6. Declan

Chapter 6

Declan

T he sun had just poked her sleepy head above the mountains when we stood at the cave’s mouth, staring into the whiteness beyond. I knew I should take those first steps, but hesitated at leaving the comfort of the cavern. órla stirred from where she’d settled with her body poking halfway out of my pack. “You said it would take us three days to get down and out of these mountains?”

“That depends on how much snow fell and if the storm doesn’t start up again, but I think that’s about right.”

She huffed, which sounded like a tiny whirring of an annoyed cat. I could almost see little shoulders slumping where her wings rustled. “You really need to learn to fly. We’d be there already.”

“Is that even a real Gift? Could Mages fly a thousand years ago?” I smiled, staring up at forest canopy. “It would be amazing. We could fly together.”

“Can’t you just blink and show up somewhere? What’s the good in having all that magic if you can’t do things like that?”

I turned my head.

“Oh, no. I know that look. You’re thinking again. No good ever comes of that.”

I chuckled. “What if I could simply think myself to a location?”

An echo in my mind—like a distant, faded memory—told me I would find new uses for my magic, but nothing about this felt familiar. Still, it was worth a try.

I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate.

“What should I focus on?” I opened one eye and looked toward órla. “Say I wanted to go wherever Ayden is, what would I think about? He could be anywhere by now.”

“I don’t know. I don’t need to do anything like that. I have wings.” She leaped out of the pack and flew back to the table. “And I have no desire to do whatever it is you think you are doing. Magic has a way of teaching us lessons, whether or not we are prepared for them.”

I shrugged out of my pack and closed my eyes again.

Hair the color of a spring apple appeared in my mind. Ayden’s vision smiled back at me, and warmth bloomed in my chest. I longed to hear his voice. I ached to caress his cheek. I yearned to feel his body press against mine. Spirits, I wanted to be near him so badly that—

“Irina’s tits!” Ayden yelled as he leaped off the log where he’d been sitting. His eyes were almost as wide as his mouth, and both hands gripped his bow defensively before his chest, like he wanted to ward off an evil spirit. “Dec? Is that really you? What the . . . how did you . . . what in holy fuckery are you wearing?”

I laughed. Ayden never cursed.

Then I glanced down. The Phoenix emblazoned on my tunic flared to life, melting the snow around us and casting the clearing in a warm glow.

The forest spun, and I wobbled. My legs turned to jelly.

Bracing myself on a nearby tree, I looked up. “Ayden? I was just . . . you were . . . and then I was . . . oh, shit.”

Moments later—I had no idea how many—my eyes opened. My head rested in Ayden’s lap with his hand gently stroking my hair.

“Welcome back,” he said, smiling down. I’d almost forgotten how deep the blue was in his eyes.

“Ayden? What happened?” Two or three beautiful faces dancing before my vision finally resolved into one perfect man.

“You think I know?” His brows shot up. “One minute, I’m minding my own business out here in the middle of the range, the next, you flash into existence before me and promptly pass out.”

I looked past him, then to the side. “Where’s órla?”

“Who?”

The pieces finally slotted into place.

I focused on Ayden, then I focused on wanting to be near him, needing to be with him. Magic must’ve responded. Sweet Spirits, I can Blink—or whatever the Mages would call it. I tried to recall anything like what I had done in my training or in any of the conversations with Larinda, but I couldn’t.

Another wave of nausea threatened to spill the contents of my stomach.

“Easy there. No yacking on the Ranger cloak,” Ayden said, holding my head so I faced away.

“I’m all right.” I pushed myself upright and rubbed my eyes with the heels of my hands. When they fell away, Ayden was staring at me. I couldn’t tell if his eyes held concern, fear, or something in between.

“I need to go back and get órla. She’ll be worried, and my pack is—”

“Who is this órla you keep talking about?” His voice sounded a touch defensive.

I grinned at the thought he might be jealous. “Remember the owl?”

He nodded. “You kept her?”

I laughed. I hadn’t meant to. It just flowed out.

“What is funny?”

“When you meet her, you’ll understand. It’s more like she kept me. Just trust me on that.”

His brows bunched. “Tell me what’s going on, Dec. You are so . . . different.”

Fear clawed at my chest.

Ayden couldn’t pull away, not now, not after everything I’d been through. I needed him. Spirits, I craved him more than I wanted air to breathe. Then something occurred to me that I should’ve thought through before.

I had magic now; he was still Mute.

He would always be Mute.

That neither of us had a Gift bound us before. Our shared experience, all our failed expectations, everything that went along with being society’s stepchildren, we shared all of that. We understood each other, and in that way, we were drawn together.

Now, I not only possessed a Gift, I wielded more magical abilities than anyone alive—and more would likely manifest over time.

“Dec, you are scaring me. Your face just lost all its color.”

How could I tell him . . . Spirits, would he even understand?

I squeezed my eyes shut and sucked in a breath. “Maybe . . . it’ll be easier if I just show you.”

I got to my feet and reached down, offering him a hand to rise. He eyed me a moment, then took my hand and stood.

“I’m not sure this will work,” I said. “I’m not even sure how it worked the first time, but it’s worth a try.”

“What are you—”

I reached forward, placed a hand on his shoulder, and focused.