The Lightning Conjurer by Rachel Rener

Author:Rachel Rener
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: coming of age, magical realism, contemporary romance, modern fantasy, steamy, elemental magic, new adult, complete fantasy series
Publisher: Rachel Rener

Chapter 18

top,” Aiden gripped Aspen’s arms tightly. “Listen to me. If you do this, you’re giving up everything. Your future. Your plans to be a doctor. Our life in Colorado.”

Elements were flying past us now – bolts of Lightning, flashes of Fire, chunks of Earth. I closed my eyes and summoned a wall of Wind to protect us. Aspen’s hair blew wildly in the gusts, dark tendrils that slashed at her face. Even then, I could see the tears threatening to spill down her cheeks.

“I’ve always wanted to help people,” she whispered into the wind, shoulders wilting. “To save lives… I guess this is the way I was destined to do it.”

“It doesn’t have to be,” Aiden replied roughly. “You don’t have to do this.”

“I know.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, centering herself the way I’d shown her years ago. After all, Wind doesn’t yield to pressure or force. It doesn’t conform to molds or templates. If you wish to control it, you must surrender to it. At that moment, Aspen and I both understood that she could no longer struggle against the current; she needed to submit to it. Then and only then could she regain control.

After a moment, her eyes met mine and I nodded, releasing the shield I’d wrapped her in. With a wave of her hand, she summoned her own pillar of Wind, rising far above us to land atop the podium. The people standing in the front rows pointed at the stage excitedly.

Aspen crouched on one knee so she and Ori could be eye to eye.

“What are you doing?” he exclaimed.

“Relieving you of your duties,” she smiled wanly. I watched as relief colored his expression for the first time in days. “Thank you for everything you’ve done to get us here.”

Then, with a deep breath and a determined expression, she stood atop the podium and shot both hands toward the glass ceiling. For one brief moment, every hair on my body stood on end and time itself appeared to slow to an ionized trickle. Shards of ice and licks of Fire froze mid-collision; screams hung suspended in the air; Kaylie was shouting something to her followers as they ran for the exits, her words lost in the chaos; and Mei was frozen onstage, ribbons of Wind and Water and Earth suspended around her as she stared up at Aspen. She, too, had tears in her eyes. Tears of joy? Of remorse? I couldn’t tell.

As Wind and Lightning curled around Aspen’s arms, a blinding explosion ricocheted across the room, dealing no violence save for a thunderous clap of noise and light. Startled screams erupted all across the auditorium and then abruptly stopped. In their wake, chilled silence filled the cracks as the overhead lights flared and dimmed. Every eye in that room was glued to Aspen, still and elegant as a statue as her eyes flashed the color of Lightning.

I did my part by stilling the air in the auditorium just enough to mute the whispers and shuffling, so all attention would be on her next words.

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