Page 53 of Bargains with Benefits
She bit her lip. “That’s what I was doing down here. When Darius tested me, I was standing in the water when I felt the calm. I did the same the night we met.” She gestured to her boots left on the beach. “So I thought standing in the water might help.” She shrugged. “No luck so far.”
“Do you want to keep trying down here? Or go back to the door?” Ambrose asked.
“I don’t think it’s worth going to the door until I know how to harness the magic, do you?” She looked at me.
I glanced helplessly at Ambrose.
“It’s hard to say not knowing what the magic’s intention is on the door.”
“Let’s give it a try,” she said. “I’ve gone as far as possible with this assumption.” She gestured to the water. “We might as well try something else.”
“Alright.” I waited for her to step forward before starting up the stairs.
“You two go ahead,” she said. “Evelyn and I will catch up.”
It hadn’t escaped my notice that Evelyn hadn’t spoken about her magic. I had been too focused on Luna to consider what it meant. Before I turned to go, I noticed Evelyn had a more fragile look on her face that made me wonder how long Luna had been trying to be rid of us.
“Do you know anything about Evelyn’s magic?” Ambrose asked quietly as we walked up the steps.
I shook my head. “No. Aren’t you the one who works with her?”
Pink touched his cheeks. “Yes, but that’s very much on the theory of magic and history. Nothing about our own. It’s in the Vesten Library. I doubt they’d be so progressive as to hire a non-Vesten, but I know nothing about her power.” He gave me a sideways glance. “Speaking of, your magic is looking pretty familiar with Luna.”
My gaze darted to my feet.
“It’s good. I think. I’ve never seen it so familiar. So inquisitive?” He couldn’t seem to find the word he was looking for. “I’m saying I’m happy for you. I was sure your parents’ methods of forcing it to show would have lasting impacts.”
I grunted in acknowledgment, certain that they had and that he observed the impacts.
“So, are you and Luna…” He didn’t fill in the ending, obviously hoping I would.
“I don’t know what Luna and I are,” I replied, running my hands through my hair. “I told you we made this bargain.”
He clapped a hand on my back. “It seems you’re well past that, though, aren’t you?”
I took a deep breath. “I want to be, but the last time I tried to talk to her about it, she brushed me off.”
“She is taking you to a meal at her estranged father’s house.To celebrate her name day,” he said pointedly. “I don’t think you’ve been ruled out entirely.”
I huffed out a laugh. When he put it that way, it did sound like I had a chance. “Thanks, Ambrose. Now, any idea what we will try when we get to the door?”
His lips pressed together in thought. “I’ve always got theories to test. Not sure any of them will be useful, but we’ve got tests.”
“That’s definitely what I’m afraid of.”
“I can’t tell if her magic has a physical or mental block,” Ambrose continued. “From what you two have said, she hasn’t been aware of the times she’s used it. Maybe the water has something to do with that, but still, she’s triggering it without thought.” He tilted his head as we walked through the trees. “It seems she’s taken the calm thing to heart.” He sighed. “But from what she said today, if her mom was against magic, it might be something she doesn’t want to access, subconsciously. Her mom is gone, right?”
I nodded.
“This could be lingering guilt over using what her human parent never wanted her to.”
I’d thought the same thing after hearing the story of her first magic test. I couldn’t imagine a parent so adamant that their child not present magic. In the fae courts, the strength of an element was everything. It was so important that the strength of the element, not lineage, was how our rulers, the Compass Points, were determined.
“What is the physical, then?” I asked, wanting to get all the information I could from Ambrose.
“Well, it’s not uncommon for half-fae to have unique circumstances in which they access their magic. I met another Vesten who has a human parent, and he can access his fire all the time, but he can only shift when he sees the color black. I also met a Suden with a human parent who had to touch theearth with his hands to wield the element. That’s not a requirement for most Suden. They can access the magic without touch.”
“And you have no idea what unknown requirement Luna might have to meet?”
