Page 70 of These Fractured Bonds

Chapter 26

“Alllivingthingshavea life force.”

Augrys drew a silver circle in the air, magic fueling its appearance. “From it, a magic core is born.” He drew another circle next to it, connecting them with a line.

“The magic core holds the raw power needed to cast spells. Most humans are born without one. However, on rare occasions, some are born with it. From that small sample, few develop the ability to feel magic in the world. These are your psychics, fortune tellers, shamans, and any other otherworldly-based specialty.”

“What about witches?” Yareli asked.

They were seated on stools across from each other in her bedroom, holding her first magic lesson. They were due to leave for the capital the next day, and Augrys had squeezed an abbreviated session for her into his packed schedule. He looked pristine once again, trading his blue Water Court uniform for a more casual look with a white T-shirt and slacks—an awful likeness to the August from her memories—and it was distracting.

She had not seen Leo since their argument, presumably Augrys’s doing for his misstep with her. She tried not to think about him, hesitating about her decision to go with Augrys now that she knew what bothered him. But she refused to cater to him, so she allowed Augrys to keep him away. It was better for all of them for now. The complicated could remain complicated as long as she kept it at an arm’s distance. The problem was… her heart wasn’t logical, and ityearned. Magic was her saving grace, her distraction from matters of love and lust. Her attention returned to Augrys’s lecture.

He said, “Schools of magic have always existed in the human world. Not all of them have been legitimate or long-lived, but a few have. Despite not understanding the true nature of magic and its core, they discovered a means to cast spells. However, since humans born with magic are few and far between, membership is sporadic. Not to mention the danger of prejudice, forcing many to remain hidden. To see incomprehensible acts that go against nature is frightening to non-magical folk.”

“And yet, I hear we love war,” Yareli commented.

“Terribly so.”

She hummed and tore a piece of bread from the crude coffee table between them, popping it into her mouth. “So, did the diagnostic show I had a magic core?”

He nodded and flexed his fingers. She frowned at his unforthcoming answer.

“When I first met you, I checked your core out of curiosity. You had no magic then. Now…”

She dropped the bread she was holding. She patted herself, searching for anything different.

“It is not a physical change.” The amusement in Augrys’s voice made her blush, and she stopped.

He placed an apple on the coffee table. “Healers can first detect the presence of the core in newly born Fae, but since a core grows alongside the Fae youngling, testing its growth and potential has to be done every few years. Your case is an odd one. You had little magic potential. It was so minuscule, I thought nothing of it.”

“And now?”

“You have the core of a Fae youngling.”

And as if it were responding to his words, her magic flared, like a tiny seed that had taken root and started to sprout.

Augrys continued. “If you want to find your magic core, you’ll have to start with sensing energy.”

At her questioning look, he instructed her to focus on the apple.

“Close your eyes and feel for the apple. It’s an opening of your senses. All magic is energy manipulation, and everything has energy.”

She closed her eyes, letting the world go dark. She tried opening her senses—whatever that meant—to the world around her, but after a minute with no change, she blew air from her lips.

“Are there any step-by-step instructions?” she asked.

Augrys took a moment to think. “Try to silence your thoughts. It is akin to listening to the world you inhabit. Rather than trying to force it, let it come to you.”

“Like meditating?”

“Exactly.”

Yareli’s mind was anything but silent. She, herself, was anything but force. She was always forcing something. She bit her lip. Peace and tranquility—she could do that. She would force it if she had to. She closed her eyes again, but this time she drove away any thoughts from her mind. After a few minutes of struggle, the ghost of quietude presented itself. She clutched it, her breathing becoming even as she fell farther into her senses and away from her stream of consciousness. Her breathing deepened and slowed.

Bursts of color popped into existence like fireworks, hovering all around her like planets. She sifted through the round, vibrating spheres, searching until she found the apple’s tiny energy, a pinprick of gray next to a grander, pulsating white orb. Curious, she pushed her senses toward the white orb and nudged it. It rattled in response, and her senses flooded with Augrys—his scent, his warmth, histaste. Startled, her eyes flew open. The lingering flavor of caramel coated her tongue.

Augrys had a slight blush coloring his cheeks. He cleared his throat. “You picked that up quicker than I thought you would.”