Page 73 of A Story of Sinners

I breathed in the fresh air as Eulalia returned the wooden sword and star staff to the weaponry stand, and I smiled. Even Eulalia had changed for the better. She was happy, nearly mated. A small part of me felt jealous of the bond they shared, but I didn’t resent their fortune.

My life was as close to perfect as it could be. The only thing truly missing was him.

“What are you thinking about?”

Eulalia’s voice jarred me, and I looked down, noting how my fingers drew images of the moon and sun in the sand. It was almost as if I were completely unconscious of my actions.

I rose and dusted the sand from my leather outfit. “Nothing.”

I hadn’t told her of how my heart ached nearly every minute of every day, nor had I spoken of my dreams about Ryken, how the dream version of my mate had administered higher expectations for the flesh and blood male, expectations he surely would never meet. If it weren’t for Dream Ryken, I would have crawled back to the suffocating male long ago with my tail between my legs.

There was no need to tell Eulalia of these things, since the pain slightly lessened with each passing day. There was hope that, one day, I would feel whole again.

Eulalia’s eyes softened. She already knew how I felt, despite my refusal to discuss it.

“Where’s Fin?” I asked. Fin and Eulalia trained me together. Eulalia focused on magical control while Fin taught me sifting and elemental abilities.

She waved her hand. “Off doing Fin things.” Meaning he was off with Ryken. “Come, let’s practice a little.”

We walked alongside each other to the small pond in front of the dragon palace staircase. I’d been forced to train in the center of the pond, ever since the one time I’d burned the stables down from loss of control. The dragon lord refused to let me damage any more of his wooden structures and determined that whenever I summoned fire, it would be in a place surrounded by water. He claimed I’d put the dragons to shame—his version of flattery.

We reached the edge of the pond, and I smiled at my friend. “You and Fin seem to be doing well.”

The two could often be seen scurrying about the palace, laughing and canoodling, and it seemed Fin admired nearly everything about her, from the way her dark curly hair hung past her shoulders to her honey eyes and the confident way she held herself. There wasn’t a moment where Fin wasn’t in complete awe. I could tell by the way his aura tinted a shade of pink whenever he looked her way. It was the shade of deep, unconditional love, a love that required nothing in return.

Her deep purple aura, the one I was used to seeing, reflected the same shade whenever they were together.

“We are doing better than we were, but I’m still hesitant to trust him. He’s worked hard to gain my trust after everything, but I can’t help but wonder what will happen the next time Ryken asks Fin to choose him over me.”

Fin would do anything to make his and Eulalia’s mating official, but since Eulalia was a mortal witch and him a fae, their mating wouldn’t follow the standard biting rules. For their mating bond to become fully solidified, Eulalia’s lifespan would need to be lengthened to match his through a process called soul bonding. It was a private affair, and I knew very little of the ritual, only that it involved magic and sex and a whole lot of blood. The idea of following through with the soul bonding, only to have Fin betray her, terrified her.

I didn’t blame her one bit, though I doubted Fin would ever make the same mistake twice.

“Fin’s not like Ryken.” I met her eyes, glimpsing deep into the worry that lingered there. “He won’t betray you again.”

Her voice was a soft reply. “Let’s hope not.” She straightened her spine, all indication of the concerned and lost Eulalia vanishing. “Now, get in the pond.”

I laughed at her demanding tone and climbed over the barrier, slowly treading through the water and past the strategically placed targets.

“We will start with fire first,” Eulalia said. “Burn the targets.”

So I did, allowing my magic to wash over me, funneling it into my hands and only my hands. A few tosses of golden fire later, each barrel had been set ablaze. We watched the flames crackle and dance, and then I summoned the fire back into me, pulling it away from the charred barrels that had experienced my flames one too many times before.

My magic released a low whine, as usual, but it slunk back into my hands, burning through my veins to land in the center of my heart. It always desired to take more than it should, but fortunately, with Eulalia’s training, I’d developed some semblance of control.

It was odd, to say the least, that it didn’t act like ordinary magic and instead presented itself as a separate entity, like that of a whining child. Eulalia claimed it was a subconscious action on my part, produced from the deep-seated issues I’d refused to acknowledge.

I had no idea what she could possibly be referring to.

“Good. Now, move the barrels.”

The day before I’d left Ryken was the day this new skill had come about. I’d slammed the doors to the dining room closed with a slip of golden power when that fae female had chased after my mate—a mere accident empowered by a foul temper.

I breathed in deeply and closed my eyes, transferring the magic that usually came out in a blast of flames, tempering it down to the slow, steady stream of gold that flowed like water. The magic spilled from my arms and funneled into my hands. When my eyes reopened, there it was, dancing in my palms, small tendrils reaching into the air. So much like Malachi’s shadows, but different. Brighter.

With a thrust of my hands, the tendrils flowed out, gold reflecting over the surface of the water and trailing across the murky blue. Like a long, golden thread, each tendril moved from barrel to barrel, wrapping around their centers and slightly squeezing. Once each barrel was trapped and secure, I tugged.

All six of the barrels fell to their sides, drowning beneath the water as I beamed at Eulalia. She paced around the pond, her gaze calculating the length of each golden thread.

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