Free Scorching Secrets by Kaitlyn Hoyt Page A

create a large pile of wood for me?” I nod and turn my attention to the forest in front of me. I close my eyes and push my magic out, picturing dead branches of wood creating a large pile in front of me.
    “Now what?”
    “Ok, now I want you to go stand near the house and get a running start. Halfway there, I want you to do some of those flip things that you can do.”
    I giggle at his expression. “Flip things?”
    “You know what I mean. While you are flipping, I want to see if you can call magic to you and strike lightning into that pile of wood when you stop.”
    “Is that all?” He glares at me. “Ok. Flip. Concentrate. Strike. Got it.”
    I start to back up, getting closer to the house. I take a couple of deep breaths and concentrate on creating lightning. Liam takes a few steps back and nods at me. With one more intake of air, I start to run forward. After a couple of steps, I do a double full twist while visualizing lightning striking the wood. Flipping on grass is more difficult than doing it in a gym, since the ground is uneven and not spring loaded. I stop flipping halfway to the woodpile and push out the magic. I’ve only ever put a shield around myself before, but seeing the amount of magic going toward the wood, I use the last of my energy to create a large enough shield to protect everyone in the yard.

    Colton
    I turn toward Bragden and ask, “What is she doing?”
    “I’m sure we are about to find out.” Running toward the wood, Ryanne jumps into the air and flips before twisting her body a couple of times. When she lands back on the ground, she turns around and doubles over. The large pile explodes; wood catapults in all directions. Bragden and I fall to the ground to avoid being hit when the wood seems to hit an invisible barrier. Bragden looks over at me confused. Shrugging because I have no idea what actually happened either, I look across the yard at Ryanne and see her standing there with her eyes closed, her face furrowed in concentration.
    When all the pieces of wood stop raining down, Ryanne collapses. Bragden and I jump up and run toward her. Liam beats us to it since he is closer. Before Liam gets to her, she starts to move.
    He helps her sit up. “Are you ok?”
    She smiles up at Liam. Bragden and I make it over to her, right as she says, “It worked.”
    “What was that?” David asks when they reach her.
    Logan pushes through everyone. “Are you hurt?”
    She looks around at all of us, looking for something. “None of you got hit with any flying pieces of wood?” We all shake our heads. Liam removes his hand from her back. Pushing off the ground, she attempts to get up.
    Logan stops her. “Maybe you should stay seated for a little bit.” She brushes him off. Liam stands up and reaches a hand down to help her up. She takes it and sways as she stands.
    “I didn’t think that would work. I’ve never created a shield that big before. I didn’t think I made it big enough to cover everyone.” Her smile gets wider. A shield? She created a shield?
    “You created a shield?” I ask.
    “Is that why the wood just stopped moving toward us?” Emma asks with wide eyes.
    “Yeah, I just pushed a lot of magic out right after the lightning. I pictured this wall between us and the wood. I did it once while I was in the dream world with Liam. I didn’t know if it would work here, but I tried it anyway. I didn’t want anyone getting hurt because of me.”
    “I’ll admit, when I first thought of that, I thought it would take a couple of tries for it to work. I’m really impressed that you were able to do that on the first try,” Liam says and then turns to everyone else. “I didn’t tell her anything about a shield. I didn’t know she could do that.” I look toward Ryanne and notice her swaying. I take a couple of steps toward her.
    “Ryanne, are you ok?” I touch her arm, trying to get her to look at me, but she is staring at the ground, blinking rapidly.
    “I’m a little