Page 177 of Hidden Kingdoms

“Prove it?” I arched an eyebrow at him, more than ready to accept.

Turning toward the wooden frame and ignoring its already sorry state, I dug down into the anger that had barely retreated. Into the frustration, both with the revelations of my memories and of Marcellus’ closeness. Letting them fill my magik with all it needed.

It built with barely a nudge as I remembered the seconds of peace I had felt as I emerged from my mind and locked eyes with Bastian, only for the words uttered in his deep voice to eviscerate that feeling so completely, I felt a fool for allowing it, even for that minute space of time.

As the rush of magik filled me, my arms vibrated as I fought to keep it in check. My head clouded with power, mind consumed with the way it was scraping along my nerves.

Without instruction this time, I released it, letting it free from the constraints of my body.

The groaning of the wood intensified a second before the sound of a crack snapped me from the haze of magik. I stared at the wood in disbelief as it fell to the floor, cleaved cleanly in two as I sucked in air that tried to freeze my lungs.

“You need more?” Marcellus asked, though I was pretty sure he already knew the answer.

It was still there, that ball of anger buzzing under my skin and waiting for an outlet. I could feel the slight tremor to my limbs as the energy within me continued to swell.

I swallowed hard, chest heaving in exertion, grateful as he passed me a bottle of water that I gulped down before nodding at him.

“This way.” He motioned with his head to a cluster of trees, and I followed close on shaky legs.

We stopped a short while beyond the tree line; it wasn’t a clearing, just a space within the woods where the trees wereslightly wider apart. The noise of the soldiers was completely swallowed by the surrounding greenery, and I was intimately aware we were alone now. With an effortless flick of his fingers, Marcellus directed a flow of magik between the bare trunks of two trees. An iridescent shimmer swirled through the air until it weaved a wall between them, spanning the leaf strewn floor up to the canopy of branches high above.

I stared wide-eyed at the magik, at how easily he wielded it. Knowing the only instances of magik I had really used were ones where force was needed as opposed to anything subtler, more nuanced.

Will that be part of my future, or if I would forever be fumbling along.

I didn’t wait for instruction before directing my hands at his wall of energy, letting it pour through my fingers as Marcellus’ shield absorbed every drop. The way it caressed my skin and set my nerves blazing had me aching for more. Something physical, something I knew the stack of corded muscle and rugged appeal somewhere close by would be more than capable of providing.

The breath I pulled in was laced with the leather and mountain air scent that clung to Marcellus. My body buzzed as it filled my lungs, and my power shuddered before it continued on.

“Just think.” Marcellus’ gruff voice came from entirely too close that I almost felt the caress of his words on my skin. Something within my chest lurched as I became acutely aware of every inch of space that separated us as he stood rooted behind me. “You get a grip with this, you’ll be able to leave this place just like you want.”

He knew.

Knew that the day in the library, I had been searching for a way out, a way home, though so much had happened since then. The faded memory of Nanna mixing me a tea to drink filtered through the control on my magik. I could taste the faint tang ofherbs which had almost dulled my senses and knew without a doubt she had aided in hiding who I truly was.

“That’s what you want, isn’t it, to run back to yourhumanlife?”

A fury at that moment of realisation flooded me in a wave of fierce heat, and the cold, bitter air left droplets on my heated skin.

“Yes!” I lied through literal gritted teeth. My control slipped as I lied to both myself and him, because I wasn’t human, and as my memories became clearer, I didn’t want to go back.

“Do you even know what you want, Little One?”

I couldn’t answer him, my body heavy with revelations and magikal exhaustion.

“Well, when you do, I suggest you ask for it.”

As if I hadn’t been asking for answers since the moment I got here.

My magik finally guttering out as the last of it was absorbed between the trees, and I whirled to face him. “Because it’s that fucking easy, right?” I snapped, panting out short, sharp breaths.

Marcellus stepped closer, and without thought, I retreated a few paces. Something dark and full of hunger flashed behind his eyes, and I was intimately aware of how alone we were.

“Oh, I wouldn’t run from me, Little One. You’re not ready to deal with the consequences.”

“What consequences?” My pulse raced in a way that told me I liked the darkness I saw within him, though I kept my feet planted.

“That’s for another day.” From his lips, the words were a promise, and I couldn’t ignore the spark of excitement that they lit within me, pushing aside my rage as I held back on questioning him further. “Now, again.”

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