Me neither, but I wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth.
I need you to let go of me. My magic isn’t cooperating.
No.
Rowan! I’m serious. Stop being a…
Bear? Male who cares about you?
A stubborn ass!
I’m not letting go. In fact, I’m going to see if I can help.
Rowan. I’m not sure how we’re communicating right now. I’m extremely freaked out and will examine it later, but right now, I’m about to go to battle with some dark sludge. You have a lot more to lose than I do. Let go of me and go back to the Keep. The last time I was trapped, it ended up being days. You can’t be gone for that long.
Says who? Are you forgetting I’m Lord?
Godsdammit, Rowan. Let go!
Outside of this place, I felt him shift, twisting until he scooped me into his arms and settled me into his lap.
This is not the time for you to feel me up.
Amusement trickled through our bond.I’m aware. If we need to take off running, I’m quicker than you, and this position will allow me to get up faster.
No funny business.
I would never,he swore, his mental voice oozing charm.I’m going to try something.
My magic was still circling that black spot, but had pulled back some, curious about Rowan, too.
Outside, he linked our hands together, his calloused fingers scraping over my palms. A soft green light sank into the ground below our feet, its shape akin to roots.
Rowan. He was not what he said he was. Or not only what he said. Rowan was much more than he seemed.
But he was intently concentrating on that magic moving toward mine and said nothing until it stopped right next to my tourmaline-colored power.
Think we can merge them?
No idea, but I can try.I nudged my already questing power toward Rowan’s. The moment mine touched Rowan’s, the normal watermelon tourmaline color flashed a burnished gold, something I had never seen or felt it do before, and the two powers twisted together into something new, something that reminded me a bit of a DNA helix. Cool, wild magic rushed over my soul, the feeling unlike anything I’d ever experienced. Not bad, but different.
Should we be worried about this?
You’re trapped underground due to misbehaving power. Let’s worry about that before we worry about our magic melding.He paused.Let’s see if we can clear whatever this is before we don’t have a choice.
Ready?I was anything but.
Let’s go.
As one we pushed toward that darkness, our melded power seeking straight toward the heart of the mass. At first, nothing happened, only a slight sense of resistance as we pushed through, both of us straining with the effort.
An oily sense of malevolence fell onto my shoulders, a wet, suffocating blanket of darkness blocking out everything good.
Rowan sucked in a breath.Keep pushing, he gritted.
Underneath us, the ground rumbled, snow shifting and sliding against our bodies outside. If we weren’t careful, we’d end up under the snow. Not that being cold was our biggest worry at the current moment.
Our magic touched the heart of that darkness.
