Page 58 of Luca

Cair gave my hand a tender squeeze before calling out, “Zadok…”

I may have held my breath as the door crept open, revealing the guy I’d spent twenty-seven years without.

A sense of hope barrelled through me.

He was tall, but shorter than Cair. I could tell by what section of the bookshelf his head was level with—my mate had reached the shelf above on his trip to the water jug earlier, specifically the tome labeledA Guide to Minotaur Mating Habits: the same volume I’d read back at the palace. He had shoulder-length brown hair with flecks of gray throughout, curly like mine, but a little wilder, as if he’d been anxiously combing his fingers through it. Thin lips were nestled among a salt-and-pepper stubble, a roman nose sitting just above, and his skin had a red tinge like he’d recently burned under the hot sun. He was slim, his face all sharp angles with slightly sunken cheeks that made him appear older.

I mean, I knew he wasold, obviously, but Fae aged differently, and considering my only real comparison was the king and queen—who werealsoancient but didn’t look a day over forty—I wasn’t sure if the years actually factored into his appearance or if it was just his gaunt features aging him.

Or maybe it was more proof that royals were an entirely different breed.

Zadok drifted into the middle of the room, staring at me in disbelief. He was most definitely my dad. The spark of awareness settling in my bones was very insistent of that fact; it was like finally meeting a faceless apparition from a recurring dream. Whether it was purely through instinct that I’d made the connection, or from the shape of his eyes and the way his fingers twitched anxiously at his sides before he forced them behind his back, I couldn’t say. Either way, I knew exactly who the Fae standing in front of me was.

I found him.

“You’re alive.” His voice didn’t have the wise and confident cadence of a mage I had expected. It had a lilting tone to it, soft yet fluctuating, younger than his face suggested. His black eyes darted over the whole of me as if taking me in, just as I was doing the same to him. “You are not in pain?”

I shook my head, watching him sway as if he wanted to be closer but was too nervous to take the leap. I sympathized. “You’re the reason I’m alive?”

“N-no.” An awed look crossed his face. “You saved yourself.”

“How?”

He took another step, bouncing once on the balls of his feet. “I should have realized it before, but not only do you have Fae blood, you havemageblood. Your powers must have awakened when you died, and they brought you back.”

Cair looked just about as shocked as I felt.

“It may also have helped being mated to a royal Fae,” he tacked on, oblivious to the way my brain was short-circuiting. “The spell we performed passed a portion of that life force on to you and most likely gave you a boost.”

“I’m… a mage?”

“Yes.” Zadok’s mouth curved into a proud smile. He seemed equal parts astonished and ecstatic, but was attempting to stifle both. “I can feel it now, my magic bouncing off yours. Like recognizing like. It truly is a marvel.”

I… Yeah, I could feel it too. Or at least, that’s what I guessed was the source of the vague humming in my chest, which somehow responded to him. It was a strange sensation, but not wholly unlike my connection with Cair.

Just less profound.

“Your aura was wild before,” he continued. “But since your powers were clearly suppressed, I just thought it was your bond to Cair. A mage’s magic is with them from birth, but yours was locked, for whatever reason. It’s possible it rose closer to the surface after your mating, then more so once you moved to the Otherworld, but sometimes a mage’s power only bursts free due to stress or trauma. It took dying and your soulbond snapping for yours to fully release itself. I’m surmising that’s because you are half human. Tougher initiation tests.”

“Woah, woaaaah. Let’s slow down a sec,” I said, waving Cair off when he sent me a panicked look. “I need to catch up.”So…I’m half Fae, mated to a prince, and also a prince myself. I was resurrected, and now I’m a mage. No, I’ve been a mage since birth, but only came into my powers twenty minutes ago.That all sound right?Great. “Okay, done,” I announced, looking back at Zadok, who didn’t seem one bit alarmed by my need for an internal montage. “Am I some type of necromancer? Because I wasdeaddead, not just hovering.”

“Necromancy doesn’t exist, unfortunately.” Sadness filtered into his tone at that. “Cair felt your tie weaken, but your soul had lingered. It’s what differentiates Fae deaths from human. Humans die and their life force is drained within hours, but for Fae the process can take longer, especially for mates.”

I had known that, unsurprisingly. It was one of the first books I had read upon my relocation to the Otherworld. The Fae death process. It was fascinating.

“Cair was right to want to wait. To me, you were dead. I could not feel you or your heartbeat, but a piece of you stayed behind. Though it had to fade for your magic to release, to revive you.” He aimed a serious look in my direction, a contrast to the morbid delight from a few seconds ago. “I wouldn’t count on it ever happening again. This was a miracle unlike any I’ve seen before. Fae may technically be immortal, as no natural causes can take us down, but don’t put yourself in harm’s way. Blade and poison we are not immune to.”

“I’ll try,” I agreed, which seemed to please him. Why was I kinda happy about that? “But how do I learn how to use it? I want to know everything.”

“Let’s not worry about it now,” Cair chimed in. “Another day.”

“Yes, rest is essential,” Zadok said, much to Cair’s obvious appreciation. “Any practical learning will have to wait until your body is fully recovered.”

“Fine.” I gave in reluctantly. If I were honest, I didn’t think I’d be able to stand up right now, much less learn magic…Me, magic. Holy shit.I was also having a hard time concentrating on all the info, which was irritating as fuck, so would be a total waste if I were to attempt anything. I’d end up forgetting it or not doing it properly, so yeah, their advice was probably for the best.

Wouldn’t be admitting that out loud, though.

“Saying that…” Zadok inched forward, piquing my interest. His eyes flicked to Cair before returning to me, his hands fidgeting in front of him. “Icouldgive you a preview. Let you feel your magic. It won’t cause any distress or exertion,” he added quickly when my mate’s jaw clenched. “It’ll just give you a glimpse of what we’d be working with. If that’s something you’d like to try?”

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