Ancient Magic (Dragon's Gift: The Huntress #1)(64)

My heart pounded as I searched his gaze. Serious and sincere, but I couldn’t risk it. “There’s nothing to tell. I’m a Mirror Mage. Nothing too exciting there.”

“You’re exciting, Cass. But not because you’re a Mirror Mage. Or even because you’re a FireSoul.”

“I’m not a FireSoul!”

“I can feel it, Cass. I’m the Origin and a multi-gift Magica. You can’t hide something like that from someone as strong as me. At least not for long.”

His tone was so certain, his gaze so steady.

“How?” I asked, dread curdling in my stomach.

“I didn’t figure it out right away. Your magic felt strong and strange, but I couldn’t place it. When you agreed so quickly to help me—without even discussing payment—I was suspicious. It made me wonder if you thought there was something in the scroll about you. I thought you might just be the ArchMage of Mirror Mages. But it didn’t feel right.”

The ArchMage was the strongest of that particular gift. “I might be. I don’t know.”

“I’d say it’s likely, especially if you practice. But I figured out you were a FireSoul when I saw you right before they put me in the ambulance. I could feel the lightning in you. You took his power.”

“I could have borrowed it as a Mirror Mage and not yet released it.”

“Maybe, but I knew that wasn’t it. You killed him and took his power.”

My throat tightened and my eyes blurred. “I didn’t want to. I had to.”

His gaze softened. “I know. It’s why I haven’t told anyone what you are. If you intended to steal powers, you’d have done so by now. You’d be full of them. Why was this time different? Why did you have to take his power?”

“How can I trust you?”

“I don’t know.” His intense gaze locked with mine. “But I want you to.”

“Why?”

“Like I said before, I like you.”

“I think you’re okay, too.” Understatement. But at least my tears had dried up before they dropped.

I figured it was better to tell him the truth and try to gain his sympathy. Maybe even his help. “Aaron gave his power to me. To help me defeat the one who hunts us.”

“Hunts you?”

“FireSouls.” I told him everything I’d learned from Aaron. When I finally trailed off, his gaze was dark with worry.

“You know this means you have to practice your powers, right?” he said.

“I can’t! Someone will figure out what I am and alert the Order of the Magica or the Alpha Council. They’ll throw me in prison. I’d rot in there.” Though the two governmental organizations were separate, they both agreed that FireSouls were a risk. “It’s better for me to just keep hiding.”

“You know that won’t work forever. The monster who hunts you will find you. You’ve got to be able to fight him when he does.” Passion rang in his voice.

My heart pounded. Part of me knew he was right, just as the other part wanted to pretend the last week had never happened.

“You need to learn to use your magic so that you can control it. Maybe even learn to repress it so that other powerful Magica can’t sense your arsenal of gifts.”

His logic made sense, but it terrified me. To purposefully—frequently—access my magic? It sounded divine. And scary as hell.

“I’ll help you,” he said. “You can train on my land. There’s no one for miles.”

“Thanks, but no. This is working for me. The risk isn’t worth it.”

His face hardened. “I won’t accept that. You have to learn to protect yourself. If you don’t, I’ll report you to the Order.”

I stepped backward. “You wouldn’t.”

“I would. I’m serious about this, Cass. You’d be safer locked up in prison than you are out here, unable to defend yourself. You’re scared, so you’re fighting it. But you need to face this.”

Anger bubbled in my chest. How dare he? I had actually liked this guy? He was threatening me and demanding I make changes I wasn’t ready to make.

But he was right.

The monster was coming. And I was afraid. I was so scared that I was curling up in a ball and refusing to face the inevitable.

But the girl who’d run from the monster ten years ago hadn’t curled up and died in that cell. She’d broken free. I didn’t know how I’d done it, but I had. I’d changed my destiny.

And I had to do it again.

“Fine,” I said. I was still pissed at him, but he was right. “I’ll learn to use my magic. On your land. But don’t get any ideas. I’m not exactly fond of you anymore.”

He grinned. “That’s fine. I’m fond enough for the both of us. And when you’re strong enough to defeat the monster that hunts you, I’ll fight by your side.”

Strong enough to fight the monster that hunts me.

I really hoped I would be.





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