Concealed (Unbound, Book 4)

Revealed (Unbound, Book 5)

I have spent the past couple of weeks with this series and, as I'm sure anyone who rereads their own work can attest to, I have quite a few notes on where things needs to be 'tweaked'. That being said, I have started to write book five--Revealed--but am not happy with the beginning that I wrote yesterday. So, I thought I would share it with everyone and (hopefully) get some feedback. How do you think book five should start?

The breeze whispered against my skin, cooling the heat that flamed from within. I blew out a quick breath and shifted my weight, bending my knees and hunching so I could place my palms on my thighs. The campfire was pulsating brightly, higher than usual as I continued to add to its frenzy.

Inhale, exhale.

I imagined my shield coating my skin and, within seconds, felt the snap as the invisible barrier stretched into place around my body to protect me from the emotions of the world. As soon as the tingling faded, I stood tall and envisioned the shield evaporating. In the next instant, I visualized a flame in the palm of my hand and immediately felt the warmth. Mimicking a pitcher in a baseball game, I swung out and watched with satisfaction as the flame flew from my hand into the pit, roaring towards the sky in a plume before fading to a constant burn once more.

Hunching once more, I started to imagine the shield intact, but jumped before completing the task.

"Hey." A tingle ran up my spine as Calin placed his hand on the small of my back, directly on the exposed skin between the hem of my jeans and hoody.

I turned around, relishing the electricity that ran through my body as his hand remained, sliding from my back along my sides until it rested on my hip. I darted my eyes past Calin and back, and a smile tugged my lips up. "I thought you were taking the tent down while I practiced?"

He shrugged. "I enjoyed watching you more."

"Seriously?"

"You don't believe me?"

"I look like a mess." I snorted. "I'm trying to release and absorb energy, plus erect and drop my shield as needed. It's... I'm more sweaty than if I ran twenty laps around school."

"Maybe, but it's fun watching you throw fire." Calin laughed and placed his other hand on my hip, then tugged me closer.

My hands came up between us, and I clasped his shirt in my hands at his stomach because his jacket hung open. Tilting my head back, I smiled. "I thought I was supposed to want to see you sweaty."

"That can be arranged."

"What? Are you going to run around the clearing?"

"I was thinking we could go check out the tent."

"What? No."

Calin laughed. "Not like that, Nora. I just meant that I doubt Devland will come back, so we could check out the tent and finish our snacks from last night before taking it down."

Could we? I bit my lip and thought about the conversation I'd had with Islene, which I still hadn't found a way to tell Calin about. What would he think about his mom tutoring me so I wouldn't have to return to Grimas or the fact that we were supposedly heading out on a road trip to discover my mother's long-held, way too concealed secrets? When Islene had first mentioned it, I'd thought I wouldn't be comfortable without Calin. Now, I didn't know if I should ask him to come. I mean, I couldn't even explain Zachariah to Calin, and I had no clue how impossible whatever I was going to learn would be.

"It's okay if you don't want to," Calin said, obviously misinterpreting my silence. "Why don't you practice some more, and I will really take the tent down."