Master Longwei's eyebrow arched and then he turned his glare at me. That one look made me suddenly wish I’d never found Paegeia. “I don't know how things worked on the other side of the wall, young lady, but here we have rules. You risk your own life and the life of your friends when you disobey them. We also do not speak out of turn when an elder is talking.”
My lower lip started to quiver softly. My father always told me to share the blame if I was a culprit too. I wasn't being disrespectful and started to become angry that he had insinuated that.
“I will have to think about what punishment to give you four. You can be glad Becky is still alive. You may go. If I ever catch you going for a midnight swim again, I promise none of you will see the light of day until you graduate!” he roared, allowing us to make our escape.
My knees wobbled as I climbed down the stairs, and I had to catch my balance on the handrail several times.
“It's going to be fine, Elena,” Lucian said soothingly, rubbing my arms to try to restore the blood that had drained from my body.
I just nodded, trying hard not to cry.
“My father is so going to kill me,” Dean said, walking next to Sammy.
“Let's just hope that was a warning.” Lucian took a deep breath, clearly still shaken.
I noticed Sammy didn't say anything about her father. He would probably laugh at it after having to deal with Blake's shit all of the time. Her punishment would probably be a breeze. She did look anxious though as we got closer and closer to our room.
Dad would have been angry too. I silently wished he was still here to yell at me.
“Hey, are you okay?” Lucian asked, as we were about to climb the stairs to the girl’s dorms.
I shook my head, not knowing if I was okay, and he pulled me closer.
His arms felt good, but somehow it didn't lessen my anger. “Everything's going to be okay, I promise. See you tomorrow.”
I kissed him quickly on his lips and ran up the stairs.
“Goodnight, guys,” Sammy said, and I heard their faint grunts in acknowledgement.
We reached our room and fell on our beds. I felt as if I could have ripped my pillow into a gazillion pieces. My feelings were so messed up. A part of me felt so angry and the other part worried sick about Becky. I didn't know how to cope with it. How could lightning strike someone and the person still be alive?
“It's okay, Elena,” Sammy said, walking over to my bed and trying to calm me down. “Becky's fine.”
I just laid my head on Sammy's lap and sobbed. “Becky could have died tonight, and then what?”
Sammy stroked my back softly. “It's going to be fine, you’ll see.”
We both jumped as Becky opened the door. Her hair was still fanned out in every direction. I just wanted to hug her.
“Stay away!” she ordered both of us. Her eyes were huge and she held her hands in the air as if she was a mime trapped in a glass box.
“How is this possible?” I yelled, not quite sure what or whom I was furious with.
“Are you okay?” Sammy frowned at me and looked back at Becky with soft eyes.
“I'm fine, I have ascended!” she said.
“You have what?” I was still yelling. What is wrong with me?
“I have ascended.” She couldn't hold her tears back anymore. They came pouring from her eyes.
Sammy stepped closer and reached out to touch her.
She put her hands up in the air again, backing away and sobbing. “Don't touch me!”
We just stood there in silence and waited for Becky to calm down. Sammy kept cooing that it was going to be okay and it began to calm her down.
Becky took a deep breath. “Constance said that I still have so much electricity running through me that I can power up the entire academy for a whole week. She actually thought about doing that.” New tears streamed down her face and left small sparks in their wake. She didn't even flinch.
I guess she was really immune to it. The image of Constance's wiring Becky to draw the electricity from her formed in my mind. It made it hard not to laugh.
“They’re phoning my mom as we speak,” she explained.
“It's going to be okay, Becky,” Sammy said again for the millionth time.
“No, it's not,” she yelled. “Don't you guys get it? I can manipulate lightning. That’s my power, stupid freaking lightning.”
Sammy and I looked at her as if she had fried some of her brain cells too.
“I would give my left toe for an ability like yours,” I said truthfully, irritated that she was so unhappy when all I wanted was to fit in.
She threw me a glare that made me feel like I was back in Master Longwei's office. “You still don't get it, Elena. I have the power of lightning. It means my dragon is a freaken' Moon-Bolt. The only one available in this school is George.”