Page 17 of Tangled Power
The stone bounced in his hand, and he could smell his magic. He was sure Rose could, too, even though she rode ahead. The first time Rose described his magic so succinctly was burned into his memory. He had wanted to marvel at her for how she described it but knew he needed to focus instead on the fact that shehaddescribed it. Something a half-fae weapons master should not have been able to do. His magic had also liked herdescription, flexing whenever it could since then, to ensure her awareness of its presence.
How many other fae thought of their power as a separate entity? He shook his head. His magic was a mess.
Winter solstice generally came to mind when he thought of his power. The scent of pine wreaths around the house, and the cinnamon that Andrew added to their mulled wine. He liked to think of this as his power’s one good feature. Reminding him of fond memories with Aaron, and later Aaron, Andrew, and the children. Most other associations with his magic were a bit darker.
Watching the scene Rose found yesterday was a harsh reminder of all the memories he’d buried. When he closed his eyes, he could still picture it: the terror on the other children’s faces as the ground started to shake. The rage in his heart as he saw cracks form and the ground shift beneath Anthony. Then, the ice-cold fear prickling on his spine and the pounding nausea in his throat when he thought he’d hurt someone. That he’d been happy to do it. He hated remembering that feeling, especially given the other incidents.
The one she found was bad, but it wasn’t the last time his magic had taken charge when his emotions were intense. His mind wandered to another event, the first one significant enough to draw the notice of the Suden Point. Within days of the awful incident, Michael had been on his doorstep asking to test him. Even as a child, he understood the test had been a formality. The Suden Point didn’t leave Compass Lake to meet just anyone. He said he felt the earth shake all the way up at Suden house and needed to find out where the magic had come from.
Even the older fae, the leader of the Suden court, had shown a little trepidation at meeting him. Luc couldn’t ignore that Michael’s care and attention finally got him through school,though. Michael had taught him how to hold tight to his magic, if not control it. His guidance stopped the accidents from occurring.
Until Rose.
The archer that shot at Rose on their trip was the first time he’d lost control in ten years. Rose had been in danger, and his magic had buried the archer alive in retaliation. Thankfully, Rose and her hidden depths had saved him from himself. But his power’s reaction to her—it was one more thing to worry about. Sometimes, it ran on pure instinct. Hethoughtits instinct was to protect her. But his magic ran too deep, too strong, too all-encompassing to let off its leash in one of its single-minded pursuits—no matter how much they both wanted her. Yesterday proved the point.
Even when it seemed hell-bent on protecting her, it was still unpredictable. He shook his head again as the rock bounced in his hand. How could he have miscalculated? She’d passed out from going too deep. It had coaxed her down into its depths and then swallowed her whole, and all he did was watch.
Of course, she wanted to try again. But a magical weapon was not worth her safety. He’d done without for this long. If the mist struck, he could borrow one of hers. He didn’t need the amplification one of her weapons would give him. The only problem was, she wouldn’t like that response. She would ask again—soon. And denying her was as much a struggle as controlling his power.
His gaze slid back to Rose. When she’d returned from the Vesten gardens last night, she said they hadn’t been caught. But if he had to guess based on how Carter was staring daggers into her back… He hoped she had come up with an excuse but knew she hadn’t. She was dead set on being honest with the Compass Points—and if she couldn’t be honest, she would say nothing. He grabbed the rock from the air as it bounced and closed his fistaround it. He was sure that wouldn’t go well. Rolling his head, he stretched his neck, readying for the long day of riding ahead.
He moved to spur his horse to catch up with Rose when he felt Juliette drop back to ride beside him.
“A word,” she said.
He nodded. “Of course.”
“You’ll forgive me if I ask a slightly rude question, given the nature of this quest,” she started.
He was not sure he would forgive it, but he gestured for her to continue regardless.
“Do you commune with Aterra?”
He squeezed the rock in his fist, grinding it into dust. “What do you mean?”
“I mean the same thing Rose meant when she asked me about my connection to Zrak. Do you have a means of communicating with him?”
An unmistakable rage flooded through him. His eyes flashed red and his magic grew thick in the air. He reined it in. Conceptually, he understood that Compass Points were supposed to commune with their patrons, but to his knowledge, none of them did. Juliette hadn’t really answered Rose’s question when she’d asked at the Solstice Ball. She had said she still worshiped the Lost God, but what did that really mean? Luc shook his head. Not that he wanted a connection with Aterra at this point. His face must have pinched at the thought, and Juliette held up her hands in a gesture of peace.
“I mean no offense, Luc. I’m merely trying to ascertain if we overlooked a simple solution. I see from your expression that we did not.”
“If I had a means of communing with him, don’t you think I would have known what he was doing?” Luc asked.
Juliette raised her chin but said nothing.
“Ahh, I see.” He let his lip curve into a smirk. “You think I did know.”
She moved her horse back into line without further explanation.
Her insinuation that he was in league with Aterra was unfortunate, but not unexpected. He knew Carter and Juliette disliked him. He had thought it was because he opposed their plans when they sided with Aiden—but that was too easy. He should know by now that it always returned to his power. They didn’t trust it. It shouldn’t surprise him. He didn’t even always trust it. He thought back to what Arie told him before he’d left the night before.
The black bird had flown through the open window as he slipped into bed with a book. It was late, but he was waiting up.
“Where’s Rose?” he asked as he saw Arie but felt no disturbance walking through the house yet.
“I left her on the Suden side of the property line. She’ll be a few minutes yet.”
“Which side?” he asked.
