Page 110 of An Empress of Air & Chaos

A dimple appeared on his other cheek for a second and then flattened out. He turned to begin the trek back up into the forest. “You are going to have to do better than that to completely impress me, ponytail.”

Emara stood, stunned.

He provoked her into using her magic.

Magic that she didn’t even know she had. She could feel it now, the pulsing in her blood. Or maybe that was from the fight with Torin. She didn’t want to mix those two kinds of magics up.

“Wait!” she shouted. “Did you mean any of what you said in the argument?” the words fell from her mouth. She gasped as she realised what she had said, trying everything she could to inhale them back in.

He stopped in his tracks and turned to face her. “Were we arguing? I just thought that’s how we communicated.”

She took a few steps towards him. “Torin, I asked you a question! Those things you said about me,”—she looked away from his stare—“about wanting to explore my darkness... With you. Was it just a prompt to stir up my emotions, in the effort to get me to use my…my magic?”

Uncertainty crossed her face and she let it. It would have been a clever tactic from him, she had to admit. A very smart move from him. But she didn’t know how to feel about it, about what he had said. Had there been any truth to his words?

“Emara, what you feel between us...” He paused. “I feel it too.” All vulnerability that had been lingering on his face was now gone. His cheeks drew in. “It’s called sexual chemistry.”

Her chest tightened around her heart. Just sexual. Got it! She felt ridiculous to even think for one second that it could have been anything more.

“I know what chemistry is, Torin. I may be less experienced than you, but I am not an idiot.” Her tone ripped from her mouth harshly.

A muscle ticked under his eye. “Everything I said was...was…” He let out a sigh and rolled his cut lip over his teeth.

“Was what?” she pushed. An emotion that she couldn’t place pulled at her heart.

“Was done to see if you could access your magic.”

Unbelievable.

That bastard had used her as an experiment.

Emara couldn’t imagine toying with anyone’s emotions to incite a reaction. But it had worked.

She crossed her arms over her body. “How did you know to make me angry? How did you know it would work?”

“I just know things.” He turned to face the incline of the hill and began making his way up.

She fell into step behind him, taking two steps to his one. “Torin, if you know something about my magic, please, tell me.” The desperate desire to know overtook her pride. “I have no one else but you to speak of this to.”

How could Torin Blacksteel, of all people, know how to stir up any sort of magical energy within her?

“The minute you jumped over the vault in the training room, I knew. No human could learn a skill that quickly without a little help.” He craned his neck over his shoulder to see if she was behind him, and she was. “Gideon told you to think of something that enraged you. So, I am guessing you did, because you should have never made that jump. Given the little training you have had, you shouldn’t have made that kick to my stomach, either. Or the blow to my face with that feisty little elbow of yours.” He allowed a lazy smile to form on his lips. “So I wanted to get you angry and see what happened.”

She let out a barking laugh.

She had elbowed Torin Blacksteel in the face—and she had enjoyed it. Probably more than she should have. She laughed again.

“I am glad you find that amusing.”

She did. But she stilled, holding back her enjoyment. “Do you think the magic within me is helping me in training?” she asked. She was arguably better than most of the villagers that had signed up for the more extreme sessions.

“Of course. Magic pumps through your veins just like your body allows your blood to. Your magic has probably been lying dormant, just under the surface, since you were born.” He gave her a look. “It’s just never been stimulated.”

The way he said it made her blush. She bit into the corner of her cheek. “I am guessing that’s why my grandmother always tried to get me to stay in control. ‘Never lose focus,’ she would say. I was never to lose my temper. Never to lose routine. That’s probably why she had my life scheduled down to the very second.”

“Probably. She either didn’t want you finding out about your magic or for anyone else to find out about you.” He tucked his hand down to his weapon belt and pulled out a throwing knife. “Okay, less chatting, more throwing.”

But she wasn’t done talking.

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