Intrinsical - Lani Woodland [74]
He seemed as flustered as I did, his cheeks tinged pink. “I could, but you’re all muddled right now. And I really do try to respect your privacy.” Finally Brent seemed to have composed himself and he laughed. “I told you I’m irresistible. You’ve got it bad for me.”
“Aren’t you glad I came back?” I asked, deciding to ignore his loaded comment and change the subject.
He tilted his face toward me and frowned. “Having you close was a distraction, as I thought it might be,” he said. “But in the end, I think it was good you were there.”
Warmth rippled through me. “Were you afraid?”
Brent closed his eyes. “Yes,” he answered honestly. “At first I thought I had things under control, but then you changed that confidence. I had a moment where I knew I was going to fail. When it got a hold of me, I was sure it was over. It’s a miracle we weren’t taken.”
“I know you didn’t want me here, but I had to—”
“I’m glad you were. Turns out you came in useful,” he half-teased.
“I’m still amazed at how you did that. I had no idea how much strength you had. You were right about him just having caught you off guard before. It was like watching a sorcerer.”
His chest puffed up in pride. “Really?” He paused thoughtfully. “I might have been showing off a little. I didn’t really need the lightning. I just thought it gave a dramatic flair.”
“That sounds like something you would do.” I laughed, breaking a small twig off one of the leafless branches that had fallen to the ground during our skirmish. “I have never seen anyone else do what you did today.”
“Have you looked in a mirror recently? I have never seen anyone, besides myself, able to do what you did, especially after such a short amount of time. You are . . . gifted.”
I gave him a withering glare. “Right. Please don’t tease me.”
Brent laughed heartily, ruffling my hair. “I was being serious. According to Neal’s journals, hardly anyone can do the sort of stuff I’ve been teaching you.”
I waved off his compliment. “I think we need to go. I feel like we’re too easy to find here.” Brent was still lying on the ground, completely exhausted, surrounded by what looked like the aftermath of a hurricane. The skirmish hadn’t taken that much out of me, so I stood and hoisted Brent up, placing his arm around my shoulder and my arm around his waist. As we slowly made our way out of the clearing, Brent was practically limp at my side, unable to walk by himself, his left leg dragging behind him. I kept checking on him out of the corner of my eye.
“Will you please stop peeking at me like that? This is degrading enough as it is.”
“Did it ever occur to you,” I said, with a sly smile and a wink, “that you’re so irresistibly handsome, I can’t keep my eyes off of you?”
He threw his head back in a laugh. “Of course. I should have realized.”
I stopped for a second repositioning my grasp on Brent. We had only gone a few yards and it felt like we had walked miles. As he tightened his arm on my shoulder I realized how tired I truly was.
When we finally arrived in the Headmaster’s garden, I helped Brent down beside the gazebo and gracelessly plopped down beside him. He reclined heavily against the wood panel. The dark circles under his eyes contrasted against his gray skin.
A dull ache in my ankle I had been feeling since the fight became a painful throbbing. I lifted my dress to check out the damage, only to find it perfectly fine, but still pounding. My eyes narrowed at Brent. I was pretty sure I was experiencing sympathy pain from Brent’s injury. I reached out for his leg and his closed eyes flew open.
“What are you doing?” He asked, snaking his leg away from me.
“What does it look like?” I snapped, grabbing his leg firmly. He relented with a grunt. Sometimes I could be persuasive, especially when he was too weak to protest.
“Just don’t make it worse,” he retorted, crossing his arms grumpily.
I scowled at him as I rolled up his pant leg and gasped. “Ouch.”
A piece of the mist was stabbed into his ankle wriggling like a worm burrowing into the flesh. The whole area surrounding it was black, the same