Chapter 7

SEVEN

COLLINS

“Are you sure about this?” I stood over the anchor point with the Astral Stone lodged in it. It wasn’t that long ago that the Astral Stone took its toll on Bash’s sister, Cleo, for misusing its power. I didn’t want to go down that path. But I knew this Stone could be trusted.We had a history, a friendship.

Ellie stood just off to the side with her hands on her hips. “I’m sure. I trust you, Collins, and so does the Stone. Don’t you feel it?”

She wasn’t wrong. I did feel it. There was a peace about the Stone that was missing from it before Cleo, like part of it was still hurt and restless after her abuse, and now that Cleo was gone, it was content just to be here in the anchor point doing its job to help the Mage Realm flourish.

“I do.” But I didn’t want to disturb it.

“It trusts you, too,” a deep voice rumbled from behind us. I startled and snapped around.

Bash stood there in all his fae glory, with his light-blue hair blowing in the cool breeze and his perfectly tailored white pants. He wore a dark-blue button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and the top two buttons open, exposing his neck and part of his chest. He slid his hands into his pockets and stared down at me. His voice was like warm honey. I couldn’t imagine never hearing it again or how I went so long without hearing his words in the first place.

“You startled me.”

His lips curled up in a smile. “Not sorry.”

“I didn’t think you would be.”

He walked up next to me and bent down. His knee brushed against mine and it sent tingles across my skin. Every time he was close, warmth spread over me. His aura mixed with mine and fire sparked between us. Two days ago I found out he was my soulmate. The possibility of what we could be sent a thrill through my body. The status of what we currently were made me feel like I was floating on cloud nine. We had so much stacked against us, but knowing he was at my side for it made it seem . . . not that terrible.

He wrapped his hand around my wrist and brought my palm to his lips. He pressed a light kiss to it, then placed my hand on the Stone. “Trust yourself.”

The moment my hand connected with the Stone, purple and turquoise magic sprang from the Stone in a whirling storm of power. They swirled together instantly, and a rush of warm, electric energy surged inside of me. My wings popped back out and fluttered, causing my feet to lift off the ground. But Bash was there with his arms wrapped around me to keep me on the ground. Flowers sprouted from the long strands of my colorful hair and wound down his arms in long vines.

Ellie staggered back. “I’m just going to back my ass up.”

Power gathered and my magic swirled above our heads in a turquoise and purple cloud. Images flooded my mind once more, and this time I leaned back into Bash and relaxed into him. The first time this happened I nearly panicked, but now I trusted the Stone, I trusted myself, but most of all I trusted that Bash had my back, literally and figuratively. Images of me in a dark place surrounded by nothing flashed in my head. I sat there with a large, raw stone in front of me. Except it hovered off the ground and I kept touching and holding it. I couldn’t hear the words coming from my mouth, but I saw what it wanted me to do and how I was supposed to act. I sent a silent message to the Stone.

I understand you . . .

Sprinkles of glittering magic fell from the cloud above us like snowflakes. We sat there for long moments, just letting the Stone do its thing. There was no rush in this process. It was a connection between me and the Stone. I asked for what I needed, and it took all that information and would provide what I needed . . . I hoped. Once the ground around us was covered in glittering magic, it glowed bright and lifted me up out of Bash’s arms. The vines that wound from me to him fell away, and I held my hands out in front of me. I couldn’t say why. I just knew I had to.

The magic swirled like a tornado around me and gathered in my hands. I felt a weight form there. A raw stone began to emerge. The magic built it layer by layer. When it was finally finished, I held a two-toned stone that looked like a rainbow moonstone. Then it started to smooth out into a flat, long, oval shape. The cloud of purple magic seeped back from me and reabsorbed into the Astral Stone. All that was left was my own power swirling around me. My feet touched back down, and I sucked in a deep breath.

Ellie hurried to my side. “What is it?”

“For lack of a better word, it’s kind of like a video game.”

“Shut up.” She ran her hand over the now smooth stone. “That’s so cool.”

“Like a training simulator?” Bash moved in closer to my side with my flowering vines till wound around his forearms up to his elbows.

“Yes.” I nodded and handed him the stone.

He turned it over in his hands, then met my eyes. “Fascinating.”

Ellie nodded. “So cool.”

I didn’t want to waste the limited time I had left in the Mage Realm. Zuriel gave us a short time here and I was going to take advantage of every moment of it. The stone warmed in my hands, and I knew it was ready to be used.

“Imma do it.” The words reminded me of Tally, but I had to push my thoughts of her away or I’d never get through any of this. I had to trust my family until I could go after her.

“I’m with you.” Bash stood beside me, and I beamed up at him.

Ellie chuckled. “As much as I want to see what’s up with the video game stone and hang out with you guys, I think I need to check on Stellan. Besides, I don’t want the Stone distracted by my presence. Bash, she’s in your hands for this.”

“If you hear explosions or loud screaming you better come running.”

Bash chuckled. “We’ll burn that bridge when we get there?”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m never living that phrase down with you, am I?”

“It’s been on my arm for two decades.” He shrugged, his smile mischievous.

I turned back to Ellie. “Go ahead to Stellan. Thanks, Ellie.”

Wind kicked up around her and purple magic swirled up and down her legs and arms. She hovered off the ground, then gave me a little wave and took off flying toward the castle. I smiled up at Bash and started walking farther out into the royal garden. Though it was fall here and the flowers had lost their bloom, I could tell they were bright and fragrant in the summer. I couldn’t help but wonder what it truly looked like.

“Go ahead.”

Bash startled me. “Go ahead what?”

“Make them bloom.”

“How did you know?”

“I know you,” he said simply, like he wasn’t reading my mind and making me feel totally exposed. Was I really that obvious?“I know your auras now.”

I didn’t know what to say, so I just let my power flow from me. It crept across the ground, and the flowers around us started to bloom. They opened in a wave, rolling out from me all the way to the tall hedges that looked more like walls around the castle. Bright flowers of every color opened for us as we walked out toward the back grounds. I didn’t stop walking until the castle was just a speck in the distance. But when I turned around to look at a rainbow of color that flowed out from me, I couldn’t help but smile. It wasn’t the neon lights of Vegas, but it was damn close with how bright everything was against the opulent castle.

“Beautiful.”

“They are, aren’t they?” When I looked up at him, he wasn’t looking at the castle. He was staring right at me. Warmth spread over my cheeks, and I had to look away from him.

I sat down on the ground and held the stone in my hands. “I’m not entirely sure how it works, but when the Astral Stone showed me, it was kind of like virtual reality video game simulation type stuff.”

He grinned and rocked back on his heels. “Those words mean nothing to me.”

“It’s kind of like an exercise . . . like a game. Watch.”

I pressed my fingers to the stone one by one, as if I was hitting the keys of a piano. The stone began to glow and more stones shot out from it. Each one was a different color and shape, and each had a different feel. They formed a circle around us, each of them glowing with their bright colors, and each of them spoke to me. It wasn’t as strong as the Astral Stone’s words and images, it was more a feeling . I knew what each of them could do and how they could help me. Before, when Tephine had turned herself into my fake guardian Jada, she made me take the powers of the stones by force, essentially destroying them in the process. It was one of the most horrific things I’d ever done or felt. From that moment on, I was tentative with my power to take what the stones could offer. It wasn’t mine to take. But the training stone gave me the feeling all I had to do was ask and they would give. But to fight Tephine, it would have to be fast.

My training stone lit up and I was supposed to ask the stones in the order it prompted me to ask. Like playing bop-it extreme. It lit up with a color and I was supposed to reach out to the matching stone and learn its power. It lit up bright red and I reached out for the garnet. Its power wrapped around me and suddenly I had perfect guidance. I knew where everything in the Mage Realm was and could see it perfectly in my head. But before I could explore this newfound power in my head, it lit up a pure bright white. I tried to take in the inner power, but this was different. It wanted me to take on the physical characteristics of the stone. When my power sucked it up, I felt my arm grow stiff and hard. When I opened my eyes, my arm looked like one big diamond with all the different angels and facets. I wiggled my fingers and the sun caught in the crystal, sending little rainbows all around me.

Bash stared at my diamond arm. “Amazing.”

“Can your mom do anything like this?”

He shook his head. “Hardly. Tephine is all about taking without asking. It seems the world responds to you.”

I wiggled my fingers and let my magic drop. The diamond effect wore off and I shook my hand out. It felt kind of weird and tingly for a moment before returning to normal. The stone lit up a bright purple, drawing my attention away from Bash. I reached out for the amethyst. The feeling between Bash and I grew so much stronger to the point where I couldn’t take my eyes off of him, love bloomed hard between us and I didn’t know what to do or how to act with him. His eyes glowed that magical moonstone color and I found myself wanting to move closer to him, wanting to have a moment between us that was our own. Until now we’d barely had a moment to actually just be together.

Black smoke seeped from his hands and flowed across the ground. The world around us went dark, and suddenly it was just me and him with a bed of my flowers beneath us and the stones lighting the darkness.

I glanced around. “What is this?”

“Alone time.”

I rose to my feet. “No one can see us?”

He shook his head. “Nope.”

“And we can’t see anyone?” I took a step closer.

Another shake of his head.

“Words. I like the sound of your voice.” I moved right in front of him and wound my hands around his neck.

“I’m still getting used to it.” He wrapped his arms around my back and pressed his fingers into me. We were so close I could breathe in his spicy vanilla scent. My tongue darted over my lips, wetting them. His eyes tracked the movement.

“Practice makes perfect.” I went up on my toes just as his mouth crashed into mine.

His lips were warm and soft against mine with just the right level of being firm. I loved the way he possessed me completely every time our mouths touched. It was like I was his and no one else’s. When he pulled me in tighter, my wings popped from my back and fluttered. My feet lifted off the ground in my excitement for him. Bash held me steady, keeping his hands around my hips as though he would never let me fly away. He was the person I could ground myself too in the craziness of this new world. When his tongue danced with mine, the world faded away to nothing.