“Her earth source is refusing to release her,” I continued, lost to the stunning array of enchantments unfolding inside Aflora.
I’d closed my eyes again, the lightning display absorbing every ounce of my attention.
I was lost to it. Toher. To the beauty of the sources dueling and marrying and dueling again. Every time the darkness found a new entrance, a strand of cerulean met the ends and untangled them, my darling little star learning and memorizing spells faster than I’d ever seen.
I felt her tugging on my mind, my power, my energy, and using it to craft and mold her reactions appropriately. So quick and nimble and alluring.
“She’steaching,” I whispered, still utterly engrossed in the sight before me. “She’s teaching the sources how to join inside her.” That was why it looked like they were fighting, then connecting, and then fighting again. She was finding a way for both powers to exist inside her, to ground herself in earth and hold on to the dark magic as well.
Temporarily, I thought.This is your temporary solution.
“She’s giving us time,” I told the others, then frowned. “But we can’t stop the ascension.” I voiced that statement out loud and through the bond to Aflora. She didn’t comment, her mind lost to the power engulfing her spirit. I wasn’t even sure if she could hear me. However, she definitely felt me. Just as I felt her tugging on my essence to help ground her.
“No, we can only ensure she survives it,” Kolstov replied. “By passing the initial test.” He paused, and I sensed him looking at Zephyrus even though my eyes were still closed. It was a weird sensation, one that confirmed we were trulybonded.At least on the first level. Because I’d saved him, using my blood to bring him back to life. Thereby tying our fates together for eternity.
Perhaps that was why Zephyrus could help me as he did—my ties to Aflora and Kolstov, two of his fully bonded mates.
Blood worked in tricky ways, especially for Midnight Fae.
“It’ll evaluate her relationships, just like it did to me and mine,” he said.
“Which means it’ll involve all of us,” the Warrior Blood inferred aloud.
I’d undergone a similar trial as the Source Architect. My trials were different from those of a royal ascension—more convoluted and in the form of puzzles and riddles. Aflora’s would likely be a mix because of her ties to me.
“You had to rely on Tray’s instincts and my sight,” Zephyrus continued. “To make it through the blinding light.”
Kolstov’s responding shiver was palpable—something I again felt more than saw. “Yes.” It came out soft, the memory lurking in his voice. “The source will put her in a situation that won’t allow her to escape on her own.”
That sounded about right. Except my task had been completed alone. Because there hadn’t been anyone for me to rely on—my mating link had been cut off, and my father had insisted I master my source ascension by myself.
It hadn’t been easy.
But nothing with the source ever was.
Kolstov blew out a breath and repositioned himself beside me on the bed, causing my eyes to flicker open. He’d pulled on a pair of boxers and nothing else. Zephyrus and Shade remained naked on the other side of Aflora, their concern evident.
“Any second now,” Kolstov said after evaluating the obsidian lines crawling down Aflora’s arms.
I agreed with a nod, the energy seeming to settle around her, preparing for the next phase. It had all passed through me now, leaving her to battle the remainder on her own.
Silence fell as we all held our breaths.
A scratch at the door disturbed the momentary peace. All three men took up defensive positions, their wands seeming to appear out of thin air.
“Relax,” I said, aware of who had made the sound.
Zimney.
My arctic wolf familiar nudged open the door with his big white muzzle, then shoved it wider to allow Clove to fly through. The falcon’s wings nearly clipped Zephyrus and Shade as she soared between them to land right beside Aflora.
It was a familiar’s job to protect the fae who had conjured it. And Clove clearly sensed Aflora’s unease, just as Zimney hadlikely sensed mine. Or perhaps he’d followed Clove. The two were bonded in a unique manner since it’d technically been my magic that Aflora had tapped into to create her familiar. It meant Clove responded to me, too. Which she would have anyway as Aflora’s mate.
I eyed the two creatures and frowned. “They sense something.” I couldn’t quite hear it, but I felt the knowledge of it traversing through my connection to Zimney. “They’re here for the first trial.”
A bat entered next, settling on Shade’s shoulder.
Followed by the hiss of a three-headed snake that magically manifested around Zephyrus’s neck. Three sets of creepy eyes went to my wolf, the slithering creature clearly agitated by my much larger familiar. Zephyrus muttered something to the reptile, ending with the nameRaph.
