“I thought you could control it!” Delani yelled, as if the blast wasn’t already loud enough to draw a potential crowd to us.
“I never said that.” Scratching my head, I observed my mistake with perplexity.
I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that I’m definitely the one responsible for knocking down the castle in Caelestis. Not the Draemornians.
“You just blew a hole through the wall!”
“Shut up!” A silencing finger found my lips. I stepped towards the pile of brick, still shimmering with residual stardust.
“I don’t understand.” My forehead cinched. It had seemed so natural back in Caelestis that I clung to the possibility that my body would subconsciously remember what to do.
This must have been a fluke.
Kicking a chunk of brick aside, I turned to Delani. “I’m going to try again.”
“Um…no!”
“Oh, come on. I was just warming up.” I shook my body out, loosening up the limbs that had tensed from the rush of adrenaline.
Before she could counter, I drew in more starlight, repeating my calming routine precisely.
Unfortunately, I also repeated the same result. Although I made a slightly smaller hole this time around—more like an extension of the previous one.
A string of curse words flew from my lips.
Delani placed a hand on my shoulder, settling my angst. “Maeve, this isn’t a dig at you by any means, but youclearlyneed help learning to control this. And I’m not the one who can do that. This is brand new magic to you. And it’s magic directlyfrom a goddess. Magic that previously couldonlybe harnessedby that goddess. It’s very likely going to be more difficult to wield than your normal power.”
With a discouraged sigh, I refocused my attention to the oblong hole of missing brick. “Please don’t tell anyone.”
“Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I don’t really see a way to hide all ofthis.” She stepped in front of me, vaguely waving her arms around the stallion-sized crevice.
She was right, but I pleaded my case anyway. “Please. It would just prove Kade’s point about me being a liability.”
“Who gives a shit what Kade thinks?” Delani scoffed, folding her arms.
The look I gave her was all she needed to understand that the person Ireallydidn’t want to know was Sebastian.
Chapter
Six
My two days torest and acclimatewere spent with fifty percent of my time focused on healing and getting to know my father, and the other fifty percent doing everything in my power to avoid Sebastian.
Not even the faintest idea of what to say to him crossed my mind. I was still processing the death of my mother and the idea that he knew about it beforehand. The fact that my father was alive. My new magic and my failure to properly wield it. Between all of that, I hardly had time to really consider what happened with Sebastian, and what it meant for our relationship.
“Are you absolutely sure you’re up for this?” Archer passed me a rucksack overstuffed with food and two full canteens.
Hurling the bag over my shoulder, I then hunched over to adjust the dagger around my thigh. Despite my disappointment with the one who gifted me the weapon, I was incredibly thankful that the custom blade survived my transition. “Not really, but I have to go. I need to know.”
“Do you feel okay?” Archer raked his eyes up and down my body, inspecting every inch of visible flesh. “Your wounds are all healed? Your bones?”
“Yes. Every limb is intact.” Thanks to Venay, who was one hell of a mender and enchanter. The herb Archer used to heal me back on the battlefield made more sense once I learned about her true identity. It had only been a few days since I awoke in Lumosia and about a week since being pulverized, but her mending skills combined with a few medicinal salves almost made me feel like it never happened.
Archer grumble-sighed, accepting defeat. “I would try and pull the father card, but I know I haven’t earned that right yet.”
“It wouldn’t work anyway.” Sebastian entered the stables, unknowingly flaunting a pair of black pants and a muscle-hugging shirt. A charcoal leather jacket slung over one shoulder, a canvas pack on the other. “Your daughter is the most stubborn person I have ever met.”
“And I take pride in that,” I conceded with a smug smile.
