“Whenever you’re ready,” Rafe murmured, then I felt him move away from us.
“What if I’m never ready?” I asked Skye, even if that wasn’t what Rafe was referring to. She stilled, but then breathed out slowly.
“Then we do whatever you want,” she replied. “Whether or not Lucille dies is up to you. But if it were up to me…”
“It would have to hurt,” I said suddenly, surprising myself. A small trickle of anger had made its way down my spine. Talking about my mother’s affinity seemed to have reawakened some of my darker memories. Times when she’d been practically torturing me in an effort to awaken my affinity.
No, it wasn’tpracticallytorturing me. She’d tortured me, full stop.
Shewasevil. And if she found out I was alive…
“Skye,” I whispered harshly. “What if she’s looking for me? What if–”
“She’ll never find you here,” Skye said firmly. “And if she somehow does…”
“I don’t want you in danger. You or Zephyr or–”
“Don’t worry about him,” Skye whispered. “Zephyr is just as scary as me, Aiden.”
That almost drew a smile from me as I remembered the day in the kitchen. Skye watched me for a few more seconds, probably checking me over to make sure my heart wasn’t about to pound out of my chest.
“It’ll hurt,” Skye promised finally. “I can do a lot with this affinity.”
I chuckled, because she’d said it a little suggestively in an attempt to change the mood.
“No one’s going to hurt you anymore,” Skye said against my cheek. “I swear, Aiden. You won’t ever know pain like that again.”
I smiled softly before leaning forward and kissing her.
“You’re stronger than you think,” she went on. “Look at why we’re here. You have a second affinity. And it’s…lightning? Electricity?”
“Hell if I know,” I mumbled. I didn’t know shit about my family history, except for howawesomeLucille was. Any of the men in my family could have held this same affinity and I’d never have known. “It could’ve just been a fluke. I mean, what are the odds that I’m connected to you and–”
Skye did not let me finish that thought. She slapped a hand over my mouth, and fucking hell, the horniness came back with a vengeance.
“You cannot be connected to me and be anything less than extraordinary,” she whispered harshly. “Understand?”
Holy shit?I gulped, then nodded. She really meant that. I could see it in her eyes.
“If you insult yourself, you’re insulting me, too. Is that what you want?”
I shook my head frantically as her words settled. No way would I ever intentionally insult Skye again.
“Good. Now let the Prince help you.”
I continued nodding even as she pulled away from me and uncovered my mouth. I stood up in a bit of a daze, then fought to keep my legs straight my entire way over to the sand bar where Rafe waited.
“Ready?” Rafe asked, his dark eyes looking over me.
I nodded, even though I didn’t feel ready at all.
Skye had already been reading through every old book she owned, and not a single one mentioned anything close to this new affinity. The only affinates who could wield lightning could control all weather, and there’d only been a few of those throughout history, the most recent being a fucking terrorist.
And an affinity for electricity?
I shook my head. Unheard of.
Although…looking between Rafe and Skye…
