Free The Wicked by Stacey Kennedy Page A

deciphering between all the layers of my magic. After I pushed away Fire, pushed away the Spirit connection with Zia, there was little feeling left. Did I understand it? Hell no. But I drew on it anyway.
     
    Air instantly began to grow around me—wind whipping around my body, and with that, I released it. A split second later, Zia began laughing hysterically.
     
    I snapped my eyes open. Zennah had wind whipping around her body in such a way that made her skirt fly straight over her head. She attempted to put it down, but the wind wouldn’t allow it. So, there she stood in her red lace undies, fully exposed.
     
    “Oh shit,” I gasped, closing my eyes quickly, and focusing on the Air, withdrawing, quieting.
     
    “You bitch,” Zennah snarled, pushing her skirt back into place.
     
    As wrong as it was to laugh, I couldn’t help it. “I did warn you.” I chuckled.
     
    Zennah’s glare deepened.
     
    “She did,” Zia interjected. “Now, let’s move on.”
     
    “Well, I see you do have some talent there,” Zennah said, her glare vanishing as she smoothed out her skirt until it was perfectly in place. “Without touching me your Air affected me.” That almost sounded like a compliment. “But your lack of control is pitiful.” Compliment over.
     
    “Well, I’m working on it,” I retorted.
     
    “And so you should be.”
     
    Zia interrupted again. “Let’s move on, please.”
     
    Zennah glanced to her, then back to me. “Yes, let’s move on. I have better things to do than be here. I will put this in simple terms for you.”
     
    Bitch!
     
    “You’re having trouble controlling your Air because you are forgetting to use it effectively. You just can’t send it out without having a plan first. It does not control you. You control it. Do you understand me so far?” Her tone clearly insinuating that I was mentally challenged in some way.
     
    I nodded. Fucking bitch!
     
    “When you use the Air Element defensively you can use it in any way you choose. There is no limit to what you can do with it, but you have to use your head. You can’t just say, go air, save me .”
     
    I ignored her snotty tone. “What you’re saying is all I have to do is believe in what I want and anything will happen.”
     
    “Exactly. Isn’t all that hard is it?”
     
    “Nope. Not hard all at.” Then, I thought in my mind, Love to see you pick up a sword, you slithering slut.
     
    Zia chuckled again.
     
    When Zennah looked her way, Zia immediately stopped. “Oh my Nexi, your kitty is very funny.” We all looked toward Willow who was sound asleep on the ground. Zia cleared her throat. “You must have missed it.”
     
    I smiled back at Zia.
     
    “Anyway, with Air you need to think light,” Zennah said. “You have the Fire ability, right?” I nodded so she continued. “Air isn’t anything like Fire. It isn’t hot or potent. It’s wispy and free. That is why it’s coming out so intense when you are using it. You are putting too much into it. Demanding too much of it. It’s why you’re causing a bloody tornado with it.”
     
    “What do I do with it then?”
     
    “This is ridiculous,” she said, eyeing me as if I was a tick stuck in her skin. “Why such a strong element would be granted to someone like you is beyond me.”
     
    “Just get through this,” Zia said quickly in my mind.
     
    “Yeah, well, you’ve got me,” I responded. “I didn’t ask for any of this, but here I am with it. So let’s get rid of all this snippety talk and just get this over with. Trust me, I’m enjoying this about as much as you are.”
     
    “Fine then, close your eyes,” Zennah retorted. “If you can handle that?” As she continued, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Air isn’t a warm element. It’s cold. Does your body feel cold to you at all?”
     
    “Not really—I just feel a spark of power, but it’s not cold.” I wasn’t quite sure what it was, except that there was definitely a source