Page 16 of The Other Side of the Mirror

Bash said it so simply, as if magic was some unremarkable feat. There was a laugh in his voice that I didn’t appreciate. I glared at him, watching the way his handsome, broad mouth twitched as if trying not to smile.

“That’s it, freckles?”

I scowled at his soft laugh.

“Yes, hellion,” Bash drawled. He crossed his arms over his chest, his rolled-up sleeves giving me a tantalizing glimpse of those powerful arms. “I’ll wait.”

My hands formed into fists at his cool arrogance.

Smug bastard.

He gave me a look that went right through me, as though he could see straight to the depths of my power and already knew how it would appear. If only to avoid that stare, I closed my eyes, trying not to feel ridiculous.

I was annoyed and off-kilter, and part of me wondered if Bash had riled me up on purpose, like there was an emotional aspect to drawing on one’s magic he hadn’t bothered telling me about. Or maybe he wanted me pissed off enough to goad me into it. But I felt steadier somehow. As though the tears from earlier had washed away some of that ever-present grief.

Unclenching my fists, I drew a slow, stabilizing breath, trying my best to look inward. But all I could feel inside me was the bottomless pit I had felt ever since I lost my family seven long years ago. That cold, endless rage I had kept bottled up…the darkness of loss and anger and despair.

Yael gasped, and Rivan shushed her, but my eyes flew open at the sound. Inky darkness stretched before me, black as a starless night. As though evening had descended, even though we hadn’t yet hit midday. I could barely see Bash in the void, though he was mere feet away—sensing rather than seeing his eyes on me. As I reached out a hand, the darkness eddied around it, calling to me, soothing me, calming me, cradling me…and that was when I truly realized it was mine.

“Like what lies beyond the stars,” Bash breathed, almost to himself.

Then the light was so bright I couldn’t see, and I realized the sun was back overhead. Bash chuckled softly, catching my outstretched hand in his, a genuine smile gracing his mouth.

“Now that wasn’t so hard, was it hellion?”

I blinked rapidly at Bash’s too handsome face. Then bit my bottom lip hard to check once more that this wasn’t one long, crazy dream. I saw his focus center on my lip as it slowly escaped my teeth before flicking back up to my wide eyes.

He’s still holding your hand.

I should have pulled mine away, but for some reason, I wasn’t ready to let go just yet. The light contact sent tingles down my arm, and for one moment, that touch was enough to chase everything else away except the joy of what he had helped me accomplish. Because now that I had felt the force of my magic, it felt more a part of me than anything I had ever known. As though that endless pit inside me was really a well, dark and deep, waiting for me to pull from its depths. The power of it was exhilarating.

I threw my arms around Bash, and he stiffened in surprise before hesitantly returning my embrace. Smiling widely, I looked up at him, then rested my head on his solid chest before I had time to think about the way his smile went from smug to somewhat wobbly. Our height difference was enough that my head fit perfectly under his chin, though I had never thought of myself as short.

“I can’t believe that was missing this whole time,” I whispered into his shirt, knowing his fae hearing would catch it. Yael had explained, after she had whacked me on the rear when I had been distracted by some shrill birdsong during our bout, that fae ears were far more acute than the muted hearing I was used to due to the humanizing effects of the amulet.

Bash rubbed a comforting circle on my back, and I realized I was shaking. “We’ll work on getting you to call it without me pissing you off first,” he said slyly, his low chuckle rumbling against me.

I blinked at the whirlwind of emotion spinning inside me, feeling more alive than I had felt in years. Perhaps one couldn’t shut out one emotion without losing touch with all of them. The grief I pushed into the periphery of my mind still felt raw as it moved through me, like a current dragged up by my darkness. And I realized I had never faced it fully—just kept myself too busy to feel, too distracted to get involved with anyone. Too fearful of making myself vulnerable to losing someone again to do anything but guard my heart.

Somehow, breaking down the barriers to my magic had opened a pathway to what I had forced down, along with that well of latent power inside of me—one that would not be closed off again.

Bash’s hand stilled on my back as though he sensed my inner chaos, the tumult of my thoughts. I stepped back, suddenly too aware of how long he held me.

But my voice was firm when I said, “Again.”

Chapter7

Eva

Iwas sore everywhere, and there was a faint ringing in my ears. “The aftereffects of calling on my power,” Rivan had explained when he saw me rubbing my temples after a particularly taxing display of darkness. Bash had announced it was past time for lunch and, with a concerned look at me, time for a break from training anyway.

Yael pulled out a pack, and we got to work setting out some sandwiches that looked suspiciously like they came from a commercial sandwich shop in the mortal realm. Rivan cut them into quarters so we could share the assortment. The second I sat down, he put a sandwich into my hands, practically shoving it into my mouth as the three fae clucked at me to eat in order to replenish my energy—and with it, my magic.

Bash had sprawled on the leaf-covered ground by Rivan, who was leaning against a tree, while Yael sat next to me on a low log. We inhaled a good portion of the sandwiches in a comfortable silence.

“You need to be careful not to deplete your reserves,” Rivan admonished for the umpteenth time, those lavender eyes glinting in the speckled light.

“Yes,Mom,” I grumbled, then winced at the word. Bash’s swirling eyes caught mine, missing nothing. Looking away, I set my sandwich down, suddenly no longer hungry.

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