Page 4 of Tangled Power
“That we do,” he said, holding her gaze. His eyes danced with a wicked gleam in the firelight. Straightening, he asked, “What do you need from me? I admit I don’t know how this works. The other weapons masters I worked with barely needed me for the process.”
“Well, you didn’t get very good weapons from them, did you?” she responded. She hadn’t had enough time to learn how other magical weapons masters were trained. She only knew the technique her mother had taught her, and the strength of her weapons vouched for it.
Revealing the technique would also be new. She had never explained her process to anyone. Rose thought about how Luc had torn down every wall she erected. He learned her secrets and protected them as his own. She could trust him with this.
“I need you to stand by the forge while I work this a little more. Having something small to exercise your magic while you’re there would be helpful.”
He picked up a rock from the ground as he moved where she pointed. Holding out his hand, he set the rock levitating above it. “Will this suffice?”
“Yes.” Rose let his magic twist around her as she returned to the forge. “Give me a little while. The more I lose myself in the rhythm of forging, the more my senses open to the magic.” She shrugged as she continued, trying to lessen the immensity of explaining this process to another. Her gaze darted over her shoulder to check on Luc. Their eyes met, and she knew she wasn’t fooling anyone with the attempt at a calm veneer. His face held nothing but patience, though, as she considered her next words. “At some point, my magic will start to test yours. It interacts differently with each magic it evaluates, so I can’t tell you exactly what it will do.” She raised her eyes to meet his. “I can tell you that it will push until it gets to the heart of your magic—whatever that looks like.”
She glanced at him again. His lips pressed together. He seemed at war with whether to reassure her or let her continue her explanation uninterrupted. “Do whatever you need to, Rose,” he whispered.
Warmth shot through her as his need to reassure won out. “When I get to the heart of your power, I’ll see things, usually flashes of emotion, places, those you care about, beliefs that you hold dear.” She considered how to explain. “It should be similar to when you showed me a taste of your mind shadow magic.”
He nodded.
“I admit, I don’t know if your mind shadow will change how this works—you inherently have the ability to show others scenes from your life. I’m sure that will make itself known somehow in this evaluation.” She turned back to the forge. “I also feel like I have to mention that I’ve never made a weapon for someone I’m so…emotionally entangled with.”
“Is that what we’re calling it?” Luc didn’t miss a beat. The need to confirm his raised eyebrow matching his wry tone was too great. She couldn’t contain her smirk as reality perfectly matched her imagination.
He winked at her. “You can experiment with me.”
He was teasing her, but heat shot straight to her lower belly nonetheless. She rolled her neck out, trying to refocus. “Alright, I’m going to get started. Keep your magic a little bit active, like I said.”
His element continued to hover the rock above his hand. This display was more than a little activity. Most Suden were unable to use the earth to push objects from it. More commonly they dug or broke the land apart beneath them. But Luc’s magic was different. Further proven by the fact that another line of his power wrapped around her as she lost herself in her work.
He was powerful, of course. He was the Suden Point. It still impressed her that he could maintain the two separate actions. Doing both for any length of time should tire him. Rose snuck glances at him as she worked, unable to see signs of stress or fatigue.
Her weapons master magic streaked toward him. An inheritance from her mother and a unique flavor of the talent due to her dual fae lines, it was ethereal compared to the heft of Luc’s magic. That didn’t mean hers couldn’t hold its own. He shivered as it reached him. A thread of her power spun around his outstretched palm.
His magic, cocooning her by the forge, fell back to weave with hers as it investigated. Their magics teased and twisted together. She let them, taking the opportunity to press and search his power as they entwined.
Completing a circle, her power paused as his returned to him—taunting—sinking into his skin and daring her to follow. Luc’sface was impassive. His gaze focused on the rock levitating above his palm.
Eyes fluttering closed, she felt the edges of her power as it enveloped him. Her control slipped as it searched him, skipping across his skin. Her magic wanted him—more so than the usual requirement to make a weapon. And the amount of raw power available to him was its own siren song. She sucked in a breath. Her magic was intent on this next step.
Trying to gauge this experience from his perspective, her gaze raked over him. His eyes tracked hers, but he appeared otherwise unphased. He raised his eyebrow again as her magic snuck deeper into him. He looked down at the exposed skin of his arm where her magic’s touch would be most felt. Intrigue and—was that arousal?—flicked over his features.
She might have called it off with anyone else, but Luc wasn’t just anyone. Her anxiety about their future battles was heavy in her chest, outweighing the unknown of her magic’sneedto explore him. If a weapon was the only safety she could offer, she would ensure he had one.
“This next part might be a little more invasive,” she said, giving him one more chance to say no.
Luc nodded his consent. Gazes locked, she let her magic go. It chased the power that had been loosed in the workshop, rushing into Luc and down a dark tunnel after it. Her magic followed his toward the heart of his power. The makeshift walls flew by as her magic pressed forward. They held moving images, voices, and full memories coming to life. She sped forward too quickly to investigate each one. A tunnel made sense for a Suden, she thought as she fell through it, like the pits in the earth they were well known for making.
The images and scenes on the walls were unexpected. She never saw complete scenes or replayed memories from someone’s life. Usually it was snapshots, scents, and feelings.Taking a calming breath, she let herself continue to fall. She knew this would be different. His mind shadow alone would change this process. But his magic was also different. There was so much about it—about him—to learn. The immensity of how badly she wanted to know everything slammed into her.
The rapid descent slowed as her plan took shape. She only needed to learn a little today and could learn a little more in their next session. His power could overwhelm her if she took in too much of it at once. Reaching out to the moving images lining the passage, she plucked one to study closer, holding the corner carefully between two fingers.
The image held a short scene—Luc’s hands in his pockets, head hung in defeat, as he walked toward a door. A female stood in the opening, fists on hips, glaring daggers at him. Something about the image called to her, and Rose’s other hand reached to touch Luc’s face in the image itself.
The image rippled as soon as her magic touched it. Her brow furrowed as she tried to pull away. But she was in too deep. A sharp gasp slipped from her lips as the image came alive around her, pulling her into it.
CHAPTER TWO
“What did you do this time?” the female called from the door the child version of Luc was walking toward. She was short and lean, her dark hair knotted atop her head.
“I didn’t do it on purpose,” Luc replied. He looked so young to Rose. He couldn’t have been more than eight. His shoulders sagged, carrying much more weight than his small frame should have to support.
