I let out a nervous laugh. “You don’t know that.”
Her smile falls completely, and her eyes widen with a seriousness that grips my heart. “But I do. You’re a direct descendant. That’s a big deal.”
“Rose mentioned that, but that makes me no different than my father and my grandfather.”
Charlotte laughs like I’ve just told her the most amusing story. “Oh, Kat. You have no idea just how rare you are. Not just among the Solstice community, but the Enchanter community as a whole.”
“Wait.” I frown. “There’s a difference?”
Charlotte’s laugh deepens. “The Solstices are just one species among the Enchanted gods, but as for you, let me put it this way. It is extremely rare to be born from Astina’s bloodline and to have your Enchantment on the day of the summer solstice.” She squeezes my hand again as if she can’t contain her excitement. “Your connection to Astina Summer is by far the strongest connection our kind has ever witnessed.” She sits back in her chair, her energy practically buzzing through the air.
I let my breath out in a whoosh. “Geez. No pressure there.”
She smiles. “What do you say we get to work?”
“I need a break,” I say before slamming the Solstice law book closed.
Dust particles float up into the air, and I wave my hand through them before meeting Charlotte’s high-browed stare. “You’ve barely made a dent in that thing.”
I look down at the 3,456-page textbook and balk. “I’ve read over six hundred pages just today. And it’s all written in cursive. My vision is blurring. I’m more of a hands-on learner. I thought you were going to be showing me how to use my powers.” I omit the part about how my mind keeps returning to Alec. Guilt compounds with every intercepted call and visit to our front door, but Rose has been adamant about me lying low.
Charlotte presses her lips together like she’s trying to contain her amusement. “You heard Rose. You won’t be practicing any magic until you’ve read the entire book.”
I push the book away and stand up to stretch. “Fine, then I need to take a break and go for a run or something. Being cooped up in this little room has me all wound up.”
Charlotte frowns. “You know how Rose feels about you leaving the house right now. We have a lot of work to do.”
“But it’s been a week,” I whine. “No offense, but this is boring.”
I glance at Charlotte just as she finishes her eye roll. “I assure you, there is nothing boring about what we are. Just you wait.”
Wait. That feels like all I’ve been doing. Meanwhile, I have so much energy inside me, I feel like I’m going to burst. It’s not just my powers I need to learn about. There are changes happening to my body too. Physical changes. And right now, my inner self feels like a jailed bird that yearns to open its wings. I suck in a deep breath, knowing that my thoughts are only contributing to the compounding firestorm locked inside me.
Charlotte narrows her eyes on me. “Keep reading, and then maybe I’ll give you a small break.”
The fact that the chapter I just finished was over two hundred fifty pages of a variety of powers doesn’t help my situation. There seem to be an infinite number of powers to learn, but Rose is adamant that I learn about the protective ones first, like shield manipulation, deflection, and intangibility.
“You’re telling me I can prevent a weapon from harming me by allowing it to pass through my body?” I asked Charlotte earlier after reading a small passage on intangibility.
She laughed heartily before correcting me. “An actual weapon? No. Our magic doesn’t make us invincible, Kat. If anything, it makes us a target. The book is referring to elemental damage caused by charges of energy.”
After realizing Charlotte has already settled back into her own book, I sigh and look back down at the next chapter of Solstice law titled “Restrictions.” When I catch myself reading the same passage multiple times, my eyes start to roam around the room until they lock on a candlestick near the door. It’s currently dimmed to its lowest light setting. Curious if what I learned about fire manipulation is possible, I narrow my eyes on the flame. Focusing all my energy on the flickering light, I start to widen my eyes again, silently commanding the flame to adjust with my gaze. The flame grows larger, causing excitement to rush through me. I’m already craving to do it again. But when I narrow my gaze, the flame dims.
“Katrina!” Charlotte says with a gasp.
I jump and turn my focus away from the light, but not before the flame blazes back to life so fast and out of control that the glass casing around it explodes.
“Oops.” I cringe and snap my gaze to Charlotte, who stares back at me, appearing mortified.
“What are you doing?”
I sit back in my chair and raise my hands. “I told you, I’m going stir-crazy in here.”
Charlotte frowns before she starts to use her magic to clean up the shards of glass. She doesn’t touch a thing, yet it all sweeps into a nice tidy pile in midair then moves gracefully over to the trash.
“No magic,” she says again, this time looking angry. “You’re lucky this is all the damage you did. You’re only just beginning, Kat, but you should know that every power has a consequence if misused. Solstice law is there for a reason, and there are serious consequences for mishandling the powers you’ve been given.”
Guilt swarms my chest. “I’m sorry. Even before I knew what all of this was, running helped me let off some steam. I think it will help me now too. Please, Charlotte. Give me one hour, then I’ll come right back here and pick up where I left off.”
Her gaze softens, then she lets out a sigh. “Okay, but take your bike, will you? It’s been collecting dust for the past week.”
With a squeal, I jump up and throw my arms around her. “Thank you, thank you. I’ll be good, I promise.”
I’m flying down the steps of the library when I hear her yell, “You have one hour, Kat!”
By the time I free my bike from the garage, I can already feel the release from being bottled up for the past week. I don’t have a plan. I don’t know where I want to go. I just want to ride and feel the wind on my face as I expel some of this energy inside me.
I’m struck by an overwhelming sense of fulfillment as I pedal around the neighborhood. As the sun hits my face, a complete sense of euphoria washes over me. A gentle breeze sweeps through my hair, and I giggle.
Late June seems to bring a new world to Apollo Beach. Now that it’s officially summer, the heat is in the high nineties, but I find myself unbothered by what I used to find an intolerable mix of humidity and heat.
After I’ve circled the neighborhood a few times, I come to the entrance of the public beach and head straight toward it. I push through, fighting the sand's resistance and laughing into the wind. Flying by the bay-facing homes, I’m consumed by thoughts of everything I've been through lately.
When I near Alec’s house, I see him sprawled out in a lounge chair on his pool deck. Knowing he hasn’t yet seen me, I slow and hop off my bike as I approach. I’m practically standing beside him when his mouth turns up into a smile.