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‘Bold of you to presume I’d need it to beat you,’ I said with a snort, and this time he did actually laugh. Tared looked mildly confused. ‘No, I was thinking … Iridescence fuels magic that affects magic, yes? Would it be possible to block the attacks of others with it?’

Probably.He shrugged.The Mother is able to do it, at least. I’m just not fully sure how – she never told anyone about the details of her divine powers.

I glanced at the dagger in my hand. ‘Would she have had access to an iridescent surface on those occasions?’

A wry smile grew around his lips.I’m suspecting there might be more to her favourite pearl necklace than I always assumed.

‘Oh, fuck,’ Lyn said breathlessly. ‘That enormous, ugly thing she was wearing after the Last Battle? When she bound us?’

Creon nodded.

She blew out her cheeks, looking slightly sick. ‘If we’d known we only had to get those pearls away from her …’

He shrugged.I know.

Of course that whirlwind mind of his had already identified a thousand occasions where he might have saved the world by just yanking a few velvet pillows from his mother’s reach. I saw the grim tightening of his lips, heard Tared’s muffled curse, and quickly said, ‘Should I make an attempt, then?’

Creon raised an amused eyebrow.At binding me?

‘I was just hoping to block a bit of your red, but if you insist you’d rather lose all your magic …’

He huffed a silent laugh and pulled one of his own daggers from his boot. As he threw it five yards away into the earth, he signed,I’ll try to hit it. Stop me.

The blade was forged of alf steel, which meant he wouldn’t damage it even if I failed to divert the magic – clever, I had to admit, but a mild blow to my confidence, too.

‘Alright.’ I sucked in a deep breath, clutching my fingers tighter around the temple dagger.Iridescence.Bubbles of soap, the pearls I’d stitched onto Miss Matilda’s dresses, the light reflecting off the dark walls of the Underground … The familiar tingle of magic trickled up my arm, and I nodded. ‘I’m ready.’

Creon raised his hand more slowly than usual, allowing me just a moment longer to prepare. Then he unleashed his magic, and so did I – two flashes of light that met inches away from the alf steel blade and sprung apart with an audible sizzle and a blinding flash.

His burst of red deflected and slammed into the garden tile next to the knife, digging a deep crack into the flagstone.

I dropped my dagger with a ragged cry of triumph.

Could have been worse, Creon dryly signed.

I burst out laughing. ‘It actually works!’

Of course it does.The look in his eyes was not nearly so unconcerned as his signs – that gleam of unending possibilities again, of a power that may just turn our world upside down.Again?

I glanced down at the dagger. The mother-of-pearl layer had gone a boring greyish white; only at very specific angles did the light still reflect in faint rainbows. I might be able to pull one more attempt from it, but even that could be a challenge.

‘Let’s get the movement magic right first,’ I said, grabbing his soaked coat again. ‘There’s only so many new skills I can figure out in a day.’

So we practiced another five, ten, fifteen times, experimenting with the force of my magic and with the weight of whatever objects I moved, until I finally began to get some sense of what this new power of mine could do. It was like stumbling around with sleeping limbs, an utter lack of control over my own body – a sensation I’d quickly forgotten after those first disorienting days of lessons at the Crimson Court.

Unsubtle,Creon signed as I launched a woollen blanket roll into a nearby tree for the third time.You’ll learn to climb trees before you learn to handle this magic if you continue like this.

‘You,’ I said, sending him an impolite gesture, ‘will very quickly learn to keep your arrogant mouth shut if you continue like this.’

His grin turned positively villainous.Threatening me now, Thenessa?

‘Not at all.’ I yanked the blanket down from the branches. ‘Just encouraging you to make better choices in life.’

He chuckled and changed my dress back to soft velvet once again.Which has never been my greatest strength, admittedly.

Sitting in the sun by the temple walls, Tared no longer even pretended he was paying attention to the sword he was supposedly sharpening. Instead, he observed Creon and me with ever-increasing confusion as we swung coats back and forth, his frown deepening with every playful jab and every honest chuckle.

Hell, evenIbarely dared to believe the number of smiles escaping Creon’s mask in those sun-streaked minutes. For someone who’d only ever seen the cold, arrogant fae murderer, it had to look like a whole new person had risen from my lover’s bed this morning.