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Oops. She might’ve been broadcasting that down the bond.

The glow beneath his skin flared. The smooth ripple of movement turned jagged. His arm twitched, muscles locking up. He let out a sound that was half gasp, half groan.

Ivain only sighed, long and suffering, and looked at Taly. As if to say,I don’t know what you did, but I know you’re responsible.

“It wasn’t me,” she insisted, but her lips twitched despite her best efforts to put on a serious face. The bond—it was going to take some getting used to.

Ivain raised a skeptical brow. Then turned back to Skye, who was still hunched over his arm, breathing through the tension.

“I bet you felt that,” he said, clapping Skye hard on the back. The sound echoed. “Come on, shake it off.”

Skye nodded and rose from the table, walking a few paces. He rolled his shoulders, stretching and working his arm.

“That’s what happens when you lose focus,” Ivain said. “The body falls back to what it knows. For the most part, it’s easier to return to a familiar shape—muscle fibers remember where they belong. But when you’re mid-transition like that, the snapback hurts like hell.”

“What are you working on?” Taly asked. “Is this Seal 5 stuff?”

Thanks to recent events, Skye had missed his exams, but that didn’t mean anything. Ivain had never let something as trivial as an established curriculum dictate when or what he chose to teach.

Ivain muttered, “No, you won’t find this in any spell books, I’m afraid. Not anymore, at least.”

“Don’t get him started again,” Skye warned, still rubbing his arm.

“No, no, she needs to hear this too,” Ivain said. “The Council is full of petty, power-hungry cowards who ban anythingthat makes them remotely uncomfortable—anything they can’t control. They see potential, and they shut it down. Time mages. Pact magic.Bloodcrafting… and that’s only scratching the surface.”

Taly idly straightened a stack of papers. “But that’s not what this is, right? Bloodcrafting?”

“No,” Ivain said, and she released a breath.

If time mages were the stuff of nightmares, bloodcrafters were the shadows lurking just behind them. And while she knew Skye had dabbled in things he shouldn’t have trying to get to her, there was no need for that anymore.

“Whole body manipulation is a foundation,” Ivain went on. “A controlled version of what bloodcrafting takes to a further extreme. What we’re doing now doesn’t add or subtract anything, it just shifts what’s already there.”

She wanted to ask if it was dangerous, but she knew better. All magic carried risk. Still, it must’ve shown on her face because Skye braced his hands on the table, lowering his head until he caught her gaze.

“My lady came back with a small army of people who want her dead. And since it’s my job to keep you alive, that means I’ve got my work cut out for me.”

It shouldn’t have surprised her. It was always the same with Skye—he slipped into the role of protector like it was second nature, taking up the responsibility of her safety as if it were his alone.

“And who says I need a protector?” Taly flicked her fingers. Gold aether curled between them, bending to her will as easily as breath. “I don’t know if you noticed, but I have my own magic now.”

His smile was slow, deliberate. “Oh, believe me, I noticed.”

That same magic had come in very useful the night before.

Taly couldn’t help but wonder—were the beds at the Dawn Court reinforced for shadow mages? It seemed like a necessary precaution for when things got… heated.

“Why don’t we call it for today,” Ivain said. “Something tells me your attention is going to be... elsewhere.” He glanced pointedly between them.

“Don’t blame me. I was just sitting here,” she insisted.

Skye reached past her, aiming for a carafe of water. As he leaned in, his voice dipped low.

“An entire battlefield, Taly, and I’d still have an easier time focusing than when you’re around.”

Heat flooded her face. “That sounds like a personal problem,” she replied, one foot kicking idly beneath the table.

“If you two are going to keep this up, at least have the decency to let me leave first,” Ivain drawled. “I didn’t sign up to be an audience for... whatever this is.”