Chapter 16

T hank the Goddess that Ezzyn’s office was on the third floor and no higher on the Towers. Dae wouldn’t have been able to reach it from her spot on the ground otherwise. She’d thought about running up the stairs, but reticence spurred her imagination. She paused below Ezzyn’s office, peering up. Light shone out of both the office and the lab’s windows, implying he was still there. Coming to know his habits as she had in the time she’d assisted him, experience suggested that he’d be in the lab.

“Please don’t be doing any delicate work right now,” she murmured, summoning her magic into the palm of her hand.

A penchant for frost magic and having a bossy younger sister had taught Dae the art of the snowball. In the Valley, where the air was always ripe with moisture, Dae hardly expended any effort pulling water from the air and magicking it to snow.

Her first throw fell woefully short. The second was better, dashing against the stone below the windowsill. Her third hit the glass a tad high, littering icy flakes back to the ground. The next would’ve hit Ezzyn square in the face were it not for the barrier.

He opened the window. “Anadae? What are you—”

“Targeted isolation!” she called up. “Come to the lake. Bring samples!” She turned and hurried away before he could answer.

Rain had given way to a cloudy sky as evening fell, painting the clouds in saturated shades of grayish purple and a few valiant strokes of pink. The school side of the lake was calm, the hum of its innate but dormant power a subtle presence in Dae’s mind. With its expanse at her fingertips, she felt as if she could call on her magic for days without tiring. Untrue, but standing at the waterfront while already fresh was a heady thing. Made her feel invincible.

She took a packet of loose-leaf tea from the Mighty Leaf out of her bag, pouring some into her hand. Pulling water from the air, she rehydrated the leaves, letting her magic suffuse each small piece, mapping the feel of the moisture in the tea leaves and how it differed from the lake.

Dae cast her hand out as if scattering seeds. The sodden tea plopped into the lake and slowly began to sink. Hand still outstretched, she called on her magic, the memory of the tea fixed in her mind. The presence of so much water tugged at her attention. The vast lake was easy to get lost in, swallowing up the tiny handful of foliage, claiming it as its own. Dae pressed on. Already, the feel of Sylvanor Lake had become familiar to her, its plentifulness a comfort. Made it an exercise rather than a chore to suss out the soaked tea being carried away. Threads of her magic wrapped around each leaf. A twist of her fingers coaxed them to ice.

Fishing the tea back out of the lake was the hardest part; convincing only a small channel in the body of water to separate itself out required more concentration than she’d expected.

Dae collected the tea leaf ice cubes into her hands, holding them up for inspection. Her theory worked, though it lacked finesse. At fifty miles across and fed by a hearty river, the lake could afford to give up the part of itself that had frozen around the leaves. Going forward, Dae knew she’d need to refine her spellwork to reduce the excess. Given how much of Rhell was already scarred with the blight, efficiency was even more paramount.

Ezzyn arrived as she practiced on a second handful, this time simply dropping the leaves into the water at her feet for easier retrieval. Her results were the same, never managing to freeze solely a leaf but rather an ice cube with a tea leaf inside.

She plucked a misshapen ball of ice, the off-center leaf within like an amateur’s glass ornament, and handed it to Ezzyn. “Targeted breakdown. Trials have already shown that frost can weaken the poison, and fire-purified soil has corruption recur at a slower rate.” Marginally slower, but there was still much research to be done on deep-freezing techniques.

Ezzyn rolled the ice between his fingers. “Yes, but we haven’t found it to be more efficient. At scale, it’s easier to use enchantments that cover more ground.”

“The slow-release trials. What if we could isolate and weaken the poison, then target it with the fire spells? Avoid baking the entire plot of soil, give bioremediation a chance to get going.”

Her mind spun off in a dozen directions. Find a way to apply the ice enchants. Determine the best amounts—of ice, of time, how long to burn. How long before bioremediation efforts could be introduced. How much ice and fire could they withstand when the next treatment spell went out.

So many questions of how, and that was without getting into delivery methods. She didn’t even think about cost, or whether any of it was possible, or if she was just a na?ve Adept One wannabe with some ideas but no sense.

Ezzyn frowned at her, his expression unreadable. Dae waited, the rush of excitement and possibility ebbing. Maybe it had been a mistake, pulling him from his work for her to prattle on. Comparing tea leaves and lake water to a magicked corruption that had withstood five years of cleansing efforts by some of the world’s best minds.

A burst of flame erupted from his fingers, melting the ice in his hand to leave behind only the tea leaf. He flicked it into the water, then held up a vial of blighted soil retrieved from his pocket. “Okay. Show me what you’re thinking.”

Taking the vial between shaky fingers, Dae removed the cork. She’d have to work quickly, before the inherent power of the Valley did its work. She summoned magic into her hand again, searching for the traces of poison saturating the sample. She sensed them, scattered throughout. Like seeds, growing roots that broke apart into more poisonous dots, multiplying with frightening ease. They resisted her attempts to map them, her magic slipping off like oil in water.

Sweat beaded on her forehead as she chased the phantom traces, expending more magic, more energy on the effort. It was right in front of her, held in her own damned hand. She could feel the physical presence of the poison, but not fully grasp it. Where the tea leaves had been easy to wrap with her magic, her mind, this remained too foreign.

“It’s too…” Dae broke off her hunt. She blotted her forehead on her sleeve, alarmed to hear her pulse beating fast in her ears, her breathing elevated. It couldn’t have been more than a minute, maybe two of casting. Under normal circumstances, she could work for half an hour without pause and hardly take a deep breath. With so much water present, she should’ve iced the poison with ease … except, no, she hadn’t been able to utilize the environment at all. Hadn’t managed to even touch the poison, let alone get her magic into it enough to summon water. Rhell’s containment measures of affecting the surroundings rather than the source made more sense to her now. What had seemed inefficient on paper left her humbled. A taste of real-world experience that reinforced how far behind she truly was.

“Slippery,” she said, embarrassment and frustration in her tone.

“You can feel it,” Ezzy murmured. It sounded part question, part suspicious hope. “Not in general, but the poison itself?”

Dae grimaced. “Not enough. Each time, it just breaks into more spots.”

Ezzyn held his hand out to her. “It’s easier once you know what it feels like. Follow me.”

“Where are we going?” she asked, slipping her hand into his.

Ezzyn laced his fingers through hers, gave them a gentle squeeze. He didn’t move, but his magic flared around their joined hands. A few embers drifted up, landing in the vial still clasped in her free hand.

Hesitant, Dae called on her magic, startling when she felt it enveloped by Ezzyn’s flame. Her hand jerked in his grasp, but he held on, patient as she grew accustomed to his presence.

It was strange, his magic warm against hers, his affinity for fire simmering beneath his light. Instinct urged her to quench it, to pull from the lake and the air, douse him with so much water.

“Don’t fight me,” he said, amused. “Follow it. Let me show you how to find it.”

Looking at him, feeling his hand, his magic, the weight of it against her skin, it was too much. Dae closed her eyes, concentrating only on the trail of embers he left. She did as he asked, following. Pulled a few drops of her magic and let them bump against his in the vial. His magic arced into the soil, wrapping around a bead of poison, latching on as if it had tiny hooks.

Dae followed, traced around his controlled flame. Looked with her magic rather than her eyes, the tiny interactions becoming large in her mind. The poison was unlike anything she’d ever known, a blend of flexible but tough. Violent. It pushed back against her magic, her mind, the dot of poison the size of a large grain of sand demanding more focus and energy than something so small had any right to.

Yet, within the corral of Ezzyn’s magic it couldn’t evade or splinter apart. Whenever she lost her grasp on the corrupted seed of poison, she learned to follow the more familiar signature of Ezzyn back to it. Slowly, she wore down the seed, not the entire thing but a pinprick of a hole. Just enough to expose the essence from which it came. Feel its malice, so unnatural. Yet, in the vaguest sense, it was all too human.

Dae didn’t question; she pounced. Water could seep through the smallest of cracks. With the shape of the poison firm in her mind, turning her magic to ice brought a savage joy. She hunted down every trace of it, guided at first by Ezzyn’s light but by the end under her own power.

Her eyes opened, a triumphant smile on her face.

Ezzyn squeezed her hand. Heat surged in the vial, a thread of flame chasing every flake of iced poison she’d made, incinerating them with minute bursts.

A bubble of laughter spilled from her, the speed and euphoria of what they’d done making her dizzy. Dizzy with delight, and a touch of exhaustion as awareness filtered back in. Darkness was falling as evening gave way to night. Her inner well of magic was low, yet she felt content. Tired, but elated. It didn’t matter that it was only a single, small vial, or that the poison would return. That such recurrence was a fact. It didn’t matter because it was a first step. Everything felt possible in that moment.

“I did it,” she said, a touch breathless. She laughed again.

“You’re amazing,” Ezzyn said. “Intuitive. No Adept One should be able to grasp it that fast.”

They were standing so close, palms still clasped together. The feel of his magic was warm in her mind. Pleasing and familiar. Dae’s hands were full, with the vial and Ezzyn, their fingers intertwined. But he had a hand free. Used it to cup her cheek and let his thumb stroke her lip.

Without thinking, Dae mouthed at it and tilted her chin up, seeking his mouth. His lips were as plush as she remembered. Perfectly shaped, molding to fit as his mouth slanted over hers. When Dae’s tongue teased at his before retreating, he groaned.

It sent an arc of wanting through her, straight to her core. Made her clench. She wanted to pull him closer, touch his face as possessively as he held hers, but she couldn’t while still holding the vial.

Dae jerked back as reality flooded in. Would’ve stepped away, except Ezzyn still grasped her hand.

“E-Ezzyn.” Dae blinked, shook her head, breath coming in short bursts. “You’re…”

Her boss. A prince. A world of complications she didn’t need, especially not in this year dedicated to proving herself. He was—

“Ezzyn,” he said, so quietly, his name filled with despair and desperate hope. “Let me be just Ezzyn with you. Nothing else.”

“How?” she whispered. “I don’t even know what that means. You’re so many things, I can’t just—”

“Why not?” He released her hand, drawing back until he held the tips of her fingers. “I want to be just the man with you and leave the baggage.”

She wanted to believe him so badly it hurt. “Can you?” Her words were soft, not harsh with suspicion but bleak. Wistful.

“The attraction is here, Anadae. Why not act on it?” he said. “No expectations. Nothing of the past, or the future. Just now.”

Live in the moment. Indulge in it. Such a thought went against her nature. And yet, the temptation, the desire drawing her in—why fight it? Dae had done the proper, safe thing her entire life. Done the things expected of her for so long, shelving her wants. They were adults, and as he’d said, the attraction was there. It had set up an ache in her.

“No expectations,” she repeated.

“None,” he vowed. “When one of us is done, we’re done. Mutual agreement.”

Simple. No mess, nothing drawn out. No being trapped like she had been with Brint. And she would be desired. Unlike with Brint. The memory of her night with Ezzyn, thoughts she’d kept at bay, came back to her. Of how he’d held her to him, savoring her taste. She’d been wanted. Had delighted in him just as much.

Now he offered such to her again. Freely. No expectations.

Dae let go of his hand, slipped hers over the back of his neck, and tugged him down for another kiss.