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“For the love of the Goddess!” I was reeling. Kol had been my safe place in all this, and to think he was hiding that he also knew all my thoughts and fears while I trusted him… I was going to be sick.
“Take a breath.” Nyx caught my arm as I tried spin away from them and leave. “It’s not like you’re thinking, Sol.”
“Oh, really? How is it, then?” I bit out aloud. I knew I had only known him for a couple of days, but the idea of Kol being secretly inside my mind too left me feeling so betrayed.
Nyx wouldn’t release my arm when I tried to pull away from him, though, and I eyed his hand on me. If he was not careful, our sparring would be a real battle. I was sure I could do some damage with a practice sword if I tried.
He smirked and slowly let me go, but he closed in on my personal space as if to catch me again if I tried to run.
“In short, I can hear you, and you can hear me. And I have the same bond with him. You can’t hear each other. It’s only me in there, Sol.” He tapped my temple so lightly, it sent a shiver down my spine. “He hasn’t betrayed you, and yes, I hear those thoughts. You aren’t practiced enough yet to prevent emotional outbursts flowing through, but you’re doing great. Just know you can trust Kol. Always. He is the best of us.”
I felt immediate relief and glanced at Kol to find him watching us with concern and yet warmth in his eyes. I guessed he could hear Nyx’s kind words about him. I looked back to Nyx, my mind a whirling storm, making it hard to focus on what was most important in the moment. I believed him. Kol was good—I felt it—but I was so angry with Nyx about everything that I couldn’t help pushing back.
“Don’t preach to me about trust. You don’t know the meaning of the word.”
His eyes flashed bright jade, and he stepped even closer. “You want to know what I know of trust, Sol? I know that I’m trusting you with something of life-or-death importance right now. In a room full of fae, I just handed you my most guarded secret. My brother’s most guarded secret. Something we have kept our whole lives to protect each other. Twins are rare, but those with the bond we have are nothing more than legend. If it got out…” He sighed, cutting a glance Kol’s way. “I will explain more but not here.”
I was speechless. I didn’t need to wonder if what he was saying was true; it was tangible between us. He was trusting me with something that could potentially harm his brother and himself right in front of two dozen fae I could easily tell.
“Just know that Kol is on your side and wouldn’t betray you. It’s not who he is.”
I nodded, watching them both exchange looks. Now I realized they were conversing, but it was so subtle, you’d never know.
“So, no one knows you can speak to each other this way?”
“No.”
“And he won’t ever be able to do it with me?” I needed to know if I was going to be forever blocking two fae out of my thoughts.
“No, Sol, he won’t.”
“Not even once we meld?”
“It’s our power that merges, not bonds.”
“So, when our magic melds, we’ll share power?”
“Yes and no. We can meld our abilities and combine them, but it’s not always that straightforward. It depends on how well our meld goes, and how deep our connection is.”
He was holding something back again.Did Nyx doubt my ability to meld? Or did he doubt the ability to share magic with me for some reason? My parents had always kept secrets from me, and I hated it. He would only hinder us by keeping secrets from me now.
“Will we be able to use one another’s powers?” I asked for more clarification.
“It’s not an exact science, Sol. We will have to see how it goes, but sharing power like that is the purpose of melding. Two powers melded are infinitely stronger than the individual powers alone. And we can share power reserves too, so if one of us is running out, we can draw from the other.”
“You can run out of power?” I asked, surprised.
“Powers are like any other part of us. Our energy needs to be restored through rest and sustenance. If you keep burning through power, it uses up energy, and yes, eventually, the well will run dry and need to be refilled. We all have ways to recharge that are unique to our powers.” He offered me a soft smile. “There is much to learn.”
I couldn’t disagree. I was feeling overwhelmed by just these few revelations. But my questions never stopped forming. “So, if my powers run out, you can give me some of yours?”
“Yes. Most bonded pairs can pull from each other’s reserves.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?”
“It can be, but it comes back to trust again. We will trust each other with our lives when flying and with our magic. But I think that part is the least of our worries.” He had a point.My head was spinning. There was far too much I didn’t know.
“Let’s get this over with.” I lifted my sword, suddenly keen to stop the barrage of new and concerning information I would need to find time to digest.
