Each relic had its own voice, but one called to me the loudest. One that did not sing or whisper.
This one was silent.
On a table was an amulet with a silver chain that held a large emerald. Four silver prongs encased the stone that was about the size of my palm. I lifted it, feeling the intensity of my connection to it more swiftly than I had even Blake’s everi.
It was beautiful and possibly made me a little light-headed. I set it down.
What was this?
Why was it quiet when everything else hummed?
Such stillness was beautiful.
Caelan watched me, his posture stiffening.
“Fascinating,” he murmured.
“What?” I asked.
“Usually, Adepts go for one of the elemental-based items,” he said. “The candles, the fountain, the soil,” he said.
“What does this mean?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Perhaps you have an affinity for fine jewelry?”
I smiled in amusement and set the amulet back on the table.
“It’s gorgeous,” I said, still looking into the clear and mystifying depths.
“Well done, Anna. You did it; you sensed the everi in the pieces added to this room. Some mages have similar everi to others in the same way we can have similar or dissimilar personalities. As you become more familiar with your everi, you will begin to draw it out and wield it to interact with the world around you in ways you couldn’t before. Can you feel it in your veins?”
I nodded, mesmerized at the sensation.
And happy.
I was happy.
This was a part of me. Something I’d felt my entire life, and now I was beginning to understand it. Why I was different. Why I was weird. Why my mom never cared about living a ‘normal’ life.
It was because of this.
Even if it invited danger into my life, it was as if I’d discovered a family photo album buried in the attic.
It was coursing through my body like an infusion of a potent drug cocktail meant to bring someone back to life. Coiling, twisting and tightening, it moved through my body as surely as my own emotions did.
Caelan watched me with an amused tug at the corner of his mouth.
“Choose your dominant hand and focus on your fingertips,” he said. “Imagine yourself drawing all of that energy to the tips of your fingers.”
I took a deep breath. I focused on the wild, churning power inside. It was foreign, familiar, and terrifying all at the same time. I pulled on it from within, drawing it out in waves.
It was an inexplicable feeling.
It was as if I wasn’t as alone as I was before.
Even if my mom wasn’t here, my everi was. Bound to my soul, it was a power that was mine and meant to protect me.
I stretched my right arm out and opened my hand.
