She held up her palm, the fresh wound raw and red. “You need only ask and offer, dark Magic does the rest.”
Maeve sighed, rolling her spine as new and undefeatable energy ran through her. She laughed, high on the feeling of what they now shared.
“This temple is stained with Magic. And I could feel it the first time I came here.”
“How did you know what to do?” asked Reeve, his hands back on her hips.
“Those traces want to be seen, felt again. This is the very temple where Shadow stole many’s Dread power. I saw that too.”
Reeve nodded, grinning like an unhinged maniac. “Clever girl.”
“And I saw where the Inheritance forced you to accept your fathers’s power.” Reeve’s smile faltered. “My father, the story you told him was a lie. You did not take the power of Aterna. You do not have the power to absorb Magic. Why did you lie?”
Reeve pulled her impossibly closer and rested his chin beneath her collarbones. “Because I was crowned in an era of chaos. There was no peace. My father had long lost his mind. I lied, so that no one doubted the lengths I was willing to go to for my people. So that Aterna might enter an era of harmony.”
“What will the gods think now that I have defied their will?” she asked, though little of her tone suggested she cared.
Reeve’s smile returned. “Defied?” he laughed. “No, kitten, I don’t think so. This was destiny. I think you were chosen for this very reason, defiance and all.”
Chapter 48
She’d Inherited the power of Aterna roughly six hours ago. She’d been gone for five-and-a-half of them. And for Reeve, that was five-and-a-half hours too long.
“There’s something I have to go do,” said Maeve. “Alone.”
Reeve’s eyes narrowed. “Why alone?”
“Because this is mine to do.”
Reeve opened his mouth to speak, but Maeve placed a finger over his lips. “What did we agree upon? No coddling.”
Reeve nipped at her finger as firelight shimmered across his eyes.
He drummed his fingers impatiently on the table, recalling their rushed conversation, the glass of amber liquid beside him a failed distraction. Eryx napped on one of the sofas across the room. The poor man barely slept through the night now, too afraid of letting his guard down completely.
Still, Reeve could search their bond, the deep Magic connecting them, and know she was alive. He knew she was safe, but weakened at the moment. Completely depleted of her new Magic, and resting while it replenished. Reeve shook his head and cursed under his breath. She had done something astronomical to be that wounded. It might take another week just for her to regain her full strength. And what Magic could possibly be worth that risk when Shadow could strike at any moment in full force? When Maeve had been so adamant that getting Mal out of Castle Morana as soon as possible was her number one priority?
What could possibly trump her vow to save him?
She hadn’t told him where she was going, and he hadn’t pressed her.
Eryx let out a soft snore, startling himself, and bolted up.
She was far. Too far. He told himself that if she didn’t return in the next twenty minutes, he’d tug so hard on the string of Magic connecting them that he’d be ripped through time and space to get to her.
His gaze traveled out the windows, where the last remaining ray of sunlight managed to break through the dark and snowy clouds. Once it set completely, it would not rise again. Of that, Reeve was certain.
Eryx stretched and sat up, assuming a relaxed position. “Still gone?”
Reeve nodded.
“What if—”
“I dare you to finish that sentence,” said Reeve lowly.
“It’s a possibility that needs to be addressed.”
Reeve leaned back, casually letting his arms rest on the sides of the chair. “You doubt me now?”
