MAXINE

The light ball vanished, scattering in the air. “At this point, I think those binds are useless against you,” I said, coming back to sit next to her.

She shrugged, “Maybe they were never that strong to begin with or maybe Ronan underestimated me.” She shot me a look. “Either way, I’ve been doing my best to practice in secret. I'm getting stronger.”

A thrill of hope went through me. It was like we had discussed, if she could just get a little stronger, Zel might just ...