Page 57 of Tangled Power
Aterra must have figured it out—given how he threatened Juliette and the Osten fae. Her ritual proved a fae court leader could share their power with their god. Of course, she did it with the goal of her god returning that power to the Osten court, but surely that wasn’t a requirement. As Juliette had said, with power, someone was always willing to abuse it to take more. Aterra had already proven he didn’t care about the balance on the continent. Luc would bet anything he was more than happy to also abuse the balance of power between a Compass Point and their patron.
The Suden god’s plan was clear, at least to Luc. Kenna said Aterra walked the continent more than most. He wascloserto the Suden than seemed appropriate. Luc didn’t have to think too hard about what that meant.
Aterra sought tocreatehis own Suden Point. A Suden sired by the god would have power significant enough to strengthen his own. Luc’s power flared around the training grounds. He looked down at his hands—hands that wielded a strength of earth magic that terrified many. There was no question in his mind whether Aterra had been successful.
He just wondered what he was willing to do about it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Rose let her mind wander as she watched Luc flex his magic. The tendrils sprawled across the field. They threw, dug, and filled—exercising all the classic Suden moves. His magic didn’t feel any less potent to her senses. He even exercised moves more unique to his magic. He lifted Rose and himself, using the earth as an anchor and pushing them away from it. She could watch him endlessly, and part of her wondered if that would truly be needed to exhaust it. He’d been at this for an hour, and his power hadn’t dampened.
She sighed as he threw another boulder. He didn’t trust his magic.
This was a foreign concept to Rose. Trusting her water magic was the same as trusting herself. She may have been taught to hide her wind, but even it, she trusted. She always described her wind as there to help her—to topple the item off the high shelf that she couldn’t reach—or push her higher and farther on a swing. It was tricky to wrap her head around Luc’s position. How could you distrust something that was so wholly connected to you?
Juliette and Carter walked in at the northern entrance. They saw Luc in the center of the grounds and headed toward him.Carter’s gaze searched the training grounds as if anticipating an attack. Juliette’s, though less obvious, was certainly cautious.
Rose wanted to laugh at what they read yesterday. How the gods thought they could force cooperation by making the Compass Points live together at the lake. She couldn’t imagine what the gods had been thinking trying to trap the four fae leaders together like that. It had taken a literal continent-threatening event to unite them. And they’d only started to trust each other after leaving the lake.
“Come on in,” Luc called. He spread his arms. “This is a much safer place to test our powers together than in a library filled with priceless books, right?”
“Thanks again, Luc,” Carter replied.
“We’re certainly going all in on this sharing among Compass Points thing, aren’t we?” Juliette added. Her tone was wry, but she was present, and she understood what they were there to do. She didn’t oppose it, and that was good enough for Rose.
“So,” Rose started. She might as well confirm everyone was okay with this once more. Not that they had any other options. “We all agree that we need to join elements? We all need to use our elements together to attempt what Juliette and I did to unite our wind?”
They each nodded. Luc’s magic flared and circled Rose. It called to her like no other power she had experienced before. She didn’t have to keep her magic leashed like Luc did, but she certainly felt a pull toward him—and she didn’t fight it.
“We should start by using our elements and ensuring I can see the door to Juliette’s magic.” Rose shrugged. She expected the first part to work. It was a simple thing they had missed but made all the sense in the world, given the gods’ goal. “But assuming that works, we should try to pair differing elements.”
“I’ll do it with Rose if she’s willing,” Luc said before anyone else could volunteer.
No matter what he said or thought about his magic, Rose wanted this. She trusted him and his power—completely. She knew they were one and the same whether he liked it or not.
“Of course,” she replied.
Carter seemed to expect nothing less. Juliette crossed her arms over her chest as if she wished there were another option, but she was unwilling to propose an alternative.
Rose hopped down from her perch and strode toward the center of the grounds. Juliette and Carter leaned against the wall where she’d sat.
“I’m very glad we picked this location instead of the library. I’d hate to have disrupted or ruined the books,” Rose murmured to Luc.
His smile was sinful again as he replied. “We are avoiding ruining them with our magic display. But, if you’re interested in breaking in there later tonight, I could be persuaded to disrupt the books in other ways.”
Rose’s face warmed at his taunt. “Play your cards right.”
“Less verbal foreplay, more magic merging,” Juliette called from the sidelines.
Carter coughed into his hand.
“Okay, let’s do the simple test first. Is everyone ready with their element?” Rose felt each Compass Point power come alive. Earth, fire, wind, and water—her water would finally get its chance to play. “I’m going to search for the connection to Juliette,” she said as she dove into her store of magic. Her internal lake was full, and the increasingly familiar wind blew across it. Even while calling her water, Rose didn’t have to follow the wind far to find the door. It was as easy as walking to a friend’s house. “I’ve got it.”
“That was fast,” Juliette commented.
“It’s a lot easier now that I know what I’m looking for.”
“What does that mean for finding connections to the others?” Juliette asked as she let her wind die down.
