“What do I have to do with it?” I asked.
Xan’s face pinched. He turned and helped me remove my cloak. “You’ve spent the last three days in my home. There is a lot of speculation as to, um, ouractivities.”
I blinked a few times before realizing what he meant. “Oh, wow, so the rumor mill is working overtime.”
Ezra snorted, and Xan slightly relaxed.
“You’re not upset?” he asked.
“Well, I don’t know what they are saying. But when I first came here, Angela started some pretty bad ones, including how much I liked objects stuffed up my butt and would ride anything for coin.” I wrinkled my nose. “I was crazy for almost twenty-five years, people talk. My dad’s advice might not have been right, but it wasn’t bad. The less I react, the less fun I am to talk about. So, no, I’m not upset.”
Xan rolled his shoulders before pulling me into his chest. “I’ll address the rumors, I promise. I’m just focused on you and only you.” His chest rumbled against mine, and I had to remind myself we were just friends. He released me to open the trapdoor. A short drop later, and we landed in the domed room of crazy carvings and graffiti.
For the next hour, Xan had Ezra fetching us objects and tools until Ezra couldn’t ignore his work any longer and had to abandon us. With the hatch shut, the layers of dizzying colors twisted, making it difficult to focus on my tasks and forcing me to keep my gaze in one place.
I’d already destroyed five items holding small amounts of power, including another of the pebbles from my placements. All five made little dragons, who looked up at me with adoring eyes before dive-bombing the Alun and vanishing.
“I mean”—Xan lifted his hands into the air—“your Majekah breaks things into base components, right? So what’s the baseof magic?”
I blinked rapidly.
Xan steepled his fingers and answered his own question. “No one really knows, but I would argue it’s imagination. Everyone twists the energy of the world, making it their own magic.” He gestured to me. “What’s the most magical thing you can think of?”
I snorted. “Probably a dragon.”
“Dragon by-product.” Xan grinned. “Why not?”
I bit my lips together to keep from laughing, and Xan handed me another object.
As we worked, the tiny space grew very warm. Xan stripped off his shirt, and after a few minutes, I followed suit. He was gay. My lacy bra shouldn’t have mattered. But when his eyes dropped to the straps across my chest and he shut them tight, I wasn’t so sure.
Maybe it did something, or maybe I just wanted it to.
I bit my bottom lip. What if they wanted more than just touching me? Did I want that?
Before my mind could wander, Xan opened his eyes. “You can teleport.”
Not sex. Magic. I have magic. I had to stop thinking about sex.
“Is that normal?” I managed to ask.
Xan shook his head. “No. And not just because every individual has only one unique magic, but moving a physical object, much less a person, takes power and a lot of it.”
“I have two magics,” I said. “Probably the one I was born with, and then maybe my teleportation came about as a defense mechanism. Or maybe because everything was always my fault, teleportation was the only thing I could do that only affected me.”
Xan reached for my hand. “Everything’s not your fault.”
I squeezed his hand. “Then, Knowledge Daddy, what’s the plan?”
Xan groaned and ran his hand down his face. “Please don’t call me that, especially wearing only…” He adjusted his pants.
The need between my legs flared. I almost pointed out Ezra wasn’t here, then shut up. It wasn’t his lust. It was mine. Right. Chill, Quinn.
“Talk to me about what you feel right before you black out and teleport,” Xan asked.
I did. It was mostly stories of terror and panic. A few times in my old life, I’d known it was coming and focused on the forest right before my panic attack hit, and then woke up from my blackout there. But it hadn’t been consistent.
“Heightened emotions are the commonality,” Xan mused.
