Page 40 of Taken By the Blood God

“The fear of losing control is what holds you back,” I said. It was time to be completely honest with her. It was the only way she would gain complete access to her magic.

“Can you blame me?” she retorted.

I shook my head. “Yes and no.”

Her eyes narrowed, turning brighter until the honey color of her irises glowed.

I explained before she could speak again.

“If you had realized what you were when your power manifested, you would have been trained from a young age to control it. Because you weren’t, you had to learn on your own. That means you set your own limits rather than finding the natural ones that exist within you. Because of your age, the witches who trained you, and your lack of knowledge about thenature of your power, you built a vault to hold your excess magic. It made it easier to control.”

I didn’t mention that the iron grasp she held on her emotions made her repression worse. That would be something to discuss when we weren’t in enemy territory and my brother wasn’t trapped.

“You are the only one with the key to the vault, Minerva,” I said. “You’re going to have to loosen your hold on your emotions in order to unlock the part of your magic that you’ve hidden away.”

“How?” she asked, sounding exasperated.

“You must drop your shield. No hiding who and what you are. What you feel. You can no longer ignore that part of yourself.”

“I don’t have a shield!” she exclaimed, trying to tug her hand from mine. “I’m an open book!”

“That’s bullshit.” I wanted to yell, to shake her, but it would do no good. “You share your true feelings with no one. You shove them all deep down inside you and force yourself to be strong when you want nothing more than to break. You avoid true connection with anyone except Ally.”

I took a step closer, lowering my head so that our faces were only a few inches apart. “I see you, little witch. Even the parts of you that you try so desperately to hide.”

She froze, her eyes wide with shock. Then those gleaming depths disappeared behind the rapid expansion of her pupils.

“I have nothing to hide,” she hissed, jerking at her hand again.

I pulled her closer until her hands brushed my chest. She fought me, but I refused to release her.

“You have hidden so much of yourself from others, even from yourself, that you no longer know who you are.”

Her fair skin lost all color, turning nearly grey. I felt the frigid spark of her magic against my fingers as her power surged to the surface.

I hated what my words were doing to her, but they were necessary. This was why I hadn’t helped her access her magic before now. If I’d had time to gain her complete trust, I could have led her to this moment in a gentler manner.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t wait.

I sensed the return of at least one warlock, maybe two, on the outermost edges of the circle I’d set around the coven’s ward. Then, more joined them. The warlocks who managed to escape my fire had returned with aid.

“Fuck you!” Minerva shouted, twisting her wrist in my grip, the color suddenly returning to her unnaturally pale face.

A spark of blue appeared in her eyes, spiraling out from her pupils as they shrank back to their normal appearance. The beautiful gold of her eyes was swallowed by a wave of pale blue.

I lifted my free hand, cupping her face. “Little witch, you can’t even bear to be in the same room with me without wanting to crawl out of your skin because you feel so much.”

The chilled feel of her wrist beneath my fingers became so cold that it burned like my fire.

She was almost there, but the witch was so stubborn that she fought me every step of the way. That shield of hers was beyond formidable. It was nearly unbreakable. There was only thing left to do. I lowered my head and pressed my lips to hers.

And breathed my fire into her heart.

The cavern around us shuddered as the kiss of my power pierced the wall she’d built around her magic. The moment it broke through, her teeth sank into my bottom lip hard enough to draw blood.

She arched her back, tearing her mouth from mine. Her breath was visible as she glared at me, the chill of her magicchasing away the heat left behind from the fire I’d released before.

“You’re a bastard,” she whispered.

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