Free A Shade of Vampire 26: A World of New by Bella Forrest

it’s like to travel by magic.” It was something I was so used to, I just took it for granted.
    Josh gazed toward the rays of light spilling through the trees, his eyes widening.
    I pulled out an umbrella from my backpack. I opened it and moved to hand it to him so that he could hold it over himself.
    He just looked at me and frowned. “I don’t need an umbrella.”
    “Well, you might feel more comfortable with it,” I said. “As a half-blood, you can tolerate the sun much better than vampires, but it can still be unpleasant. But if you want to try it…” I shrugged. “Up to you.”
    I pushed him out of the shade and into full sun. I watched his reaction closely as the rays touched his skin. He winced, as I’d been expecting him to, though not too much.
    “All right?” I asked.
    “Hm.”
    I glanced up and down the beautiful beach. It was completely empty at this time. It usually was during school hours on a weekday. It was weekends that this place got really packed, and on a Friday after school. Now we had it all to ourselves. I crossed the sand with him, pushing the wheelchair to the border of the ocean. At this point, whatever sensation he was feeling from the sun seemed to have intensified.
    “I’ll have the umbrella now, please,” he said.
    I handed it to him. Then, after making sure his chair’s brakes were on, I left him at the edge of the waves, facing me as I backed into the water.
    “You said you wanted to see what I could do,” I said, scooping up water in my hands. Fixing my eyes on it, slowly I made it rise from my palms, every drop, and take the shape of a ball. I made it swell and churn in my hands, then rise until it reached the level of my neck. Here I paused to catch Josh’s reaction.
    He was staring at me in wonderment. I smirked.
    “How do you… do that?” he asked.
    “I’m not really sure, to be honest.” Manipulating elements like fire and water came as second nature to me. They just responded to my will, the same way my limbs would. Though most fae usually had a leaning toward a particular element—in my and my father’s case, fire— all fae were able to affect other elements also.
    Still molding the ball of water, I moved up to him, bringing it close enough for him to pass his hand through it. Then I relinquished my power, and it disintegrated.
    For the first time, I witnessed him smile. A small, half smile, but a smile nonetheless. He shook his head in disbelief even as he chuckled. “Bloody amazing.”
    He almost looked like a different person when he smiled. His worn, tired face lifted, and his tawny-brown eyes sparkled. I didn’t miss the dimples that formed beneath his sharp cheekbones, either. It made him look softer, younger… more like his age.
    Perhaps the meeting with Safi had helped lift his mood.
    I was surprised by how thrilled I felt at managing to evoke a smile from him.
    As I stood in the water, the waves lapping around my ankles felt so soothing. Therapeutic. Without asking for his permission, I rolled up the ends of his pants before pulling his chair deeper into the water until the waves lapped against his feet.
    I looked to him again for a reaction, but his smile had faded. If anything, he looked slightly awkward, uncomfortable even.
    Then I felt like an idiot as I remembered.
    “You can’t feel that, can you?”
    He shook his head.

Grace
    I drew him out of the water and placed him again at the edge of the waves, where at least he could enjoy the view. We spent almost an hour on Sun Beach, breathing in the fresh air. I did some more water tricks for him and he even attempted to push his wheelchair across the sand. That was definitely too strenuous for him. That was hard work for anyone.
    Then I supposed we ought to return. I pushed him all the way back to the hospital, and as we returned to his floor, I was surprised to see Shayla and Safi outside his room, talking in hushed tones.
    On noticing our approach, they turned to face us.
    “You’re