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“Sol, your magic is already free. I contained it with mine so we could fly back safely.”
Her glassy eyes lit with hope, and while I held her optimistic gaze, I could feel Kiera’s drilling into me. She knew.
I stayed focused on Zaria. That conversation could wait, preferably for a very long time.
“When you’re rested, we can go to the wielding hall, and I’ll let go,” I said.
She shook her head, rejecting the resting idea. “Let’s go now”
THIRTY-TWO
ZARIA
Ithanked Kiera for her help, including the help we would never speak of again. Then we set off for the wielding halls.
I was nervous, but it was exhilarating. A feeling I realized I’d never actually experienced firsthand until Nyx crashed into my life. Now it seemed like every day was more exhilarating than the last.
I rubbed my hand as we walked through the corridors. The burn was already healing; it was incredible. In a life without magic, such an injury would affect a person’s work for days if not weeks. Kiera told me it would be fully healed by tomorrow and shouldn’t scar.Why would anyone choose to live without that?
But it was more than choosing to live without magic. They’d chosen for me. They’d not only taken it from me, but they’d poisoned me. Daily. They intentionally made me sick and weak and…
I shook it off. The more I learned, the more I resented thinking about my family. I wasn’t quite ready to address my feelings about them and their choices, but I wished I could ask them why. Maybe I wouldn’t understand what drove them even if I had an explanation, but I’d never know. Maybe I just needed closure to move on. But that was for another time.
“Slow down, Sol,” Nyx chided, and I realized I was outpacing him.
“Sorry.” I slowed some.
He smiled when I eyed him sheepishly.
I couldn’t get used to this version of him. Now the walls were down, and we were more confident of each other’s intentions, I realized there was a lot to like about this dragon of mine.
Dragon. Of. Mine.
I felt that on a whole new level, and it was startling.
No one had been that to me before: mine. I’d had siblings, but we weren’t close. I was the family’s burden. They didn’t see me as an equal, so I was always on the outside. I had a friend in Luka, and I valued that friendship at the time. But I always knew he wanted more, and I didn’t feel the same, so it was more like companionship limited by my boundaries. Nothing like what I had already built with Kol, which felt unconditional and limitless. I would be endlessly grateful he was there for me when I needed that more than anything else, and I would always be there for him.
But nothing else came close to Nyx. I could feel the possibilities developing before us. It was early days, but the foundations were being set. A partnership, an unbreakable bond, an equal. Things I never imagined I would find in this life.
I glanced at him again, and he looked away, but I saw the smile he tried to hide and knew he’d felt my projected emotions. I realized then that I was blocking him from my thoughts and found it took little effort. It surprised me. When did that get so easy? Maybe it was the freeing of my power? From Nyx’s smile, though, I knew I needed to learn the same level of proficiency in shaping my emotions. But I was too apprehensive about what was to come to care that he knew I was growing fond of him.
We arrived at the wielding hall and found the main room in use. I was crestfallen after almost running here, but Nyx led me to a smaller room and closed the door once we were inside.
We stood facing each other in the center of the space, and I waited.
Nyx seemed to be hesitant.
“What is it?”
Nyx shrugged. “This is new for me. Usually, when we come into our power, it’s gradual. It develops as we grow. You are past that stage in your life and have all your power, but you’ve never even felt it before. It’s daunting to be the one about to open it up inside you all at once.”
“You don’t think I can take it?”
“No, I’m worried you’ll blow up half the palace trying to light a candle, Sol.”
My eyes went wide. “Is it that strong?”
“It’s a lot.”
