Lightning Strikes

As they headed back into the training room, Talon took deep breaths and willed his body to forget her curves and scent. It may have only been a moment, but it was a moment etched into his memory forever.

Wren had slimmed down and toned up in the past month, her body fitting even more comfortably against his. He feared he was going to get little sleep tonight.

***

Wren watched him walk away, quietly following him. He had radiated heat and maleness, and for half a moment, she had felt protected.

It was a foreign feeling to her. The fear and revulsion were nowhere to be found.

Her body felt hot from his touch, and she could still feel his heat seeping into her body, warming it up from the inside.

~How am I supposed to concentrate on my training with these thoughts?~

“Let’s see what you can control,” Talon said.

Wren nodded. “How do we do this?” she asked.

***

“Interesting,” Michael commented after they had left.

“I did not think that he would be so bold as to do that,” Emerald giggled. The man had moves.

“He has been so set against touching her. For him to just take her in his arms… Did you feel the current they created?” she asked.

“I would have to say that he is being very affected by her,” Michael responded.

“Has anyone noticed that he has become more social with everyone? It seems as if he has a softer edge to his speech and tone as well,” Eric said as he watched the two figures step up to the first site.

“Hush,” Emerald shushed them. “I want to see this.”

The rest stepped up to the glass, just as invested in this moment as Emerald was. What ability would Wren bring to the team?

***

“Go ahead,” Talon said.

“And?” Wren asked. She was still a bit off from his embrace.

Even if he had only done it to confirm her suspicions, she could not stop herself from reacting to him, it seemed. She was becoming a fool.

She knew better than to react to him, but her body seemed to want to betray her. Would her heart eventually betray her, too?

“Try moving the water,” Talon said.

Wren sighed and did what he asked.

~How in the world am I supposed to move the water?~

“What do I do?” she asked.

“Just reach out with your mind in the same way you do when you create your barrier. You will see a reaction if it is meant to be,” Talon replied.

Wren tried to make the water react to her, but it remained still and calm. Unlike her.

She was hyperaware of Talon next to her. She could hear his breathing and smell his scent.

He was too close, but there was no place she could go to get away from him.

“I do not think water is your element,” Talon finally said.

“I would agree.” ~Thank God that is over. Now move away.~

Talon stepped closer, opening his hand to reveal a small rock. “Let’s try this next.”

~Never mind. We are not done, and he is still TOO CLOSE!~

For the next twenty minutes, they tried various things. Earth, fire, water, metal, stone—the list went on and on.

After each attempt, a new element was put in front of her and she was asked to try again.

“Next,” Talon said.

Suddenly, they were in the middle of a lightning storm. Within seconds, they were both soaked through.

She was tired and wanted to quit, but NO, she had to stand in the middle of a rainstorm.

“We have already tried water…and ice…and steam…,” Wren protested.

“It is not the water you are trying to control,” Talon said, leaning in close, his breath tickling her ear.

She wanted to rub the sensation away, but instead, she ignored the feeling.

“What am I supposed to control in this if not the rain?” she asked.

A flash of lightning streaked across the room, and Wren immediately felt a tingle start in her fingers and slither up her arms in response. She rubbed the hair that was suddenly standing on end.

She hated thunderstorms. There was something about the lightning that disturbed her.

That was what this reaction was.

Talon noticed her response to the lightning. He motioned for Shorty to do it again.

Another flash of lightning had her jumping and rubbing her arms as the tingling began again, even more than before. In fact, her entire body was tingling now, and her hair was flying around her face.

What she thought was from the wind was wrong. Something else was causing her hair to rise and move about.

Talon and the others watched as her hair began to glow faintly, moving in a more uniform pattern.

“It is coming,” Emerald said, leaning against the glass.

The next flash came quickly and was much closer. They watched, waiting to see what would happen when the lightning struck again. Was this her element?

“Get ready,” Talon whispered directly behind her, and Wren suddenly knew what to do.

The fourth flash came within reach of her, and without fear, Wren reached out, grabbed hold of it with her hands, and shot it across the room, destroying a large boulder.

Wren looked at her hands, expecting them to be scorched black from the current or even just stumps of their former selves. People did not get struck by lightning without injury or even death.

“Again. Do it again.” Talon stepped out of the way.

Wren looked at her hands; there was a bit of discoloration, but that was it. There was no mistaking it. She had taken hold of lightning and controlled it.

She could control lightning. Maybe.

She could feel the energy building around her. Another strike was coming, and it was attracted to her.

The next one came, and once again, she took hold and shot the bolt across the room. She continued with the next five or six before Talon called out for Shorty to stop the program.

“Enough.”

Immediately, everything disappeared.

Wren stood in the middle of the room, wet and cold, looking down at her hands that were blackened but not hurt. She noticed the small burn holes that littered her clothing where pieces of boulder and dirt had been destroyed or scattered by the thrown bolts.

She could control lightning.

“Amazing,” Lily breathed.

Lightning was a very dangerous ability—quick and unpredictable, never in the same place twice.

“She is like Talon. Dangerous.”

Wren felt the exhaustion coming upon her, and she just wanted to collapse to the ground. In fact, that was exactly what she was going to do. When she had the strength to do that.

Talon came up to her and reached out to touch her burns, but Wren recoiled.

“Do not touch me,” she said. Her remaining strength was fading fast, but she was still worried that she might hurt him. “I might electrocute you.”

Talon realized in that instant that he did not care if she did.

Without putting any thought into his actions, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his arms for the second time in the past hour. He was going soft, but he just knew she was going to need his support.

She was battered and bruised, physically and mentally, and on the verge of collapse.

“You cannot hurt me, honey. Once you have had more experience with it, the pain will disappear.”

“Was it like this for you?” she asked, a wave of happiness rolling over her.

She was an idiot to be happy in this moment, but it had been so long since someone had held her close and told her it was all right, even if he was an unsociable brute of a man.

“Yes, honey, it was,” Talon said. He looked up as he felt her body begin to relax in his arms, his own stirring as hers shivered against him, the vibrations passing from her to him.

“I thought I was going to lose my hands to the fire for the first several months. It will pass, and you will be able to use it freely.”

“Can I create it?” she asked as her teeth started to shake.

She was glad her hands had already become numb.

“Not yet, but you will. You must learn how to tap into your power core better first. It takes time and practice.”

Wren started to shake even more.

“Come on, let’s get you into a hot shower and warm clothes. You will catch a cold if you stay like that.”

He wrapped his arm around her, not ready to break this connection they had.

They had just reached the door when Emerald and Carrie appeared with towels.

“Here. You need to dry off quickly,” Emerald said.

Carrie pulled Talon aside as Emerald took over.

Talon immediately felt the connection fray, but he did not fight it.

He had crossed a line he should not be crossing. It was best he pulled back for now.

“Twice in thirty minutes, and you will not be having a physical bond with her, huh?” she said, looking at him knowingly.

“Get off my back,” Talon muttered. “I did not plan this. It was a necessity. She needed me.”

“All I have to say is that you damn well better not do anything without her completely understanding what is going on. Do I make myself clear?”

“Relax. I do not plan on doing anything, so you do not need to worry,” Talon said, meeting her gaze and refusing to look away. “If for some reason it looks like the impossible just might happen, I will make sure she understands first… Satisfied?”

Carrie nodded.

“Are you coming?” Emerald asked. Wren and she were waiting at the door for them to come.

“You are soaked to the bone as well,” she added, looking at Talon.

~He would faint if he realized just how see-through his shirt has become.~ Emerald smirked at the idea of Talon’s discomfort, but she kept her mouth shut.

Now was not the time to make fun of the man.

Talon nodded and followed after the ladies.

Lord help him if they were going to be like this from now on. He was not looking for a couple of nagging aunties at his age.