Stop this, he pleaded with his element. Heal him.

It took a moment, but the wind listened. The fire died down to nothing more than a few spirals of flame dancing in the breeze. Wind licked between them, settling, stealing the redness from Tyler’s cheeks.

For an instant, Tyler didn’t move. Then he sucked in a rough breath of air. Then another.

“Jesus,” said Nick, feeling a bit breathless himself. “You’re not dead.”

Tyler’s eyes opened. Nick let him go, expecting to see pain, confusion, fear.

He saw derision.

“Not dead yet,” said Tyler. He grabbed Nick’s jacket with fistfuls of flame and shoved, true power in the motion. Nick’s back hit a tree.

But that didn’t hurt half as much as the bolt of lightning that hit him next.

CHAPTER 25

“Nick. Nick.”

Gabriel’s voice. He sounded almost panicked. Hands gripped Nick’s shoulders, shaking him. “Come on, Nicky.

Please. Come on.”

Nick couldn’t remember how to open his eyes. It felt like he’d been hit by a truck.

“No, you idiot,” Gabriel said, that panic giving way to choked relief. “You were hit by lightning.”

Were his eyes open? He couldn’t see anything. Was he talking?

“You’re talking,” said Gabriel. “Open your eyes.”

He didn’t want to open his eyes. The air was dancing on his skin and it felt wonderful.

Dancing. Adam.

Nick wished he could apologize. He wished he could fix it.

“Come on, Nick,” said Gabriel. “You’re scaring me.”

He was kind of scaring himself. He felt disconnected, like his body ached, but he couldn’t feel it yet.

Next time, he was so making Gabriel play bait.

Gabriel choked out a sound, half laugh, half sob. “I will, Nick.

I promise.” It felt like he was patting Nick’s cheek. “Come on.

Wake up.”

Nick opened his eyes and looked at his brother.

Gabriel was kneeling there in the charred leaves and undergrowth, holding him up against a tree, his eyes tense and worried.

Nick was struck with déjà vu. They’d been eight or nine, riding bikes through the woods, jumping the creek the way they’d done a thousand times. A storm had washed away part of the creek walls, leaving the ground soft and muddy. Gabriel, in the lead as usual, made the jump with little difficulty.

But his bike had made a rut. Nick’s bike caught it and sank into the mud, stuck. It had stopped. Nick hadn’t. His head had cracked into a tree.

He’d woken up just like this, staring into his twin brother’s panicked eyes.

“My bike broke,” he mumbled now.

“Not this time.” Gabriel smiled, but there was still a shadow of worry behind it.

Of course he’d share the exact same memory at the exact same moment.

“How do you feel?” said Gabriel.

“Oh. Stellar.”

“No—I mean, can you walk?”

Nick thought about it. “Not yet.”

Gabriel sighed, but he didn’t let him go.

“Tyler?” said Nick.

“He ran,” said Gabriel. His voice grew dark. “As soon as you collapsed. If you think you can stay upright, I’m going to find him and kill him.”

Nick struggled to find his hands, and he grabbed Gabriel’s wrist. “No—no.” He paused, trying to make his addled brain sort out the evening’s events. But one thing was clear—they’d come here with the intent to out Tyler’s abilities. Nick remembered the power in the air, the way his fear had manifested itself in damaging winds that attacked Tyler until fire consumed him.

He’d been the bully tonight. Not Tyler.

It should have been satisfying. It wasn’t.

“Our fault,” he said.

Gabriel shook his head. “My fault.” He paused. “I should have helped you.”

Now Nick remembered. His thoughts were straightening out, finding true clarity. “You let him burn! You called lightning!

You let him—”

“I didn’t call that lightning, Nick. He did.” Gabriel looked away. “I should have helped you before it got to that point.”

Nick shoved his hands away. “Yeah, thanks. Thanks for making me play bait, and forgetting to snap the trap.”

“An hour ago you got all shitty because I wanted to defend you! What the hell do you want from me, Nick? What?”

I want you to know what I want.

Nick put a hand against the ground and pushed himself to his feet. He wavered for a second, but Gabriel didn’t grab him.

He looked down at himself. Pieces of leaves clung to his jeans, and his jacket was smudged with bits of soot where Tyler had grabbed him, but really, he didn’t look any the worse for wear.

The air was happy he was awake. He felt better with every breath, as if he inhaled pure power.

He started walking toward the car.

After a moment, Gabriel jogged to catch up with him.

“Give me the keys,” he said. “You’re in no shape to drive.”

Nick wanted to protest, but his twin was probably right. He pulled them out of his pocket and handed them over. He didn’t look at Gabriel when they climbed in to the car.

This whole evening hadn’t solved anything. So Tyler was a full Elemental. So what? When the next round of Guides came to town, they could add him to the list. When Tyler came after him again, he could mess with Nick all that much more effectively.