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“Made you growl, though, didn’t it?” He raised his drink to his lips to cover his smirk.

“Just leave it. I have my ryder—that’s enough for now.”

“Since when do you settle for enough?”

“Since she’s a maiden, and she’s had a rough time. She’s vulnerable, and I’m not going to make her feel more so for my own gain.”

“It didn’t look like it was only for your gain earlier. She almost looked like she’d been about to come, but you pulled away and left her hanging.”

“That’s because we had both been about to come when I heard you stomping down the hall. A second later, and you’d have walked in on something I couldn’t have stopped if I’d wanted to.”

“Thank the Goddess I wasn’t a second later. I don’t need that visual in my head for the rest of my days.”

“I don’t want you having that visual, either,” I assured him.

“Then, may I suggest you dry hump your ryder in more private settings in the future?”

Zaria looked my way while Maxen was saying something to Kiera, and the heat in her eyes had me shifting in my seat. She took a sip of her drink, then turned back to her conversation.

“By the Goddess! I’m going have to go dry hump someone in a minute if you two keep that up. You could cut the pheromones in here with a knife!”

THIRTY-FOUR

ZARIA

“I’m confused,” I admitted to Rakan. Maybe it was the light haze left in my head from the celebration last night, but things still didn’t make sense to me where magic was concerned.

He sighed like I was a lost cause but gave his permission to continue with a wave of his finger.

“You said we couldn’t fly in case my magic came out and I held a power that could take down a dragon mid-flight, but that’s not at all how my magic is. Nyx explained that magic is just power until you tell it what to do.”

“Girl, you are a unique case. We didn’t know what your magic would do.”

I waited for more, but apparently, he was done. A fae of few words. So, I looked to Nyx, exasperated.

“Normally, you’d have your innate magic and know how to wield it before you bond with your flyer, Sol. That magic can be shaped by you depending on your skill level. Once you mature, some other powers awaken. We call them origin powers. They are tied to your bloodline, to the places your line originates, and can also be associated with your environment now. Since your magic was blocked, we weren’t sure what would happen when they were released. Origin powers usually reveal themselves over time and come to us when situations require them.”

Rakan grunted some kind of comment but didn’t try to make himself heard clearly. Nyx glanced at him and then returned to me with an apologetic look.

“Rakan was concerned that as we had already bonded, some origin powers would have awakened, and if you were suddenly able to unlock them, they might be a risk to those around you if they were to overwhelm. Luckily, that didn’t happen, so we are good.”

“So, we can fly?” I asked hopefully.

“No,” Rakan said flatly.

Nyx shook his head. “Not until your powers are assessed and the level of risk can be established.”

I huffed.

“All ryders have to do it to be cleared for flight. You aren’t being singled out.”

“Okay,” I sighed. That seemed to be permission enough to go ahead, and Rakan set about arranging us as he had the last few times. We faced each other and held hands so we were connected.

Rakan placed his palm on my forehead, and I tensed.

Nyx spoke before Rakan could give the command to begin I had been expecting. Perhaps he knew me well enough now to know I needed more information to be able to trust the process. “I will call to your magic, and Rakan will syphon from you so he can assess what your powers are made up of.”

“Will he take it all?” The idea of being drained scared me. I was still getting used to the reserve being full of power. I didn’t know how I’d feel being without it.