Page 99 of Deadwood
My gaze shot to hers. “You are not a puppet.”
She shook her head, adjusting her grip on her dress. “Sometimes, I don’t know.”
“No, Princess. You’re not. You’re much, much more than what you may believe.”
She was silent a moment, the only sound the leaves crunching under our feet. The last time we had been in the woods together, aside from heading back from the caves, I’d killed three men who had threatened to harm her, and I’d been so close to doing it again today. Ishouldhave.
Above the trees, massive wings cast a shadow over the land before a rush of air hit us, signaling Vulcan’s looming presence. He was listening.
“If you’re insinuating humans don’t have magic themselves, then how do you explain what you can do?” she asked.
I stuck a hand in the pocket of my pants, palming a vial of fire magic. Taking it out, I twirled it in my fingers, bringing Auria’s attention to it.
“Vials don’t count,” she said.
I rounded a tree that looked to be decaying, stopping at its base. Auria stopped a few feet behind me, and when I called to the magic, lighting a branch on fire, Auria gasped, staggering back.
“What are you doing?” she shrieked.
“Showing you what you want to know.” Once a proper fire was started, using the bark as fuel as it climbed over the tree, I pocketed the amber vial, sending a silent appreciation for its use.
The flames licked at the dead leaves, eating its way up the branch toward the trunk as it spread. Once the entire tree was enveloped in fire, I let my magic unleash itself as it’d been longing to do since I’d forced it out of the men’s bodies in the den. The familiar feeling of crackling energy built in my veins as they visibly darkened, the tips of my fingers tingling.
“Bowen,” Auria said hesitantly.
The smoke sprouting from the tips of the flames swirled as it heeded to me, sensing my power and bowing to my command. In a flash, the smoke turned on its creator and enveloped the fire, snuffing it out as it cut off all its oxygen. The flames suffocated under the barrage of smoke, and all that was left was the swirling fog and charred tree.
The smoke moved wildly as it waited for my direction, and I let it have control as I faced Auria. Her eyes were wide as she took in the state of the tree, then her gaze moved to me. She stepped back, her boot snapping a stick and causing her to flinch. I hadn’t held back in my display, and the charm we all wore so easily had dropped, revealing the points of my ears.
Her brows pulled together. “You can control fire?”
I shook my head. “Try again.”
A tendril of smoke floated over to her, stroking the side of her cheek. She looked down to find it skirting across her skin, down her neck, over her shoulder, and coasting along her arm.
So soft, my smoke purred, a whisper in my mind meant to antagonize me. It only spoke up when it pleased, more grating on my nerves than Vulcan typically was. All the voices in my head had an opinion, but we rarely ever agreed on anything, making for a chaotic mess if I ever dropped the reins.
“Smoke,” she breathed. “A-are you fae?”
Satisfaction curled inside me, along with the need to make her understand what this meant, in order for her not to fear me. Though, by the look of it, intrigue lit her eyes. She wasn’t scared. She was enticed.
The smoke ran across her fingers as another thread ghosted over her collarbone. I watched as it moved on its own accord, exploring her.
If only you could touch her like I can, it taunted.Comfort her like me.
My jaw ground together as the tendril slowed, going to her hand that held her dress. I watched with rapt attention as it twirled itself around her fingers, almost like it wanted to help what she was ashamed of. I let it, holding back the jealousy that arose with its ability to go to her right now.
I cleared my throat, cutting my magic off. It instantly evaporated into the air, disappearing completely. “I am.”
“Are you all fae?” she asked, and the way she took a small step back didn’t sit right with me. I had been reading her all wrong. Perhaps the fear was entwined deep with her curiosity.
Looking up through the branches, the sky was turning an orange hue, the rings setting somewhere on the horizon, along with the sun. “That’s a question for another time, I’m afraid.”
“Why not now?” Disappointment and frustration laced her tone. A lifetime of questions gone unanswered or responded to with empty lies, and here I was, dismissing her like all the rest. But unless she wanted to be a hungry wolf’s dinner, we needed to head back.
“There are dangerous creatures out here,” I answered. “Ones that hunt at night.” But that didn’t mean their threat ceased in the day. They just typically prowled deeper into the forest when the sun was up, taking to the darker parts of the woods.
“Aside from you?” she asked.
