What Should Not Be
This male set goosebumps shivering across my skin instantly. I immediately hated that this was the one who should hold all the answers about magic, my abilities, and controlling them. I didn’t want to spend another second in his presence.
He just stepped back and extended an arm, ushering me further into the darkened building.
It was like Drayce’s place, but where there’d been a kitchen in his, here there were shelves of books from floor to ceiling.
I would have found that exciting if I didn’t have such a visceral detestation for the creepy aura and for this male.
A mortal woman and a fae male retreated to the back hallway after a quick glance as soon as I entered. At least they were in the rebel uniform.
As I walked past Sevrin, he never took his eyes off me.
“You have a lot of questions, I’m sure. But let us start with your abilities, shall we?”
I nodded my agreement, since this was arguably the most pressing topic on my mind.
“What do you know of them so far?” he asked.
“Well…I know I have the element of fire and some variation of light. And when I get mad and lose control, I emit…shadows and smoke.”
He studied me the way a predator studies its prey from afar. “And has your vey form emerged yet?”
“I…” Malvina had said I was elemental, Umbrathren, and Veythryn. Maybe she was right after all. “I don’t think so. I mean, I erupted in flames and shadows, but I thought that was just my elements out of control.”
I thought again of the king’s Pyrrath form and shuddered.
“I do not think that you are a Pyrrath.”
I audibly sighed in relief, even though I had the uncomfortable feeling that he knew what I had been thinking. “Then what is my vey form?”
He gave a sinister smile. “I have my suspicions. But we shall see in due time.”
Well, that was exactly zero percent helpful.
“Okay, what can you tell me about the light element? During the test with Bramick, I—”
“I know about your light trial. I do not believe it is an elemental ability you possess in this case. If you’ll please give me your hand, I should like to confirm my assumptions.”
I hesitated when he reached his hand across the table toward me. But I wanted to know—needed to know—so I placed my hand in his upturned palm, and he closed his eyes.
A tingling sensation spread from where our hands connected, up my arm and into my heart, as if my magic was reacting to his touch.
He opened his eyes and smiled wider as he sat back, releasing my hand. “As I thought. You’re an Umbrathren, Naci. But I suspect you already knew that.”
I did, but I still didn’t like it. Not when it made this male so giddy.
It made me think back to the conversation Nella and I overheard in the barn. Those men had sounded terrified when they said the king had Umbrathrens by his side. Would I be feared, persecuted, hated if people knew I was one too?
Would I be seen as just as bad, just as evil as the cruel king that slaughtered mortals, including Nella? Surely not…but I couldn’t help the spiraling thoughts or the overwhelming sadness.
He pressed on without an answer. “The shadows, the tendrils, the smoke, and what happened during your trial—they are shadow magic. Your Umbrathren ability—your umbra magic. Shadows are a magic that is considered dark and dangerous. It can corrupt someone who steeps too deeply into the magic. They can forget who they are. Forget how to feel.”
That was already happening when I lost control. Is that what the beast in my heart is? Shadow magic? I swallowed hard, trying to keep the panic at bay.
“What do you feel when the shadows come to you?” he asked.
“I feel…like there’s this creature in my chest that takes over and feeds on rage. I can feel it react to strong emotions. It makes me…want to hurt people.”
His predatory gaze dropped to my chest, making me want to cover myself.
“Is that what a vey form is like?” I asked. “Like a living thing that’s part of you? Could that be my vey?”
Gods, I hoped not. I was scared enough of this beast controlling me, but to become it? The thought gave me chills.
“I do not believe it is your vey form. But it is curious indeed.” He got up, walked to a bookshelf, and started looking for a book.
“It’s been said that shadows are a living entity, which is why they are not considered elemental in nature.
There have been shadow wielders over the years who have been unfortunate and unable to control them.
Ah.” He plucked a book from the topmost shelf and set it on the table.
The black, peeling leather had only two words embossed in red on the front.
Nox Incineram. I’d seen this book before.
The image of my bookshop in Briarstead flooded my mind, recalling the day with Fadric in the alleyway.
I’d opened this book for a moment that day.
I remembered feeling the book, as if it was pulsing and alive.
What would a book like this be doing in the library of a mortal town?
“I should like you to read this book. It will guide you in attempting to control the shadows. And Naci? I highly suggest you make friends with that beast in your heart. Your life, and others’, could depend on it.”
That was sinister and terrifying. I slid the book into my lap and immediately didn’t like the way it felt. It felt dark, as if it had its own intentions.
“And what about your new vision?”
His question surprised me. “How did you know about that?” I hadn’t told anyone yet. This male gave me the sense that he knew way more than he let on—I needed to find out what his umbra abilities were.
He just smiled. “Please describe what you see for me, Naci.”
I took a deep breath. “I see in black and white out of my left eye, except for glowing auras around certain things. I get the sense that I’m seeing…
magic, but I’m not entirely sure. When I have both eyes open, it just overlays the glow over the normal world.
Have you ever heard of something like that after a magical wound? ”
“I do not think it has anything to do with the lightning that gave you that scar and temporary blindness. But no, I have never heard of seeing magic in that way. Follow me, please.”
Once again, I wondered how he could know that my scars came from lightning magic. Maybe this male, too, was an Umbrathren. Maybe that was his ability, to read minds or something like that. It made me extremely nervous to be in his presence.
Despite my unease, I got up and followed him, book in hand, and he led us to a room down the hallway that was empty save for a staircase that led underground.
I froze. My mind was back in the dungeons of Ashthorn, and my panic rose, making the shadow beast perk its head up.
“Come, Naci. Nothing will hurt you down here. It’s not a prison; it’s a safe place. A place of knowledge.”
I forced my feet to carry me down the stairs as a bead of sweat dripped down my temple.
At the bottom was a room nearly the size of the entire house above, with stone walls and lit torches.
One whole wall was filled with more packed bookshelves, and opposite was a long table with several mysterious objects.
It was the third wall that had my attention, though.
Large, floor-to-ceiling glythyrs had been drawn over nearly the entire surface. They weren’t just glowing white like the others I’d seen. They were pulsing like a heartbeat and in every color.
“What do you see?”
“Glythyrs. Glowing, pulsing.” I closed my left eye, and my normal vision revealed only plain white, softly glowing symbols. But with the left, I could see the life in them, the colors. I wasn’t sure what it meant or how it was helpful, but it was pretty to look at.
“Do you know what this one does?” He pointed to the one on the far right, glowing red, with a pulse that resembled more of a flickering candle.
I shook my head.
“It protects this room from fire, which would devastate the ancient knowledge in these books. I suspect you see it in red?”
“I do.”
He looked pleased. “And this one?” He pointed to the one dead center on the wall that was glowing blue, its pulsing more like the ebb and flow of water.
“It protects the books from water damage?”
“Very good, very good. And that one?” This time, he pointed to the far left.
“It’s black. Like the one on the stone of my trial.” Except that one had started off white, and I had turned it black. This one smoked just the same, though.
He thought for a moment before turning back toward the staircase and beckoning me to follow upstairs.
“Are you going to tell me what the black one is?”
“No. Some glythyrs are not meant to be named.”
Interesting. And annoying.
We sat back down at the table at the front of the house. “But what does it mean that I can see the colors of the glythyrs and turn them black?”
“I think it means…that you may be the only person alive who can read and unravel glythyrs written by others. And that would make you a powerful weapon indeed.”
I shuddered, my stomach clenching. I would not be used. Not ever again.
“I’m not a weapon,” I growled, hearing the beast underneath.
He considered me for a moment, eyes dropping again to my chest. “Indeed,” was all he said. He got up once more, pulled yet another book from the shelf, and set it in front of me.
“I would like you to read this book as well. It is the study and art of glythyrs. Once you’ve read both, we will use our time together to summon and control your shadows, and create, read, and unravel glythyrs.
I cannot say how or why now, but I believe it is essential you learn to do everything I just listed. ”
“And my vey?”
“Will surely manifest soon. It should either stem from your fire or your shadows. For your sake, let’s hope it is the former and not the latter. That is all for today. Return once you’ve read the books.”