Page 54 of Power Shift
A cool drizzle touched my skin, soft but steady. Evie’s brow furrowed, magic swirling around her like a maelstrom. She lifted her head, neck tilted back, water pouring down her skin.
I swallowed hard, desire roaring through my veins at how primal she looked.
Thunder clapped, a crack of sound in her woods. Seconds after, lightning streaked through the sky, arcing right toward Evie.
Chapter
Sixteen
Today felt different. The leftover magic saturating the soil around Gianna’s grave tainted my land. I couldn’t believe I failed to sense it before, but neither had I communed with the land here, not so deeply as this. I sent power through the soil, destroying every tiny trace of foul magic I could find. Deeper and deeper I went, spiraling down toward the heart of the world, seeking and cleansing every piece of darkness away.
Whatever happened to Gianna had been terrible. The land gave me no visions, but a phantom pain pulsed through my bones, a lingering trace of terror resonating in my heart. Cool rain struck my face, but it wasn’t enough to drag me from this task. I wouldn’t stop until the land was fully mine once again.
Thunder rumbled through my body. A sharp metallic scent hit my nose, reminiscent of burnt electrical wires. But I kept going. I was almost there, had almost cleared away the scourge rotting the land around this place of death. The air went still and just as I touched the last piece of rot, white, burning light seared my vision.
Electricity snapped through my body, every muscle and nerve crackling with power. My body bent into an impossible arcas I sent that light down into the ground, and the last piece of that dark magic dissolved with a disturbing pop.
“EVIE!” A roar of sound and a solid body hit mine, separating me from the lightning.
I wrapped my arms around Caelan, protecting him from the backlash as the electricity roared around us, and opened my eyes. My toes were still locked into the dirt, and I let my magic pool out of my body, releasing all the extra power into the ground.
We lay tangled together in the middle of a storm, the once gentle rain beating around us in sheets. Caelan rested his forehead against mine, his breath coming in sharp heaves.
“You idiot,” I croaked. “Don’t you know you never touch someone who’s being electrocuted?”
Caelan huffed a pained laugh. “It wasn’t natural lightning. I thought I’d be safe.”
“Even magical lightning can electrocute you, dummy.” We lay smashed together, Caelan’s heavy weight on top, his arms wrapped around my waist and mine around his. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, my fingers touching lean, muscled, bare skin.
“We should get up,” I said quietly. “The storm is dying down, and it’s safe to move.”
“Mmm,” Caelan said. One of his dark eyebrows rose. “Or we could stay here for a little while and see what happens.” His grin was contagious.
A laugh escaped me. “Get off, you oaf.”
“Last chance, Evangeline. We’re alone. Soaking wet, giving us the perfect excuse to slip out of our clothes.” His lips hovered just above mine, his warm breath caressing my face.
I wanted to. Gods how I wanted to. But this was Caelan, a Shifter Lord, not a faceless man I could enjoy for a little while and never see again. He smelled of a winter forest and wild things, his eyes molten gold with desire.
Caelan brushed a wet strand of hair from my cheek and bent to nuzzle my neck. “Say yes, Evie.” A hot kiss at the hollow of my throat, my collarbone, behind my ear. The slide of his hand down my waist, leaving a trail of heat in its wake.
I’d stopped being driven by most emotions years ago, though anger still got me these days. “We both know it’s a bad idea,” I said a little breathlessly.
Caelan smiled against my neck. “It’s not bad right now, is it?”
Ass. We both knew this was great. “Getting involved with you would undermine everything I’ve built and put me under the Lord’s control.”
Caelan stilled. “You think I’d control you if we took this farther?”
“I think you’d try.”
He grunted and popped his head up, a chill left behind where his lips had lingered. “Why are you so resistant to what’s building between us?”
“Because you are who you are, and I am…me.”
His eyes narrowed. “I think we both know that’s only a small part of the reason.” Caelan shook his head and sighed. “Then how about we get married?”
I laughed out loud. “You think getting married is better than a physical liaison?”
