Mortal Enchantment (7 page)

I had a feeling a lecture was coming. After
that
pain, I wasn’t about to take any more from him. My bitch-switch flipped on. “Yeah, I’m all about the sadomasochism. I guess you figured me out.”

His jaw clenched. “You need to get serious.”

Oh, it was so on now. “Are you kidding me? Yeah, like I wanted to get burned. I swear, being with you is like the icing on a giant shit cake!”

Rowan headed toward the forest, mumbling something under his breath. A moment later he stopped. He made his way back to me. “You can’t afford to make any mistakes, especially if it endangers your life.”

It was clear I still had so much to learn. I still wasn't even sure who I could trust. Maybe Rowan, but even he refused to be completely honest with me. Again, I thought about Dad and my heart ached. I could have cried out of sheer frustration. “I’m doing the best I can. I wasn’t prepared for any of this, and right now, I’m still trying to figure it all out.”

“I know.” He gazed into the distance, taking a long breath.

“What do you mean
you know
?”

He straightened his back. “Nevermind. Let’s move on to your training.”

I rolled my eyes. “Really? You’re not going to tell me what you meant?”

“Nope,” he replied with a cheeky grin.

Why did he insist on being so irritating? And why had I bit my bottom lip when he smiled? I needed to refocus. “Fine, time for the training.”

The afternoon sun pounded down, drying my hair. My fingers wiggled through the salty knots while I silently prayed that I didn’t look as bad as I imagined.

Rowan slid his leather sheath off his shoulder, placing it on the ground. Relief washed over me knowing the iron sword was farther in the distance. “Your power is linked with your emotions. If you’re centered, your power will flow evenly. Without control, you’ll use too much energy.” He stepped closer. “The first part of your training will be finding your center. Have you ever tried to meditate?”

I snorted. “No, definitely no.”

He huffed. “Sit down and close your eyes.”

“How do you want me to sit?”

Grabbing my arm, he guided me to the ground. We both sat cross-legged, mirroring one another. He placed my hands on top of my knees with his hands resting on top. Heat radiated up my arms. With a soft voice, he said, “Now I want you to close your eyes and relax.”

I smirked.
Oh sure, no problem.

He tightened his grip around my hands. “I need you to take this seriously. Do you want my help?”

“Yes,” I whispered.

“Then you have to trust me and do what I ask.” He loosened his hold, massaging his thumbs into my palms. Oh yeah, this was the opposite of helping. “Close your eyes,” he insisted.

I relented. I had no idea why, but I desperately wanted to giggle. “Okay, my eyes are closed.”

In a soothing tone, he said, “Try to turn off your mind. Listen to the sounds of the waves crashing into the shore. Focus on only that noise without thinking about anything else.”

We sat silently.

I couldn’t resist the temptation. I peeked out of one eye and saw that his eyes were closed. I opened both of my eyes, watching as the sunlight flickered across his face. The silver bar in his eyebrow shimmered in the light. The salty breeze blew a few stray hairs onto his cheekbones. My fingers tingled with the desire to tuck them back behind his ear.

“This isn't going to work unless you try,” he said, jolting me out of my haze.

How did he always catch me watching him? Frustrated, I squirmed in the sand. Rowan was right though; I wasn’t trying. Dad would expect me to make this work. If he was not found in time, I needed to be prepared to take his place. And right now, at this moment, I have to make more of an effort. I closed my eyes, focusing on the roaring waves. Random thoughts popped into my head, but I pushed them out. Starting over each time—concentrating on the ocean.

I had no idea how long we had been sitting here. “You're doing a good job,” he said, breaking the silence. “Let's try taking the next step. I want you turn off the sounds you hear and only visualize yourself sitting here. Start at the top of your head and don't stop until you are at your toes. Can you see yourself?”

I tried not to break my concentration, visualizing myself sitting here. From behind, I saw my backside. I cringed, realizing my hair situation was completely out of control. Rowan was the total opposite. Even with his eyes closed, he managed to look yumtastic. I refocused on me until my body started tingling all over. It was as if my senses were alive. I was totally aware of everything around me. Each grain of sand, the ardent sun, every gust of wind—they were part of me—we were all connected somehow. What a total mind trip. I saw myself again, except this time, a soft golden yellow light swirled around my body. “Yes.”

“Can you see an aura of energy around you?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“That’s your power when you’re focused and controlled. Remaining centered will allow you to use more energy for longer periods of time.” He released my hands. “As you lose control of your emotions, the color will darken. The power will become impossible to control and will drain you. Potentially even kill you.”

I lost my focus completely as the panic brewed in my stomach.

“Kill me?” I shook my head. “I don’t know if I’m ready for this.” Dad had told me the power was part of me, but I never thought using it could weaken or kill me. The moment after I closed my eyes, I swallowed hard. The aura had darkened to a burnt orange, appearing as thick as syrup.

“You’re ready. This is the only way we can unlock your power. Don’t break your concentration; you’ve come so far already.”

“All right, but if I die, I’m haunting you for eternity.”

He chuckled under his breath. “I look forward to that.” Although my eyes were still closed, I was sure he was grinning.

When I concentrated again, my aura was a light orange. I focused on the briny gusts of cool air blowing off the ocean. Slowly, a yellow light poked through the orange. I fixated on my slow breaths. Eventually, the color returned to a creamy yellow hue.

I opened my eyes and the warm yellow aura radiated off my skin. “It’s so strong, I swear I can almost see it.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Well done. You’re picking this up faster than I expected.”

“I have to be honest. I was really worried back there when you first started talking about the dangers, but now I get it. It feels like it’s a part of me.” Suddenly, I felt hopeful and grateful to Rowan. I didn’t completely trust him, but I appreciated what he was doing for me. I surprised myself by pulling him into a hug.

He jolted in surprise.

I released him and stood. I could not believe I’d nearly leaped into his lap. It seemed as if I was going for the world record in mortification. Too bad invisibility cloaks aren’t a real thing.

If he noticed my embarrassment, he never acknowledged it. “You managed to find your center, but do you think you can focus while distracted?”

My body tensed. “What kind of a distraction?” I wasn’t ready. My instincts told me to get the hell out of here. What a jacked-up situation this was.

“I’m going to try to provoke you. I want you to stay calm. Let me know when you're ready and remember to concentrate.”

This wasn’t going to end well, but I didn't have a choice. I had to do this. Conquering this would mean I was a step closer to controlling my power. I had to be brave.

I met his stare.

He wiggled his eyebrows.

With a brazen grin, he strolled behind me. I didn’t turn around to see where he went. This was his test. He wanted me to flinch. I stared out into the ocean, watching the waves form. I visualized the warm yellow energy radiating from my skin.

My eyes widened.

Hot breath tickled the back of my neck while fingertips slithered slowly from my wrist to my shoulders.
Focus. Stay focused
. Every hair on my arms stood. Subconsciously, I let out a low moan. He nuzzled his face into the nape of my neck, running his nose against the back of my ear.

Spinning me around, our eyes locked.

Deep sapphire eyes penetrated into mine. There was something there that I hadn’t seen before. An intensity I didn’t understand. As his gaze shifted to my mouth, everything around us ceased to exist. Oh God, he was going to kiss me. My lips parted in anticipation.

Rowan leaned closer, then stopped abruptly. His face drained of emotion and he crossed his arms. “I should’ve known. We need to start with a smaller distraction.”

No freakin’ way!
He was going to kiss me—I was sure of it. Nice, he tried to blame it all on me. I waved my hand in front of me, trying to play it off even though he’d won. “Oh please, that was nothing.”

He smirked. “Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“Then why are you blushing?”

“It’s sunburn.” I pointed to the sky. “In case you hadn’t noticed, we have been standing on a beach in direct sunlight for hours.”

“Okay,” he challenged. Leaping backwards, he landed a few feet away. “Let’s move on to something a bit more…physical.” He tilted his head as if he was sizing me up.

My legs trembled. “What did you have in mind?”

Reaching down, he pulled his sword from its sheath. The iron weapon gleamed in the sunlight. How far was he willing to take this? A second later, he answered my question by lunging toward me with his sword aimed at my head.

No time to think.

No time to move.

An uncomfortable rush of heat ran from my shoulders to my fingertips. It pulsated like a heartbeat, urging to be released. I pointed at Rowan. The burning sensation discharged out of my hands. An explosion of wind caught him in mid-air, thrusting him backwards. He landed on his back, motionless.

“Rowan!” I shrieked. I wanted to go to him, but all of the energy had drained out of me. My muscles ached in my arms and legs. I put my hands on my hips, taking in a few slow breaths. This was what Rowan was talking about. Using my powers only for a moment left me feeling as if I had just finished an intense workout. When the weakness finally subsided, I ran to him.

I stood over him as he stared aimlessly into the sky. Was he in shock? In the bright sunlight, his eyes lightened to a pale blue. His lips were perfect—the bottom lip slightly bigger than the top. I’ll bet he is a great kisser. I dropped to my knees, brushing sand off his face and neck. A strand of sweaty wavy hair clung to his forehead. Without hesitating, I tucked it behind his ear.

Rowan swatted my hand away. “I’m fine, okay?”

As he sat up, my first thought was helping him to his feet, but he wouldn’t want my assistance. Instead, I cracked my knuckles in my lap. “I’m so sorry. I don't know what happened.”

“You tapped into your wind magic.” He stood, shaking his head. Grains of sand flew from his hair. “That’s what happened.”

I rose, wiped the sand off my legs. I couldn’t hold back my excitement. “It was awesome, right? I mean, I’ve never been able to turn on my power, and then wham! This is fantastic, what should we do now?”

I reached out for him, and he recoiled. “This seems like a good time to end the training. You did well today.”

“But, Rowan—” I whined.

“You can practice your meditation on your own. For now, let’s get back to the castle.”

Standing with my mouth gaped open, I watched as Rowan walked toward his half-buried sword. Had I embarrassed him by knocking him down? It was an accident. Was he mad at me? I couldn’t understand any of this. The whole point of this training was to unlock my power, and we did, so what was the problem? I kicked at several tan seashells with the tip of my shoe.

“Another fun-filled day in Avalon,” I said to myself.

Rowan left shortly after we returned to the castle. Apparently his bruised ego needed some tending to.

I spent the rest of the afternoon in the meadow beyond the castle walls, attempting to practice meditating. Two air court knights silently watched from beneath the stone archway. I was sure they’d been sent for safety reasons, which should have helped me relax, but I couldn’t focus with their eyes on me.

It didn’t help that Rowan’s face was the first thing popping into my mind each time I closed my eyes. The sexy curl at the corner of his mouth, the cocky way he arched his pierced eyebrow. The way his deep-set blue eyes stared into mine—breaking my concentration. With everything going on, I shouldn’t be thinking of him.

Absolutely no distractions.

Needing to get centered I took in an exaggerated breath. Another image floated into my subconscious—Liana. She was furious when she saw Rowan at the council meeting. The way her arms burst into flames was frightening. What had he done to evoke so much hate from her? It had to be more than just his decision to leave the court. But even if that was her only reason, there were still more questions. Why did those air court elementals appear to be afraid of him at the fountain this morning? I put my hands over my face, growling into my palms. I could not get him out of my head.

As I practiced all afternoon, my aura burned light orange without ever returning to the yellow it had been on the beach. Meditation was not working. It was time to try something else. Maybe Rowan was wrong. Maybe I didn’t need to be calm to ignite my wind power? What would it hurt to try? I focused on a mental image of my aura, envisioning myself as I pushed wind out of my palms. A jolt of heat raced up my arms as the power surged. My fingertips burned with energy, aching to be released. Flexing my fingers toward the skies, I let go of the force. The momentum of the discharge knocked me to the ground. Every joint in my body throbbed as if I was covered in bruises. I immediately regretted not listening to him.

I stared into the tangerine and purple colored skies. The day was passing into twilight. Fluffy clusters of clouds surrounded the castle. As the sun set in the skies, the mist protecting Avalon could be seen. It appeared to blanket the isle in a sparkling golden shimmer. Dad had told me how magnificent it was from this altitude, but this was the first time I’d seen it for myself. I sat for a long while as I admired its beauty, recovering from my practice.