Chapter 39
THIRTY-NINE
Zarya and Rabin immediately returned to the forest to test out the control of her magic. She wasn’t surprised to discover that everything felt different.
They stood in the clearing while she managed to channel small, delicate threads of nightfire with Rabin at her side. He didn’t even need to be touching her anymore.
She twisted them in the air, drawing loops and swirls, marveling at her control. This had been the answer. It almost seemed too easy. But she was probably getting ahead of herself. There were still many bridges to cross.
The tendrils of sparkling black light spun around the clearing as she once again contemplated the purpose that found her standing in this spot.
She will be the one to free them all.
But Rabin wasn’t watching her magic. He was watching her. It was impossible not to wonder if he’d been destined for her in more ways than one. Had her mother known about him, too?
And what were the odds that the man who’d rescued him was her father by blood? Maybe Rabin was right and his task was to see them reunited. This couldn’t be only a coincidence.
“Try it on me,” Rabin said, moving to stand in front of her. “Circle them around me. And don’t argue about it being dangerous. I trust you.”
She pressed her lips together and nodded. She did have to try, but for the first time since the idea of using her magic on the collars had arisen, she wasn’t afraid. She could do this.
She twisted her fingers and sent out a thin tendril, snaking it around his ankles as it circled up his thighs and hips. She wound it around his chest and then his throat as she gently touched the tip against his skin.
“Does it hurt?” she asked, and he shook his head.
“It tingles a bit. That’s all.”
Then, an idea occurred to her.
“Let me see your tattoos,” she said, and he didn’t question her as he stripped off his shirt and waited with his arms held at his sides. Seeing him like this always made her a little breathless. It also reminded her of the narrow alley less than an hour ago as her cheeks heated and her stomach tightened with need.
After her feeble attempt to keep him at arm’s length, she’d let him back in with all the resistance of a wet tissue.
And now that they were bound, there would be no way to distance herself anymore.
As her gaze traveled over him, he returned the favor, his eyes darkening as if he, too, was remembering the way he’d taken her against that wall without a care for who might see them.
She licked her lips and then walked over and placed a soft hand on his left pectoral before kissing him just below his collarbone, where she could reach without stretching onto her tiptoes.
“Spitfire,” he growled. “What are you doing?”
She looked up and grinned. “Hold still. I want to test something.”
Rabin did as Zarya asked while he watched her send another tendril of nightfire out, twisting it in the air. It was amazing how much control the Bandhan gave her. He wondered how close they would have to be for it to take effect.
Perhaps one of the most surprising things was that he could now feel her using it through a small tug behind his navel. He wondered if there was anything he could do but stand here, so he concentrated on helping her control the magic, trying to channel his focus into her.
Her nightfire touched the tattoo on his ribs, and she closed her eyes while he held completely still. He watched as she explored the lines of the dragon covering his ribs.
“Do you feel anything?” he asked, already surmising her plan.
Her fingers flexed against his chest where she still pressed her hand, and he resisted the urge to drag her against him. He could still hear the way she’d moaned when he’d fucked her in that alley. Gods, the way she felt coming around him was transcendent.
He’d told her he loved her. Maybe that was foolish, but why did he need to hold anything back? He’d made what he wanted clear; now he belonged to her, body and soul. She hadn’t returned the sentiment, but he was sure he wasn’t imagining what he’d seen in her expression. Both when they’d been with the mystic and after he’d revealed his heart. She was standing on the precipice, waiting to tip into the promise of everything he wanted to offer her.
“Do you feel anything?” she asked, looking up at him, and he shook his head.
“No. It feels like nothing.”
“I can sense the vibrations of the molecules,” she said. “Just like with the vanshaj collars. There are similarities between this marking and theirs like Thriti said.”
“That’s good?”
She smiled, and his heart cracked at the sight. It was the only light in his dark. “It’s a great thing. I think I can do this.”
He wrapped an arm around her waist and tipped her chin up. “I’m proud of you, Zarya.”
“Even though you don’t entirely agree with what I’m doing?”
“Aren’t I here doing everything I can to help you?”
She nodded, but he knew she wasn’t convinced. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe in the purpose of the Rising Phoenix. He did. It’s why he’d never employed a vanshaj servant himself, but that was only a small act of defiance unlikely to ruffle feathers. What they were all talking about was so much more. So many people would die before this was over.
“You are, but I want you to do it for the right reasons.”
“Which are?”
“Not just following me.”
Rabin shook his head. “I’m not. It started out that way, but I understand what you’re doing and agree with it. I’m just afraid of you getting hurt in the process.”
She pulled away from him and clutched the pendant dangling around her neck. “I can’t stop this. You know that. This is my duty, even if it weren’t also the right thing to do. I was handed this responsibility, and I have to see it through.”
“I know you do,” he answered, meaning it.
“So you’re with me? This is your destiny now, too. Maybe it always was.”
“I already told you I’m with you, no matter what.”
She nodded.
“Then we should return to the house,” she said. “I have to see if this works.”