Page 37 of Tangled Power
“We don’t have time to waste,” Juliette pressed.
This was the first time Rose really saw another Compass Point’s sense of urgency about the mist plague. She wasn’t exactly happy to see it, but it helped to know she wasn’t the only one worrying about it. “I understand,” Rose said. “Let’s go find Carter. We can try again now.”
They didn’t have to go far, as Carter walked back into the inn. He made a beeline for where they sat in the middle of the large dining room. Rose was a little surprised as he met her gaze directly. “I want you to try to make me a weapon.”
Rose looked to Luc at her side and across the table at Juliette. “We were just about to find you and try the hole again.”
“No.” Carter shook his head. “I think we’re all too tired for that this afternoon. But your weapon master magic has a different reservoir, doesn’t it?”
She tilted her head from side to side. “Not exactly. All of my magic shares the same core, they just pull on it a little differently. But I can give it a try.”
This appeased Carter. “Then let’s go. I found a forge we can use on the edge of the village.”
“You think this is the best use of our time?” Juliette asked.
“I do.” Carter sounded the surest Rose had ever heard him.
“Why?”
“I know we’ve all been worried about what our magic will do together when we actually find Aterra. Don’t look at me like that, Juliette. I said we all felt that way. But we’re each too stubborn to acknowledge it—except Rose, of course.” He nodded toward her. His energy was contagious. It was such a turn from what she was used to. “I think I discovered something that will help me contribute.”
“Carter,” Rose asked, “what did the coin do?” She needed to understand what had happened wherever he’d been before she agreed to work on his weapon.
The old Carter returned with her question. He looked around the room, considering what to share. He sat down next to Juliette, across from Rose and Luc, his voice no more than a whisper. “Similar to what the Norden elder shared about the Suden artifact, the Vesten artifact enhances the power of the wielder. I’m not sure what it would do for another shifter, butfor me, it allows me to reach a shifter form I’ve not been able to grasp in some time.”
“You have more than one form?” Rose asked.
“Shhh, Rose, please.” He held up his hands as if trying to stop her words. “Not exactly. It is hard to explain. It is the same form that I usually take, but my form hasn’t been seen among shifters in hundreds of years. And it has…unique gifts. My ability to access those gifts has been intermittent. The coin, so far as I can tell, gives me unrestricted access to them.”
Rose couldn’t help but smile along with the Vesten Point as he spoke. He had a childlike wonder about him now. She wanted to ask more questions but understood he had shared all he currently would. “What does that have to do with making you a weapon?”
“Well,” he said. “Considering this unlocks a part of my magic I’ve struggled with for years, I want to know if you’ll be able to see it, sense it.”
“You want me to know what it is?”
He shook his head. “From what I understood of your work with Juliette, you won’t necessarily see what it is, but you’ll instead get flashes associated with it. I know it’s a lot to ask, but I just need to know if it’s really with me now.”
This was what Rose had wanted. She wanted Carter to trust her—wanted him to let her evaluate his magic. She wouldn’t argue with his conditions. Glancing at Juliette and Luc, she asked, “Any objections?”
With no objections, Carter led them to the forge. He’d already spoken with the owner and had been granted time for their use. With all the change they’d experienced that day, her hands were eager for a familiar task.
“Do you think you can keep the forge lit while I explore your magic?” Rose asked.
“For a while, of course,” he replied. He looked side to side. “Will I need to be in my shifted form for this?”
Rose was silent for a moment. Would he need to be? She hadn’t made a weapon for a Vesten. If Mom had, Rose couldn’t remember any of the specifics. “I think we should try without first. If it’s working, I should be able to feel the shifter within you. And whatever other magic you think you’ve found.”
Carter nodded. His gaze locked on the flames before him as he asked, “Will you be able to tell what it is?”
He seemed so confident before, but she guessed it was becoming more real. “I’m not sure. I’ve never made a weapon for a Vesten before. Is it a problem?”
“No, I suppose it’s not,” he replied.
Juliette and Luc joined them, each sitting on the periphery of the workshop. Carter wasted no time starting the fire as she joined him at the forge.
Heat warmed her face as she contemplated the weapon she would make Carter. She really didn’t know what it would be yet. Her eyes closed as she wrapped her hand around her hammer. Hopefully, the repetitive activity would calm her mind. She sought the comfort of the tool raising and lowering. The peace of an action she knew she excelled at.
Lost in her work, she jumped as something warmed her left palm—the one not holding the hammer. Part of her wanted to recoil from the surprise of the heat but realized quickly what it was. Carter had placed Arie’s artifact there. It felt different. He’d done something to activate it—something she’d been unable to.
