Then he’s behind me, and because he’s Dayton, he’s not wearing a shirt. I feel his muscular skin against the training garb Flavia fitted me in: a white dress with shorts underneath and a leather chest piece for protection.
Though when Dayton had first seen me in the outfit, I wasn’t sure if he wanted to teach me or …
“Are you paying attention?” He’s grabbed an arrow. With his hands over mine, he starts guiding my movements. “You know what to do. Trust your body. When you shoot a bow, it’s not all separate things, it’s an extension of you. It’s afeeling.”
“I don’t think a feeling is going to help me hit a goblin,” I sneer.
His face is close enough I can smell the sweet wine on his lips. “Feel for the heartbeat of the bow, the pulse of the string. Visualize where it will land.”
I try not to scoff at him, but let myself become fluid, his arms over mine as we pull the string back together.
“Find your anchor, a calm in the storming waves around you.”
I inhale deeply, tasting salt on my tongue, feeling the sand beneath my feet and the heat of his touch like a blazing sun.
“That’s my girl,” Dayton breathes, releasing his hold and stepping back.
Warmth blooms through me, and I narrow that focus to the goblin target and release.
The arrow whizzes, striking the target and exploding in a spray of water.
A spray of water?
“W-what?” Dayton calls.
I can’t even celebrate finally hitting the target because all I can do is stare at the wet sand beneath the utterly destroyed goblin target. There’s a hole through its belly, straw sticking out at strange angles.
Both Ezryn and Farron jump up. “Did you use water magic?” Ezryn asks.
“I don’t know.”
“Not just any water,” Farron says, leaning in front of the target. “Seawater.”
Shells and seaweed cover the sand. But there’s no arrow to be seen.
“That wasn’t me,” Dayton says.
“Water magic is fairly common for fae in the Summer and Winter realms but …” Farron looks up. “You completely changed the arrow into water. Rosie, not even Kel and Day can do that.”
“I … changed it?” A knot of unease settles in my stomach. I shouldn’t be capable of doing that. Many fae can control the elements, but tochangethings completely …
As far as I know, there’s only one fae who’s ever been able to do that.
“Add that to your research notes,” Ezryn says. “Thorns, flames, and now this.”
I stare down at my palms, unsure how I accomplished it.
“At this point, we should realize nothing about our Rose is expected.” My heart sings at the deep, gravelly voice, and I look up to see Keldarion leaning in the doorway.
“Keldarion,” Ezryn says, inclining his head.
“I’ll be departing for Winter now. My wolf will make good time overnight.” His eyes only briefly pass over mine before he turns. “The staff will have dinner prepared for you.”
Before I would have run after him. I would have followed that ache in my heart.
But I stay put.
If Keldarion can ignore our mate bond, then so can I.
