“Do you have to touch me?” I ask, my voice shaky.
His brows lower. “Does the thought of my touch repulse you?”
“No!” I gasp out, realizing my mistake. “I… I have these disgusting scars on my hands.”
“Do you find my scar disgusting?” he asks calmly.
My gaze lowers to his left jaw, trailing down the elongated scar. The longer I look, the more I realize there’s something undeniably magnetic about it. “I do not,” I reply softly.
“I do not see yours that way, either.”
Something stirs in my gut. I push away the sensation as I slowly uncover my hand and lower it to the journal. Wrath’s hand covers mine, eclipsing my scars with his palm. I can feel his breath against my skin as he steps closer. The mark on my arm flares to life as magic flows between us.
“Try to will it to open,” Wrath instructs.
“What do you mean?”
“Close your eyes.” His lips hover above my ear. I do as told. “Breathe.”
Drawing a deep breath, I exhale through my lips, letting the tension in my body ease. It’s hard to focus with Wrath so close. I try to sense the magic around us, searching for something… anything to hold onto, but I only feel the leather under my palm.
“What if I light it on fire?” I whisper.
“Shhh…” Wrath shushes me softly. “What do you feel?”
“Your hand.”
“Obviously,you impudent woman,” he replies. “What else?”
Inhaling another deep breath, I try to find something. Wrath’s magic spreads across my skin like wildfire, igniting every nerve in my body. It takes hold, slowly beckoning me toward a source.
“Power,” I whisper.
“Now harness it.”
I silently will the book open in my mind. Channeling the power I feel in my veins, I push. A white light erupts from my palm, the force so strong it blows me off my feet. I hit the cold and unyielding stone floor with a heavy thump, the air huffing out of my lungs.
“You overcharged,” Wrath says as he shakes out his right hand. Tiny wisps of silver magic flow from his fingertips and dissipate into the air.
“I’m supposed to know what that means?” I grumble in pain.
“If you try to seize too much at once, the magic backfires because of the curse. Instead, you need to focus on drawing it from the earth,” he explains.
“That would have been helpful to know beforehand!” I declare, pushing my palms into the stone as I stand. Adjusting my dress back into place, I try to compose myself.
“I wanted to see if you could do it at all.” Wrath shrugs.
“That was magic?”
“I channeled a significant amount of my power into you. But yes, you cantechnicallyuse magic,” he replies reluctantly.
My lips quirk up in a slight smile at the realization. I wielded magic…realmagic. The thrill of the unknown beckons me. If I stayed in Avelisar, I might never have learned I could do such a thing.
“You seem excited for someone who wants to live as a simple village girl,” he taunts me. My excitement fades faster than a candle snuffed of air. I narrow my eyes at him, and his mouth tilts—not quite a smile, but close enough to make my pulse jump again. “Try again, Princess.”
Walking over to the book, I set my hand on the cover again. Wrath’s rough palm brushes against my skin as he laces his fingers with mine. Closing my eyes, I take steady breaths and strengthen my resolve.
The book will open. It will open. It’s going to open.
