He didn’t counter it. Instead, without a word, Artton plucked the dagger from my hand, and my eyes went wide as the runes came to life.
Chapter 36
It’s Not Adding Up
Iwatched, unblinking, as blue magic flared from the tips of Artton’s fingers; the color lighting the runes as his powers danced across the flowing script until the antechamber filled with the same blue essence I’d witnessed before.
Holding it out to me, I tenderly gripped the hilt between my fingers. Like it had with Endymion, the second I touched the golden fingerhold of the blade, my whole body tingled. The only difference was that the energy frequency was slightly different, confirming what I’d noticed before—that I couldfeeltheir differences, like each fae had their own magical signature.
Glancing from Artton, to the blade, then up again, my mind reeled to reconcile what he’d just shown me. “You can wield arcane magic too,” I whispered.
He didn’t respond. The glowing evidence in my hand was confirmation enough. What I’d failed to notice the first time I’d witnessed the dagger take on magic was a faint shimmer that preceded the elemental magic. Only, in this case, the nearly invisible shimmer preceded the element, as if it were paving a path—like the heatwave atop a bonfire showing the flames the path to the stars.
Re-sheathing the infused blade, I slipped another one out and concentrated.
“Don’t pull at the threads, yet,” Artton instructed, knowing what I was trying to do. “There’s a faint pulse to the blade. Can you feel it?”
I nodded, though I wouldn’t call it faint.
“Good. The moment you decide which elemental thread you want to tug, you’ll feel your arcane magic pulse to the same rhythm in your fingertips. When that happens, envision the blade being an extension of you while you pluck the thread.”
Nodding, I did exactly as he explained. The connection of my arcane magic was so instant that the light shimmer was halfway down the blade before the runes flared in a dancing mixture of red and yellow, filling the chamber with the tiniest flame.
“Excellent,” Artton said.
I looked at him through blurry eyes. “I did it.”
“You did,” he said, beaming down at me.
Artton had been beyond reluctant to show me how to imbue the blades, but I finally realized that it had nothing to do with it being a difficult task. In fact, he’d taught me how to wield elemental magic, and now this, without a hitch. No, it wasn’t that at all. It was what he’d have to reveal in order to teach me, and I understood then why he’d kept me at arm’s length—and tried to keep me there.
“Five of us know you can summon fire, but until today, only Endymion knows it’s because you have access to arcane magic,” I said.
“Yes,” he said, his gaze holding a kind of intensity I couldn’t quite read.
“Other than us, who knows about Endymion?”
“Caius. He was there when it manifested for the first time in their youth.”
I nodded, putting the pieces together. “Are there others?”
He shook his head. “Not that we know. But it’s possible.”
“Do you know why?”
Shrugging, he said, “Why does Kaelun have two unara? Why doyouexist?”
All unanswerable questions, and maybe my next one would be too, but I had to voice it. “You said that I was unique because of my arcane powers, but if both of you can wield it, too, then that’s not true.”
His hair swayed as he shook his head. “A rock can capture the heat of the sun, but that does not make it a star—no matter how hot it gets.”
A shiver ran along my spine. I had no choice in the matter, but that didn’t mean I enjoyed being the epicenter of our survival. And while I knew he hadn’t meant it that way, I couldn’t shake the thought.
“We’ve got time for one more question before we have to meet the others, if you want.”
I didn’t even have to think about which one I wanted to know the most. “I don’t understand why you haven’t told Caius that you can access arcane magic. As his highest-ranking commander, wouldn’t that be an asset?”
“No,” he said, features going taut. “It would’ve precluded me from contention.”
