Sisters Three (Completed)

44. Adair (2/2)

Well, Adair had plenty of control over the buzzing Northern magic. Brenna would just have to have a demonstration of just how well Adair could make her magic do exactly what she wanted.

Dashing her hand through the shimmering water to destroy the image, Adair headed for the door. Silver struggled to keep up as she stormed down the stairs, heading for the throne room. Her hand was already raised, snow and wind blasting from it as she smashed through the doors.

The wolves and foxes knew to scatter immediately, but Brenna and Robbin stood in startled silence near the throne. Adair smirked, the cold spreading into her chest and filling her with that intoxicating feeling of leveling a whole mountain just because she felt like it. She could spear the king of Anjeluund again, and not miss. She could toss Brenna off a cliff and never have to think about those days of teasing and taunting ever again. She blasted them with snow, watching as they huddled against it.

"Adair! What are you doing!" Brenna shouted, shielding her eyes with an arm and blinding groping around for something. Adair didn't know if it was for Robbin, or something to hold onto, or if she was searching for Adair. At any rate, she didn't let her get more than a foot before increasing the snow.

"I want you both out of here, right now," Adair said. She hadn't really shouted, but she'd made her voice audible over the storm. Her blood moved through her veins slowly, and she knew that if they stayed for more than a few minutes more she would kill them right there. She would spill their blood on her ice floors and not even feel a twinge of remorse.

"But we-" Brenna started, that edge of whining that Adair hated so much in her voice. The image of the little girl in a white nightgown pouting that her Mama wouldn't give her another bedtime story was all that stopped Adair from crushing them right there.

"OUT. NOW." She directed the wind from behind them, pushing them toward the hallway while Adair and Silver stepped out of the way. Brenna glared at her as they passed by, but she couldn't stop while the wind drove at their backs. Robbin looked like he was nearly about to explode, but they steadily marched down the hall and toward the foyer. Even when they were down the steps and into the yard, Adair didn't stop. She kept the wind steady, pushing them farther and farther away. It was pitch dark outside, but Adair didn't care if they grew lost or ran into the wolves. She no longer wanted them anywhere near.

"Please, Adair, just let us talk." Brenna tried one last time, but Adair didn't bite. Instead, she summoned a long spear of ice with her other hand and sent it hurtling toward them. She'd aimed for the ground, and it burst just to the right of Brenna.

"You have twenty minutes before I release my wolves. I hope you are far enough away that they won't find you as a tasty dinner."

With that Adair sent one last blast of air and snow their way, and turned abruptly on her heel. She and Silver stormed into the castle, and Adair closed the doors with a flick of her wrist. She didn't know if they would leave as she asked, but she told herself that she would wait the exact twenty minutes before letting her wolves free with instructions to scan the area around the castle.

Adair paced the front foyer, her anger the sharp cut of winter's water in her heart. She clenched her fists and breathed through her nose. Brenna didn't care a single whit for her family. Morna proved that. The stupid country of Anjeluund was more important to her than her own blood. And Adair knew that had she agreed, she would never have gained what they lost all those years ago. Her family was gone, forever, and she'd been a stupid fool to have thought she'd regain that in any small corner of her heart.

She summoned a ball of ice and threw it at the wall, watching it shatter into a million sparkling pieces.

It wasn't until she spun around to continue her pace, when she saw the glistening tracks down Silver's cheeks. She immediately froze in place, her hands still clenched, staring at him as if she'd never seen him before.

"What is it?" she asked, when she found her voice again.

Silver's eyes hung on her, and she saw that bottomless agony in them once again. Her heart skipped a beat, that old fear filling her at the sight. He looked... almost dead. Like Morna in that bed, staring at someone but not seeing them.

"Silver," she snapped, harsher than she'd meant.

He blinked, and then his lips parted. "I couldn't just let them lie about Morna. I knew something was wrong. But I didn't want to say anything." He drew in a shuddering breath, the strange sight of his tears running down his cheeks and throat making Adair take a step forward. "I just wanted them to come in and remind you of all that was out there. I just wanted the grass and ocean again."

He grieved. Like for a child or a parent, he grieved. Adair knew it from when Morna cried that night with the gunshots in the dark. She knew the sign of a breaking heart. And it made her mad. So mad. She blast him with the same wind and snow as Brenna and Robbin, and then stomped off with her jaw clenched and her heart screaming at her that she was losing everything no matter how tightly she held on.