Can you find them?” Stryx asked, and I groaned.
I’d searched everywhere, high and low, and there was no one else. He had to have counted wrong.
“Don’t give up on me now. You’re almost done. You don’t want to be a failure, do you?” Stryx taunted, clearly listening to my thoughts. Jerk.
Gritting my teeth, I tried one more time. This time instead of searching further out, I moved my bubble further into the ground as I bent down onto my knees and sank my fingers into the dirt. Water raced toward me and coated my arms, but there was no one hiding beneath me that I needed to worry about.
Next, I tilted my head toward the sky and glanced around, no longer needing my eyes closed to focus since I’d been connected for nearly twenty minutes. There was nothing visibly out of place that I could see when I turned in circles, but if someone with the wind affinity was hiding up there, then I’d never find them unless I pushed harder.
Glancing at Stryx before I used the last of my energy, he nodded for me to continue, which hopefully meant I was on the right track.
Pushing myself beyond anything I’d ever been capable of before, I arched my power high into the sky and felt tiny pin pricks against my skin as the water began to speak with me.
Higher. Left. Further left. Slow down.
Gotcha.
“There’s someone about a hundred feet in the air, shielding herself with the wind,” I said triumphantly and felt pretty good until I was smacked in the face with that wind and my mom appeared before me.
“Nobody has ever found me before.” She glared. Then, just as I worried that I’d done something wrong, she winked and wrapped her arms around me. “Very well, Kaliah. You have no idea how proud I am of you.”
Dad blinked into the picture. “We’re both really proud of you.”
They each gave me a hug before I turned back to Stryx. “Did I do okay?”
“You did very well. There is still plenty to learn, but if we get separated for any reason, I wouldn’t worry about you finding a way to survive on your own. At least for a short amount of time.”
Geez, that was encouraging.
“We wish we could come with you, but we also have every faith you can do this on your own,” Dad said, and I smiled.
Even though I was their only daughter, they’d given me all the room to grow into my own person for my entire life. They always supported my decisions and never tried to make me into someone they thought I should be instead of who I wanted to be.
Granted, becoming a princess of sorts in a magical world hadn’t been on my horizons, but they were at least letting me handle things on my own terms and had yet to pressure me to do any of the training if I wasn’t ready.
“What do we do now?” I asked.
“Now, we change and head to the Otherworld. Jordan has proper attire for you to wear,” Stryx said, but when my face paled, he added, “It’s standard clothing. Calm down.”
The last time I’d let Jordan dress me when we were on Earth, I had ended up in hooker boots, a tight black mini-skirt, and the brightest pink sequin top I’d ever laid eyes on. My entire body shuddered at the memory and I even saw Stryx’s feathers rustle. There was no way he missed that image in my head.
“What about Ryland?” my dad asked.
“He’s welcome to come if he shows, but we haven’t seen him all day,” Stryx replied without looking at me.
That feathered tyrant knew at least one of us had seen him today, but I owed him one for not saying anything. I’d rather not have his rejection be discussed publicly. If they wanted to chat about it when I wasn’t around, that was fine by me, but we definitely weren’t having that conversation right then.
“See you at the house!” I called out before porting, and Jordan was right behind me.
“Is everything okay?” she asked as soon as she was at my side in front of the house.
“Everything is great. Now, show me my new badass warrior clothing.”
She eyed me suspiciously. “That was too enthusiastic, but I’ll let it slide. I expect you to tell me what’s going on when we get back. If I need to kick someone’s ass, don’t rob me of that joy by keeping information from me.”
I wrapped an arm around