“Are you insane? I’m not touching that!”
“Why? It’s not like it’s going to zap you—see?” Lord Linus reached over the velvet rope that cornered off the display and touched the original king’s crescent moon topped staff.
“Stop it,” I snapped. “Skye would guzzle an entire bottle of antacid if she knew you were touching it.”
“It’s not like the original king cares,” Lord Linus told me. “He’s dead.”
This guy. I refuse to believe that I inherited any significant portion of his DNA!
“I don’t care about him—personally I think he was a creep. But everyone in the Court is fanatical about him,” I said.
“They aren’t going to know! Besides—there’s a point to it. Even though it doesn’t resonate with you, you should be able to feel the huge difference in how much the staff can channel compared to your chintzy, broken prism.”
“My prism isn’t broken—it’s well loved.”
“Yeah, I bet. Just touch the staff.”
I stubbornly folded my arms across my chest.
“It will help you see how the issue isn’t you or magic itself, but the tool you’re using.” He held out my prism and waved it for emphasis.
If it helps…I need to be able to defend myself and support the barrier when the Night Realm shrinks again.
I wavered for a moment, then gave in. “Fine. But if I don’t feel anything different, obviously the problem is—”
I set my fingers on the staff, and my brain exploded.
Chapter Ten
Leila
Not literally, but it certainly felt like it. Magic rattled around in my skull. It felt like it was pouring out of my eyes and fingers as it surged through me. But it wasn’t just magic, it was…everything.
I couldn’t describe it, it just felt like I was drowning in my own mind.
I yanked my hand back, fell to my knees, and gasped for air.
“Leila?” Lord Linus crouched next to me, his voice tight. “What happened—are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I wheezed. “It’s just—that was.” I shook my head. “I should have known that creep of a first king wielded a seriously strong artifact. That rush was something.”
Lord Linus frowned. “Rush? You should have just felt its capabilities—the staff is empty of magic.”
I shook my head. “That’s not what I experienced. Its power slammed into me.”
Lord Linus passed me my prism. “Perhaps we ought to save artifact picking for another day—when the Paragon can help. It sounds like your human blood might be mucking up the artifacts.”
“Is that a common problem with half fae?” I asked. “I don’t remember the teachers mentioning anything at the after school program I belonged to in the Curia Cloisters.”
As part of their mission of good will, the Curia Cloisters held classes for all the half supernaturals or supernaturals that were abandoned as kids to teach them about their abilities.
I hadn’t had any problems with magic then, either.
Ahhh, those were simpler times.
“Let’s head back to the mansion.” Lord Linus stood, then offered me his free hand. “Unless you wanted to practice more potions?”
I let him pull me up. “I had one left to bespell to finish the batch.”
