“Have you been able to shift anything since that night?” I asked, wanting more than anything to spend a few more moments in her light before returning to the darkness where I belonged.
With a huff, she shoved her silken curls back from her flushed face. “I shifted Ruairi’s coat a few months back, but nothing since.”
Feckin’ Ruairi.Stepping in like a knight in shining armor when I’d left. Must have been nice to be so feckin’ gallant.
If she hadn’t been able to shift, then how the hell had she evanesced all the way across the island? “Is your magic warm or cold? Does it fizzle and flash beneath your skin or swell like the tide? Does it seem to be ready and waiting, or do you have to fight to call it forth?”
She scrubbed her hands down her cloak. Green, not blue. Had Tadhg given it to her to irritate me? I wouldn’t put it past the gowl.
“It’s…um…it’s warm?” She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I know this may sound foolish, but it feels like it’s blooming. Like a flower. Unfurling, stretching, warming me from the inside out.”
Aveen’s magic would manifest itself as a flower. If I wasn’t feeling so feckin’ lost, I would’ve smiled. “That doesn’t sound foolish at all.” It sounded beautiful, like her. “Can you call it at will?”
“Sometimes.”
“When?”
“Mostly when I’m angry.”
“Are you angry often?”
Her eyes flashed. “Only when I think of you.”
Do you think of me often, little viper?“Is that the only time you can call for it?”
Her cheeks flooded with pink as she shook her head. “When I’m angry, it’s hard to focus. And when I’m upset or scared, it’s nearly impossible. But when I’m…” Her words trailed off.
From the way her flush deepened, I had a feeling I knew exactly what she wouldn’t say. “Aroused?”
She glanced away.
I had seen every inch—kissed every inch—of her body, and yet she still blushed when she spoke of such things. “Your magic is tied to your emotions. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. There’s a way to fix that.”
For the first time since we’d been reunited, hope sparked in her eyes. “Tell me how.”
I didn’t want her practicing magic, but she clearly had no intention of heeding my warnings. Tadhg and Ruairi had proven themselves absolutely useless—surprise, surprise. With them left to handle her education, she’d probably end up evanescing to the feckin’ Forest.
A plan began to form in the back of my mind. One that would make her hate me more than she already did. But at this stage, I had nothing left to lose. “Give me your hand.”
She did so without hesitation, her warm, small fingers slipping against mine.
“Close your eyes.”
Her lashes fluttered shut, and I allowed mine to do the same as I tried to recall the correct spell. With the words in my mind, I called on my magic and whispered in the ancient tongue, ignoring Aveen’s sharp intake of breath as the spell took hold.
Reluctantly, I let her go. “How do you feel?”
She held her hands up to her face, turning them over as she studied them. “Strange.” Her gaze flicked to mine. “What did you do?”
“Cast a spell to keep your emotions from controlling your magic.”The blatant lie tasted like bile on my tongue.
She checked her hands once more. “What now?”
I stepped back, putting distance between us so that I would have the strength to let her go. “Now you return to your cottage and try not to get into any more trouble.”
“No.” Her head shook. She tried to reach for me, but I was already gone.
* * *