Page 80 of The Freedom You Seek
“You crafted a permanent weapon out of magic and gave it away?” Antas narrowed his eyes at me as if he was seeing me for the first time, and I nonchalantly inspected my fingernails.
“Is that such a big thing? And what does it have to do with Dion finding me?”
Sometimes, it was cute how clueless Nayana was. Unable to resist the temptation any longer, I nuzzled my nose into the crook of her neck, inhaling her citrusy notes as I cherished her playful squeals of protest. Chuckling, I straightened up and ignored the reproachful looks of my fellow males.
“I know Dion has the ability to use his magic to create weapons, but it’s important to understand that in orderfor such an item to last, he must sacrifice a portion of his power and bind it into his craft.”
“Don’t make such a big deal out of it, Antas. In order to learn self-defense, Naya needed a dagger that wouldn’t harm either her or me during training.” Was it so hard to believe I’d done something selfless for once in my life? Huffing, I turned to Nayana. “Because it has a piece of my magic in it, I can find the blade wherever it is located. Even when I’m drunk. The magic was a part of me, and even though I could never reabsorb the power, it’ll always call to me.”
If she ever considered doing the Rite with me, I’d implant another piece of my magic into her tiny body. Or why only then? I could do it no matter what—for security reasons, of course—whether there was a binding or not. Nayana was a flight risk, after all. If she wore a part of me under her skin, I could track her wherever she went at all times. I canted my head and considered how she’d react to the suggestion. Even Naya should appreciate how much this would benefit her safety. And if she said no at first—because that’s how she’d reply, I had no illusions—I could always stage some small abduction scenario, one where after a reasonable amount of time, I’d swoop in as her savior, of course, which would bring her to her senses afterward. Intrigued, I tucked the idea to the side to revisit it later. As if she knew where my mind was going, Nayana narrowed her eyes at me. Yes, I was sure she’d need a little encouragement to accept my proposal regarding her safety. Puffing out my chest, I caught Nayana’s gaze with my own and let her notice how proud I was to remember thather approval was important instead of just having it my way from the start. And in the end, did it matter how her consent was given?
“Ah, and I believe itwasn’tintentional that youforgotto inform me you could track me like this?”
Yes, I’d definitely had to organize a fake kidnapping for my plan to come to fruition. Her reaction told me as much. “Last night tells me I was right to keep you oblivious. You’d have left the dagger behind if you’d known.”
“We’ll discuss this later. In private.”
“Sure, Nayana. I’m more than happy to explain why I need to be able to track you. You know,just in caseyou do something reckless and dumb.”
“Ah, just go and do something else. Maybe play with something poisonous.”
“Is that an invitation,Jama?”
“Anyway.” Impatience lined Fig’s voice.
I guessed he hated all the distractions, but I didn’t care. I was glad yesterday’s fight between Nayana and me had passed, and we could act as usual around each other again. Still, I nodded. “Yes, anyway. I’ll come straight to the point. When I found Nayana deep in the forest west of Kalcas, we encountered something alarming—and impossible.”
I saw everyone straighten, even Thain. My word held weight, even if it didn’t seem so most of the time.
“Reality ripped before our eyes. I can’t describe it differently. For a short period, we were able to see Galanta through the tear. Both worlds were visible for mere seconds, and the gap closed after an Arracht passed into Ivreia.” As I presumed, I was met with stunned faces.
“AnArracht?” Fig finally broke the silence. He’d lost all his stoic composure—that was already hanging on by a thread—and stared back at me, aghast. I’d never seen him so distraught before.
“I have only read about them. They’re supposed to be nasty. Even hard to kill for fae.” Ireas voice sounded unsteady.
Fig studied me with narrowed eyes. “Exactly. Arrachts are said to be extraordinarily tough, and I have some very urgent questions on my mind, Dion. Namely, how the fuck did you get away, and where the fuck is it now? And why the fuck didn’t you wake us up instantly before giving the fucking monster a chance to wreak havoc?”
Suppressing the urge to grin in triumph at having coaxed a glorious string of curses out of him, I kept my face straight. Of course, Fig thought we’d fled from the creature. If I was honest, it was a fair assumption, considering I’d been drunk and magically impaired.
“We didn’t get away. That thing almost ate me, but Dion killed it. Cleaved it in two until it dissolved into weird glitter ash.”
Nayana’s admiring expression warmed me, and I couldn’t help preening.
It was obvious Fig was reaching the end of his patience. For once, he wasn’t the calm and collected leader, and I enjoyed it more than I should have. I was tempted to poke him some more, to have a chance of witnessing him unravel completely—after all, he’d never been so close before.
But Antas distracted me. His chin rested on his folded hands, assessing me as if I were a puzzle hewanted to solve. “How, Dion? How have you been able to penetrate the skin of an Arracht, let alone cut him to pieces without magic? Or was he weakened by crossing worlds? Either your story doesn’t add up, or you aren’t telling us everything. Do we have the wrong information about how hard it is to kill Arrachts?”
Although it was another valid question, it bothered me greatly that nobody believed my claim that we’d killed the Arracht, not even Antas. He, of all people, knew best what I was capable of and had never underestimated my skills before.
“Didn’t do it alone. Nayana helped a lot.”
“Again, Dion, I threwstones. I’m pretty sure those didn’t even tickle the beast.”
Shrugging, I shook my head at her. Either she still didn’t fully believe I took from her Potential, or she was enjoying playing with the assembled males as well.
But I was done toying and was going in for the kill. Of all the people present, I concentrated on Thain, zeroing in on him as I asked my next question, almost innocently. “Has anyone ever heard if it’s possible for an Amplifier to have a predisposition for more than one element?”
As understanding slowly dawned on Thain’s face, his smile froze in place, and his lips transformed into a thin line. My smug satisfaction radiated so strongly it was smothering. I basked in the multitude of irritated emotions on the redhead’s face that switched faster than I could follow.