Page 110

What are you doing? Kit wanted to say, but that was the wrong way to approach Ty. Ty would give him a matter-of-fact explanation, and Kit wasn’t sure he needed to hear it, not when Ty was so close, and seemed to have something urgent on his mind. His body was practically vibrating with excitement. It was hard to make any connection between this Ty, real Ty, and the Ty in Kit’s nightmares.

“I think,” Ty said, “that I figured it out.”

Kit waited a moment, but nothing else seemed forthcoming. “Figured out what?”

“What your power is,” Ty said simply. “How it works.”

Kit felt a jolt. Was this what Ty had been worrying about before, when he’d been lost in thought? He certainly seemed better now, as if the Energy runes had finally kicked in. His eyes were bright, roaming over Kit curiously, and his skin was no longer so pale, and—

At that moment the full import of Ty’s words crashed in on Kit. His body tightened up, as if it were preparing for a punch. “How—what did you figure out?”

Ty moved closer to Kit, lowering his voice. Sharing a secret. Even through Kit’s shock, he was aware of the way his body reacted to Ty. Everything felt more, exaggerated; they were on their sides, facing each other, and he could have touched Ty just by slightly moving his hand. “You can undo magic. That’s what you did with the Riders at the Imperishable Fields. You undid the sorcery that kept their enchanted horses flying. You kept me from vanishing at Cirenworth. You undid the spell on Jinfeng—the geas that kept her from speaking of Ash—without even thinking about it. And you negated the magic that held the dullahans together. Your power—it’s to undo magic, to reverse it.”

Kit could only blink. “Just fey magic?”

Ty’s face was bright with the thrill of realization. “No, I don’t think so. Like the Herondale gun—Livvy told me you’re the only person it works for, and I think it’s because you’re undoing whatever magic makes the runes prevent the gunpowder from igniting. And remember that time at Blackthorn Hall when you saw that door that Livvy and I couldn’t see?”

“That was years ago.” Kit cast his mind back. “And what does that have to do with undoing magic?”

“There was probably some kind of spell on the door, something stronger than glamour. You undid it. We couldn’t see it until you pointed it out.”

The train curved around a bend in the track, sending Ty rolling into Kit. Kit put a hand on Ty’s upper arm to steady him, and felt a corresponding cascade of nerves through his body. Ty’s skin was warm under his hand, his face a perfect pale oval framed by his messy black hair.

Ty reached his hand into his pocket and retrieved a small wooden figure shaped like a butterfly. It looked delicate, fragile, intricately carved.

“It’s a faerie toy,” Ty said, pressing gently on the carved wings. The butterfly came to life, fluttering into the air where it hovered, sending out colorful sparks.

“It’s going to set the carriage on fire,” Kit said, as the sparking creature—still made of wood, but moving as naturally as a will-o’-the-wisp—hovered dangerously close to the curtains.

“Then you’d better stop it,” Ty said, eyes gleaming.

Kit tightened his grip on Ty’s arm and forced himself to think of what would happen if the curtains did catch on fire. If the carriage went up in flames, if he and Ty were trapped there. His hand shot out, and the sparks flying from the toy instantly fizzled. The toy fell to the metal floor with a disconsolate thunk.

Ty’s face lit up. “You did it,” he said. “I told you, Kit. It’s an amazing power. Think what you can do—undo curses, bring down wards, undo binding spells—”

“Ty,” Kit said, his voice rough in his own ears. He knew he should be thinking about his power, about how to use it. But he was lost in remembering the first time he’d ever seen Ty like this, so delighted, so purely happy at having learned something new. He’d had a crush on Ty then, had liked him then, but what he felt now was much more raw, a crushing mixture of vulnerability and desire, and without even knowing he was going to do it, he leaned in and kissed Ty on the mouth.

It was light, careful, and only for a moment. Kit pulled away immediately, his heart lurching. He hadn’t asked—he should have asked. He shouldn’t have done it at all. He looked at Ty, who seemed more surprised than anything else, and said, “I’m so sorry.”

Ty said nothing. He was looking down, his dark hair hiding his face. Kit felt his heart give a sick lurch: He’d messed up, he’d ruined everything. Their tentative new friendship would be destroyed and Kit knew in that moment that he wanted Ty as a friend if he couldn’t have him any other way, wanted it desperately—

Ty reached out. He stroked his fingers down the side of Kit’s face, fingertips tracing the line of his cheekbones, the curve of his lower lip. Kit shivered.

“Don’t be sorry,” Ty said. “I want to kiss you.”

“You do?” Kit said, almost stunned, and then, “I mean, good. You should…kiss me, then. Show me what you like.”

Show me what you like. It came out lower and grittier than Kit had intended. Ty’s pupils widened, darkening his eyes. He leaned in, his hand still on Kit’s cheek, and brushed his lips across Kit’s.

It was a kiss unlike any Kit had experienced. It wasn’t desperately urgent, though Kit could feel the existence of that urgency, held cautiously back. It was slow and almost unsure at first, and Kit was grateful for the carefulness, because he could barely breathe.

Ty shifted closer, and Kit became acutely aware of the contact between them—of Ty’s breath, the warmth of his body, the tension running through him. Ty’s palm flattened against Kit’s chest and his hand slid slowly downward, lingering, fingers flexing slightly as if testing what Kit felt like, learning what it was like to touch him.

It was insanely hot.

Kit kept himself still by sheer will. Let Ty lead, he reminded himself. Let him choose.

Ty drew back just enough to look at him, and the expression on his face was utterly new. A focused, discovering expression, as if he were just as amazed by the intensity between them as Kit was. “I want to do more,” he said.