Page 90 of Promise of Darkness
I can’t.
My hair whips around me, my skin cracking apart as the fire consumes me. All my life, all I’ve ever wanted is my magic, but this is terrifying. It’s so much. Too much. A dam that’s burst its banks, and nothing I can do will force it back inside me.
“Breathe, Vi. Think of kittens. Soft, fluffy kittens.’
Kittens?
What in the Underworld is he talking about?
But in the next second, I realize the flames are dying down.
With a desperate wrench of willpower, I swallow it all back down, letting it consume me instead. All the hatred and the anger, and the… grief.
I end up on my knees, panting, holding my hands in front of me. They’re whole, the skin unblistered, but I swear they were on fire bare seconds ago.
“Kittens?” I manage to rasp.
Thiago kneels, capturing my hands. “I needed to distract you. You lost control of your emotions and hence your magic,” he says sharply. “Anger and hate will only exacerbate the lack of control, and you’ll end up burning the city down if you don’t yield to it.”
My entire being is shaking. I can smell the smoke again. Feel the heat drying my throat. “I don’t know how. She tookeverything.”
“And we will take it back,” he says grimly. “Trust me, Vi. Trust me. You’re not alone. I won’t let you deal with this alone.”
He presses his lips to my forehead, and a wave of coolness slides over my skin. It’s his magic, dark and foreign, but it feels like drenching myself in water.
The heat and rage abate, and finally I can breathe again.
“I offered to teach you how to ward once,” he tells me, hauling me to my feet. “The offer still stands, though I will extend it to teaching you how to control your magic. If you want?”
It’s not so much a matter of want as a matter of need. The entire room stinks of smoke. “Do I have a choice?’
“You always have a choice.”
“Did I have a choice when you and my mother made this foolish bargain? Did I have a choice when she told me I was going to be your hostage for three months?” I’m tired of being pushed and pulled around.
“Eris. Baylor. May we have some privacy.”
It’s not a question.
Baylor glances at me, glances at him, then stalks past, hurrying down the stairs as if he doesn’t want to be privy to any part of this conversation. Eris moves a little slower, sauntering across the floor.
“Good luck,” she drawls. “I hope you both manage to keep your eyebrows this time.”
Then their footsteps are echoing down the stairs.
“You’re angry,” Thiago says.
“Would you not be?”
He shrugs. “Yes. But I don’t have the luxury of allowing myself to lose control. That’s the first lesson, Vi. Power such as ours is not merely a gift, but a responsibility.”
It’s all I’ve ever craved, but I can’t help looking at the charred marble that surrounds me.
“Let me help you,” he says.
“You want to help me?” I turn toward the sword rack and take one of them from its sheath with a steely rasp. I need to do something physical, to rid myself of this rush of blood roaring in my ears. “Then fight me.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
