Chapter 4 #2
I quickly distanced myself and unsheathed the sword from over my shoulder, preparing for his next move while feeling the scorching flames at my back from where Nori and Cairis still battled.
Varro had blood gushing from his nose, and it dribbled across his mouth and down his chin.
I knew that at any moment he could choose to render me useless with Siren Song, but he was attempting to play fair.
I’m not sure he’d have said the same about me after what I’d just pulled.
It was such a pretty face to damage, but everything goes in the midst of competition.
Besides, there was an adept healer amongst us.
He swiped the blood from his face with his hand and smiled. The old tongue sounding melodic from his lips—he’d greatly improved his inflections since arriving at Basdie.
“If you wanted a date in the healing pools, all you had to do was ask.”
His normally casual gaze turned deviant as he began to stalk toward me with weapons in hand. My lurid illusions from earlier and the idea of us in the healing pools created a warm ache in my core that I fought to disregard. But the allure of the bond could not be ignored.
He had only taken two or three steps toward me with that bloody and gorgeous grin of his when I heard the sound as if it were the only noise in the room.
The sound of two clicks; plucked strings and soaring arrows; wind rushing down long wooden shafts.
Each sound a staccato, like they were frozen in time.
I ducked, instinctively throwing my arms out straight, as if to block them with some invisible wall.
The whoosh of air caused Nori’s fire to cease immediately.
The weapons all along the walls came tumbling to the ground.
The only sound remaining was my hammering heartbeat.
From where I crouched, I looked up to see Saryn and Theory laying sprawled out on the ground, their crossbows strewn across their bodies.
They had actually tried to shoot us while we were all sparring. Saryn’s words, “…every Fae for themselves,” now echoed in my thoughts, and I was reminded of why everything he ever said carried far more intent than we realized.
He sat up, dusting off debris, and smiled with excitement. “You did it! And while distracted, nonetheless!”
As the normal sounds of the room came back into focus, I looked around, realizing that those of us in the middle had remained untouched by the blast. The blast that I had wielded to shield us from their arrows. Varro was at my side, bracing my arm to help me stand and looking at me in astonishment.
Saryn couldn’t have cared less about the disastrous state of the training room; he was at my other side immediately, and I could feel Varro shift into a defensive stance.
“What was different this time? It can’t be fear. There was no time. Think, Cress—what did you feel?”
His questions overwhelmed me; I was still preoccupied with the thought that I had actually controlled my dark magic to some degree.
It was purely a reaction, but control nonetheless.
I chose to protect my friends and my mate.
I still didn’t understand how I drew it forth, or how I knew what kind of magic would show itself, but it finally did.
In the hours after class, Saryn and Theory interrogated me with an onslaught of questions, trying to determine how I had finally found my control.
Despite all of that, I wasn’t certain of much more than they were.
I wasn’t convinced I could do it again, but as I analyzed each time it had occurred, I noticed a growing familiarity.
Even the most adept elemental wielders, they discussed, could only hope to conjure a fraction of such displays.
And augments, such as pairing a shield with a concussive blast, were a rare combination at that.
The pool of magic I was drawing from was as deep as it was dark, and the risks associated with accessing it were bountiful.
I shared with them what little I knew from my readings, figuring the more they knew, the more likely someone would come to understand it. I kept from them any details regarding the Drift, as I was not prepared to reveal that information just yet.
When it was finally clear that there were no more answers or explanations to be had, Saryn told me to sleep on it, guaranteeing he’d pester me again tomorrow.
My reluctance to see Varro and his likely-broken nose at dinner was quickly diminished as I turned the corner and spotted him at the table eating, looking just as handsomely pristine as before our incident. His bright smile beamed across the room when he saw me.
“Nori is quite the healer, don’t you think? I’ve only glanced in the mirror ten or twenty times, but I think it looks perfect… I mean, back to normal,” he teased playfully.
He was so cocky, and yet I was relieved for the excellent work she’d done on the repair.
Saryn and Theory joined us for dinner, and I waited for the topic of my ability to take over the conversation. It did not.
My gaze flicked left, then right, searching for signs of concern or uncertainty on the faces of my companions. I saw none. My inability to control the power had scared them before, but manifesting it today to protect them seemed to have eased their minds.
In any case, I was grateful to not be treated like a pariah.
I knew Varro didn’t think that way, but it felt good to be treated normally by the others as well.
Between games of portal tag and dark wielding a shield, I had developed a massive appetite, which I satiated with second and third helpings of dinner.
All through the meal, I wrestled with the looming thought that I wasn’t certain if Varro and I were actually going to meet at the healing pools later that night.
His nose was already taken care of, but he must have noticed the minor advances I’d made that day.
If I were being honest with myself, I probably owed him some semblance of an apology for crossing that line so brazenly.
Though, throughout dinner he showed no signs of displeasure with me, so I was hopeful that I wasn’t awaiting a reprimand from my would-be mate.
The hearty meal punctuated the end of a long, exhausting day.
Nori and Cairis retired to their rooms while I idled near my door awaiting some sort of inclination from Varro.
I was tired too—probably more so than the others after my magical exertion—but I found the prospect of an encounter with him enticing enough to stay up.
When the others were settled in their rooms, he arrived at my door and gestured for me to follow him.
I did so eagerly, and without question. When he stopped at the Vesper rooms, I was surprised.
I had assumed we were headed to the pools like usual.
He grabbed a small torch from the wall, then opened and held the door while ushering me inside.
The room was ominously dark, so I stopped and waited for Varro to lead the way.
The firelight danced warmly on the cold, stone walls until a fixture for mounting the torch came into sight.
That light, however bright though it seemed in the hallway, scarcely pierced the darkness of this chamber.
The scene reminded me of late nights reading by candlelight, turning the pages eagerly near a waning wax taper. Basking in the comfort of those memories, I admired his easy confidence as he turned to me from the torch, and found the atmosphere alarmingly romantic.
I’d become very acquainted with these rooms, though for all the wrong reasons.
Memories of the nights I spent tortured, or torturing, flooded back to the forefront of my mind.
It had been some time since I visited with a Vesper.
I couldn’t fathom why Varro had brought us here, apart from the fact that these rooms were some of the few with locks…
“I thought we were to have a date in the healing pools,” I declared boldly.
Varro faced me with an enthusiastic smile. “I am still taking you up on the date, but I had a better idea.”
He pointed me to the chair in the corner of the room while he took a seat at the edge of a small cot. His confirmation that this was a date made the bond tingle slightly, and I clasped my hands together to continue appearing calm and collected.
Varro turned his gaze toward the Vesper, and within seconds, it began to quake and shift into a tall, slender Fae female.
My jaw dropped as I realized he had conjured her in my likeness.
She casually made her way to the bed and sat down beside him, remaining motionless as she awaited more instruction from his imagination.
It was like looking in the mirror, but her eerie silence did not sit well with me.
“This is strange, what are you doing?” I asked.
“Hear me out…” he started to explain, reassuringly. “If I know you as I think I do, you may believe all I seek is to seal the bond. And while I would not deny that request—I’d happily fulfill it—I want to give you the opportunity to explore any affections you may have for me without fear of that.”
He wasn’t entirely wrong, but I still could not reason out his intentions.
“If at any time you feel uncomfortable, we can stop. It’s just that…” he paused. “I’d like to show you what you’re missing.”
His cryptic words were both enticing and confusing, but I let him proceed with his demonstration. He had piqued my curiosity, which pulled me further into the exchange—most likely his intention, proving he knew me even better than I thought.