Instead of walking around us, he walks right through our group, bumping me with his big, stupid shoulder. I stumble back, and my fingers instinctively grasp his forearm to steady myself.

The connection is immediate and terrifying. Power surges from him into me, hot and visceral, like liquid fire flowing up my arm. I snatch my hand back, but not before I see his eyes narrow in… is that suspicion, like he's confirming something?

He takes a step back, eyes darting to my left hand where my disguised water mark shifts and twists, faint threads of silver hidden within the blue.

I quickly tuck my hands behind my back, swallowing hard.

Mireen and Ambrose are looking at us both like we're crazy.

I brace for him to ask questions I don't want to answer, especially in front of Mireen and Ambrose. Instead, his expression settles back to a controlled neutral. He obviously felt what happened, and between me channeling fire during our sparring match two weeks ago, he has to suspect… something. But what?

I decide to change the subject. “We were wondering what Serena’s doing talking to Malakai.”

His attention thankfully shifts to where she’s talking with him and his water affinities. “That’s a good fucking question.” His features harden and his fists clench before he turns from us, stalking toward the group.

I stifle a laugh when Serena sees Raith coming and practically runs away, disappearing into a hallway off the courtyard.

"Did you guys see that?" I ask, grateful for the distraction.

"The scary guy nearly knocking you to your face with a shoulder check and then you guys eye fucked for a few awkward seconds?" Ambrose asks. "Definitely saw it."

"No. Whatever Serena and Malakai were talking about, she didn't want to include Raith in it."

"I thought he was their leader, or whatever?" Mireen asks.

"Me too. Maybe it's not as simple as it looks."

We've already lingered too long in the courtyard, though, and I don't need to give Instructor Sestra more reasons to hate me, like showing up late to class. I give Serena's retreating form one last look, then shake my head and hurry toward the southern wing, trying to ignore the lingering warmth where the power I took from Raith still fills me.

Whatever is happening between Serena, Malakai, and the others, I'll have to figure it out later. Right now, I have to survive channeling class without revealing that I'm a fraud.

* * *

"You'll all need to do better than this," Sestra's voice cuts through the dark and dusty classroom. I'm with a group of other first-year water offerings, and our task is to conjure a ball of water above our palms and hold it.

The room is filled with long tables and various containers of water. True water affinities are like vessels, apparently, constantly filling with water essence that allows them to channel water from nothing or interact with existing sources of water.