Page 86 of Fated to the Wolf Billionaire

Before my eyes, they changed. Strange shapes melted into recognizable letters, as if an invisible hand was dragging the ink into a new form with a paintbrush.

Elemental Magicwas spelled out on the first page when the ink stopped moving.

Excitement buzzed through me like a live wire. I resisted the urge to pump my fist and break contact with the paper, in case that messed up whatever connection I had going on. Although, I’d have to pick it up at some point to try turning the pages again.

I kept my movements slow, trailing my fingertips across the paper to the edge, careful not to lose contact with the book at any point as I used my pointer finger to lift the edge of the page.

Holy shit, it worked. My thoughts raced as I carefully turned the page, the steamy heat surrounding me completely forgotten.

The first page appeared to be a table of contents, those same strange symbols, some of which melted and molded into readable letters—but not all.

The first three lines stayed unreadable, but the fourth line had transformed to English.

Rivers, Streams, and Oceans … P. 47

A little further down, there was a second line that had also been translated.

Typhoons, Hurricanes, Waterspouts, Snowstorms, and Thunderstorms … P. 192

I didn’t know how, but the book seemed to be responding to me specifically, though, it still didn’t tell me what Iwas. It had to know, to give me such specific guidance, though, right?

Although… was it possible I could work with other elements besides water? Perhaps that was what all those other lines and chapters were—different elements I hadn’t figured out. We’d just been assuming my gifts were tied to water.

It was going to take forever to turn the pages with only one hand, so I held my breath as I gripped it with my marked hand, hastily flipping until I saw the page marked forty-seven and an English header. Thankfully, the book didn’t zap me or turn back to illegible nonsense. I sensed a hint of indignation, but nothing more, so I kept holding it with both hands to make things easier.

The top half of the page was a beautiful illustration of a peaceful river, winding between trees on a sunny day. It reminded me a lot of the little garden pond with the bridge we’d wished on in Italy.

The bottom was written in blue calligraphic ink.

Water is fluid, always changing, as are the elementals who call its power. Expect the power harnessed with water to be ever changing, unsteady, and capricious, much as its source element.

Interesting, yes, but not terribly instructional. Harnessed how? Was an elemental a species? I had more questions than answers as I skimmed the rest of the page, which was mostly just more flowery descriptions of water sources and how unsteady water was as an element.

Not a single useful mention of how it worked to be an elemental or if I could use other elements.

A soft knock on the doorframe jarred me out of my focus, and I had to scramble not to drop the book in the misty puddles in the bottom of the shower.

“Reed!”

“Stormy. Everything okay? You’re blue.” He was studying me so intently, it made me blush. I wasn’t doing anything wrong, yet still it felt like being a kid caught with her hand in the proverbial cookie jar.

“I wanted to test your theory.”

“Any luck?” He strode in, and I realized he couldn’t see what I was doing through the massively fogged glass door, so I swiped away a spot of steam and held up the open book.

“Looks like it opened, but I can’t read the symbols. Pretty illustration, though. Watercolors seem fitting given what you had to do to get it to cooperate.”

“But this page is in English!”

He squinted, getting closer to the glass so he could peer through. “No, looks like the same gibberish on the spine to me.”

“Okay, well, I can read it.” I rattled off the first three lines, and he rocked back on his heels.

“So, you’re on the right track. That’s good.”

“Kind of? It keeps referring to elemental magic, and elementals. But… what is an elemental? Is that even a magical species?”

Reed pursed his lips, then leaned against the bathroom vanity. “I think elementals usually refer to broader talents than one particular species. There can be warlocks or witches with an elemental affinity, but other species also can manipulate elements. Mer, for instance, can move and breathe seawater based on the books we found, and also dragons have elemental talents. Breathing fire, ice, et cetera.” He waved his hand, indicating there were more he didn’t care to rattle off.

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