Page 326 of Elemental Becoming

He studies me for a long moment, then exhales, shaking his head once more.

“And you won.”

Thane doesn’t speak again right away. He simply watches me. The flickering candlelight casts shifting shadows across his face, softening the sharp angles that usually make him look untouchable to others who don’t know him the way I do.

Then he reaches out, but not for me. For the water.

The water responds, curling toward his touch and twisting into delicate ribbons around his fingers. The feeling that follows is difficult to explain. Familiar, yet somehow new, as though the magics is reaching through the bond and finding him there.

A quiet breath leaves me. I watch the streams shift and dance around his hand, moving with an ease that feels as natural as breathing. His eyes lift to mine, silent and searching, and I find myself wondering if he feels it too.

Not the water, but the pull beneath it. The strange way my magics seem to reach for him almost as often as I do. The ribbons continue to weave through his fingers for another few seconds before his eyes widen slightly.

“Gods,” he breathes, his gaze dropping back to the water. “I can feel it.”

Wonder threads through his voice.

The moment lingers, stretching between us like something tangible and fragile. Then, as suddenly as it began, the sensation slips away. The water loses its shape and settles back into the bath.

Thane frowns, though there is a lightness in the expression, as though he is already trying to understand what just happened.

When he moves again, he reaches for me. His fingers brush against my cheek, unhurried, the touch softer than before. He isn’t checking for injuries or searching for wounds. He’s just touching me.

I feel the warmth of his skin, the callouses rough but gentle against my cheekbone, the barest hint of pressure as though he is giving me the chance to pull away. I don’t.

The water settles into stillness around us and Thane lowers his hand.

“I have to say,” he begins, amusement creeping into his voice, “that headbutt must have been impressive. Rowena said it nearly knocked out Ardyn.”

I scoff, rolling my eyes. “She’s exaggerating.”

Thane arches a brow. “Is she?”

I open my mouth to argue, but the look in his eyes tells me he already knows the whole truth.

His teasing softens, but only slightly.

“And good job keeping your shields up. I had no idea my lady was fighting my ex.”

I blink, then groan, tipping my head back against the bath’s edge. “Oh, don’t say it like that.”

“What?” He shrugs, entirely too casual. “It’s true.”

I narrow my eyes. “If you start telling people I fought your ex over you, I swear I’ll drown you.”

“Please. I’d like to see you try,” Thane chuckles, but he moves a little further away on the stone ledge.

My brows lift. “Would you?”

Before he can react, I flick my fingers, sending a sharp jet of water directly at his chest. He flinches and blinks down at his now-soaked shirt, then lifts his gaze to mine. A charged silence settles between us.

Then his grin returns, sharper this time. “Oh, you’re going to regret that.”

I barely have time to react before he dips his hand into the bath and sends a wave of water crashing over me. I shriek, spluttering as water floods over my face and shoots up my nose.

Deep laughter rolls from his chest. “You started it.”

I wipe the water from my face and blink at him. Oh, he wants to play? Fine.