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“What happened?” she asked.
Rion opened his mouth to answer and closed it again. His body shuddered and she rushed to his side, kneeling beside him to pour her magic into his frigid body. He was always so cold after the incident with her father and she’d done nothing to help.
“I’m sorry,” he said, avoiding her gaze.
“It’s done now. Does anything else hurt?” He didn’t answer. “Rion, are you hurt anywhere else?” She followed his gaze and placed her hand on his thigh, healing another gash.
Then Arianna slumped down beside him, letting the roaring falls fill the uncomfortable silence.
“What happened?” she repeated.
“The shift.” Arianna jumped at Eoghan’s voice and Rion’s head snapped toward him. His nostrils flared, but Arianna grabbed the torn sleeve of his tunic.
“Enough.” She looked at Eoghan, his face pale as he scanned the vicinity. “What do you mean?”
“You’re of that age now. Seeing those two fight,” he tilted his head toward Rion, “probably pulled at it.”
“Sometimes the magic sparks,” Rion said, his voice hushed. “But I’ve never seen anyone’s do that.” They scanned the frozen field.
“She’s The Divine,” Eoghan said simply. “I’m sure she’s going to show us a lot of things we’ve never seen.”
Arianna’s body shook. She felt as though she’d run for miles on end without food or water. Like she was a slave again, starved and expected to work grueling hours in the sun.
The shift. Gaining her animal form would certainly be a cause for celebration, but if this was the result . . . she didn’t want to hurt anyone in the process and she’d half frozen her mate and Talon.
Her gaze traveled to the tree line. He hadn’t even let her heal him completely. How long would this go on? Would he avoid her forever because she’d chosen to be with Rion?
“I can’t control it,” Arianna said. For a few moments she hadn’t even recognized Talon or Rion. Had she even been herself?
“You will, eventually,” Eoghan assured. “Everything takes practice. Shifting means you finally unlock your power’s potential and sometimes it takes a bit to learn how to control the change.”
Silence filled the space again as she looked over the frozen landscape. It was a miracle her father hadn’t shown up. What would he think about Talon and Rion’s fight? He’d probably scold Talon for not finishing it.
“Thank you, Eoghan.” She glanced at her mate. “I think I’d like to be alone with him. If you don’t mind.”
He bowed at the waist. “Absolutely. I’ll be around the cabin if you need me.”
She nodded and watched him walk across the icy terrain leaving her and Rion in the frozen stillness.
Rion struggled to his feet, but he still didn’t meet her gaze. A trickle of shame floated down the bond. Not due to the fight, she thought, but at how it’d made her feel. The panic and despair it had caused.
Her shift. Being The Divine, she wondered if she’d get one at all. That maybe she’d be like Rion and left without one.
“Were you ever able to shift into a half-breed?” They looked human, but the Fae scent didn’t disappear entirely, thus, most Fae assumed those with a combined human and Fae scent were half-breeds.
He furrowed his brow at the question. “No, I’m not permitted a shift.” Right, she knew that, she’d just thought that maybe he had that part and never showed it.
Arianna closed the distance between them and cupped his cheek, gently turning his gaze to hers. His eyes softened and she poured her magic through his jaw, healing the bruises and scrapes and cuts. Her fingers traced up to his eyes and he closed them, letting her fingertips graze over his eyelids to heal the blackness forming there.
“It’s okay if—” she pressed a finger to his lips and he hesitantly rubbed a hand along her arm. The last thing she wanted was a confrontation with him. She knew what had happened; there was no reason to explain it or wallow in guilt over the situation.
“Do you trust me?”
The way he looked at her almost made her heart break. “Always.” You and only you the bond seemed to say.
Arianna threaded her fingers through his, then turned her attention to the waterfall. She pulled Rion toward the edge and closed her eyes, breathing in the fresh scent of her childhood.
Memories flooded back of hot summer days when the grass beneath their bare feet was lush and soft. Of cold winter mornings when she and Talon couldn’t say no to Ellie because her sister couldn’t use magic yet. Of camping at the edge, a fire roaring and her parents sitting beside one another whispering sweet nothings their children balked at.
