He lifted one eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
“Once I’ve dressed, you can teach me the spell. I’m notchanging in front of you or learning with my dress gaping across my chest.”
“A pity.” He pivoted on his heel and strolled over to the window, staring out at the darkness beyond.
I dressed quickly. “All set.”
He turned and watched while I strapped on my short blades, tightening the belts around my thighs to keep them from making even a whisper when I moved. I reached for my sword.
He grunted. “You won’t need that tonight, Wildfire.”
“Perchance, I will.”
A vein throbbed in his temple. “You should remain here where you’re safer.”
“I’m going with you. If you try to lock me in, I’ll flit to the hall or the foyer and follow.”
“And I’ll promptly bring you back andmakeyou remain here.”
“You can’t make me do anything.”
“In that, Wildfire, you’re very wrong.”
I lifted my chin, meeting his gaze squarely. “I will never let you pin me down.”
His low growl rang out. “Alright. You will remain behind me, cloaked in your shadows. Don’t make a sound. Don’t get in the way. And if I— Keep your mouth closed. Your eyes too.”
“How sweet that you want to protect naïve little me.” I sauntered toward him, savoring the heat exploding in his eyes with each step I took. Pulling a blade, I poked the tip against the bottom of his chin, though not hard enough to break the skin. “I refuse to stand behind you while you fight battles,Lorant.”
He snorted. “I suspected you’d say something like that.” A snap of his hand, and he held my blade. His slick smile rose. “Who is underestimating whom, my pretty little bride?”
“You.” I gouged forward with my other blade I held against his belly. “Your liver may not enjoy my tender touch.”
His laugh rang out, stunning me all over again with its beauty. “This is why I like you so much, Wildfire. You’re as untamed as me.”
“Don’t forget my sweet side.” I took back my blade from him, sliding them both into their sheaths at my waist.
“This is why you’re so aptly suited for both the day and the night.” He strode around me but stopped by the door, pivoting to lean against it. “Nullification spell, then we’ll leave. I don’t want to waste the entire night.”
Nibbling on my fingernail, I nodded.
“This is how we’re going to do it.” His voice dropped into that no-nonsense, hard-edged cadence he used when his patience was thinner than parchment. “Get out of your head. No second-guessing, no overthinking, no doubts. You’ve already felt the nullification power up in the tower. I’ve learned a little bit more about how to call this kind of magic, to hold them, and make them perform the spell before they slide from your grasp.”
I crossed my arms on my chest. “Easy, right,” I said dryly. “Toss aside my doubts, trust my instincts, then nullify the very nature of someone else’s magic.”
“Exactly.” Not a touch of humor came through in his voice. Rejoining me by the bed, he took the silver ball and held it up between us, rolling it across his leveled palm as his gaze stayed locked on mine. “Let’s assume for the moment this was truly changed by Erisandra’s glamour, her power. That means her magic is locked to the ball’s outer layer, masking its original form. That binding is what you’re going after.”
I stepped closer. “How do I rip it apart?”
“You’re not ripping the spell apart. Let’s get that straight. You’re severing its connection to the diary. Different concept, Wildfire. Pay attention.” He tossed the ball onto the bed and faced me again. “If you attack it head-on, Erisandra’s spell will remain. It will seeyour power as an attack and entrench itself deeper into the book. What you’re going to do is slip beneath the area where her spell clings. That’s the weak point, the place where her spell is thinner than thread.”
“Alright.”
“There are no guideposts for this. No step-by-step instructions. You've got nothing to work with but instinct and the small amount of knowledge I discovered in a few random books.”
I drew in a breath and pushed it back out, thinking. Calling power for shadows felt easier now, but it had come to me slowly at first. Experience and a lot of luck had refined my ability to call it, though I still had a long way to go. Nullification, on the other hand, was a “figure it out now or you die” sort of thing.
Lorant’s hands settled on my shoulders. I fought the warmth rolling off him, the sense of safety he projected, and focused on his words. “Close your eyes.”
