Elicia's Ice-A Descendants Novel BOOK 1

The Deadly (And Icy) Powers

"How are we going to tell her?"

"What DO we tell her?"

"She'll figure it out on her own soon enough."

"Ellie?" A familiar voice cuts through the fog in my brain. 

"Hi, mama." I mutter under my breath. She laughs in relief. 

"Well, at least you remember. No brain damage."

"Why would I have brain damage?" I ask, finding it very funny. I start giggling. "That's stupid. I just got my powers taken away. No big deal."

Mom looks uneasy. "Er, what numbing did you give her?"

"Just some laughing gas."

"Oh. That wasn't the best option. It makes her loopy. We had her try to stab herself with a fork because she thought it'd be funny the first time she had laughing gas."

"Stab myself... HA!" I crack up. 

A doctor comes over and gives me a shot. The floaty, bubbly feeling I hadn't even noticed I'd had starts to seep out of me. After a few minutes, I stare at my mom.

"My powers..."

She ducks her head silently. 

I put both my hands up and try to summon the cold relief I've known for as long as I can remember. 

All I feel is a dead weight in my chest. 

"What happened? Does Ares have my powers? Why'd they explode?"

She raises a hand to stop my babbling. "Ares and Uma are in a magic-free prison. And we checked, Ares can't use the funnel flame thing to escape again. He only had Sera and Arson, and with how weak they both are now, he'd only be able to jump a few feet."

"Does he have---"

"No. He doesn't have your powers, Ellie."

"How?"

"Because they rejected him," Dad says, ducking into the room. 

I snort. "Rejected him?"

"Ares is a warrior. He didn't do his homework. Much like how your mother gave you her powers, he tried to take yours. But my powers---and your mom's---only work for the people close  to the original host. Ares is nowhere near your friend or family, so it rejected his body."

I grin. "Nice." Then it dawns on me. "Where'd they go, then?"

Dad shrugs. "We don't know yet. We can't find them."

"They have to have a host, though, or they'll dissipate." Mom says. "But that could take a few days, so we're good for now."

"What about Carlos and Dude? Are they okay?" I ask.

"Dude is running around, complaining how cold he is from the, quote, "stupid deathball explosion", but he's fine. Carlos is in the next room. He's still asleep."

My heart swoops in my chest. "Asleep, like, unconscious like knocked out, or coma like Sera?"

"Not in a coma." Dad says. "Regrettably."

"Dad!"

"What?"

"He saved my life back there! Twice!"

"Oh, points for that. But I still don't like him!"

"Oh, for heaven's sake." Mom huffs. "Hades, stop it! She's seventeen!"

"So?"

"Can I go see him?" I ask my mom, already getting up. The room sways a bit but steadies after a few seconds. I walk out of the room and down the hall, running my fingers through my hair to get it out of the ridiculous bun it'd been put up in. At least I'm not wearing a hospital gown. I'm still in jeans and a T-shirt, but my jacket has mysteriously disappeared.