Page 179 of A Dagger of Ice and Intrigue
In and out.
It sparkled and oozed light all at once.
Itwhispered.
“The fallen star which formed this crater,” he said, whispering as low as I did. “Solkar’s retaliation against human hubris. The one which protects us, our realm, and our magic. The lifeline of Solkar’s Reach.”
I stared, fascinated, even as shivers crawled underneath my skin.
“This is no mortal magic,” I said.
It felt different, in every flicker, every light.
“No, but it fuels ours and the rituals we have.” Ryker stepped closer to it, seeming as mesmerized as I was. “As long as it beats and bleeds, we’re safe. Its veins seep into the ground and spider all over the crater, reaching up into the shards that guard us.”
I couldn’t stop the tremble that shook my body this time.
“This feels dangerous,” I said.
Uncontrollable.
“It is–if you don’t know how to harness its power,” he said.
Then he placed a palm on the stone. As soon as he touched it, a bolt passed from his body into me, searing the air out of my lungs.
My power bristled at the intrusion. Still, it didn’t attack.
The tendrils burst out of my chest, coating me and Ryker in a blue haze.
He turned to look at me, a surprising softness in his gaze. “Trying to protect me, Huntress?”
“It seems so, Commander.” I hadn’t even uttered a spell or an intention. My power simply reacted.
The purple light surged toward his palm, as curious as mine had been. At the point of contact, blue and purple danced together, pinging and bouncing, like two drops of rain circling each other.
The tremor of the contact fluttered against me.
“This is so strange,” I muttered.
“What’s strange is that you can see, hear,andfeel it,” he said. “This shouldn’t be possible.”
“You keep saying that. Why?”
“Because only direct Nochtvir descendents can. Or should.”
My heart stuttered. “We can’t be related.”
That would have been too vengeful, even for the most terrible gods. Xamor himself couldn’t have devised a plot so sinister.
“No, we can’t,” he said, then hesitated. “When my power entered your body, I didn’t feel anything familiar in your blood.”
“That was very impolite of you.”
“Yes, it was.”
“Just as impolite as me trying to slash your face with a broken bottle.”
“Debatable.” He sighed and blinked at me as if I was some grand puzzle he couldn’t solve. “Whycanyou see these veins?”
