For once, Nix—a pregnant omega—isn’t the most curious thing in the room.
They look a bit dumbfounded, except Selinde and Ignatius, who look fond.
“Rowan is The Wolf,” he clarifies for his colleagues.
Nix barks out a peal of laughter—the magic users were no doubt wondering how Grayson could be mated to an actual canine. Yikes.
It’s Vaayu who breaks the tension and joins Nix. “The Wolf? How thrilling.”
On hearing that, Rowan gives Aldis another look of warning before crossing to sit on Grayson’s other side on the couch, nearest the Air Affinity.
“Nice to meet you, Rowan.”
Rowan nods his head, laying his head on Grayson’s thigh.
“Well, time is ticking,” Emre says, his voice flavored with a lyrical rise and fall. “Ignatius says you are new to your powers, Grayson? Perhaps you could bring us up to speed, and then we could talk about how we can help you today.”
Grayson tells them about their soul bond and how he discovered Traveling through his dreams. How he had been having them since last fall, and how his link to The Plain had only gotten stronger and stronger.
He ends his tale with how he blew up the MRI, trying to take Nimue on in the library, Traveling to see Carnell, and being able to heal Jamie.
Hearing the whole thing in one fell swoop like that gives Nix a jolt. He’d known Grayson had been going through a lot—add in their babies, trying to counter Carnell and now Withers, and Nix is reminded that his soulmate is carrying a significant mental and physical load.
Sliding his hand along the couch seat, Nix slips his fingertips under the back of Grayson’s borrowed T-shirt. Skin hot to the touch, he tucks his fingers into the back of Grayson’s waistband.
Nix loves the heat because he runs hot as well, and the zing of pleasure he feels from the smooth skin goes from the tips of those fingers to his toes.
Grayson must feel it too, because his back is suddenly covered with goosebumps, although he doesn’t reveal it to their audience, only continuing his story to the end.
“That’s all of it. The hardest part of the whole thing is that it surges sometimes and is hard to control. I’ve got it clamped down most of the time, but when I sleep or when I’m near other magic or when I’m…uh…emotional, it’s almost impossible.”
So, Grayson is struggling all the time.
“Nimue says I need to clamp the flow between me and Nix, but I can’t. We’re soulmates, and I can’t—well, it sounds dramatic to say, but I can’t live with me and The Plain on one side and him on the other.”
Ignatius has an indulgent smile on his face. A romantic, his hands are clutched together under his chin in the stereotypical “awwww” gesture.
Nix has to hold back his smile.
Selinde has her head tilted to one side, as if she’s puzzling through something complex.
Emre frowns. “You are stopping the flow between yourself and The Plain?” His voice pitches up at the end in disbelief.
At Grayson’s nod, he continues. “Well, that’s unhealthy for you, and almost impossible to maintain. I imagine that’s why you’re struggling. It sounds painful, too, I might add.”
Selinde nods. “Grayson, imagine The Plain is an exuberant puppy. You put it on one side of the gate, and you and Nix on the other. It’s going to try to get to you in any way it can, pushing and jumping until finally, when you aren’t vigilant, it bowls the whole thing over and tackles you to the floor—out of control.”
No one dares glance in Rowan-wolf’s direction at the metaphorical mention of an out-of-control canine.
It makes perfect sense, and the visual makes Grayson’s shoulders slump.
“Magic is part of who you are biologically—spiritually. Your soul craves it, and holding it back in this way…it isn’t good at all. Your soul is designed to hold your magic,” Ignatius says.
“But what about Nix? It’s his soul, too.”
Ignatius’s face transforms with enthusiasm. “Of course it is. I’ve been giving it a lot of thought. I believe it is what makes you so strong and why your access to The Plain is so broad. Your fully-formed soul means you can operate on all frequencies, do you know what I mean?”
It makes sense to Nix.
