Page 101 of Ruby & Onyx

Creating flames came naturally to me, even within the confines of the study. But on the beach, when we were in real danger, it was even easier to conjure.

But I was never able to extinguish any fire I ignited - not the little candles with Sir Magis, nor the fire I brought forth at Guylita’s cottage.

Oh, gods. I don’t remember even contemplating slowing down the orb’s wrath of power that I hurled toward Olly and Landers. Is it still burning?

Did I destroy the Palace of Light?

But as I think more about it, I remember something. It wasn’t just me wielding that power. Bas was there, too. In my mind.

I ask him, “How did you enter my mind?”

When Manka made us immortal, this particular power latched onto us. Nobody else knows it exists. He smiles softly as his eyes dance in the light of a memory.

How does it work exactly? Can you hear my thoughts all of the time? I’ve had enough of being watched and monitored throughout my life. I don’t want my thoughts to be put on display now, too.

Not all of the time, no. I have to… call to you. And you to me.

But we spoke this way earlier, before I knew how to call to you.

Some things are like second nature, I suppose.

Have you ever called to me without me realizing it?

He nods.

Were you calling to me all this time?

It’s how I knew that you were alive. The connection was fuzzy until you left Carcera, but it was always there. I couldn’t hear you, but I could feel you. That and our marriage mark. He grins again, looking down at my hand like a treasure that he’s spent years seeking. He wraps his hand, which bears an identical mark, around mine. I did everything I could to reach you. Every day, I tugged on the tether between us to make sure that it was still there.

Did I ever call to you? I ask. Could I have done it without realizing it?

His grin fades as his chin drops to his chest. I could only ever hear your agony.

A memory stirs inside of me. After my mom died, I flew into a drunken rage, screaming and crying and seriously contemplating burning the whole cottage down. I tripped on a rock in the garden and fell face-first into a blueberry bush. I couldn’t bring myself to get up, so I just rolled over and laid in the dirt. The agony was unbearable - too sharp and all-consuming. It was the last night that I spent with Oren.

At the time, I thought that I had imagined it when I heard a voice in my head telling me to get up. I thought it must have been a subconscious part of my brain that had been awakened by copious amounts of whiskey. Yet, I could hear it so clearly, as plain as day in my mind.

That voice told me that I was strong enough to push through it. That the pain of loss would be unbearable for a while, but I would survive it. That if I just got up off of the ground and pushed on one day at a time, then the pain would lessen. Never gone, but quieter.

It was one of the toughest nights of my life, and those words helped me to keep going. To keep putting one step in front of the other, day after day, even when it felt impossible.

And he was right, to an extent. The pain never did go away, but I learned to live with it. I got up off the ground and kept going. I was strong enough.

When my mom died…

I heard you. His face tightens.

Thank you for what you said to me then.

His pained expression says more than words could. He slowly sweeps his thumb across my skin, which reacts with a rush of tantalizing jolts. I have to fight back the tears welling behind my eyes.

But his touch awakens something in me. The mark on my hand darkens to a deep shade of onyx, and the swirling lines on his hand do the same. The two marks seem to sing to each other – a song of pure delight.

“You’re alive!” I hear, and I look over my shoulder to see Amin, whose face is now clean-shaven, staring back at me.

I wipe my eyes and give my best attempt at a smile. “Yeah, looks like it.”

“I’m glad to hear it because I really didn’t want to swim back to shore to kick their asses,” he says with a light laugh. “Though, I have no doubt that war is on the horizon, so that ass-kicking will come sooner or later.”

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