Seren frowned. “Not too difficult for me.”
Her fingers wrapped stubbornly around the wand, cradling it to her chest where a gentle knowing lived. Over the month, she’d come to better understand her magic, had grown confident in it . . . all that was left was banishing her fear, and here it was, within her grasp.
“All right. You’ll need to do a Valintorstance and follow the pattern of old Endon. Twice in each direction while channeling from your deepest power source. Unlike our new and advanced augures, wands are finicky. Old. As I’m sure you know, most were replaced long ago. You’ll need to get it just right.”
His words were a foreign language to her. Of course, she didn’t know how to do any of those things. She’d only had a month of classes under her belt, and they certainly hadn’t used wands, which were restricted to the advanced-level upper classes of Fledglings and Ravens—third and fourth-year witches. He smiled and seemed to see right through to those twisting thoughts of doubt.
“How about a compromise? You don’t have to let go of the wand, but step over here, and I’ll guide you through the movements. I get through and you learn something that even most Fledglings haven’t attempted. What do you say?”
Seren bit her lip, plagued with uncertainty. She’d never been one to cave to the will of another. Not so readily, at least.
“Tell me,” she urged. “Tell me the truth and, I’ll step over this boundary line now to let you in.” There was a challenge in her, one she was almost certain he would meet. A test of wills. A dare to dance with reality instead of shadow and deception.
He sighed, running a hand through his hair, but his expression settled into something solemn. The first glimpse of what really lay beneath the mask. “There’s something in the Tower that was stolen from my family, a very long time ago. I’ve been searching for it for the last two years.”
“Stolen?” Seren took a moment to imagine one of the Calami witches stealing something so precious from a wizard. “Can you not go to your headmaster? Or Headmistress Sidonia?”
“No.” He seemed as if he were struggling to rein in a mix of emotions. “No, I can’t, Seren. But I can promise you, if you let me across and help me find it, I will show you how to use that wand and guarantee you pass the year's final trial.”
Seren pursed her lips, tempted to refuse, but then the wolrpia was there, and the pressing darkness and fear she needed to get past. That she would doanythingto get rid of.
A small shake of her head had her back at the edge of the meadow.
“Fine.”
She took one step forward, toes nearly brushing the invisible barrier line when she pulled up short. He’d moved to stand just on the other side, and she lifted her chin to glare up into his eyes.
“ButI swear if you double cross me, Darkmore, you will suffer for it.”
That wicked smirk returned, and he seemed to transform back into the wizard she’d first stumbled upon. “Anything less would be a disappointment.”
Taking in a deep breath, Seren stepped over the boundary line, wondering again if she was making a mistake. Hadn’t she learned by now not to put her trust in other people? Her mother, Bella, even her father had abandoned her to an early demise. She’d been let down so many times.Too many times.Something in her was broken. All she had left was her magic.
To her relief, he took a small step back, giving her space to settle in beneath the trees.
“What now?” she asked. False confidence battled with her uncertainty.
“May I?” He motioned to reach for her arm, the one that wasn’t holding the wand.
Seren nodded and his touch found the soft curve of her wrist while the other came down to rest on the opposite hip as he moved behind her. With a steady hand, he guided her arm, positioning it low at her side before using his foot to press at her inner ankle, widening her stance. Behind her, she stiffened at the steady rise and fall of his chest brushing her back, fighting the urge to recoil from it despite having so long lacked human touch. Perhaps something was wrong with her. Perhaps she couldn’t feel at all anymore.
Focus,she growled at herself. His hand moved off her hip to carefully grip the wrist of her wand-bearing arm.
“Like this.“ He dipped down, closing their height gap so that his breath brushed over her dark hair and tickled the ear beneath it. His forceful power settled over her when his hand closed around hers, grasping the wand so they held it together. The thing hummed more intensely, as if sensing their joined magic and struggling to meet the overwhelming demand of it.
In a series of motions, he guided her, forming a star-like pattern in the air. The tip of the wand glowed with his vibrant green. “Come on,” he urged. “Add your magic.”
Seren begged her mind to focus. To call up the magic that dwelled deep inside of her as her muscles finally relaxed and the pattern became familiar. In the distant wood, the cry of a raven sounded, but she didn’t let it distract her. An exhilarating rush of power was flooding her veins. Intense, pleasurable. She felt Cal’s smile against her cheek as a twist of black joined in with his green, and the barrier glowed and then split down the center to form something of a door.
“Quickly.” He practically scooped her off her feet and carried her through the opening. Behind them, the blue of the barrier regrew before fading to its usual invisibility. His touch slid away from her, and a breathless laugh sounded from deep in his chest.
“We did it.” Seren grinned, her heart a wild, pounding thing within her.
“It was mostly me.” Cal winked like they’d known each other forever. Like this was a joke they often shared and there was an intimacy between them that was as natural as breathing.
How can he be so calm?Her magic was still racing beneath her skin, almost painfully so. She’d never done magic like that. It felt so ancient. So real. Cal reached for her hand, and it ebbed slightly. She forced herself still.
He turned then, beaming at the darkened Tower, and whispered, “finally,” so softly that Seren wasn’t sure she’d heard him right.
