AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Communicate with nature as much as you can, drawing on it. Once I began to enjoy working with fire again, it strengthened my bond with it, even though it’s dangerous. A bit like magic.” He lifted his eyebrows, seeking her acknowledgement.
“Yes, it does feel dangerous.”
“Especially in the wrong hands.”
“You’re thinking about Fox?”
“As I suspect you are.”
“He’s always there.”
“Like a dark shadow. He’s biding his time.”
“Where?” she asked, suddenly needing to know. The heat from the fire didn’t stop a shiver running down her spine at the thought of him appearing.
“There are signs of life at the manor house. He takes to ground up there when he’s got something brewing.”
“Really? I thought he’d...” She hadn’t really thought about where he physically was, having left him in 1820. She shuddered.
“Don’t worry, we’ll be ready. Come on, let’s sit down and do a little practical magic.” He stepped away from the forge and led her to a long wooden workbench beyond.
He gestured to a tall stool on one side. Moving to the other side of the workbench, he pushed everything off the surface and sat down facing her.
“Start small. Focus on a simple object, decide to move it via magic alone.” He lifted something off the shelf and put it on the wooden bench in front of her.
Sunny stared at the metal object he’d put on the bench between them as she took her seat. She laughed nervously. “Move it? I don’t even know what it is.”
“It’s a clamp.” He chuckled. “It doesn’t matter what it is. Imagine your life depends on shifting it. Don’t be nervous. Concentrate on the object, draw on your emotional resources and feel your power. You already know elemental magic is within you. Once you recognize the way it works you’ll be able to nurture it.”
What would it be like to move an object without touching it?
The concept of doing so was seductive, she couldn’t deny it.
Surely she could do this, if she’d managed to stop those people following them in the marketplace during Cullen’s time? She concentrated on the clamp until her head hurt, and her eyes stung from staring at it. Flexing her arms, she held out her hands and tried to visualize light coming from her palms, as Eben had manifested moments before. Nothing happened. “Oh, bloody hell! I can’t do it.”
Slumping, she pushed her hands into her hair. It was stupid of her to have hoped for such a ludicrous thing. She looked at Eben for guidance.
Eben lifted his eyebrows, a gentle question in his eyes. “Do you believe the power exists inside you?”
She could no longer deny what’d happened. She nodded. At some point, she’d accepted this was within her grasp, yet it still felt as if she was clutching at straws.
“That’s half the battle. Trust in what you now recognize as part of you. Open yourself to your emotions like you did when Fox threatened to take your lover from you.”
She recalled Fox, the dark eternity Cullen faced at Fox’s hands, and the usual feelings of anger and injustice rose up inside her.
Frustration boiled up inside her and she glared at the object, imagining it was Fox standing there, taunting her. As the rush of emotion was unleashed, the small, solid object started rocking backwards and forwards, and then suddenly flipped over and shot off the workbench, landing on the floor with a clatter.
Eben clapped his hands together.
Sunny stared in astonishment, her mouth open.
“You did it! Now remember how easy it is so you can do it again. It’s as simple as that.” Eben laughed when he saw her face, and bent to pick up the clamp. “Try it again.”
This time it was easier. Sunny looked at the metal tool and allowed her feelings to bubble inside her stomach until they were strong enough to handle Fox if he’d been standing here with them, then she let it go. The small, solid object whisked off the table. Sunny concentrated hard, attempting to hold it in place, her heart racing with excitement.
“That’s it,” Eben said and stepped away from the bench, lifting his hands to encourage Sunny. “Keep it going, keep it going.”
The object moved back and forth, lowered gently to the table, rolled across the surface, then dropped to the floor. Astonished, she rose to her feet, her hand at her throat to quell her erratic breathing.
