I dropped down to one knee and touched the ground. “Stop. Sleep. Rest. It’s not time yet.”
The magic flowed to my fingers, and I reached out with magic—and the power I had been granted by Rilen and Roran—and tugged on the strings flowing by. I pulled them to a halt carefully.
The tremor settled around us, and the shaking stopped. Once I was sure the Spine was resting again, I stood up and turned to Jallina.
She grinned. “Well. Damn. You fought so hard last time, and Drez and I were exhausted until the next day!”
“I had no power,” I said. “I couldn’t do anything. I’m so glad that you and Drez were there. Only mated couples can lend power.”
Jallina patted the bench, and I sat, smiling.
I looked at the Spine. I wasn’t tired at all, and it felt good to be able to handle the magic again.
“Do you know when the Spine will fall?”
“No. I’ll know when the magic feels right, though.”
“How many tremors have you stopped?”
“Five. The first I didn’t realize I was supposed to stop, and that’s why so many people were hurt. Each has its own color, and they come in about five- or six-day cycles.”
“And that’s why they took this chance to head north. They knew they’d be back in time for the next one. They are coming back, right?”
“Of course. They just need time to attend to duties and appoint a keeper.”
Jallina sighed. “I still can’t believe…”
“Believe what?”
“I’m not even sure whether I want to mention the twins, the magic or the temple master!”
* * *
I settled into my bed for the third night alone.
It was strange to dislike being alone, but I did. For ninety-two years, I’d had my own bed. After just two weeks with Rilen and Roren, even my normal bed felt too small and empty without them.
I didn’t want to sleep in Master Dorian’s quarters without them there.
For as many nights as I had been in the bed, sharing his mates with his permission, not once had the temple master slept there with us.
Each morning I woke, he was seated in the chair, my clothes for the day next to him.
Each day, I had to get out of bed naked—because the twins almost never let me keep my bedclothes on—and walk to the chair naked.
Master Dorian would watch me dress and send me on my way.
I didn’t understand him.
I didn’t understand what he was doing, or why.
Still, if my biggest humiliation to sharing his mates was to have to flounce around the bedroom naked, I felt like it was a small price to pay.
Nearly asleep, the bedroom door banged open. I shot up in bed, magic at the ready.
“What are you doing in here, girl?”
Rubbing my eyes, I managed to pull up a magical light and the sheets that had nearly gotten away from me.
