“The monster would’ve eaten me. That cramp would’ve made me fall off the chair, and the monster would’ve seen me with all those eyes, and then…”
Inkiri clicked. “Well, I like to think you would’ve managed to outrun it, but you’d still be alone. Lonely. Rory, my precious human mate, you have spoken of your reservations about your own magic before, but even if you fear its power, I adore it, because I am convinced it brought me to you. You are my true mate, but also a man who loves me.” He pulled back and smiled down at me. Dang it. He looked composed, in the most supportive way. “And an adventurous human who enjoys my barb and lets me take care of his average-size cock.”
Kinnek had wandered off, presumably to give us some privacy, so this wasn’t half as embarrassing as it could have been. Besides, he was complimenting me in what I was pretty sure was the bagu way. I could be gracious about a compliment.
“Pfft.” I flicked his chest, but my bagu was solid. “Keep my cock out of this.”
He tilted his head this way and that. “I enjoy it too much to keep it out of my mouth.”
Okay, fine, what was that thing about how it was good to have a humorous mate? I loved that Inkiri was trying to cheer me up here, and he was succeeding, which honestly begged the question: How had I landed this guy?
Woman up. Cat’s voice echoed in my head. I tried standing up straighter so I could project confidence I wasn’t really feeling. “Okay, I’ll do this. If only so I can learn how to never do magic again.”
Inkiri smiled down at me. “Learn who you are, Sadir. That will be enough.”
With that ominous piece of advice, I walked over to the ko circle.
Chapter 5
Vergis sneaked, well walked, out of the house and onto the patio, a ginormous mug of steaming coffee in hand. Donna, with Wilson in her arms, followed behind him as if she thought Vergis made for a good shield. He probably did, at that, considering how he had handled himself during the attack on Esaka.
“Got your head in the magical mind space, sugarplum?” Kinnek asked with a beaming smile as he sauntered back.
“Can we please just get this over with?” I hated that I sounded like a petulant three-year-old who wanted a marshmallow, but I couldn’t help it. I wanted this over, and I definitely would’ve taken a marshmallow on top of that.
Kinnek batted his eyes at me, slowly, in just the way I’d recently discovered was an excellent survival strategy for the apocalypse, at least when you were dealing with your fated bagu mate and his buddies. No, his sentenmen. His family.
“You saved my only child from a fate far worse than a clean death. The least I can do is help you understand what power lies within you, and do it properly.”
Kinnek said that so earnestly that I couldn’t help but blush. Vergis was rolling his eyes and hiding it behind his mug.
I nodded. “Okay, right. Sorry.”
Kinnek tilted his head, and his smile brightened. “Ancestors, you’re easy to wrap around one’s finger.” He stepped aside and pointed to the center of the circle as I frowned. “Sit down there.”
Inkiri growl-purred behind Kinnek. “You cannot mean for him to sit on the bare ground, Kinnek.”
Kinnek clicked. “I think that’ll actually make it easier for him to use his magic, just like he healed faster when you two were camping outside. It’s about proximity to the land, you see.”
I sat down cross-legged while Inkiri frowned. He reluctantly took two steps back from the circle when Kinnek waved him off.
“Okey dokey.” Kinnek clapped his hands. “Muffin, come here and watch.”
“Oy, ruining my spot,” Donna said, sidling up behind Inkiri instead when Vergis walked closer to the ko circle.
Wilson looked at me like she was wondering what I, a human with access to all the cabinets food was kept in, was doing on the floor. I had to agree with the chicken. She was wise.
“I’ve seen it. I helped you draw it.” Vergis, despite his grumbling, stood next to Kinnek and looked at the circle.
“Well, snickerdoodle, it’s not just about the design of the thing. You need to watch and feel and talk the user through it. Potential user, typically, but our red-headed Loathly Lady here is a doozy.”
Vergis rolled his eyes and gulped down some more coffee.
Kinnek grinned. “Well, Rory, you magical candy bar, you. How about you go ahead and close your eyes? Good. The goal is going to be to connect with that voice you’ve been hearing, and what we want it to do is simple. It just needs to pour some power into the magic circle around you, to start with. See if you can call it and get it to do that.”
I knew I could absolutely call it, mostly because that presence seemed to be around most of the time since we’d come back to Earth—to Ireland, in particular. Of course, since my eyes were closed, I could feel that presence stir the moment Kinnek said he wanted me to call it.
Still, maybe nothing would happen. Maybe they were wrong and it had all been a mistake and I was just some weird type of human conduit with a medical condition that made me hear voices in my head. Then again, Inkiri would be so disappointed if that was true, and I didn’t want that. Darn it, but life was so much easier without magic in it.
