One by one, Rummy took them on.
Until dozens of powers had been poured into her.
She stood taller than ever. The ritual did not drain her energy; it did the opposite. She thrived with a new sense of life, and it was written all over her face every time that light of magic flashed.
I stood in the back of the room as the last vampyre exited. I nudged against that internal bond, testing Rummy to make sure she was okay, to let her know I was there.
Eventually, though, it was my turn. I was the last of the gifted that hadn’t given my power to Rummy.
A power I pretended not to have for most of my life. A power that I often wished didn’t exist at all.
While the mages continued to chant around Rummy, I stepped forward and slipped my hands into hers. Her surprise echoed through our internal link and I felt the next words from her before I heard them.
“What are you doing?” she breathed.
“What everyone else has done. I’m giving you magic.” I could feel Huntyr, Wolf, and Xavier stiffen behind me, but I ignored them. I kept my focus on Rummy and on my racing heart.
This was the only thing that mattered. Preparing Rummy for this fight was more important than any power I tried to hide, than any secret I stowed away.
So, the mages continued. My hands shook as they spoke, but Rummy squeezed them tight. “We accept this vessel for all that is good, for all that is powerful, for all that is true.”
A warm sensation filled my body from my toes to the top of my head. My eyes fluttered closed as the power radiated through me, and like an outstretched hand, it cascaded toward Rummy.
“From one vessel to another,” the mages continued, “we give you the power of heart force.”
The next few moments felt like hours as I tried to gauge everyone’s reactions. Rummy’s mostly. Her eyes widened, and I could feel through the bond that my power had reached her.
“As we will it, it shall be. The goddess blesses this request.” The mages stopped their chanting and stepped away.
Next, Rummy let go of my hands.She hates it,I thought.She feels my power and she wants nothing to do with it. Heart force is nothing but a damn joke.
Rummy turned around, running her hands through her hair and taking long, slow breaths.
I felt Wolf staring at me, eyes like daggers. He was the only one aside from my father who ever knew about my gift. I’dlocked it away a long time ago—that was the safest option in The Golden City back then.
Heart force power.
When I wasn’t stowing my power away, I could sense emotions. I could sense the essence of a person just by reaching out to the invisible tether.
A useless gift,my father called it.Too soft to be any help in his kingdom.
“Rum?” Huntyr asked, taking a tentative step forward. “It’s over now. It’s done. How are you feeling?”
A few seconds went by, and I thought Rummy didn’t hear Huntyr at all. But then, she lifted her chin and turned to face me.
And she opened the wall to our bond entirely.
Everything she’d been feeling flooded through. All the stress, the strength, the magic. I sucked in a sharp breath and her legs wobbled. It took me two seconds to slip an arm around her waist.
“Jessiah,” she muttered. “I can feel itall.”
Chapter 35
Rummy
Tears streamed down my face, and for the first time in my life, I didn’t give a shit that every eye in the room was on me, that every person in attendance witnessed my moment of weakness.
I didn’t give a shit about anything butthis.
