Page 19 of Their Fated Magic

He walks off in the same direction as Drogo, leaving me feeling even worse about everything. Should I have not used the Battle Magic and let them all die? I shake my head and look around. Rinan sits against a log, his breathing shallow and raspy.

Rising, I go and kneel at his side. “Can I try to heal you?”

After a second, he nods.

I touch his chest. “Heal.” Again, that amazing flow of power washes through me, and I sense it getting to work. It’s listening, in a way it never did before.

He closes his eyes and takes a slow, deep breath. He doesn't look at me, and it makes my heart ache. Until this moment, it hadn’t really struck me that Rinan was the person I felt closest to. The one I trusted the most. His gentle eyes and soft touch always made me feel like at least he cared for me a little. Yet, it sounds like that was all an act.

“Was your plan really always just to throw me away when I’m not useful to you anymore?”

His eyes flash open and he frowns at me, not saying a word. There’s a mixture of feelings on his face: pain, regret, disappointment… or maybe I’m just imagining it all. But I wait, needing an answer. Any answer.

Yet, I’m not given one. He simply murmurs, “Things change.”

It’s like he doesn’t know what to say to me, so he’s just decided not to say anything of use. Maybe because I now know their plan, or maybe because he, like Arlys and Drogo, thinks I’ve been lying all this time about my ability to do Battle Magic. I’m at a loss with how these wolves are responding to me after this attack.

He gets up slowly and looks in the direction Drogo and Arlys went in. “I’m going to check on the others.”

“Yeah, okay,” I say weakly.

He walks off, leaving me there with Garrick. I push away the deep desire to cry and go to where Garrick is resting on the ground. He hadn’t said a word about his injuries, but I know he has them. And it’s his turn to feel my powers, if I can get them to work.

“Are you mad at me about the Battle Magic too?” I ask, kneeling down.

“Not a chance. Seriously, fuck them,” he declares, looking at me with pride.

I try to smile, but I can’t. My heart aches. It aches when I’m with the wolves. It aches when I’m away from them. Nothing seems to make it better, so I try not to focus on the uncomfortable feeling. Instead, I focus on healing Garrick.

“Heal,” I whisper, watching as the deep scratches and the huge bite on his arm slowly heal.

It’s honestly… unexpected. There aren’t even scars. I don’t know what to think about it. I’ve watched the best healers at work, and even they don’t heal like this. What’s happening to my magic? How did I spend my whole life being useless and now I’m capable of something like this?

When my magic is done, he takes my hand and stares into my eyes. “What you did was impressive. Amazing, honestly.”

I don’t know if I believe him. The others don’t care if it was impressive or not. They’re mad I have this power, even if I never knew I did. Surely, he can’t feel that differently.

“They should be happy to have such a powerful wife.” He squeezes my hand. “I am.”

I give him a weak smile, finding it hard to believe anybody is happy to have me around at all. I open my mouth to speak. He’s staring at me, waiting. I close my mouth and look away.

The princes wanted me for my powers. My mother wanted me as a tool. What does Garrick want me for?

I look back at him, needing to read the truth in his face. “Would you be with me if I wasn’t powerful?”

If my magic stops listening to me again, will Garrick be rid of me? No doubt he’d heard plenty of rumors about my powerful mother and thought I’d be the same, long before he met me, which is part of why he pushed so hard for the bond. Will all his honeyed promises of a life together with the bears happen? Or will he toss me out on my ass?

He stares at me intently, and it’s impossible to look away from his brilliant hazel eyes. “Yes. You’ve stolen my heart. I’m with you because I want to be with you, not because I want your powers. But I know after everything you’ve been through, you don’t believe that, so I’m going to spend our whole lives working to prove it to you.” He pulls me into his lap, wrapping his arms around me. “Let’s lay down. I want to hold you.”

“We should wait for them to return before we sleep,” I protest.

I can feel him smile against my hair as he picks me up and lays me down in our blankets. “They’re big boys. They can take care of themselves. You worked hard tonight, and you need your rest.”

It’s strange. He’s right. I did a lot today. Used a lot of my powers. Normally, a witch would be exhausted after doing so much. I wonder why I’m not more tired than I am.

Although… I am tired, just not the fall-over-and-collapse-after-using-that-much-magic kind of tired. I also don’t want to sleep while the wolves are gone. What if something should happen to them?

They’ve made it clear that they only care about what I can do for the mission. Not me. I should work on not caring about them either.

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