Page 101 of Kingdom of Chaos
“Just give me a second to help her control her magic,” Talon says gently. I’m grateful he didn’t snap at her.
I hear a sigh, then Ensley says she’ll be right outside with the others. As soon as the door clicks shut behind her, Talon releases my hands and places his on my shoulders.
“You can open your eyes now, Freckles.”
I shake my head.
“It’s okay. You’re safe. Just take a few deep breaths like I taught you. Look inside for that core of magic.”
I follow his instruction, locating the knotted ball of threads easier than before.
“There you go,” he says quietly. “It’s your magic. You’re in control.”
I take another deep breath and open my eyes to find the room dim, cloaked in the shadows I’ve accidentally summoned. The delicate silver and gold threads are twisted around the two of us again. Talon’s aura casts a soft glow across his features as he stares down at me.
“I’ve got you,” he says, and even if it’s not true, the words calm me.
I nod at him, believing him, until a sudden rush of unfamiliar magic surges through me, and some of the brightness in Talon’s aura dims.
“Did I just take more magic from you?” I ask, horrified.
The shadows around us twist and whip erratically, and heat blooms across my skin.
“Don’t worry about any of that right now,” Talon says, his hands gliding up and down my arms in a soothing rhythm. “Just focus on breathing, on taking control of your magic and reining it back in.”
“Don’t you meanyourmagic?” I ask, looking away. I can’t hold Talon’s gaze, too ashamed that I keep stealing from him.
“Listen to me,” he says firmly. “You’re not taking anything from me that was mine to begin with. So stop feeling guilty.”
I press my lips together, not sure I can do that. No matter what he says, it still feels like I’m stealing a piece of who he is.
A cool hand presses against the side of my face, then his fingers slip beneath my chin, gently tipping my head up and forcing me to meet his gaze.
“If I had the ability to give you this magic,” he says softly, “I would anyway.”
“You would? But . . . why?”
Talon’s blue-gray gaze softens. “How have you not figured it out by now?”
The shadows around us slow to a stop, creating a cocoon around us. Talon’s aura and the silver and gold threads cast a glow over the both of us.
“Figure what out?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.
“That I would give anything, do anything, for you.”
The breath catches in my throat because the truth is there, plain as day. Shining from his eyes. Staring me right in the face.
“You can do this,” he says as he brushes the pad of this thumb lightly over my bottom lip, making me shiver. “The magic doesn’t control you. You control the magic. Now pull it back into yourself.”
I don’t break his stare as I find that place inside me where the magic lives, and do as he says, tugging it back inside me. The room starts to lighten as the shadows dissipate. Talon’s aura disappears; even the thin threads connecting us fade into nothing.
“Well done,” he says with a soft smile, and because for once I’m not thinking about yesterday or tomorrow, I rise up on my toes and press my lips to the very corner of his mouth.
It’s not a real kiss, barely more than a brush of contact, and our lips hardly touch before I’m already pulling away. But it rocks me to my core.
“Freckles,” Talon starts, but then the conference room door opens behind him and Imogen pokes her head in.
“I drew the short straw to check if it’s safe to come back or not? Or are you still having a prepubescent magic meltdown?” she asks. Noticing how close we are, she arches a brow. “Oh, looks like I’m interrupting something very interesting.”
