Chapter 41
Slowly, I meander my way down the northwestern corridor.
The hairs prickle on my neck, causing me to stop in my tracks.
My eyes peer around the quiet marble halls and balconies, only to see a few ensigns making their way back to their dorm rooms. I close my eyes, peeking out the starry stained-glass window to see black velvet ribbons.
Tension I didn’t even know I was carrying melts between my shoulders as relief floods my veins, instantly sending my heart into a fluttering mess.
That beating relief quickly sizzles up as a wave of anger crashes through me, remembering that S?las clearly has some explaining to do about our bond.
The forefront of my mind bristles with quills poised to strike—he left and then blocked me out all day!
My magic morphs into barbs beneath my skin, threatening to rip free, drowning in my anger alongside me.
My legs sling into a sprint, fury and undeniable longing bubbling and spewing inside me, ready to simmer over. To burn. To consume. Fuming as I dart through the arched doors to the northern field.
The cool air unsettles my Chaos Magic, craving to disrupt the low movement of the cold molecules.
My power nips at my skin, begging for collision, heat, to make a mess of the world that desires to be untamed.
I’m too exhausted to hold it back any longer, and everyone wants me to let go—tonight seems as good as any.
In my wild new state of feeling, I relinquish control. Unleashing my magic…
To let chaos reign.
The wind devours my fury, swirling in a vicious dance around me, twirling to the beat of the thunder booming in the distance.
Lightning strikes with every step, the earth quaking and shattering beneath my feet, swaying in gusts of air that caress me.
It’s nothing compared to the sea of chaotic emotions storming inside me. Icy sleet beats against my sore skin.
Wind violently lashes my hair against my flesh.
The weather growing more and more wild as the lightning strikes closer, drawn in by my chaotic magic set free.
The next bolt whips down in front of me, illuminating the dark figure below, as I see Calais circle above in the sky.
An eerie fog uncurls around my ankles, each step freezing the ground beneath my feet.
A hurricane of weather torrents around me. Yet, instead of being out of control, I am… alive. Free from the shackles of my own design. My own demise.
I hear Calais’ voice, faintly. “She is not ready. She risks ignition.” But it’s distant, even in my own mind, as my magic vibrates my bones like a tuning fork, feeding from the chaos dancing around me. Growing more powerful the more I let the world spin out of control around me.
I have no desire to rein it in; it matches the fury within me, kindred to my imprisoned soul set free.
My own incessant need for control is shattered, the bars now bowed from my magic’s escaping wrath.
The earth quakes and quivers beneath my feet, as if I’m as mighty as my dragon.
The soil soaring into the blizzarding wind with each step.
My eyes can barely see in front of me, but I know exactly where he is.
An irresistible pull, like a star orbiting a black hole.
An inescapable fate.
An inevitable destruction.
His shadows whirl around him, ripped apart by my tempest of chaos. Another lightning strike comes in overhead, landing on Calais, sparking along her lightning conductor spikes. I try to gather my thoughts. To remember why I’m so livid …
His blue moon eyes collide with mine, piercing my soul, and nothing seems to matter anymore.
I become the wind, moving wild and swift until my arms wrap around his neck, my lips crashing into his.
Our kiss is frantic, like we’re each other’s air, gasping one another in, after drowning in absence for far too long.
His full lips part. Our tongues devour one another, consuming each moment like when breath becomes air.
He pulls me into him, his arm around my waist and the other hand grasped in my hair, tilting my head back, deepening the kiss as I fall deeper into him.
He tastes like moonlight and darkness. Hope and dreams.
Our magic intertwines, ripping apart the space between us. To be closer. Interlacing, as if they can’t exist without one another.
My skin ignites in such heat, the fires of the forge feel like dying embers in its luster. The fever between us melting away the seams of where I begin and he ends.
He kisses me like the world is ending.
With the way his mouth moves against mine, I’m not entirely sure it isn’t.
He grasps me in. Tighter. Stealing my breath away under his strength, as my hand tangles through his silky raven locks.
A moan escapes my lips as the hard length of him grinds against my heated core. The growl that rumbles through his chest resonates through my bones, imprinting on my marrow.
He spins me up and unravels me all at the same time. No being has ever kissed me like him. His velvet ribbons caress my mind, holding me so deeply, I never want him to let go.
Our connection is a magic all of its own.
His black velvet ribbons swirl lazily, weaving their way between my ribs, nuzzling around my heart, finding their way into my soul. Pulling us closer than comprehension. Closer than words exist to describe.
I whimper at the sensation as he groans into my mouth. Melting me like a candle wax into his arms. A flame ignited only by him. For him.
I want more of him.
I want all of him.
He’s mine.
He grasps at me, as if he can pull me even tighter, groaning at my thought.
My mind shutters as I realize I’m left bare, my shields utterly obliterated in my fury of letting my chaos free.
I try to pull away.
As my lips fall from his, he pulls his forehead to mine. His hands firmly around my waist and neck as his thumb strokes my jaw. His breath is ragged while I barely breathe, knowing the thought he undoubtedly heard.
“Yours. Always. In every existence that there ever was or ever will be.” His smoky voice caresses my mind, causing me to sway in his grasp as the weight of his words keep me grounded in this reality, tethering my soul in an unspeakable way.
The exhaustion of the day avalanches over me, my body slackening in his arms. I peer up to see his eyes still closed, snowflakes decorating his lashes as messy raven curls cascade into his face.
He seems to be savoring this moment with his every heartbeat.
The world slips out from underneath my feet, exhaustion and the depth of my magic expenditure claiming my body. The edges of my vision go dark.
The last thing I see is Calais’ and Scáil’s wings tucked around us as they nuzzle one another’s heads. Darkness consumes me as I realize they used themselves to protect us, shielding us from the destruction of my power unleashed.