“Not by a long shot. But I wanted you to see that you can call it back to you. It may have been only a fraction of what you’re capable of, but you were in complete control the whole time, Taryn.”
I can’t help the smile that spreads across my face. “I was, wasn’t I?
Finn steps in and tips my face up for a quick kiss. “Damn straight you were. Now let’s go again.”
“Aye-aye, Captain,” I return cheekily, earning me a swat on my ass that does nothing to deter my sass. I’m in too good of a mood.
We continue practicing, starting at my baseline of 10% and slowly increasing it from there. He has me pull back every so often to renew my confidence in my control, and the compression of the ropes does its job, giving me the sense of my magic being contained and unable to overpower me.
The work is exhausting, but now there’s a fire lit under my ass, and I’m determined to not only be able to call on the magic but also do something with it before we head back. It takes me several hours to build up to the 25% level. That’s when I start trying to manipulate the water in the stream like we saw Edevane do in the cavern.
Again and again, I practice with little success. I can’t tell if I’m doing anything significant or it’s just the way the water naturally flows.
But then I do it. With sweat dotting my brow and my jaw grinding my teeth into dust, I lift a bubble of water the size of a dinner plate and hold it a foot above the stream, with a bonus Blaze-Gill swimming in panicked circles.
“Oh, my gods, I did it!” My shocked excitement breaks the hold I have and the fish and surrounding water splash back into the stream, but I’m too happy to care.
Finn laughs and picks me up to swing me around in celebration before steadying me and delivering a breath-stealing kiss. “I knew you would. I’m so proud of you, Taryn.”
“I couldn’t have done any of this without you,” I say with my heart in my eyes. “Thank you, Finnian.”
“Anytime, solnyshko.” He smiles wide and winks, then holds me out by my shoulders. “Okay, now that you’ve mastered that—”
With a dubious arch of my brow, I say, “Mastered?”
“Whatever, there’s something else I want you to try.”
I lace my fingers together and push them out, cracking my knuckles. “All right, shoot.”
“I want you to practice teleporting.”
The blood freezes in my veins. He wants me to do the thing I couldn’t do that almost cost him his life. A new wave of shame and guilt—my constant companions—washes over me. It must show in my expression because he quickly gathers me against him.
“I know what you’re thinking, and it’s not because of that. Sweetheart, please stop blaming yourself for something that never came to pass. You’re too fucking hard on yourself.”
Am I, though? It’s a rhetorical question because the answer is a firm no, but he won’t agree with me, so I don’t ask it out loud.
Stepping out of his embrace, I say, “Why should I practice that right now, then? I need to focus on things that will help us in the fight against Edevane. Teleporting is great when you’re trapped, but we’ll be in the open with him.”
“Because teleportation isn’t only useful when you’re trapped. For instance, you could use it to potentially move objects, like weapons, from one place to another.”
Golden eyes lock onto mine, holding my gaze with a level of intensity he normally doesn’t use. “You could also transport yourself away from danger. I know you’re a fierce warrior, and you’re even more powerful as a Mystic. But nobody is infallible, and I need you to keep yourself safe. My heart doesn’t beat without yours, solnyshko.”
The torrent of my emotions eases somewhat. I understand where he’s coming from, so I’ll practice teleportation. Not for my own sake, like he wants. But so that I can move him, Dmitri, and my other loved ones out of harm’s way if needed. I wasn’t able to do it in that cavern. But by gods I’m going to be able to do it in the future.
“Okay, you’re right,” I say. “But maybe I should practice on inanimate objects before I start on trying to move myself through space and time.”
“Excellent idea,” he says with a relieved smile. “How about that small boulder over there? See if you can move it even a few feet away from where it is now.”
“As the boys would say, ‘copy that.’”
I try and try, but can’t get the thing to even vibrate, much less disappear and reappear. Deciding it probably takes more power, we switch to getting my percentage up higher. Accessing 50% of my magic without setting the nearby trees on fire took us several more hours. We even took a break so he could undo the original chest harness and construct a more tightly woven one for a stronger feeling of security.
By the time dawn is approaching, I’m wiped out but I want to give it one more shot before giving up. Summoning all the magic I dare, I hold my arms out and focus on the boulder and what I want it to do. My hands tremble, the violet streams of energy swirling and sparking. Growling through clenched teeth, I give one last shove of power, and the boulder vanishes.
“Holy—”
It reappears several feet away and explodes into a thousand small chunks of rock that rain over the far side of the valley.
“—shit,” I finish appropriately, eyes wide.
Finn crosses one arm across his body and braces his other elbow on it as he attempts to hide his amusement behind his closed fist. “Well…that’s not exactly ideal.”
I look at him with eyes widened. “You think?”
“It’ll be fine. You’ve been at this all night, and you’re exhausted. You’ll do better after you’ve had some rest.” Opening his arms wide, he says, “But, hey, you fucking moved it. That’s a start, right?”
My eyebrows shoot high on my forehead. “It’s definitely something,” I say doubtfully. “You’re right, though. I’m cashed.”
“I’ve never been prouder of anyone in my entire life, Taryn. You were amazing.” Unused to hearing the expressive compliments that Finn lavishes me with so easily, my only response is to blush. Scooping me into his arms, he says, “Come on, rockstar, let’s get you to bed.”
“I can walk, you know,” I protest on a yawn before resting my head on his shoulder and letting my eyes drift closed.
The rumble of his soft chuckle soaks into my pliant body. “I know you can, solnyshko. Doesn’t mean you always have to. Now go to sleep and let me take care of you.”
I doze in his arms the whole way back, letting the rhythm of his long strides rock me as the sun creeps over the horizon. By the time I sense us entering the palace, I’m in the pleasant haze between awake and asleep, teetering on the edge of dreamland.
Finn stops to talk to someone, their voices low and muffled. I’m too exhausted to rouse myself enough to participate in the conversation or take much of it in. But as Finn starts to move up the wide staircase that leads to our guest suite, part of what was said makes it through the fog.
Edevane is coming.
THIRTY-SEVENTARYN
I’d heard right. Edevane is on his way with his army of five hundred Light Warriors.
Luckily, Aine was able to shut down the region portals in time, so they’ve been forced to travel across Faerie on foot. It gives us more time to prepare, and hopefully they’ll be fatigued from the trip.
Connor and Conall have been doing daily scouting missions in wolf form to track the army’s progress. It’s already been a week since they were first spotted. At the rate they’ve been covering ground, we estimate they’ll be in Tír Tairngire in a matter of days.
Finn and I have been working on strengthening my control over my Mystic powers relentlessly since that first night. His training sessions have been grueling, yet undeniably effective. He pushes me past my fear to reach new milestones. Now I can teleport objects with precision—I eventually stopped making them explode—and can even manipulate large amounts of water with newfound confidence.
When we’re not practicing my magic, we’ve been working with Cathal—the commanding general of the Néit who used to train me and Dev all those years ago. Cathal’s rigorous combat training sessions with his warriors are getting my rusty sword skills back up to par, preparing me for any close encounters where magic is too dangerous to use.
For the past several hours, our main group has been in the war room, discussing battle strategy and working out which tactics are our best bet. There’s been a lot of back and forth and coming up with a plan only to find a weakness and start from scratch. But I think we’ve finally narrowed it down to the best one.
The holographic model of the battlefield shimmers before us, a detailed representation of where we chose to make our stand. It’s an uninhabited grassy area with few trees, hills on either side and a nearby lake. It’s our arena, and every inch of it must be exploited to our advantage.
Connor and Conall stand to my left, their expressions as fierce and determined as ever. Dmitri and Cathal flank Finn on the other side of the table, their eyes locked onto the holographic map.
