the forms as well. Ashanti curled large fluid whips of water around her, almost like the ribbons used in rhythmic gymnastics, and Jake did something similar. His streams were much harder to control. They swelled to great torrents that roared around him, starting to splash the ground around him before Ashanti would stop and get him to recentre himself.
“You are doing very well,” she said, stepping closer when the last stream collapsed around him. He nodded, jerking his now saturated shirt off and dropping it to the floor with a splat. I hadn’t seen it when I was with the guys, the crisscross of white scars across his back, partially obscured by something that hadn’t been there before—a tattoo of a phoenix. I stiffened when she moved closer, putting a hand on his arm. It was gentle and non-sexual, but I was up and off the stone I’d been sitting on before thinking about it.