“I don’t say no often to a beautiful woman asking me to join her in her bed,” she rolled her eyes, “but I think it would be best if I stayed near the door,” I said.
More like I didn’t trust my uncontrollable desire to feel her lips again.
Selene nodded, and my gut dropped at the disappointment in her eyes.
“Thank you,” she said.
I lay down on my back with my hands beneath my head, staring at candlelight flickering across the ceiling.
“Want me to put your flame out?” I asked.
She didn’t answer right away.
“Yes. That’s fine.”
I swirled one of my hands, sending a burst of wind toward the candle and putting out the flame. It wasn’t enchanted, so it could be diminished with a small gust of wind.
Minutes passed before the bed moaned as Selene shuffled. It sounded like she rolled over.
“Ender?” Her voice was soft.
“Yeah?” I stayed lying on my back.
“I didn’t light the candle,” she said, and I looked at her as realization hit. Her face showed no traces that she was being dishonest. I didn’t say anything, accepting the truth. “How long have you known you were an ether mage?”
“Probably as long as you have.” If Selene hadn’t pieced that together when the dark mage started siphoning my magic, she had now. Though, it had taken the conversation with Miss Lee to fully realize it.
“Who did your testing?” she asked, and I laughed at her blatancy. “What?”
I just smiled and answered, “Priscilla, when I was a child.”
“And at the academy?”
“Headmaster John.” He had done it when I first arrived.
“And they never said anything? You didn’t know?”
“Nope.” I held my sigh.
“So the tests were altered or someone hid your magic so well that it didn’t show. The scent of your magic isn’t strong either.” She was thinking out loud and I let her talk, unbothered by it or her questions. “That night in the academy basement … did you feel … different?” she asked.
“I felt … yeah … I guess different is a good way to put it.” I stretched my upper back and shoulders, leaving my hands tucked beneath my head. “But it’s not every day a girl takes you to a secluded basement on a secret mission.”
She was silent and I rolled over to face her as she watched me from the bed. I wished the candle was still lit so I could see her more clearly.
“What are we?” Selene asked after a minute.
“What do you mean?” I asked casually while my heart started to pound. Did she know we were soul-bound?Arewe soul-bound?
Her face remained neutral. “We went to the ball together, we hang out, you’re here with me…” She paused. “We kissed.”
I grinned. “Are you asking me if you’re my girlfriend?”
“No, I—” She fumbled for words. “I … don’t know.”
Her phone buzzed, interrupting her cute, scrambling ramble.
“You have service?”
