Page 115 of Lady for Embers

“You are out here.”

“And I can make a shield.”

“You don’t know that it will hold against... whatever it is I can do,” he argued, echoing his thoughts.

“I’m pretty fast,” Cyrus said with a wink. “I’ll manage to get out of the way if needed.”

“This isn’t something to joke about,” Cassius snapped, dragging both hands through his hair this time. “Gods, you and Scarlett turn everything into a godsdamn joke. This is serious.”

“Hey, hey,” Cyrus said, frowning at the words. “Where is that coming from? We both care. You know that.”

Cassius’s hands went through his hair again, ?ngers tightening in the strands. Cyrus had never seen him like this. Unsettled wasn’t a strong enough word to describe him.

Cassius was rattled about whatever this was.

Cyrus reached out and gripped his arm again. “Come on, Cass. Talk to me.”

“It is this place,” he muttered. “I cannot... I do not like how this feels. This magic beneath my skin, screaming to get out. Uncontrollable and frenzied.”

“So let it out,” Cyrus said. “We’re away from everyone else. It’s just me and you.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“I just can’t.”

“You need to, Cass. Or eventually your magic will take over and take what you refuse to give it.” Cassius just shook his head again, and Cyrus was grabbing his face, forcing him to look at him. His pupils were fully vertical now, glowing brighter than before. If he didn’t let this out soon, it would force its way out just like he’d said. “Sorin told me that Scarlett’s magic would take over, breaking through her tonic.” Cassius nodded, swallowing hard. “That is what will happen, Cassius. When we don’t use our magic, we lose control of it.”

“I don’t know how to not be in control,” Cassius said, his voice hoarse and full of agony. “I have always been in control. The few times I have lost it... ”

Understanding washed through Cyrus, a sense of relief with it. He could work with this. He could talk him through this.

“Okay,” he said, inhaling deeply. “Okay. Cass, look at me.”When those amber-red eyes were back on his, he said, “I’m going to use my ?ames to guide yours, all right?” It wouldn’t be quite the same as sharing with a twin ?ame, but their magic would still be drawn to each other, especially if his was trying to break free. “If you can’t trust your magic right now, then trust me, okay? Can you do that?”

“Yeah,” he replied thickly. “Yeah, I can do that.”

“Good.” Cyrus called his ?ames up, bands of ?re twining around Cassius’s arms. “Breathe, Cassius. Let your magic do what it was created to do. It’s part of you. It’s not the enemy. It doesn’t want to work against you.”

He could feel it, Cass’s magic struggling beneath his skin. Cyrus’s own ?re seemed to ?are with anticipation at this unknown power. It was hot and ?erce, and,gods, Cass was powerful. He’d only felt power like this from the Fae Royals. But Cass still wasn’t letting it out.

“Cass, let it go.”

“I can’t.”

Fuck. This was about to get brutal.

“Cassius, if you do not let your magic out right now, it will go wild. It will claw its way out of your being. And when that happens? I will not be able to help. I cannot promise you I will not get hurt. I cannot promise that something drastic will not happen. But right now? Right now, if you trust me, Icanhelp. But I can feel your power, Cass. You don’t have much time left before it takes over.” He could feel Cassius trembling beneath his hands, his eyes still ?xed on him. “Come on, Cass,” he encouraged, bordering on begging. He brought his brow to his. “You can do this. You always catch everyone else. Let me catch you. This one time.”

And then there were black ?ames ?aring around them. Cyrus quickly threw a shield around himself, pulling it close to his body, but he refused to break contact with Cassius. Not when he’d ?nally gotten through to him.

“Just let it burn,” he murmured, feeling the tension drain from Cassius with each passing second.

The black ?ames were swirling around them, a whirlwind of writhing, intense heat. He’d expected Cassius to shift more, for those wings to appear at least, but nothing else on him changed. His eyes continued to glow as he kept them pinned to Cyrus’s, his breathing measured and focused.

It was several minutes later when the black ?ames around them started to lessen. Cyrus sent his magic to weave among the black ?ames, calming them and slowly coaxing them to go out. Cassius sucked in a sharp breath.

“That feels... different.”

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