“I’m afraid the only book I could find with a small section on nullification did not tell me.”
“Figures.”
Sometimes, Farris would play acatch me if you cangame when it was time to go outside. Anything to avoid his collar and leash. Most of the time, he was willing to wear them. He must sense thatwithout them, he wouldn’t be allowed to go outside. But he was a sly little fellow, as Faelith had named him, and if he could find a way to remain free of the restraint, he would. As much as he loved his ball, he adored galloping through the castle halls, making high ladies cry out and shriek.
But I’d found if I stooped down and offered him a treat, he’d come almost every time. He hadn’t yet figured out that snatching the treat from my hand resulted in me grabbing onto his ruff and holding him steady while Faelith secured his collar. Perhaps he never would, because he sure loved treats.
Maybe the treat made it worth being collared.
What kind of treat could I offer nullification power so it would let me slide a collar around its neck?
I searched but couldn’t see the power.
“I feel at a loss here,” I said. “It scooted away as soon as I found it, jumping out the window. I haven’t seen it again.”
“It'll be back. Nothing likes a void, and if there's none inside the tower room, it will feel it needs to return to provide balance.”
“I want to tease it into returning, but should I just shout at it to come back? It might be as cranky as you?—”
“I prefer the word, intense.”
I loved hearing the humor in his voice. “Manipulative.”
“Persistent.”
“Obsessive.”
“Only with you,” he drawled.
If I died in this man's arms at this moment, I'd feel complete.
“In some ways,” I said, “this type of power is like you, the opposite of the simple day power.”
“Which is him.” He chuffed out a laugh. “Simple. I like that. I’m glad you’re finally seeing this clearly, Wildfire.”
The rasp in his voice was my undoing. I opened my eyes and looked up at him, taking in the faint stubble along his sharpjawline, the white slash of his scar, and the warmth in his eyes that I was beginning to believe belonged only to me.
“We've talked about my,” his sly smile rose before it fell too soon, “stunning attributes, and you've so nicely highlighted hissimplecharacteristics. Think of nullification in the same way. Creation versus destruction. Nullification slots cleanly into the middle. It creates nothing but removes everything. It’s a deliberate deletion, like erasing marks on a page in a book. Spells leave traces in the world when cast, like ink, but nullification is scrubbing that ink clean, leaving only a blank page behind.” His voice dropped off to nothing.
Blank like he saw himself?
“Merrick has a warmth about him, I’ll give you that. He’s the light that many people gravitate toward. He's kind, hopeful, and endlessly patient.”
“And this is why you'll love him.”
The pain in his voice, the vulnerability, made it clear he believed that no one would ever love him.
I could not let him think that I couldn't love him as much as I could love Merrick. “Those things are good, and they should be celebrated. But they aren’t everything. They aren’t complete, like you two aren't complete.”
“I'm listening,” he grumbled, his gaze intent on my face.
“You’re not his opposite. You’re not his dark shadow or the negative to his positive. You’re his balance, and he's yours. You cut through what’s false. Not because you want to hurt, but because you won’t pretend. That’s a rare strength. Where Merrick protects, you defend. Where he builds, you fight. People need both.Ineed both. You’d tear the world apart to protect what’s yours, and that…that’s beautiful. You’re passion and storm where he’s calm and sunlight, but neither of those things exists without the other. Storms clear the sky, Lorant. You make the world a safe place for people like him to grow.”
“Reyla,” he rasped, tracing his knuckles across my cheek. His hand slid around to my nape, and he carefully threaded his fingers through my hair, holding me in place.
“Your brutal honesty isn’t something to be ashamed of,” I said. “The way you never compromise on survival, never give in to the idea of failure—that’s kept you alive when so many others would’ve crumbled. You’d fight for me until the last breath, wouldn’t you?”
“I’d battle for you until there was nothing left of me to give. And even then, I'd find a way to lift my blade. To cast a spell. To thrust myself between you and the threat. If every step took me closer to being lost to you, I’d still take them to protect you. To hold you. To shelter you in every way I can.”
