Page 5 of The Dark Rises
His mind slides into mine, full of fierce images and emotions I hadn’t thought him capable of until recently.
I stare down at this man I’ve admired and hated, fought against and with, and secretly yearned for all these years. While curious about the past, I can’t help but wonder if we could have achieved this equality between us. I remember my younger selfbeing in awe of Cormal, hanging on his every word, but his refusal to save me from Leandra made me resentful, turning all my emotions to anger and ash.
The past wasn’t a good place for me. Even if I don’t remember us, I remember me. Until recently, I was scared and unsure of myself. Confidence wasn’t a word I understood. The only time I stood up for myself was when I was fighting with Cormal. In a way, my anger at him helped me forget the rest of my life. But it was a crutch.
Where would the balance have been between us? It’s different now. At some point in the last few months, I came into myself, and strength and confidence are no longer just words to me. Cormal and I match like we were created for each other.
Silence reigns between us. There are no words, only gasps and tiny moans as the pleasure intensifies. His cheeks flush as his fingers tighten on my hips.
My hands slide over his well-defined chest, keeping a consistent pace, pushing him to the edge. I want to see the moment he surrenders to me. Muscles cord in his neck as he thrusts his hips up, driving his cock deeper inside me. He’s close. I link our hands and lean over him, picking up the pace until I’m riding him hard. The second he begins to pulse inside me, I take us both over the edge until we’re lost to everything else.
Boneless, I fall into his arms, letting the waves crash over me until they get smaller and smaller. Finally, my breathing eases, and a contented sigh escapes.
Magic slides over us, cooling and drying the sweat from our bodies.
He turns and maneuvers us until we’re each on our side and facing the other. “I never thought about it from that point of view. You endured so much. To me, you were strong. Fearless. Maybe a little young and naïve, but I cherished those traits because I felt old and jaded.”
Startled, I stare at him. “A moment ago, I felt your mind slide into mine, but I didn’t realize how much you could see.” A blush heats my cheeks. “We fit now. Not just because of the power, although that certainly helps, but I’m confident and capable of accomplishing many things I would never have dreamed possible. Even fighting a Kraken.” I grin.
He chuckles and brushes the hair from my face. “I know. It took everything I had to stand on the sidelines.” His grin fades. “You’re the woman I always knew you to be, but you had to believe it, too.”
“I do, but I’m also a starving woman,” I say dramatically with my hand on my forehead. “Feed me or lose me forever.”
He chuckles and waves his hand, transporting a now dressed me to the couch.
Various food appears on plates, their smells making my stomach rumble, along with a carafe of ice water, and I dive in the second he sits beside me.
“Thank you. I felt like I was going to waste away any minute. Dramatic, I know, but I hate being hungry. It sucks.”
His brows crash together. “You’ll never go hungry again. I promise you.”
Wanting to lighten the mood, I grin. “Mmm, you’re right. One little wave of my finger and poof, food appears.”
He turns to me with speculation on his face. “How much of your power did you retain?”
Closing my eyes, I dive deep inside. The threads to the Light Fae Kingdom and the black hole inside me are gone, given up with the crown. Some bare bones knowledge remains—the races, land borders, and resources. But the overwhelming buzz of power from the proximity of light Fae and the ability to tap into it has disappeared.
Surprisingly, there’s a significant amount of magic left, though. More than I felt before I took the crown, which is odd. Did it leave a residue of power inside me?
“Quite a bit. The power I inherited as Nyssa’s daughter and… more. I’m just not sure where the extra is from,” I divulge with a shrug. “What do you think?”
Magic is still a new world for me. As someone who picked up powers right and left, Cormal might have more of an idea.
He’s silent for a minute. “You regained the ability to mimic when the bond with Leandra broke, which means you might have acquired a few new powers. That could account for the additional magic.”
I frown. “I thought those powers would eventually fade or become inaccessible. They did before.”
Cormal takes my hand in his. “The original magic allowed the wielder to acquire permanent powers.” His stare is intense, as if he’s trying to tell me something.
I wait for him to continue, and he slowly raises an eyebrow and tilts his head. Does this mean he can’t? Is this part of his pact with Leandra? Original wielder. The ability to acquire powers.
“Were you there when I received this power?” I ask him, wondering if he knows how I got it.
“Are you remembering?” he asks with a hopeful expression on his face.
Taken aback, I stare at him. “You can only tell me if I remember it myself? Unbelievable. Who cares? She can’t hurt me now, right? The bond is broken.”
When he doesn’t say anything, I can only conclude I’m right and wrong. I must remember the past; he can’t tell me the details. And Leandra is still a threat to me. Inhaling sharply, I wait for the crippling fear to wash over me, but there isn’t any, and I can’t hold back the smile that stretches acrossmy face. Since the night of my coronation, I haven’t felt that overwhelmingly destructive emotion, and it seems losing the crown doesn’t change that for me.
