I mean, was it him gaslighting himself? On an intense level?
Or worse, was this… addiction behavior?
I’d heard about magic-wielders getting too drunk on their own power, then seeking out higher thrills. That was how a lot of black magic indulgence started. I mean, not all. There was a lot of nefarious planning involved sometimes too with that. It was also seen with vampire bloodlust, where they couldn’t just keep it to feeding for nourishment or even a thrill here and there, and it went to a more dangerous place.
For Win, the danger was in it becoming uncontrollable.
Because him being seen that way, or even being suspected of being that way, could set off alarm bells all over the supernatural world. Like, seriously, it could lead to all these major protocols being triggered where all hell would break loose for Win and his family.
But maybe if I just told Sylas?
No. That would break Win’s trust in a major way.
And let’s face it, I hadn’t even told Evira or Vaxan yet.
I was hoping it would taper off soon, that it was just some holdover from everything Win had been subjected to lately. The kidnapping, him finding out that Temperance existed, this whole Sanctus thing and that twisted Celestial’s plans for him, now him having to do high-level Necromancy with Sylas even though he’d never wanted that.
I’d just keep an eye on it.
If he didn’t calm down with it in the next few days, I’d bring it up again. If he brushed it off, I’d go to Evira and Vaxan. The two of them had a much better handle on high-level political stuff than I did, so they’d be the best bet, without outing Win to Sylas.
Besides, he was fine right at this moment.
Now he’d completed the prerequisite four classes for hybrid beings to this one, he was in here with the rest of us now inArcane & Elemental Synergy.
And he was doing really well, being the in-control, calm and careful Winter Nox I knew him to be at his core. He was even using his necromantic side so stably.
I was currently watching him levitating an intricate four-inch amber sphere that looked like a shimmering ball of yarn, while Evira was threading some pale-blue mini icicles through the gaps.
“Intriguing.”
Vax’s voice pulled me back to what I was supposed to be doing, and I looked away from Win and Evira a few desks down, and flicked my gaze to him beside me.
“What’s that?” I asked.Shit.Had he noticed me observing Winter too intensely?
“You broke concentration for the last few minutes, yet not only did your magic remain stable, it responded accordingly to me escalating.”
I frowned and stared at the helix we’d created together, my fuchsia magical flame surrounding his citrine power without touching.
His weaves were thicker now and more vibrant, so that was what he’d meant byescalating.And if I hadn’t responded properly, the aspect of his power that he was using—petrification, not his venom—would have turned a lot of my flame to chalk or destroyed it entirely.
“I don’t… I mean, I guess I did feel a push, so I responded without thinking much about it.”
“On a conscious level.”
“Yeah, obviously, what else—oh.”My eyes widened as I realized what he was getting at, then saw the proof of it right between us. “My magic can become… sentient?”
“Not exactly that. You can affect it on a conscious and subconscious level, yet the latter is also within your control, still at your will, yet in a less obvious way—at least at first glance.”
“Wow… that’s really cool.”
“It certainly is. You’ve come a long way.” He twirled his hand and the helix started to twist slowly, becoming animated in a picturesque way. He was even impacting my magic along with it somehow, without it hurting or causing any issues whatsoever, like some sort of natural gravitational pull.
“How did you do that?”
“I can teach you sometime if you like. Now that you’re ready to learn without the worry of you being an unruly force.”
“You actually think I am? This isn’t just a one-off moment of awesomeness? I mean, I’ve been at Loxley for ages. I’m in my fourth and final year, but I’m only able to do this now?”
