“Could we train now?” I asked.
Hekla took a shaky breath. “Aren’t you freaked out about being trapped here?”
Nora looked at me like she had been about to ask the same question.
I rubbed my hands together to warm them. “Of course, but what good does flipping out do? Might as well get my shit together as best I can, and then maybe we mages can turn this thing around. I managed to portal us in. Maybe I can get us out.”
“I wish I had your optimism,” Nora said.
I couldn’t tell her I was scared of frying myself. That would only ruin the little bit of hope I’d given her. Regardless, I had to try portalling. If I didn’t succeed, we’d be doomed to die in the mysterious manner the other mages had, sacrificed to the Yew Bow and its trees of blood.
Chapter 7
Nora stood, regarding me with cutting eyes. “Call up your energy.”
Geez. It was like a dare. I’d thought we were on the same team, and I did not need extra attitude from her. I was coming apart, my magic jolting the hell out of me every other hour. We’d already tried this six times with no success. I felt like shit, and I was pretty sure Lucus did, too. He’d finished feeding from the oak, but honestly, he still looked pale.
“Do you need more henbane?” He searched an inner pocket of his emerald cloak. “I did bring some herbs,” he said, holding out a bunch of dried leaves.
In my damp palms, the leaves crumbled easily as they released their rotted scent, a sticky odor that clung to my nose. I smeared the henbane down my neck and over my collarbones like I’d done back at the cursed castle. I closed my eyes to imagine my aura, my energy, and a golden shimmer appeared in my thoughts. It was probably not my actual aura and only my imagination, but it looked pretty badass, all blingy and shit. A humming melody filled me, and a slow beat reverberated from my chest and through my limbs. I recognized it as the song I’d heard the first time I’d reached for my aura.
Lucus whispered something to Nora, and though the words were too quiet to hear, the sound of them were drums in my ears, the bond between us strong and undeniable. I could smell him. I wanted him. A warmth bloomed between my thighs, and my breath came in quick gasps, but I covered it by clearing my throat. Now was not the time to slide into the dark woods with my delicious fae lord. It was too bad, but I had to focus on my magic to keep myself alive and then get us out of here.
The song of my aura grew louder, and I imagined the golden shimmer of it expanding to fill the space beyond me. With willpower and thought, I pushed the energy above my head, toward the gnarled tree limbs, and then urged my aura to grow into the ground like sparkling roots from my feet.
“Yes! That is quite good.” Nora was grinning when I opened my eyes. The great smile didn’t match the circles under her eyes, but it did hint at what she must have looked like before she’d been trapped here and subjected to such horror. “Now all you need to do is push your aura toward the energy lines in the earth. Can you feel them?”
Hekla had closed her eyes and was standing in a starfish shape like she was trying to do what I was doing. I appreciated the camaraderie, and who knew? Maybe she’d surprise us all. She’d surprised me enough over the years of our friendship.
“Feel anything, Hekla? Because I don’t.”
Nora deflated. “Nothing at all? The ley lines feel like magic to me. But softer and stronger at the same time. More of a flow than a strike.”
Shutting my eyes again, I tried to sense the lines, but as I pushed my aura beyond me, into the leaf-strewn ground, a deadening or a lack enveloped all the energy there. Gritting my teeth, focusing on the song of my own presence, I pushed harder, reaching further. A crackle of magic snapped across my mind, loud and hot. But there it was! I felt it! A flow like a river of power, slim and never-ending—a loop stretching around the globe. Straining to touch it with my aura, head pounding, my magic sparked again, and my aura shrank back.
I opened my eyes and sighed. “It’s like the flow you’re talking about is dodging me for some reason, or maybe my magic is keeping me from it.”
“Give me a moment. I’ll get some more henbane. Maybe that’ll help…” Nora walked back toward her chamber, Hekla on her heels asking questions.
Lucus came closer, and the bond between us sizzled, a feeling so strong I was surprised it wasn’t a visible thing. He leaned close as his glamour shifted away to show his ebony horns and vine-tangled wings. “Perhaps we need to motivate your magic to show us its power?” Glancing at me with serious eyes, he lifted one black eyebrow. “It would be dangerous, but if you’re willing, I could help.”
Heat rose inside me, and I brushed my lips across the hollow of his throat. He made a low sound deep in his chest, and tingles spread over my back and down my thighs. I ran a hand across his flat stomach and around to his hip.
I gripped him where his hipbone rose over the waistline of his trousers, catching a bit of hot flesh in my fingers, and pulled him close. “I do love a risky venture.”
He sucked a breath and whispered something sharp in fae, words that refused to be translated. “Coren, you will be the death of me.”
“I promise your demise will be glorious.”
Grinning against my neck, he whispered, “I have no doubt, witch.”
I
