Page 12 of Eternal Light (Fated in the Stars #5)

Grayson moves the same finger he’d had in the soil to lift the feather and make it dance. The air in the room picks up, swirling loose papers on the desk across the room.

“Air? Right?”

“It is—but also, you chose to levitate the feather rather than just blow it across the table. We’ll see if you have a talent for flight next time, my dear boy. How exciting! A fellow flier would be thrilling, I must say.”

Flight? Gideon had said he’d witnessed Grayson dangling above the ground in the forest, but flying? No way.

The Magister works his way through the test for time (the hourglass), but it is inconclusive, given the medium is earth-based. Grayson had forced the sand on a reverse trajectory against gravity, but Ignatius hadn’t seen what he’d expected—nor had he elaborated.

Next came the withered plant, and as hard as Grayson tried, he couldn’t bring it back to any sense of greenery.

“Sorry, little guy,” he whispers.

“Finally, the last one that we can test here—the marble. Do you feel anything when you hold it? Where it originated? Who made it? Perhaps who used it last?” Ignatius looks eager.

Grayson shakes his head. “It’s just a big glass marble, sorry.”

He places it on the table, and it begins to roll toward the edge. Finn can only watch as it is surely about to smash on the wooden floor, but Grayson catches it in the blink of an eye, right before it lands.

One moment, he’s on the opposite side of the table. Next, he’s beside Nimue, marble in hand.

Ignatius claps and does a little jig.

“My goodness! Did you know that was going to happen and then teleport to intercept?”

“I could see it falling and smashing into a million pieces. It’s beautiful, and I didn’t want to see it ruined. But that’s just logic, no?”

“Perhaps, but we’ll take a closer look at a potential pre-cog and teleport Talent. We’ll need Luminary Travers, wouldn’t you say, Nimue?”

“I would. And look.” She points to the withered plant, where a small green shoot has appeared.

“Healing talent, perhaps? Or maybe Earth.” She smiles and uses her own magic to help the plant return to its former glory.

“Well, let’s recap, shall we? Fire, Air, and Traveling—Affinities confirmed. Suspected Teleportation Talent. Also possible Precognition, Earth, and minor Healing. Is that all?”

“Grayson, are the dreams you have different from the Traveling?” Leo asks.

“Dreams?” Ignatius asks as he slips the items from the test back into their compartments on the desk.

Grayson shakes his head.

“I just thought they were dreams until we visited the Archive a few days ago. I see myself and my mates in different time periods.”

“Hmmm,” Ignatius says, frowning. “I am sure you’ve heard that time isn’t linear, and The Plain doesn’t flow in a single direction, yes?”

Grayson nods.

“The dreams aren’t always historical—that’s true.”

“Hmmm,” the Magister says again. “That’s a Time Affinity, or at least a strong Talent. More advanced than my tests allowed for today, but still a manifestation of Time, in my humble opinion.”

The Magister meets Nimue’s eyes over the table, both with a frown replacing their previously excited expressions.

Finn wants to ask why when the Magister claps his hands again.

“Let’s schedule another meeting when Luminary Travers, our Teleportation specialist, can join us. I will make a few discrete inquiries about your dreams as well. My dear friend and Luminary, Tempest, can be trusted to—well, you leave it with me. Don’t you agree, Nimue?”

“I do. I have also heard from my German contact regarding Traveling, and they are very interested in a video conference as well. Erleuchtete Selinde is eager to meet a fellow Traveler.” She smiles reassuringly.

“I am thrilled to have met you, Grayson. My goodness, I only wish your training could continue here. In all my years, I’ve never tested a student who resulted in four Affinities and several other Talents.

It bears the question as to why, of course.

Is it your soulmate? Is it because you are Were?

Perhaps it contributed to manifesting your magic later in life. Why, why, why.”

Red-faced and self-conscious is a lovely look on Grayson, and he’s holding out a hand to Finn and Leo behind his back, silently seeking comfort. Leo and Finn step over the purple line in an instant, so Leo can offer moral support with a hand on Grayson’s lower back.

“I don’t know if that’s possible,” Grayson says.

“My pack is only here temporarily, and we have a few things we are working through…can I speak with them and let you know?”

Ignatius frowns in confusion.

“Oh, well…certainly. But please understand, Grayson, we only wish to help you control your burgeoning powers. As I understand it, you have only had access for less than six months? You have a fully formed soul and probably complete access to the entire spectrum of The Plain. You must learn how to control your magic.”

That’s the crux of it.

Magic is a big part of their lives now, and given its implications for Grayson’s and Nix’s health, Finn has to agree it is a priority. That Grayson wanted to talk about it as a family—when he clearly wanted to study here—makes Finn happy.

But train, he must—he can’t be running around Clearwater or Nashville without some rein on his powers.

Nimue takes Grayson’s hand in hers.

“We can discuss it after you’ve spoken to your mates, of course. Did you have any questions for us?”

“Oh yes, let’s sit, and I will order refreshments. Please, sit while I call the kitchens.” Ignatius picks up his ancient office phone and orders tea.

Once it’s been delivered, they resume their previous positions around the coffee and pastries while Grayson asks questions about magical history and some of the other Affinities he has been tested for—even though they hadn’t noticed.

“Excellent question, my boy. As I mentioned, there are twelve. Aldis hasn’t paid you any mind, which rules out the Zoelexis, or Animal Affinity.”

And Grayson certainly hasn’t had Tsuki or the cats following him around like the Pied Piper of Nashville—although Rowan has, once or twice.

“Also, my clouds haven’t let loose their small rain shower, so that precludes Water Affinity or a Weather Talent,” Ignatius mutters and folds an entire shortbread cookie into his mouth, crumbs landing in his beard.

“The last two Affinities on the list are Illusion—”

“Like the security guard, Hank?” Grayson asks.

“Yes, Hank! He’s the master of large-scale manifestations that can be palpable. Thrilling. Good soul is our Hank.”

“And the last?” It’s Finn’s turn to ask.

“Ah,” Ignatius sighs. “Mental Manipulation.”

“That sounds bad,” Leo mutters and eats another cookie.

“It truly is, Leo. It’s uncommon and often undetected until children reach their teen years—then only revealed when parents…well…you can imagine all the ways pubescent teens would use such a skill, albeit most often unintentionally.”

Not at all difficult to see how someone with this Affinity could go very, very wrong, either.

“Withers—he has this skill, doesn’t he? It’s why he lost his license to be an Adept?” Grayson asks.

Both Luminaries look reluctant to speak of it, but in the end, Ignatius nods.

“Thankfully, Mr. Withers has more of a Talent rather than a full-scale Affinity—if you could call it that. And one we’d not discovered until it was too late.

“It’s difficult to detect when it’s not the primary Affinity, and we don’t test our Novices in this area otherwise. You must understand that Talents must be developed. I have a Talent for flying, but I could not simply step off a roof and take to the air without notice. I must practice.”

So Withers had honed his manipulation until he’d perfected it.

“So now we worry about whether Withers could…what? Make us do something we wouldn’t normally do?” Leo asks, aghast. “Like jumping off a bridge? Hurt someone we love?”

Grayson growls again, and this time, he makes no apologies.

“In our experience, Mr. Withers’s Talent doesn’t extend to making his victims do something outside their normal realm of possible behaviors. For example, if you weren’t inclined to rob a bank in the first place, it would be unlikely that he could persuade you otherwise.”

“Forgive me, but that is hardly reassuring,” Finn states.

“Agreed,” Nimue says with a sigh.

“I know it doesn’t help now, but we will rectify our last insufficient verdict—with a new, more restrictive one.”

“You mean you had the chance to stop him before, and you let him walk?” Leo growls.

“We did. Our roles here are not conducted in the absolute, Mr. Costas. We are entrusted with these decisions, but are, in fact, only human. We…I…had high hopes for Mr. Withers’s rehabilitation.”

“Ignatius, we couldn’t have known he would go so far off the rails. No one had divined his deterioration to this extent. But we will rectify our decision as soon as possible.”

“Perhaps our time could be better spent figuring out how we can protect ourselves against it?” Finn suggests. Surely, the magical community had defenses in place for this sort of thing—especially if their Wardens existed at all.

During the next hour, Nimue helps Grayson learn to enact a sturdy alarm system for himself—and hopefully for them. Once Grayson has constructed the system for himself, he sets about doing it for Leo.

“It’s not a protection so much as an early warning system? It’s sort of a web of light, where any intrusion will give you a moment of clarity. Like a series of tripwires over different parts of your mind,” Grayson whispers, his gaze hazy.

Finn has begun to associate this with Grayson looking inward when he’s using The Plain.

“Sounds complicated,” Leo mutters, but seems no worse for wear.

“This won’t impact my bond with Nix, though, right?” Finn stays Grayson’s hand before he starts.

“It shouldn’t interfere with what’s already there, and Grayson can remove it at any time,” Nimue reassures him.

“He just retracts one edge of the thread, and poof—done.”

He agrees then, without further reservation. Once Grayson assures him it’s in place, Finn feels no different.

“Feels okay?” Grayson asks him as he moves a strand of hair away from Finn’s eyes. He’s eating a chocolate-covered donut like he hasn’t eaten in a year with the other hand, a smudge of chocolate at the corner of his lush mouth.

Finn wipes it away with the tip of his finger and sucks the digit into his mouth while making eye contact.

“Finn,” Grayson groans.

“Can’t feel a thing.” Except pride in his mate’s abilities and at how easily he has taken to this knowledge and the minimal training he’s had.

Finn can’t imagine what he’ll be capable of once he’s had time to get to know himself—the sky’s the limit. His black currant scent reeks of his pride and attraction. His competency kink is activated. Sue him.

“Stop looking at me like that.” Nostrils flared, Grayson opens his mouth slightly to get a taste of his sweet scent.

“Like what?” Finn growls, waggling his eyebrows.

“You are asking for it.”

“Then you’ll just have to give it to me when we get back.”

Grayson is reaching for Finn—regardless of their location—when Finn’s phone starts ringing, and suddenly, Grayson doubles over in pain.

“Finn!” rings out over his bond with Nix and then…he’s gone.