Page 17 of Too Dangerous To Die

Because beneath the fear, beneath the disorientation?—

I feel good.

Stronger.Sharper.

Magic humsthrough my blood, no longer the same soft, familiar warmth I have always known. It isbrighter, colder, darker.

I feelmore.

And that terrifies me.

"That power wasn’t meant for me," I say, barely more than a whisper.

"Perhaps not," Rhaegar concedes. "But it is yours now."

His golden gazeburns into me.

And Ihatethat some part of me likes the way he’s looking at me—not like I am weak, not like I am something fragile that needs to be protected.

He is looking at me like he iswaitingfor something.

Somethingnew, dangerous.

I push to my feet, legs stillunsteady,but stronger than they should be. The forest around us feelsdifferent.The trees bend toward me, the wind curling through my hair in a way that istoo deliberate, too knowing.

I amnot the same.

I meet Rhaegar’s gaze, andI see a flicker of wariness in his expression.

"You changed me," I whisper.

A slow, darksmilegraces his lips.

"Yes," he murmurs.

"And now, little healer," he takes a step closer, voice dropping to somethinglow and possessive, "I want to see what you can do."

The bondtightens, something old andrecklesswaking between us.

Ido not know who I am.

ButI think I want to find out.

8

RHAEGAR

She is different now.

I feel it as her magictangles with mine, sharp andelectricwhere before it had been soft, hesitant. I see it in how thewind moves around her, bending to her presence, as if itknowswhat she is becoming.

And Ismellit, the change, the quiet, insidious shift in her blood.

I have seen creatures be reborn in power before. But never like this.

Neverbecause of me.

She does not look at me withfear anymore.

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