He raised a brow and shook his head as if trying to dispel the tantalizing ideas that’d flooded him. Resisting the temptation, he held a hand out and helped me to my feet.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said, leaning in and stealing a kiss. “We tried a different way to get into the fae realm today, and it took longer than expected.”
I could tell by his tone that the trek was unfruitful; they still hadn’t found a way in.
Slipping up onto my tiptoes, I tilted my head and offered him a proper kiss, knowing there was nothing else I could do to dispel the frustration that grew deeper with every failed attempt.
Lowering down, I said, “Where do we start?”
He furrowed his brow slightly, and his features hardened. It was a look I’d seen plague him frequently these days. “I’m not even sure if it’s possible,” he said. “If I can use you that way.”
“That’s what we’re here to find out.”
I traced my fingers along his corded forearms before resting my hands in his. He gave me a soft smile, then seemed to relax.
“I thought, since we’ve had a lot of practice with energy spheres, that we could start there,” he said.
“Sure. What do you need from me?”
“Well, it’s going to be trial and error.”
I nodded, unfazed—that was my life in a nutshell.
“Let’s start with you creating a sphere using the spark. I’d like to see if I can somehow use its energy, as opposed to my typical source.”
I nodded again, and we each took a step back.
“Ready?” he asked.
In response, I conjured a dense white sphere and floated it between us.
I studied Thaddeus carefully, curious what he’d do differently this time. The air around him became faintly murky, indicating he’d silently used a spell. I waited for the heat wave–like aura that radiated from him to appear; only, it didn’t. My sphere wouldn’t yield. But even that wasn’t right; it was more like it had no idea anything had to be asked of it.
Thaddeus’ spell needed to be fed, completed, and a rush of his usual power flooded him in response.
Registering what was going to happen before I could react left me watching helplessly as our spheres collided, exploding.
Thaddeus’ feet lifted from the ground, and I was in motion before he’d landed. A distant part of me registered that I hadn’t been thrown, as if my magic had protected me.
Kneeling down, I quickly traced my hands over him, checking for injuries. Stars, the sphere hadn’t even contained a fraction of the power.
“I’m okay,” Thaddeus groaned.
“Are you sure?”
He nodded, accepting my help up.
Blinking away his daze, he looked to where we’d been standing as if scrutinizing what went wrong.
“The spell needed to complete,” I said.
“Yes. I’d thought it a possibility, but hadn’t expected it that fast.”
“My sphere, it acted like your command didn’t exist.”
He turned his attention to me. “Agreed.”
“When I use spells with my powers, it manifests differently, almost imperceptibly, but it’s still different. I think I need to use spellcraft to conjure the sphere for you to have access, instead of my raw power.”
