MADE

Sapphire

I barely had time to finish my eggs before Alaric was kicking my ass literally out the door and out to the side of the lake. Of course, I swore and cussed at him the whole way out, but he only grinned as I stumped into the old maple tree.

Elijah came up to stand beside me, bare feet in the sand as Alaric stood on the dock mocking my every move like I had my own comedy show. The sun was hitting his silver eyes just right muting the grey to a near shade of white. It made him look ethereal, like a ghost in bright light.

"So, now what?" I asked looking quizzically up at Elijah. His green eyes were scanning over the water but darted to me for a quick moment.

"Well, you seem to take after your mother in most things," he said pressing his lips together. "So, we are nearly certain you retained her gift of water rather than your father's flames," he said looking at me with more seriousness than I would have liked.

"We have to lift your seal first," Alaric said jumping off the dock and onto the sand. He stalked toward me, eyes trained on the lake.

"Lift my seal?" I asked glancing at the two of them. They were now both on either side of me. I felt tiny next to them, and I wasn't short by any means.

"Islanders are born with a seal over their gifts so as not to be overcome with them at a young age. Eventually, the seal is pulled back to allow the body to adjust to power slowly. Most are given full control by their seventeenth year." Elijah glanced at me before continuing. "But your seal was never pulled back, leaving your abilities unreachable."

"Oh," I replied dumbly, "So how do we pull back the seal?"

Elijah just motioned for me to kick off my sandals and follow him into the water.

Elijah's hands reached for the edge of his shirt and tugged upwards. Time slipping into slow motion as his back shifted with muscles and power. His tanned skin was tight over his back and arms, casting dark shadows into the deep hollows of flesh. He turned back to me, the defined stomach straining with the movement. The waistband of his dark jeans hung off his hips impossibly low.

I snapped my eyes closed as I shook my head, trying to dislodge the images from my brain.

"You're crazy if you think you're getting my shirt off that easily," I snapped at him, suddenly angry.

He only chuckled. "No Mari," he said softly smiling. "I wasn't trying to suggest anything like that."

"I disagree," Alaric said walking past me and back to the dock. "I believe the shirt should come off," He said eyeing me once more. "Yep shirt off! It's a safety thing, Mari. Don't need you getting hurt now do we?" he mocked.

"The only one that's going to be hurt is you after I drown you in this lake." I grit my teeth. Elijah only chuckled at us as Alaric smirked and I glared.

Elijah's hand then grabbed my arm and pulled me back to attention. "Ready?" he asked.

I nodded, and we began to walk out into the water until it reached my waist. The water was warm for it only being the beginning of summer.

Elijah turned to face me, as he put his hands on my shoulders. "Do you believe this Mari?" he said.

"Well, I guess I do. Otherwise, when I woke up this morning you wouldn't still be here," I said looking through the water to see my blurry pale feet. I was still aware of the scowl on my face.