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She watched as the two women dusted fine shards off Axel’s green tunic after standing back up. Oh-ho. There was somethingbrewing there, wasn’t there? Rowan itched to ask inappropriate, personal questions, but there was something more pressing happening at the moment than her sister’s love life.

“Barros?” Rowan asked, forcing herself to choose to be a little more grown up than she felt.

“No, we gotta go.” Axel held her hands out to both Rowan and Miasma, a blue scale in each palm.

“Are those…”

Axel apparently had no patience for silly questions; she cut Rowan off. “Aqua’s scales? Yes. She gave them to me. Said they would phase us home when you came to after she finished dressing you. Now come on, before we get caught in the crossfire.”

“The dragons are fighting each other again?” Rowan narrowed her eye.

Axel waved it off. “Nope, they’re taking care of something else. Come on, you’re in no state to help anyone out.”

“Why not? I feel great.”

Axel let out a familiar frustrated groan. “Why can’t you just ask questions when we get there?”

Rowan spread her legs, grounding herself to her spot. “This might go quicker if you just answer my questions now.”

It was rare for Rowan to argue with Axel. Neither Lexine nor Zeva had influence over Rowan’s actions like their warrior sister did.

Perhaps it was because, out of all the sisters, Axel was the most like their father, or that she could physically subdue anyone who wasn’t listening. Either way, when the two locked horns, thingsbroke. Things like priceless artifacts, windows, or sometimes even bones.

Axel mimicked Rowan’s stance, though she was admittedly more threatening with the extra four inches of height, as well as the definition of muscles underneath her contracted arms.

As Miasma had more often than not been in charge of healing Rowan and was prone to anxiety, she broke under the incurred tension. “We think this might actually be because of your presence.”

Axel shot her an exasperated look. “We were supposed to wait for my father to tell her.”

Miasma looked like she wanted to melt into the floor.

“Stop bullying her!” Rowan snapped.

Axel shot her a furious glare, but she stepped back to allow Rowan to take a peek outside.

A shaggy blue-haired dragon raced to put out small fires that roared to life over the lawn and up high on tree branches of massive oaks that dotted the pathways of Draconis. His magic became misdirected and landed a heaping water wave over another dragon, armed with shears, trying to keep a rapidly growing tree at bay.

Unlike the concerned pair in the bedroom, the dragons were having fun combating the wild magic in inventive ways.

“My presence?” She asked, confused.

Axel groaned when she realized Rowan was going to refuse to move until she got answers, “We think the magic is acting out because it’s unable to get to you, so it’s trying to overwhelm them.”

“And there’s a reason I can’t just absorb the overflowing magic, isn’t there?” She sighed and balled her fists up. “What is it?”

“Your body can’t handle it at the rate it’s trying to get in. It’s like attaching a water balloon to a fire hydrant.” Miasma’s voice was soft and nervous. “With you awake you may regulate it, but without Ms. Darling here to null you out in case it gets to be too much, it could be dangerous.”

Rowan cursed. What the hell was her body playing at, betraying her by breaking? Hadn’t she been good to it? Given it all the cake and sex it demanded? Sure, she’d been an ignorant fool for misusing her power for years. But that hadn’t been entirely her fault! She’d been doing better!

Perspective!

The word came to her in her father’s voice.

She’d fucked up. Her succubi’s energy had been too low to use the magic she’d dug out on that mountainside. She’d crossed a line and took in life energy rather than just the sexual energy she was supposed to. Her mother and godmother had warned her there would be consequences, and here they were.

There was a way to fix her gates. Much like a sprained ankle, she needed to take some time off pulling magic in order to rebuild them brick by brick. Back to basics.

The solution to the manic magic around them was simple. But it didn’t include heading back to the Eastern Elven Kingdom. Like an improperly sealed hose with a nozzle, magic was trying to push through her to get out its normally open mouth, but was splashing out where it connected to the faucet.