Page 184 of The Shadow Wand

Lukas gives me a warm look and sends out an invisible tendril of fire to caress my lines. I shiver from the pleasurable rush of his fire and sheepishly meet his gaze, unable to suppress a slight smile as affection for him rises.

My fastmate.

My fastlines are hidden by my glamour, but suddenly, they don’t feel so much like a cage anymore, even though I’m bound to Lukas by them. My flush heats further as Lukas’s fire sizzles through me and I briefly consider the many ways I don’t mind being paired with Lukas.

“Stop flirting, you two,” Chi Nam chides then gestures to Valasca. “Give Elloren the Ash’rion.”

Grinning, Valasca strides toward me and hands me the Ash’rion blade, the static energy in the runes prickling against my hand.

I look to Chi Nam. “Can you fight like them?” I ask her, curious about her abilities. Lukas and Valasca turn to Chi Nam as well, like two panthers looking to the lead panther.

Chi Nam’s lip twitches up, as if she’s amused by my question. She glances at Lukas and Valasca. “Attack me,” she says, almost fondly.

“Stand back, Elloren,” Lukas says as he pulls both a wand and a blade, eyeing Chi Nam with a level look of respect.

I step back as Valasca takes two blades in hand as both she and Lukas crouch down and Chi Nam’s fingers slide over the runes on her staff.

Lukas and Valasca exchange a quick look.

I’ve a split-second sense of Lukas’s fire blasting into his wand and blade as well as Valasca’s press of runic lightning energy into her knives, before they hurl their weapons and magic at Chi Nam with such ferocity, I recoil, their fire power bolting and forking through the air.

Their combined magic slams into Chi Nam, and an earsplittingcracksounds, painful in my ears, as a shield springs to life around the sorceress and she’s briefly encased in a web of chaotic blue lightning.

Chi Nam angles her staff, and the web of lightning flies out toward Lukas and Valasca, knocking them both onto their backs and pinning them to the ground like two fish caught in a net, their weapons thrown from their hands and now beyond their reach.

Chi Nam turns to me and calmly leans on her staff as if she’s expended no energy at all, some small threads of blue lightning still crackling over her form as she gives me a shrewd look. Her fingers move slightly over the runes on her staff, and the nets of energy around Lukas and Valasca blink out of sight.

Both Lukas and Valasca stand, brush the red sand off themselves, and retrieve their weapons. Then they pause to incline their heads toward Chi Nam in an obvious showing of respect.

Chi Nam focuses in on Valasca and motions toward me with a flick of her finger. “Test her elemental power.”

Valasca returns to my side as I hold up the blade between us, the multitude of scarlet Amaz runes gleaming on the side of its hilt.

“So, Elloren,” she says, “this is perhaps our most complicated elemental blade. These runes all correspond to elemental forces in one form or another—fire, lightning, water, ice, and so on—and they’ve been precharged with spells. You can throw out elemental force with the blade by placing your fingers on specific runes.” She gives Lukas a scrutinizing look, head to toe. “You need to size up your opponent and try to figure out what type of magery he’s likely to attack you with so that you can choose the most effective counter-element. For example, water neutralizes fire.”

“That should be easy,” I say. “I could sense your magic before you used it.” I gesture toward Lukas. “I felt his fire powering up before he threw his blade, and I sensed his lightning forming before he released it from his wand.” I lift the Ash’rion blade. “And I had a vision of some type of mirror sorcery before you used this to deflect his fire power.”

Lukas steps toward me, serious now. “You sensed all that?”

I nod. “Like I can sense affinity power in Mages and Fae.”

He sets his calculating gaze on Valasca and Chi Nam, his eyes blazing with possibility.

“She’s magically empathic,” Chi Nam says to Lukas. “It’s rare for it to be this strong. I’ve encountered only a lower level of magical empathy in a few powerful Mages and Fae, and only the ability to sense other affinities or Fae thralls. A sense of runic charging means that Elloren must possess latent light magery.”

Valasca lets out a swooping whistle. “Hell of a battle skill.”

Chi Nam’s mouth curves into a cunning smile as she turns to me. “You do realize what this means, Elloren?”

Giddiness rises up. “That I might turn out to be pretty good with rune weapons?”

Chi Nam gives a laugh, teeth bared. “It means that once you learn the runic systems and correct finger positioning—” she gestures toward Lukas and Valasca “—you’ll be able to take down these two.” Both Lukas and Valasca give me looks of lethal delight.

“We’ll need to retrieve all the Noi and Amaz rune manuals,” Chi Nam directs Lukas and Valasca, her eyes fixed on me like I’m a door that’s suddenly been thrown wide-open. “Drill her in all the elemental combinations.” She looks to me. “I’m hoping you’re as dexterous as this one.” She points to Lukas with her thumb and flashes him a broader smile. “He’s got some of the nicest runic fingerwork I’ve ever seen.”

“Pianist,” Lukas comments, holding up a hand. “It has applications in the runic martial arts.” He looks to me, his mouth tilting. “Elloren has pretty deft fingerwork too, being an accomplished violinist. She’s very good with her hands.” The suggestive glint in his eyes has me flushing anew, but I’m also warmed through by his approval.

“This isn’t going to be all cerebral runic exercises,” Valasca says to me, warning in her tone. “We’re going to train you hard. We’ll start with runic systems today, but be ready. First thing tomorrow morn, I’m going to start treating you like I’d treat any Amaz military apprentice. Becoming a warrior is not just about the magic and weapons mastery. You need to become mentally and physically tough.”

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