Page 61 of Petals for Deadly Power

“Ciaran,” she begged, grabbing his hair in her fist to avoid losing the grip between this parallel dimension of lust and reality. If she weren’t sitting on his leg, she would have fallen.

His reply was a low growl, his tongue not stopping the tracing of the small, bless-giving wound he had inflicted on her. His hands gripped against her clothes as if they were the most inconvenient poison and curse. Irreverent shadows filled the floor, approaching her ankles desperately, she knew, because he cravedmore.

The sudden, cold touch on her forearm made her stand up with a jump, a hand on her dagger as Ciaran stood, also looking at his biological forearm. Her mind was foggy with lust, her skin wet in various places.

Usually ink from panoms tickled her skin, except when her father was the sender, and the bleeding ink hurt. This time, it felt like the touch of a feather, and the color of the ink was the color of her magic. It was Cardinal-red.

39

Lenna

“Whatthefuckdoesthis mean?” Lenna asked.

The ink on Jake’s arm from the Cardinals didn’t make any sense.

“The feathers are claimed, my ass,” she spat, looking up. “Excuse me, Cardinal bitches, but you forgot a striver over here. And—the Fifth Judgement awaits? Useless revelation of the century. They could have said where, when, how, and what exactly that is.”

Jake was grinning at her, his silver eyes glittering with amusement. “The confusion is worth it if it makes you so angry.”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t you get me started now, for Cardinals’ sake.”

With her hands on her hips, she faced the window. The storm outside was significant. The courtrades wouldn’t have an easy night.

“We’ve been going South for days now. Surely my ordeal can’t be much farther.”

“Have you practiced enough?”

Lenna forced a smile. “I’ll never get back the hours I’ve spent with your ex-girlfriend.”

“Fucking someone doesn’t make them myanything,” he said, walking towards her. “Answer me. Have you practiced enough, Brachyan?”

The authority in his voice as he towered over her was hot as fuck.

“Do you miss overseeing my panom training, Jake? Miss being my Panom Guidor? Those were fun days.” It felt like it had happened years ago, and it had barely been a few months. How much could a life change in such a small period of time?

He narrowed his eyes, his lips pursing. “Why are you not answering my damn question?”

“Maybe you’re not the only one who enjoys riling other people up.” She went to leave the room, but Jake held her hand, stepping in front of her.

“It’s not that.”

Lenna sighed. “Look, I’ve practiced, okay? Arabella isn’t a terrible teacher; I will give her that. Would that beenough? Cardinals bloody know, but I am going to do the South ordeal even if it’s the last thing I do.”

Jake’s tense nod was the last thing she saw before the navia disappeared and Lenna’s body fell like a dead weight onto a crystal-red floor.

By the time Lenna woke up, the storm was gone, and so was the night.

If the South Cardinal wanted to jinx Lenna by breaking her legs before her ordeal even started, she would have to try again. After the fall, her legs were not broken but—fuck, they were sore. There was no point in Healing them and starting the ordeal with her inner balance uneven, especially when she didn’t fancy Harming herself to compensate, and there was nothing else to Harm.

Half-limping, Lenna managed to stand up on the four-petal shaped platform in the middle of the Radel Sea. Looking back, there was no doubt: itwasthe Radel Sea, and that small floating moon-shaped vehicle far from herwasthe navia.

What looked totally out of place was the bright red water in front of her. As if a magical field had fallen atop the sea—a field the color of the Cardinals, vast with red ground, untouched by the waves of the sea surrounding it.

And in its very middle, right where the core of the panom would be, was a floating, crystal orb.

“Red-obsessed,” Lenna muttered.

She waited a few moments, but nothing happened. It was clear where she had to go, and it was not clear what the heck she was meant to Take. Remembering everything she knew about the synced use of opposite powers and praying her practice with Arabella would suffice, Lenna inhaled deeply and took the first step out of the platform and into the field, towards the core of the shape.

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