A Fractured Light (Beautiful Dark)

and I could still feel it in me. Maybe I could start learning how to protect myself .
    There was one more door upstairs. I opened it to reveal an old cupboard with rows of tiny drawers, like an apothecary’s cabinet. The sort of strange closet that would get built into an old cabin like this. A thrill welled inside me as I thought about what things I might find in these drawers. I pulled the sweater tighter around me and stood on tiptoe to open the top drawer.
    Nothing.
    I moved on to the second drawer. It was empty, too. When my hand touched the tiny handle on the third drawer, sudden heat scorched my skin. I pulled away instantly, but I knew there had to be something in there. Something my powers are reacting to , I realized. Slowly I went to reach for it again.
    “Skye?” Ardith called from downstairs. “We come bearing breakfast!”
    I stared longingly at the little drawer, vowing to come back to it later. “I’ll be down in a second!” I called.
    Asher was rummaging through the kitchen cabinets as I came down the stairs, while Ardith was chopping some root vegetables—carrots and beets and parsnips. I wished she wasn’t there so Asher and I could talk about what had happened.
    “I take it you guys weren’t out hunting?” I joked.
    Asher’s back muscles tensed, but he didn’t turn around.
    “What are you looking for?” I asked, trying to keep up the lightness in my voice.
    “Found it.”
    Asher turned around, an ancient can of coffee and a tin coffee press in hand—the kind Aunt Jo and I took camping with us. He looked up at me, his eyes soft and hopeful. Almost like a peace offering.
    “Coffee!” My body shook like an addict at the thought of a cup. I yelped and threw my arms around him.
    “Hey, let go,” he said, laughing. “You’re only delaying the coffee-making process.”
    I backed away quickly. “Oh, no. Sorry, sorry. Go ahead.”
    He grinned. “Can you break off a few icicles from the windowsill? There’s no running water.”
    My snow boots sat by the door, so I slipped them on and made my way outside into the frosty woods. I hadn’t been out of the house yet, and I had to bring a hand up to shield my eyes from the bright sunlight. The light bounced off the row of icicles hanging from the window ledge, throwing tiny rainbows onto the snow. I squinted, remembering how Asher had caused an icicle to fall from a tree branch, not far enough away from Devin’s head. The memory stirred up something in me, and I felt myself grow hot underneath the heavy sweater. My cheeks burned, despite the frigid temperature outside.
    No, this is good , I thought. Use this.
    I focused all of my energy on one of the icicles hanging from the top of the window frame. As I stared hard, it began to glisten brighter, shining in the sun the way ice does when it’s finally beginning to thaw. A drop of water splashed to the ground below and turned to ice. Then another, and another.
    As I watched, the base of the icicle weakened. It snapped from the sill, and I reached out my hands to catch it. Surprised, I looked up through the window. Asher was staring at me, a strange, thoughtful grin on his face. When he caught my eye, he quickly turned away.
    One by one, I caught the remaining icicles as they fell. Inside, Asher created a fire on the stove and melted the icicles in a dented tin camping pot. Then he made coffee and poured it, steaming, into three chipped blue-and-white ceramic mugs.
    Ardith, Asher, and I had breakfast at the big farm table. Asher grinned at me tentatively over the lip of his mug.
    “Now that I’m feeling better, will you tell me more about that night in the woods with Devin?” I asked. “How did you find this place?”
    Asher’s face suddenly grew serious, and he glanced at Ardith, who nodded slightly.
    “You were losing a lot of blood,” he said. “I knew I didn’t have time to take you to the Rebel camp, and I didn’t know what your powers might cause once you were there. You’d just destroyed an entire clearing in the woods—just because you were angry. It was terrifying.”
    “Wow.” I was capable of doing something like that? It seemed so impossible.
    “I was frantic, and soon I saw this cabin below us. I knew I had to get you here, to save you.”
    “He summoned me,” Ardith said, continuing on. “I’ve never seen him so shaken up. I spun Rebel protections around the house. Fog and rain, heavy snow. To block us from sight.”
    “I kept you warm,” said Asher.