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Chapter twenty-nine

Jo follows the maids in when they bring my lunch. It’s set up at my bedside because I haven’t mustered the motivation to move quite yet. Perhaps I should have trained for yesterday’s trial after all.

“Are you certain you’re well?” Jo sits near the foot of my bed. “It’s midday, and you still can’t get up.”

“I wouldn’t say can’t so much as won’t. The ordeal did take a lot out of me, but I may be using that as an excuse at this point.”

“You’ve done bolder things with your power with the ease of strolling through the garden.” She takes a strawberry from my tray and bites the fruit off its leaves.

You don’t know half the bold things I’ve done. I’ve come quite a long way from Tomas’ kiss stopping me from keeping us airborne. I clear my throat in an attempt to clear my mind and stay focused on this conversation.

“It wasn’t so much the expulsion of power,” I say. “Containing Marcus’ power was a challenge unlike anything I’ve tried before. Blocking water itself isn’t a problem, but I could feel him trying to reach through my shield with his power. Where our powers clashed, it felt… I don’t know… strange.”

“Well, you were brilliant. I was beside myself when Marcus threw you to the bottom of that pond. Tomas”—she shudders—“was troubled, to say the least. It’s impossible to be around him when there’s anything going on with you.”

Tomas did say he’d worry about me, but anyone would be agitated by the scene which probably looked like my brother was killing me. His attention to the matter shouldn’t excite me. We’ve always been close, and any reaction of his couldn’t have matched mine when he was in danger.

“Of course,” Jo continues, “he assured me it was nothing you couldn’t handle.”

“He was right. I can survive under water.”

***

Once, while practicing my magic with Tomas, I broke the forcefield myself so we wouldn’t lose the excuse. Though we never said as much, it was certainly an excuse—one I was all too happy to use. Whenever it started to get easier for me, Tomas would find new ways to wreck me, and I savored every moment. As months passed, my powers got stronger until finally, it seemed as though nothing could break me. I was content to let Tomas continue to try, but apparently, his pride was wounded by the issue. So, one day, he took me to a lake. By then, it was beginning to warm up, but winter hadn’t released us from her grasp entirely.

“You’ve never tried your first failed trick again,” Tomas said.

Our first kiss ending when a wall of water crashed into us wasn’t a complete failure, though. It led to all these months of fun together. “Summer was a much more pleasant time to go for a surprise swim.”

“Don’t you think you can do it now?” The challenge shone in his eyes.

“You’re dreadful.”

“I won’t think any less of you if you admit there is something you can’t do.”

“No, of course.” I flung a bubble around us and sent it off into the frigid water. “Why shouldn’t I be able to keep a water-tight shield around us and warm the air in it, all while you have your way with me?” The water rose around us, but I did keep the air warm as I traced my finger down his chest and stomach. “Or while I have my way with you.”

My tongue danced over his as he freed me from my coat, and I fumbled with his trousers. Clothing dropped off our bodies like heavy rain, but we remained dry in our underwater sanctuary. He kissed down my neck to my breast and dropped to a knee to continue down my stomach. When he kissed my navel, the bubble shuddered.

“Do you have a death wish?” The words came out as sigh. The water was cold enough for this to be a complete disaster.

He looked up, the stubble on his chin scraping the lowest plains of my abdomen. “Am I not to kneel before my princess?” Then he dropped his face, and even my lungs had trouble keeping air in them, yet somehow, the bubble held. My knees threatened to give way underneath me, so I melted into a semi-reclined position, supported by a cushion of air I barely spared a thought for. My fingers tangled into his hair. Reality twisted and spun, and when my body exploded with pleasure, the bubble remained.

Suspended as if gravity had no claim on me, I was no more than a puddle. Tomas brushed his hand through my hair. “It would appear you have no use for me anymore.”

“Oh, I can think of something.”

As I made love to him, I tried to focus only on that, but there was something I couldn’t ignore.

I was quite certain I had just taken the last scraps of my power.

***

Jo snaps me back to the present. “Do I want to know why he was confident in your ability to survive under water?” At least she looks amused.

“Not at all.” Thinking of it is dangerous enough for me. I can’t keep coming back to these memories.

“I’m glad you weren’t hurt. The whole thing was terrifying to watch.”