I'm breathing hard as I drag my suitcase around the Redwood trunk to check out the rest of the cabin.

There's a small kitchenette to my right. It's got a dining table made of a single large, wavy slice of wood, plus a few rustic-looking chairs and a set of cabinets and drawers next to a mini-fridge.

At the back of the cabin, beneath a large window that spans almost the entire wall, there's a curving, cream sectional couch, a round loveseat, and a coffee table that matches the dining table.

Redwood branches sway lazily in the breeze outside, and I let out a breath, willing myself to calm down as I drop my suitcase to the floor.

My anger's a wild thing, still snaking in my gut like a loose wire, and I'm shaking again. Badly.

I can't believe it...

I actually fought back.

I'm proud of myself, and yet...

Did fighting back make it any better? It probably just made everything so much worse for me.

And it definitely didn't do anything to make me less angry.

'Cause I feel even more enraged now.

I wipe a hand down my face, replaying what just happened again in my mind. Bit by bit, my pride and anger drain away, along with whatever's left of my adrenaline, until I feel nothing but... shame.

I collapse on the couch beside my luggage.

I'm so weak. I was so out of control.

I couldn't have stopped myself if I wanted to. If Esme didn't back down, I don't know what I would've done. I felt like I wanted to freakin' murder her.

"What's happening to me?" I whisper.

This morning, the Cerberus agents tried to arrest me, and I acted like a crazy person in front of everyone. And then I took in that Aether and nearly killed them all.

That's not a sign of stable mind.

I can't remember everything that went down in the Chancellor's office, but I do remember how I felt right before I took in the Aether.

I used to have a box where I could stuff all my terrible memories and awful emotions, but that box fell apart, and me with it.

And then the Aether... for some reason, it seemed like it was calling out to me. Like somehow, it could fix everything.

It'd been so... Tempting.

My heart speeds up, and my chest grows warm as I remember the feeling of the immense power I held this morning.

It was amazing.

I want it even now.

Whoa.

Seriously. What the hell is wrong with me? Aether basically ate me from the inside out, yet some part of me still wants it? It's messed up to want something that'll kill you. My mom, with her alcohol, Deb with her cigarettes.

That is not me. I don't have an addictive personality. If I did, I don't think I'd be able to ration my ADHD meds the way I do.

I'm not my mother.

Unlike her, I can control myself.

I will control myself!

I just have to find a way to stuff all these stupid emotions back in the box where they belong.

Esme emerges from her room, heels clicking along the wood floor as she stalks down the corridor toward me. Her attitude's back.

I sit up straight and keep my expression neutral.

"Don't you dare touch anything," she snaps. "I don't care who you think you are. You're not one of us, and you don't belong here. You'll be out of here within the hour."

With a flip of her hair, she storms away, following the curve of the Redwood trunk to the front door. It opens with a whisper and then clicks shut.

Is she really gone? After a full minute of silence, my shoulders sag with relief.

I try to stand up, but black dots dance across my vision, and I waver on my feet. My head feels too hot, and all the things I probably should be doing are jumbled up in an impossible knot in my brain. It's time for my meds.

I grab a bottle of water from the mini-fridge and rifle through my backpack 'til I find them. There are fourteen pills left. That should be enough to get me through the next five days.

Four days of training.

One day of Trials.

I think I can afford to take an entire pill tonight.

I hope.

I swallow it quickly, before I can change my mind, and then start pulling wrinkled orientation papers from my backpack. I gotta read this stuff and figure out what's going on tonight.

As I pull the last pamphlet from my bag, I catch sight of a tablet sitting on the floor next to the loveseat.

Is it Esme's, or did it come with the cabin?

I already know the answer, but I can't stop myself. I'm on the tablet in an instant, tapping the screen. It's locked, of course.

My hatred for her starts twisting around in my gut again, and when the screen lights up, it gets even worse.

The lockscreen picture features a bunch of beautiful, scantily-clad teenagers on a beach. They're smiling and laughing for the camera.

Esme is at one end, looking gorgeous and happy. And right beside her...

It's Caelum.

He's super tan, and his brown hair's shot through with some blond from the sun. He's tall, sexy, strong. I feel my cheeks heat up as I check out his arms and abs. God Damn.

My heart's twisting painfully in my chest, and I don't know why.

Of course they're together. I saw Esme hanging off his arm by the buses, but why should I care? Sure, he helped me when I fell on him in the Hall of Arrangement, but he was rude after that, and I think he was rude to me in the Chancellor's office too.

But then... why did he come back after everyone else evacuated? And what did he say to Chancellor ArchGuardian Visconti, his freakin' Aunt, that made her decide to let me stay for the Trials?

I wish I could remember everything that happened after I took in the Aether, but it's all so foggy.

The screen blurs in front of me until I can't see Caelum's face anymore.

I'm only still here because some idiot boy said something to his jerk of an Aunt, and that alone determined my destiny.

Stupid Guardians and their stupid nepotism. I haven't been here a day, and I already understand they've got a messed up social order where Guardians get the best stuff and Cerberus kids get the leftovers. Maybe Esme's right. Maybe I don't belong here.

God, I hate her! She doesn't deserve... anything she's got.

I clutch the tablet harder, wishing I could smash it. Energy builds up within me, and my anger grows with it, until I'm buzzing with hatred.

Why are there no latches on these windows? Too bad, I'd like to toss this thing out—

A high-pitched tone pierces through my skull, and electricity shoots through my fingertips.

"Ouch!" I drop the tablet, and my eyes widen.

Holy crap. There are tendrils of light encasing every inch of my body, intricately woven into some kind of... cage.

I hold my hands up, and the golden light shimmers with my movement. The cage seems to solidify, and then it fades until I can't see it at all anymore.

But I can still feel it there... I know it's still there. It's too tight. Restrictive.

It's a spell, like the one I saw wrapped around the Cerberus Agents who were hunting me in Port Ashford, only their spell was meant to protect them and make them invisible to onlookers.

But the one wrapped around me? It's a magick-binding spell.

I know that's what it is, because the energy that was rising in me a minute ago was undeniably magick... and the spell's the only thing that stopped me from using it.

I glance back at the tablet, and my heart gets stuck in my throat.

"Oh, no."

A faint wisp of smoke is rising from the device. I gingerly pick it back up and poke the screen.

No response.

I fried it!

Panic starts to rise in me as I drop the tablet to the table with a clatter.

I used magick again, or I tried to. And now I've ruined Esme's tablet. They're gonna kick me out of here, call the Cerberus Agents, and then—

"I detect smoke," a female voice says, making me jump. "Is everything alright?"

***

I am currently finishing revisions on Book Two, but I'm also adapting Atlantis Academy for television. Lots to do! :)

If you are enjoying Lyric's story, it would mean the world to me if you'd share The First Element on social media and with your friends. I have lots written--all the way to Book Four. I have really appreciated your comments and support  as I work through revisions to get the next books completed.

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