24. Luna

TWENTY-FOUR

luna

P art of me never wanted to leave this bed. Because it felt like ours, and it was the most comfortable thing I'd ever laid on. Except…

"Do you want to learn how your powers work today?" Zain asked, interlacing his fingers through mine. "There's a field past the back gardens here. I thought we could experiment there."

"I…" I hesitated. Why did I feel so weak admitting this? "I'm a little scared," I whispered, doing my best to avoid his gaze as I exposed my deepest shame. "What if I hurt you?"

"You can't. And besides, did I not tell you I would protect you?" My husband said, his soothing tone doing everything to calm my beating heart. "If that includes from yourself, I will do it."

"Zain…"

Instead of responding, he brought our lips together in a soft kiss.

"You were born to be mine," he said, rubbing his nose against mine. "My queen. My equal. I believe that. And whatever powers the fates gave you, even if your only parlor trick is iridescent skin, I don't care. I just want you."

Nodding, I let my eyes flutter shut. "I know."

I could feel that.

Now, if only I could figure out exactly how to wield my magic, everything would be perfect.

"Show me what you've got," Zain instructed an hour later, after we'd bathed, had a quick lunch, and re-dressed. The room smelled like sex—our scents mixed, his spicy one overwhelming my senses with need—which was another reason we needed to get outside. We were insatiable, and it didn't even have to do with the wine anymore. No, that was all him.

I'd pulled on a pair of pants and a loose-fitting blouse—because there was no way I was attempting to use my powers in any of those pretty dresses that hung in my closet. There were more here, all seeming to be perfectly my size. He really had thought of everything.

"You're thinking too hard," Zain called, crossing his arms over his chest. He'd thrown on a black, billowy shirt and black pants, and I was trying really hard not to compare him to all the romance heroes—my guilty pleasures.

And yet, Zain won every time.

"Am not," I protested, though I had to bite back my snarky reply that I was thinking too hard about him, and the delicious soreness between my legs was an all-too-constant reminder of how many times he'd taken me last night. We'd fall asleep and then wake up and do it all over again.

I didn't know if his stamina resulted from the wedding, but I hadn't complained. Not when I'd lost track of the amount of orgasms he'd given me or from the lightning strikes lighting up our window as he relentlessly poured into me.

Or how I'd begged him to put a baby in me, over and over. I'd never thought I had a breeding kink before, but when a man like him asked you to have his child, why would you ever say no?

"Luna."

My cheeks were warm, and I turned away, staring up at the reddish sun.

If I'd ever thought this place was hell, I was truly wrong. Demons lived in a mostly civilized society—though there were still some races that liked to go rogue . Like the ones who'd been in Pleasant Grove that day. I still had nightmares from that night, watching them drag Zain's lifeless body away from me, dozens of them overpowering him?—

"Sorry. What?" I whipped my head back to meet his gaze.

"We don't have to do this now, you know. If you're not ready."

"I want to be strong enough. To protect myself." He opened his mouth, and I finished before he could start. "I know you said you'd keep me safe. And I lo—" I stopped myself before the word could slip out. "—appreciate that. But my whole life, someone else has always kept me sheltered. Even Willow gave up her own life for me. So I have to take control of my destiny now."

I didn't want to cower in fear if I ever ran into one of those demon monsters again. Because that was what they were. Monsters . They didn't have the same cognitive functions as demons like Zain and Damien or the countless other residents of the palace.

"I don't want to be scared anymore."

A small grin lit up his face as he saw my resolve. "Then let's see what you can do. "

I nodded, looking down at my palms. All I'd ever succeeded at doing was making light appear in my hands. How did I do that again?

"Even if you fail, no one's watching you, Moonbeam. It's just us out here." Zain rubbed a hand down my spine in encouragement. "Close your eyes and picture the magic flowing through your veins."

I did as he said. It was easier after last night, somehow. It felt like I'd awoken a different side of me. Visualizing the pathways in my body that the power flowed through. All I had to do was let it out, right?

Zain's presence brushed up against my mind—a reminder that he was here.

Shape it, he said, his thoughts like a caress against my spine. Turn it into whatever you desire.

Was it that easy? Sure, I'd been using my magic my whole life. I'd levitated bowls and stirred spoons, all without ever blinking an eye. I knew how to do those things like the back of my hand. It was natural.

This power felt foreign. It was mine, but it was also… his. The glimmering thread of white stretched between us.

"Do you feel that?" I whispered as if it was something I could grab onto and tangibly hold.

"Feel you?" He practically purred. "Open your eyes, Luna."

I did, and in the center of my palm was a white ball of light. Tiny—maybe nothing more than a parlor trick, but… it was a tangible, physical manifestation of my power—more than just light filtering through my skin.

"What do I do with it?"

Zain raised an eyebrow. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know." I rolled my eyes, the power flickering out. "A little sphere isn't very helpful." Maybe if it was bigger…

A smirk crossed his face, and he summoned two shadowy forms. "See if you can hit them," he said, stepping aside.

Training dummies. He'd just used his power to make me training dummies.

"What if I miss?" I swallowed roughly.

"The gardens will regrow," he said with a laugh. "And if you hit someone, then we'll know what you can do."

"Zain!" I exclaimed. "I'm not trying to hurt your people."

He was across the field in a second, pressing our hands together against my heart. "Our people, Moonbeam. And you won't." A wicked gleam sparkled in his eyes. "I was assured no one would bother us."

"Okay." I gulped, and he stood at my back, his warmth bleeding into my body, washing away my apprehension.

I focused on the little ball of light in my palm, feeding it with more of the power that ran through me. What were my limits? I'd never done this before, and I was already curious how much of this magic I could use at once.

Feeding it more, it grew larger, to the size of a baseball, and then—a large, floating ball of light. Moonlight. Despite its appearance, it wasn't hot, but was almost… cold .

What was I supposed to do now? Throw it? Could you even throw a ball of light?

If Zain was listening to my thoughts, he didn't comment, but he mimicked me, gathering an orb of shadows—pure darkness—in his hands and then practically hurled it with lethal precision, crashing against one of the shadowy figures.

I did my best to copy him, though I didn't have any of the grace that his demonic body possessed. Maybe because he'd had three hundred years to perfect this while I'd spent the last twenty-something years burying it deep inside of me.

The orb missed, fizzling out on the grass. Damn. My cheeks heated, but this time in mortification. I'd never been a very good shot.

He made a circular motion with his finger. "Try again."

I nodded, repeating the process. Over and over and over again. Until finally, my blow landed, the shadowy form dissipating where my light hit it.

"Hm," Zain mused from my side. "Interesting ."

"What?" I blinked.

He shook his head. "Think you can try something different?"

I shrugged. "Worth a shot, right?"