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“They work in this?” I yelled, refusing to speak into his ear as he’d done to me.
“Withstanding the fiercest weather on our continent is a source of pride for the Isalee Territory’s fae. It’s only going to get worse as winter sets in. I figured it was better to tackle this area now versus waiting until it sits under ten feet of snow. Unless you disagree?” He straightened and quirked a silver eyebrow.
Since my feet were already pushing through two feet of snow, I glared at him but surmised that he was right. If I needed to touch the soil and try once again to replenish life in this field, it was probably best to do it when I didn’t need a shovel.
I yanked a lock of hair from my face that the wind whipped into my line of sight. “Fine, although I’m likely to freeze to death first.”
“Allow me to assist.” A wash of the prince’s magic hummed along my skin.
The wind stopped.
My eyes rounded at the bubble of protective air suddenly surrounding us. Not one snowflake or breeze penetrated it. It was as though we’d become encased within a glass dome. “Why didn’t you do that sooner?”
“Maybe I like whispering in your ear.”
My stomach flipped as a memory his erection pressed against my most intimate area surfaced. I cleared my throat and hastily took another step away. “Do you think I could do that with my air element?”
He inhaled, and his lips curved before he said, “I don’t see why not.”
“How’d you do it?” I snapped, because dammit, he’d scented my arousal again.
“I called upon my air affinity and wished for an encapsulated area around us. My magic did the rest.”
I nibbled on my lip. “Is it like what Matron Olsander was telling me? How if I visualize it, my magic should follow suit?”
“It’s exactly like that, but with practice it becomes near instantaneous and only requires a single thought.”
I knew we had work to do, that there were likely thousands of fields like this throughout the continent that I needed to save, but it would be so much easier if I wasn’t so dependent on the prince for everything. Perhaps then I could work without him and these insufferable reactions to him would cease. “Can I try?”
In a blink, his protective Shield was gone, and the icy gale bit into my skin again.
Closing my eyes, I felt for my magic inside me, that pulsing hum of power in my gut. All of my affinities were tangled together. My tutor had ensured me that eventually I’d be able to differentiate what was what and be able to feel their subtle differences, but I wasn’t able to yet.
My magic throbbed as it had yesterday, and I remembered how I was supposed to be practicing my Outlets, but I still didn’t know how to open them while also calling forth my magic simultaneously.
The prince’s heat fluttered against my body when he stepped closer. I didn’t have to open my eyes to know he was there. His sheer size broke the wind, allowing me a moment’s reprieve from it.
“Picture a dome in your mind.” His mouth caressed my ear as his breath tickled my neck. “Let your magic rise inside you as you imagine creating a protective bubble around us.”
My stomach clenched at his nearness, but I scrunched my eyes closed and forced myself to concentrate. A flash of heat hit my skin. My eyes flew open to see a dome of fire around us. It melted the snow falling upon it, but it didn’t stop the wind.
“Oops.”
The prince chuckled. “Close, but not quite.”
Closing my eyes, I tried again.A dome. A shield. Allow my magic to rise. Create a bubble around us.
The wind slowed, and some of the cold abated.
“Good,verygood.”
I opened my eyes and grinned when a similar dome appeared around us, but it wasn’t quite as strong as the prince’s. A few snowflakes still penetrated it, and a light breeze caressed my cheeks.
My grin turned into a frown. “It’s not as strong as yours.”
“But it’s still very good, Ilara. Impressive actually.”
“Really? But...” I held out my hand and caught a snowflake. “It’s not a sealed dome.”
