“Sean?”
“Mmm?”
“I—I have Morgan’s magic.”
Without looking, Anna wasn’t sure what expression he wore, but she sensed his sudden stillness and felt the spike of alarm like an ice pick in his emotions. She wasn’t sure what made her say it, but this man had been nothing but kind. He was a real friend, and if he truly was the Savior they said, then he needed all the information. She trusted him to keep her secret.
“I’ve been hiding it for years,” she continued. “But David figured it out, and his mother was training me to control it before…this.”
Sean was silent a moment before his gruff voice asked, “David knows?”
“He said my emotions feel like a battlefield. It was obviousto him.”
Amusement sparkled through his emotional core. “A battlefield, huh? How do his feel to you?”
“Like ice.”
Sean chuckled darkly. “Of course they do. Even his feelings are bad at communicating.”
Anna wasn’t sure what to make of that comment, so she ignored it. “I just didn’t want you to be in the dark.”
Another quiet stretched. “Thank you for trusting me with that.”
Her eyes fluttered closed. “I’d trust you with anything.”
They spoke of many things in the following days. Their lives before Luxoria. Her father. His mother. She described her fears upon learning she had Morgan’s magic, the pressure of keeping it secret. He confided his worries regarding the Sending and the blood oath, divulging deeper foreboding and more uncertainty than she realized. It made her ache to hear him speak of never feeling as if he belonged, especially after the death of his mother. She wanted to hug him, to hold his hand or offer comfort, but the unspoken rule between them remained unbroken.
They did not touch.
David never came. He didn’t even send her messages through the others. He just…ignored her.
Deep inside, another ache bloomed, somewhere in the vicinity of her heart—a combination of missing him and fearing that she’d somehow botched things irreparably.
By the fifth day, the headache finally began to abate, giving her short intervals of relief from the pain but not the dizziness. Someone could have carried her to her bedroom, but she refused to allow that. She’d walk out of this suite on her own two feet.
She stopped fearing the gray being would return. Instead, she spent her days contemplating her bloodline and her nights gazing at the skies, millions of stars winking, bright as diamonds.
On the seventh night, Sean tucked a blanket about her, warding off any chill. “Second scouting mission in Viterra today,” he said.
“Going well?” she murmured, uncertain whether she was more dizzy or more sleepy.
“Better than I thought it would. With so many pixies in the group, any Indies we run across stay far away.”
“You’re staying safe?” she asked. “You and…the others?”
Sean’s pitying gaze landed on her. “He’s being safe.”
Anna’s mouth tightened, hating herself for caring about a man who clearly didn’t care about her. “And the pixies? They’re staying covered?”
“Yes. They keep away from mortals when we come across them, but—” He shook his head. “I don’t know. It’s a risk, them being there. I never really considered how inhuman they are until I saw them in Viterra. If anyone looks too closely…”
“Why are they risking it?”
“Bowenn doesn’t trust anyone but his team with me. Not after last time. He says he looks close enough to human to pass.”
Anna sighed, unsurprised. “What about Isobel?” she asked. “The baby?”
Sean’s emotions flattened and a thin layer of frost coated them, somewhat reminiscent of David. “She’s fine.”
