head, roots and mud marring the moment. We both spun to see Aednat standing with her hands on her hips, a glower on her face.
“You two, no kissy kissy. We have a job , ” s he said, her tone that of a rebuking mother.
Embarrassed , I nodded, “You’re right.”
Luke still hadn’t said anything. Instead, he’d lifted the edge of his shirt to wipe off his face. I couldn’t resist reaching out to touch the skin along his ribs. It was bare, no tattoos like Bres had.
Bres.
His name caused a pang somewhere in the region of my heart, but I pushed it away. No, Bres had made it very clear what he thought of me. It was time to completely let him go ; we were not friends, there was nothing that could ever be between us.
I reached out and took Luke’s hand. “We’d better go.” With a glare at Aednat, and a far softer look for me, he laced his fingers with mine.
“I suppose you’re going to want me to teach you other things now?” h e asked , his eyes sparkling with good humour . I stepped over a log and he gave me a lift to help me keep my feet from tangling up.
“Well, how about magic things? Or maybe fighting? Everything I’m doing, I’m just lucky I haven’t cut off my own hand, or exploded , ” I said. Reality was, I was more than lucky ; it was as if someone was looking out for me.
For the next hour we walked and Luke taught me as best he could. We worked on the fireballs that I’d started to learn in the Labyrinth with . . . someone else. Then he showed me something that I took to like a fish to water.
“Here, hold your hand out, now, don’t think of Fire, just think of your power being a single bolt , ” Luke said . I lifted my hand, took aim at a small boulder on the side of the path and called up my power. It was so easy, far easier than using Fire . Pure energy shot out of my hand . I t was invisible to the naked eye and it hit the rock hard . I mean, explode - it - into - dust - that - floated - on - the - air - and - made - it - difficult - to - see , hard.
“Holy shit!” I yelped, “Did you see that?” The pain in my body was forgotten in the brief moment of exultation. That had been almost too easy and I could see in Luke’s eyes that he was as shocked as I was .
“Okay, well, you’ve got that down. Let’s move on.” He stared at the mini crater in the earth where the rock had been as we passed by . Damn, that was an awesome tool.
Then we worked on raising Barrier s, particularly the ones that I could put up around myself a nd other people if need be to keep the bad guys out.
“Don’t hold it. The Barrier draws too strongly on the life force of the one who calls it forth , ” Luke said.
I let the Barrier drop. “Or from someone else , like Balor does . How do you do that?”
He shook his head, blond hair catching the light. “It’s not taught by the Tuatha. It is considered an abomination to steal another’s life force for your own uses. But it is possible to use another’s life force to power any of your abilities. ”
Chewing on a fiddlehead I’d snatched from the last fern bush we’d passed , I considered his words. “So do you mean that you can’t do it, or you won’t teach me?”
His lips tightened and I could see he was considering my question. A slow rumble filled the ground and the earth shook with a tremor. Good sign. The fear between earthquakes was heightening, but we couldn’t go much faster thanks to my injuries . It would have been nice if Luke had the ability to heal like Ashling could, but of course if that was the case he’d have healed me right off the bat.
“I don’t know that it’s something you should attempt. It’s difficult, draining. You have to make a connection with someone and they have to be willing to let you draw on them. Then you take that life force and build the Barrier as you would normally , ” h e said, releasing my hand to rub at the back of his neck. “I don’t like teaching you these things ; I’m not a mentor,
“You two, no kissy kissy. We have a job , ” s he said, her tone that of a rebuking mother.
Embarrassed , I nodded, “You’re right.”
Luke still hadn’t said anything. Instead, he’d lifted the edge of his shirt to wipe off his face. I couldn’t resist reaching out to touch the skin along his ribs. It was bare, no tattoos like Bres had.
Bres.
His name caused a pang somewhere in the region of my heart, but I pushed it away. No, Bres had made it very clear what he thought of me. It was time to completely let him go ; we were not friends, there was nothing that could ever be between us.
I reached out and took Luke’s hand. “We’d better go.” With a glare at Aednat, and a far softer look for me, he laced his fingers with mine.
“I suppose you’re going to want me to teach you other things now?” h e asked , his eyes sparkling with good humour . I stepped over a log and he gave me a lift to help me keep my feet from tangling up.
“Well, how about magic things? Or maybe fighting? Everything I’m doing, I’m just lucky I haven’t cut off my own hand, or exploded , ” I said. Reality was, I was more than lucky ; it was as if someone was looking out for me.
For the next hour we walked and Luke taught me as best he could. We worked on the fireballs that I’d started to learn in the Labyrinth with . . . someone else. Then he showed me something that I took to like a fish to water.
“Here, hold your hand out, now, don’t think of Fire, just think of your power being a single bolt , ” Luke said . I lifted my hand, took aim at a small boulder on the side of the path and called up my power. It was so easy, far easier than using Fire . Pure energy shot out of my hand . I t was invisible to the naked eye and it hit the rock hard . I mean, explode - it - into - dust - that - floated - on - the - air - and - made - it - difficult - to - see , hard.
“Holy shit!” I yelped, “Did you see that?” The pain in my body was forgotten in the brief moment of exultation. That had been almost too easy and I could see in Luke’s eyes that he was as shocked as I was .
“Okay, well, you’ve got that down. Let’s move on.” He stared at the mini crater in the earth where the rock had been as we passed by . Damn, that was an awesome tool.
Then we worked on raising Barrier s, particularly the ones that I could put up around myself a nd other people if need be to keep the bad guys out.
“Don’t hold it. The Barrier draws too strongly on the life force of the one who calls it forth , ” Luke said.
I let the Barrier drop. “Or from someone else , like Balor does . How do you do that?”
He shook his head, blond hair catching the light. “It’s not taught by the Tuatha. It is considered an abomination to steal another’s life force for your own uses. But it is possible to use another’s life force to power any of your abilities. ”
Chewing on a fiddlehead I’d snatched from the last fern bush we’d passed , I considered his words. “So do you mean that you can’t do it, or you won’t teach me?”
His lips tightened and I could see he was considering my question. A slow rumble filled the ground and the earth shook with a tremor. Good sign. The fear between earthquakes was heightening, but we couldn’t go much faster thanks to my injuries . It would have been nice if Luke had the ability to heal like Ashling could, but of course if that was the case he’d have healed me right off the bat.
“I don’t know that it’s something you should attempt. It’s difficult, draining. You have to make a connection with someone and they have to be willing to let you draw on them. Then you take that life force and build the Barrier as you would normally , ” h e said, releasing my hand to rub at the back of his neck. “I don’t like teaching you these things ; I’m not a mentor,
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