I shake my head. I don’t have a single clue other than knowing deep down it’s us.
“I think I found the answer to your magic.” I grab a hefty tome that looks seconds away from falling apart. “It mentions the gods mentioning a gift of starlight heat. You said the shadows kept repeating Light-bringer. And you’ve been called the harbinger of light.” Her eyes widen, grabbing the book from my hands, making me chuckle.
She reads through the page I marked quietly, nodding. “Okay, but I don’t have light.”
“Yet,” I say. “You don’t have light yet. Raea, we shouldn’t even have these powers yet, and here we are. What if we need to complete the Bond to gain access?”
I’ve been practicing my own powers in secret, eager to finally show them to her. With her face buried in the text, I open my palm and send a chilly blast of air her way. The pages ruffle, and she drops the book, looking at me questioningly.
“You—” she squeals, bouncing on her knees. “You figured it out. Do it again,” she breathes out.
Her excitement brings a smile to my lips. I love her like this. Hell. I think I love her. I shake the thought away, adding it to the growing pile of things I feel for the woman in front of me. She’s not ready for that.
With another wave of my hand, a cool blast of airwhooshesher way. "I can't figure out how to get warm air," I admit, the chill lingering on my fingertips. "But I'm close."
Her face scrunches adorably, a thoughtful frown creasing her brow. "When we were on Sgya," she begins slowly, her gaze distant, as if reliving the moment. "Did you heal me?"
“No?" I shake my head, the memory hazy. "I don't think so."
“But when you touched me," she insists, her curious eyes meet mine. "I felt a cool wave flow through me, like a soothing balm, and it healed the pain, that burning sensation." She pauses, a new idea sparking. "Can you summon water?"
My focus immediately shifts inward, to the well of magic within me. I try to think of water, envisioning a clear stream, but nothing happens. I groan, frustrated when I can’t figure it out. She picks up the ancient book, biting down on her lip as she reads.
“Can I try summoning it with you?" The words tumble out as a hopeful question.
Without a response, the book falls to the floor with a softthud,already forgotten. Her eyes heat in a way I’ve never seen and there’s something seductive about the way she crawls to me, feigning innocence, but I see the smile she’s attempting to conceal. She knows exactly what she’s doing. The air between us crackles as she slips into my lap, her legs bracing my hips.
Fuck me.
“What do you need?" she asks breathlessly.
I growl, tugging her body flush with mine, my mouth immediately claiming hers. Her lips part, a soft sigh escaping as I bury my tongue in her mouth,tastingher. She gasps, her body melting against mine in an instant.
As our kiss deepens, I reach for that well of magic within me. Beside the strand I instinctively tug for air, a new one shimmers—a vibrant blue. I pull on it, willing warm water to my palm. Nothing. No sensation of power, no shift in the air. Yet, she smiles against my lips.
“Do you know how good that feels?” she murmurs, her voice thick with pleasure as I draw back just enough to see her face. “It's like a warm shower, soothing over my nerves."
I had no idea anything was even happening. “I don't have control over it,” I confess.
“Yet,” she responds, her eyes sparkling with challenge. She kisses me once more, a soft, deliberate press, then climbs out of my lap, reclaiming her space.
“Now,” she declares, turning her back to me, "I need to read without distractions.” The lingering heat in my lap and the imprint of her body keeps me distracted, though.
thirty-six
. . .
raea
HaveI spent the rest of my evening thinking about Ryker’s magic? Yes. Yes, I have. Out of every book we went through, the only things that stood out were the prophecy and the paragraph about the balance of starlight being a gift to the second daughter.
Cryptic, as always.
I can’t help but wonder if Professor Becca was right. Spending time with Ryker is proving to be an awakening. Beneath the dark, asshole exterior, he’s full of life and emotions, and he’s everything I could want in a partner. I could spend hours with him and never tire of talking to him.
Trysten drops padded gloves at my feet as he stalks into the gym. “Today, you’ll be learning how to use your fists.” He straps the gloves to my hands before positioning me in front of a punching bag hanging from the ceiling.
With his guidance, I learn how to strike and recover, shielding my face and body properly. Once he thinks I have the basics down, he leads me to the center of one of the training mats.
