“That’s magic,” I say, voice low yet sharp with accusation. I watch her closely, preparing myself for anything.
Her jaw tightens. “I know.”
“You know?” I repeat, incredulous and not believing what I’m hearing. “Since when?”
She hesitates, just for a second, like she’s rather store it away and keep it from me for as long as possible, but after that sudden burst, I’m not letting it go. She squares her shoulders and takes a deep breath.
“Recently.”
I stare at her, not knowing where I’m even supposed to start. “Recently. You’re telling me you just woke up one day and decided to start channeling magic?”
“I didn’t decide anything,” she snaps, looking irritated with me, as if I should know better than that. “It just started happening…I don’t know why.”
Clenching my jaw, not sensing an immediate threat from her, I remind myself to stay calm and cool about it. If I push her too far, then she won’t tell me anything. “When did it start?”
Naia averts her gaze, taking her time before she murmurs, “About a year ago. It was only ever small things. Little flickers here and there, but nothing I’ve mastered.”
The answer hits harder than I expect, and I study her more closely now, replaying everything I’ve noticed since she got here.
I knew her for years, and I never once had the inkling she was capable of wielding magic. In a way, it feels like I really don’t know her at all.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Irritation shades her features, letting go of that brief vulnerability. “Because it’s none of your business.”
“It became my business the second you started throwing it around in my apartment.”
“I’m not ‘throwing it around’. I can barely control it,” Naia utters, more defensive now that her secret is out.
“Which is exactly why you should’ve said something.”
She scoffs, tone shifting to a sardonic one. “Oh, right. Because I should just trust you with that.”
“Yes,” I say flatly. Even if she doesn’t believe me, she should at least know the difference between a hostile environment and a safe one. But given where she grew up, they would seem like the same thing to her.
“Like you’ve given me any reason to trust you.”
Well aware that we aren’t getting anywhere, I drag a hand down my face, frustration spiking again, but now there’s something else layered underneath it. The pieces are starting to fall into place.
“The wolves who took you,” I say slowly, thinking it out loud, “they used magic on you.”
She hesitates, seemingly surprised that I’m not yelling back at her anymore. “They did.”
A cold realization settles in my chest as it all starts making sense. “They weren’t just trafficking wolves in general. They were targeting specific ones. Ones with value.”
“Do you think they knew about your powers?”
“They had to know something,” she mumbles, more to herself as she glances away. “Enough to take me down with magic instead of brute force. Beats me how they would’ve known.”
That lines up, almost too well, and my mind starts running through possibilities and scenarios. If they’re identifying magic users and capturing them just to sell them…
“Shit,” I mutter under my breath, pinching the bridge of my nose.
“What?”
I shake my head slightly, pacing once now as the energy shifts inside me, needing to be released somehow. “This is bigger than I thought.”
“No kidding,” she says dryly.
