Page 53 of The Rowan's Stone
Picking up my phone, I decide to text Meri. She’d sent me a couple of texts the last few days, but I hadn’t answered because I’d felt odd since I saw her taking pictures of the parchment and my letter. I still don’t know what to think about it, but maybe she was tapping into my seer powers or something.
Arden: Hey. Miss you. What are you doing?
I really miss working in The Abbey, waiting tables with her, and being surrounded by supernaturals of all races. It was fun and way too short. I yearn for those simple days, but my instincts tell me all of our lives are changing and nothing will ever be the same.
My phone pings, and I tap on it.
Meri: Running all over the place for my guardian. She’s got a few ideas on the Primary. You seem to have caught her complete attention. Honestly, I’m not sure that’s a good thing. How was your visit?
Arden: We found the MacAllisters and a grimoire with my name in it. I can finally prove to Caro I’m from a seventh bloodline. *winking emoji with tongue out* Or sort of the first bloodline. It’s complicated. Now I’m searching for my Elven ancestor. I wanted to check in to see how you’re doing.
Meri: Well, I could use a good lay to release all this stress, but I don’t see that happening any time soon. Got to go, Cormal’s getting pissed. Text you later.
Arden: *Heart emoji*
Cormal?The same friend of Fallon’s? Meri knows the criminal king of the supernatural? My gut churns with worry. I don’t want to see her fall into the wrong hands like she did with the demon gang, certainly not to help me. Answers will come whether we want them to or not. It’s destiny and fate, right?
Jumping out of bed, I shower and dress in the usual workout clothes.Damn, I forgot to tell Meri about the blond god, as she calls Daire, asking me out.Grabbing my phone, I shoot off a quick text with my scoop and head off to the lobby to meet Fallon for training.
My phone pings. Her response is a drool face emoji, followed by a fire emoji and an eggplant emoji. I think it’s probably the tamest thing she could say, and I laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Fallon asks, startling me. When I look over my shoulder, he flushes, and I know he saw Meri’s text.
Suppressing a laugh, I follow him through to the other side. “Meri.” I don’t say anything else, but he eyes me with speculation.
I know he’s wondering if Meri and I were texting about him, but I decide to let him wonder. Dropping my phone near his backpack, I stretch and let my eyes wander over his large, warrior physique. For training, he’s wearing dark grey loose pants and a black T-shirt molded to his abs and biceps, both items emphasizing his best traits. Swallowing, I try to move my focus from his body to his mouth—err, to what he’s saying.
“I’ve been thinking about our training. Sometimes, magic is about learning how to be familiar with the way it’s called. During our last session, could you feel me call the water when you were connected?” When he hears me say yes, he inclines his head. “Let’s try something different today. We’ll stay connected to each other the whole time. I’ll use my power to do something, make a flower grow for example, and you will then try to repeat it using your power. What do you think?”
I think you should kiss me and touch me, and we should forget about training today.Sighing, I force myself to pay attention and answer.“I think witch magic is so much easier, but I’m game.”
He scrutinizes me for a second, as if he knows what I’m thinking, then grabs my hand and pulls me closer. “You’re too far away for this to work. We need to stay together.” Lacing his fingers through mine, he pulls me over to a wilting flower on the ground. Using his Elven powers, he feeds the flower, making it perk up. He motions to the wilted flower next to it and turns to me.
Gripping his hand, I mimic him, but instead of the whole flower, one petal perks up. “Arrgh,” I grunt out.
“Try again,” he suggests quietly. “This time, I’ll feed you a little bit of my power.”
When I repeat the task, I feel a push of power from him into me, and this time, the entire flower perks up. “So I guess my power’s pretty low, huh?” I’m disappointed. When you’re used to being powerful, being weak sucks. I’m so tempted to rely on my witch magic, but I know it’s important to learn these powers too.
“It takes time,” he reminds me. “You’ve had over three hundred years of practicing to be a witch. You’ve only had access to your Elven powers for a couple of weeks. Let’s try a few more things.”
Every time we do a task, he has to push his power into me to help me accomplish it, making my entire body fill with his power and his essence for a split second. It’s making my insides buzz with energy, until I feel like a live wire. Sweat coats my face, and I rub my arm across my forehead to clear it off.
“One more, and we’ll take a break,” he cajoles. His eyes are like green flames when they dart toward me. I wonder if my power is giving him a buzz too. “Maybe something a little bigger.” His eyes race around the area surrounding us until he spots a twig. Picking it up, he places it on top of a nearby boulder.
“We’re going to animate the stick. Just for a second,” he informs me. Power rushes out, encapsulating the little stick like a cloud, then dissipates. The stick is still lying on the boulder, when suddenly, it bends in half like it’s sitting up. One of its branches waves at us, then it lies down again and stills.
I’ve seen a lot of incredible things as a witch, but nothing like the animated stick. My jaw drops, and I stare at him in astonishment.
His face is animated. “Pretty incredible, don’t you think?”
“It is, but I’m not sure I’m going to be able to do it,” I say hesitantly.
When we connect this time, I push a stream of power toward the stick, but nothing happens until Fallon pushes power through me. I inhale sharply, and my teeth start to chatter. That is a lot of power. The cloud forms and dissipates like his, then the stick follows the same routine, but I barely see it.
“Fallon!” I cry. My body’s overloaded with his magic right now, and I don’t know what to do.
Seeing my distress, he grabs my head between his large hands and forces me to look at him. “I’ve got you, it’s okay. Take a deep breath. I’m going to deepen our connection and slowly pull the excess magic out of you,” he explains. “Ready?”
