Page 147 of Anathema

His gaze shifted to the blade and back to me, but he made no effort to retrieve it. “What about the dagger made you sleep well?”

“I don’t know. I’ve always felt somewhat vulnerable in my sleep.”

He exhaled a long sigh and pushed the weapon back toward me. “Keep it.”

“You trust me roaming about with a blade?”

“Possessing a blade doesn’t make you a threat. It’s the mind which governs the weapon.”

“The mind can be capricious,” I countered. “One moment it’s content, the next, it’s spoiling for violence.”

His eyes darkened, and my skin prickled. “Is that another threat?”

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you enjoyed the challenge.”

While his lips twitched, his expression remained as impassive as ever. “Depends on who’s holding the dagger.” His gaze dipped to the blade in my hand. “We’ll skip training today. Perhaps you can help me understand something.”

“Me?” Frowning, I slid the blade back at my hip. “How?”

“The day in the training room when you spun the staff … you mentioned you felt a sense of arousal. But tell me exactly what you saw in your mind.”

The request had me shifting in my seat, recalling the sensations I’d felt that day. Arousal was the simplest of terms. “I actually felt a complete loss of control. It wasn’t so much that I was controlling the staff. It felt more so that the staff was controlling me. Or … something inside of me.”

“What was it inside of you that felt affected?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know, but there was a sense of … familiarity. Protection. Like a warm blanket.”

His brows pinched with a frown. “A warm blanket.”

“I just mean I felt comforted. I trusted it. In my mind it appeared as gentle ribbons of fire. Calming.”

He cleared his throat and rubbed his hand across his jaw, his eyes studying me, as usual. “The amount of magic that you pulled from me would’ve killed anyone else. Burned them from the inside out. Had my own sister attempted such a thing, she would’ve been vomiting liquid organs.” His words snapped me out of my musings, and a sobering realization washed over me. “You have a very dangerous gift, Maevyth. Were you anyone else, you’d be considered a threat, and I eliminate threats without question.”

“I swear to you, none of this makes any sense to me. I would not lie to you.”

Easing back into his chair, he sighed. “I believe you. Even if it makes me a fool.”

“I promise I won’t do it again.”

“Oh, you’ll do it again. Because I want to know the mechanics behind it.”

“Right now?”

“Right now.” He pushed up from his chair and rounded his desk, looming over me as he came to a stop alongside my chair. With a flick of his fingers, he urged me to stand, and I did, staring square at his muscled chest while I fought to look him in the eye. He raised his palm. “Place your hand against mine.”

Without hesitation, I did as he commanded, noting how much longer and stronger his fingers were compared to mine. How easily he could crush my bones, had he the notion to do so.

“I’m going to channel the flame into you. As much as you can take. However, if it becomes too much, I want you to tell me.”

“Okay.”

“Promise you’ll tell me, Maevyth.”

I nodded. “I promise.”

His tongue swept across his lips, and God help me, I had to look away at the twinge of curiosity rippling through me, taunting me with phantom sensations of how they’d feel across my throat. “We’ll go slow.”

Another nod, and I stifled a shiver at the anticipation.

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