Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 109329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
The circles moved closer around him and Jess. His primal urges rose up to lash out, not wanting anyone near his mate.
“Don’t bother,” Jess said, a note of command in her voice. “We’re okay.” Her eyes blazed as they held his. “I’m grabbing all the connections now, Austin. All my magic and power. I’m holding it right here. Come to me. Share in this with me.”
His beast thrashed, feeling that thrumming power. Trying to get away. Sensing danger and trying to fight it.
“Join me,” she whispered. “Don’t fight it. Join me in it.”
She would never hurt him. She would only help him. He had to trust.
He forced himself to slow his breathing, to inhale deeply, and then he closed his eyes and did as she said.
White-hot points of power tore at his flesh as the darkness settled into him. It scraped along his bones.
She jerked within his grasp, and his howls were echoed by her. A gush of blinding power flooded his body.
“She has shared her magic with you,” a female voice said within his mind. “She has done this of her own free will, trusting you mean the best for her. You now have the option of sharing your magic with her. I cannot force this. You must share of your own free will, like she did.”
“Will it hurt her?” he asked.
“No more than hers hurts you now. The difference is, she’s a woman. She can handle it without whining.”
The voice belonged to Ivy House, then.
“Did the past protectors share their magic?”
“No. And they all died in the end, as did the heir. Take the hint.”
Having her in his head would take some getting used to.
“Yes, share the magic.”
Jess’s gasp of surprise said she wasn’t expecting it. Her eyes squeezed shut, fear and worry racing across her face.
“Does she know what’s happening?” he asked in alarm, wanting to tell her but unable to unlatch his jaw for the chaotic magic and rage still ripping at him.
“She does now.”
She dropped her head forward, her body tense, her fingers gripping his hands like claws.
“It’s okay,” she said softly, taking deep breaths. “It’s okay.” More deep breaths. “It’s primal.”
She released her tension and straightened. Her eyes fluttered as her gaze found his again. A beautiful, sparkly sheen covered them for a moment before settling. A smile soaked into her expression.
“Thank you for sharing with me,” she told him, love overwhelming the bonds. “You’re the first to do so, I guess. You’re the very best mate I could’ve chosen.”
His body trembled, as did hers, but he soaked in her love and returned it through the bonds. Her power pumped and pulsed and threatened to tear him apart, ripping at his skin, at his bones, at the very fabric of his being…and then she laughed, coaxing his higher. Pulling at him to match her stride.
He did so, only to feel her going higher still. And higher, the magic building, washing back and forth between them, feeding from his, feeding him hers; he felt the crystals in Ivy House sinking power down into the earth, and it flowed around them like a river.
All her connections—no, their connections now—snapped taut and then burst in light and emotion. Something like a thick cord replaced the thread between them and then ballooned out. She was no longer the nexus. Now they both were. She’d rule the sky; he’d rule the land.
Confusion, delight, and excitement filled the bonds, some from very far away. He felt Kingsley clearly. Drex, too. Gerard and Evan. He could easily read their whereabouts—everyone’s, all across the country.
They muted the power, Jess doing it slowly, showing him how.
“It’s not all darkness, this magic,” she murmured to Austin. “It’s a community. It’s a family. We’re all connected, and that’s miraculous.”
Her nose twitched and then her brows drew together. “Wow. You can smell way better than I can.” She grinned. “Or could, I guess.” She wiggled her body. She’d undoubtedly have more strength and speed. Maybe more stamina. There was no telling what else their combined magic would afford her.
As for him? He had no idea what enhancements her magic would give him, besides the ability to direct and monitor their people. That in itself was worth the price of admission.
His breathing slowed. The dark clouds cleared from the sky. The garhettes—apparently called in by Mable and Vera?—and Cyra froze in their assault on the skeletons. What was left of them crawled and scratched their way back into the ground. No dolls were in sight, and no gnomes. The spikes that had sprung up in the grass—he hadn’t realized he’d done that—shook before sinking back into holes that Mimi would not be happy about.
“That was hairy,” he said softly. “I don’t think that would’ve gone well if you hadn’t been here.”
To put it lightly. He shuddered to think what might’ve happened if she hadn’t been grounding him, coaching him through it.