Page 71 of Research with Rivals
“This isn’t very calming,” I noted.
He twitched, and I knew he wanted to reach for the notebook and pencil tucked away somewhere on his person. “I never said it would be. The first time you felt the connection, when I was trying to explain shifting, your heartbeat was erratic, your pupils were dilated, and I was sure you were going to flee at any moment.”
Well, he’d perfectly described my general mental state around him—a wild animal prepared to bolt. This wasn’t humiliating at all.
I reached to pull his hand away, to stop this before I embarrassed myself further. His fingers only intertwined with mine, and he pressed them both to the skin beneath my collarbone. His hazel eyes danced when I glanced up at him. “If you weren’t so busy panicking, you would have observed that I was right there with you. My heart felt like it would break free from my chest—simply from the act of standing near you.”
A sigh slipped from my lips at his confession. He knew what I needed to hear. Ambrose was with me. We would figure this out because whatever existed between us was more than an accidental bond. He knew the blood magic hadn’t manipulated his emotions, and he wanted to explore whatever this was.
After research, of course.
“You’re sure?” My eyes were closed as I searched for the rope of fire, but I didn’t need to see him to feel his response.
“I’m sure, Evelyn.” He squeezed my fingers where our hands were still locked together. “Tell me what you’re feeling, and I will write it down when you’re done.”
I snorted. Of course he would.
It was still new, this feeling that I could push my fire magic without the candies he’d supplied. I didn’t know what the limits were, but since my shift in the woods here, my magic and I seemed to have better alignment. My veil cat hadn’t let me down. And I didn’t think she would—she was me, after all.
The fire ignited within me, and I searched for the connection to Ambrose. It was simple with his hand pressed against me. “It’s here.”
I wasn’t sure what he’d want to know about my exploration. Then I considered the notes I usually took of my experiments and decided to start there. I stoked my fire magic further. It wouldn’t burn me, and inherently, I knew it wouldn’t hurt him. “My fire magic is spreading to my every extremity, searching for the connection point. It’s burning through me.”
His proximity meant I could sense the way his muscles tightened at my words. What I had once considered mistrust, or a belief I was incapable, I now knew to be worry. He was worried about me.
“But in a good way,” I reassured. “It’s to my fingers, toes, head … I haven’t found the place where you intersect yet, but I can feel that it is here.”
My flame coursed through me, and my lips curved into a smile. I pressed down on our still intertwined fingers. “Ah. I found it, it’s right below this.”
“Many fae consider that the heart of their magic,” he said quietly. I knew from the careful tone of his voice that he wastrying to tell me something he wasn’t sure I had learned about my fae heritage.
I nodded in response, not needing more explanation at the moment. The concept was clear.
“The rope leads away from me, toward you.” My fire scorched down the connection like a lit fuse, but it left no destruction in its wake. “Can you feel it in the same place?”
I opened one eye to peek up at him. He was smiling. “I think so. Is your magic crossing?”
“Yes.”
“I think the closer you come, the more I’m aware.” Even though I knew he meant the magic between us, I physically stepped closer. Our fronts were flush with one another, our hands still wrapped together and pressed against my chest. His smile broadened.
This time, when I found thesomethingin the middle, I identified it. “There is a knot between us. This must be what Lord Arctos saw at the tavern.”
Ambrose leaned forward. Even though there was no one around to overhear us, he spoke into the shell of my ear like it was a secret just for me. “Even before the blood magic, my fire burned for you at every opportunity.”
I sucked in a breath, unsure of what to do with the confession. My magic acted up around him as well, but I’d chalked it up to my uncontrollable shift. When I pushed away the haze of his words, I continued. “I think I need to…” Burn it? Break it? Untie it? I wasn’t sure. My fire wasn’t burning the rope as it searched it. How could I change that?
“We’ll have to sever it, but I’m assuming your fire isn’t burning?” he asked, reading my mind.
“Correct.”
“It’s a level of control I’m not sure you have yet over your fire.”
He stated it so matter-of-factly, so bluntly, that I couldn’t even be angry.
“You have to think about the fire like you would a muscle you exercise. You can flex it to burn or not to burn.”
“Can you feel the connection? It might be faster if you found it and tried.”
