The Source of Magic: A Fantasy Romance

by Rowan, Cate

  “I know my mother loved him. But she said she couldn’t be with him. Sometimes I wish…” Jilian shrugged. “She was always careful to say that my father loved me. When I never heard from him, I stopped believing her.”

  “People do stupid things when they’re hurting.” He shook his head. “It’s not the same, but my father used to sit in his rose garden and sulk for hours when he and my mother had a fight. And she used to throw out his favorite painting. She’d call Bran and have him send the painting away.”

  She smiled. “Every time? The same painting?”

  “Bran would take it down and place it in a storage room. Hours later, when my father had come in from the garden and they had reconciled, she’d ask Bran to fetch the painting and re-hang it. Over the years, Bran would put it back on the wall as soon as he saw my parents snuggling in the sunroom.”

  Jilian laughed, hand over her mouth.

  “Wonderfully predictable,” the prince said, eyes twinkling.

  Then he leaned in toward her.

  Jilian’s heart made a double thump, and the quiet between them roared.

  He feathered his fingers against her cheek once more. Her kyrra’s thrumming renewed and quickened her breath. Candlelight flickered across his skin and danced in his gaze.

  He trailed his fingers through her hair, down the side of her neck, then away. When his hand left her, she turned her face toward it, missing its caress.

  Seeing that, he exhaled a shuddering breath. Her heart thumped in the stillness, resonating in waves throughout her body.

  He moved in and whispered into her ear. “Why do you affect me so?” His breath flowed over her skin, warming a path for his lips to follow.

  Instead, he pulled back just enough to look into her eyes, reading whatever secrets he might find there. The message she sent—couldn’t help but send—parted his sensual lips.

  Slowly, Alvarr bent toward her.

  Every inch of skin she possessed grew alive with desire. She forgot how to breathe, and knew she wouldn’t remember until his mouth touched hers.

  From far away, Jilian heard the quiet brush of his clothing on the cave floor as he shifted toward her. Then he yelped.

  Her eyes flew open just as his clamped shut and he hissed between clenched teeth. Turning her head, she saw his feet held carefully still.

  “Oh,” she said, covering her mouth. He opened one eye, his glare daring her to say anything.

  She couldn’t help the giggle. She tried to smother it with her hand, but it was too late, and it transformed into a full-scale belly-laugh. Fortunately, it was infectious. Alvarr chuckled, then grimaced again as his chuckles shook his burned feet.

  “Hmm,” Jilian said with deep regret. “Maybe we should let you heal.”

  His slow grin showed that he was all too aware of the devastation that delay would inflict. “I have a better idea. Heal me.”

  “Me? How?”

  “You have the power, and I have the skill. Together, we can do many things neither can do alone.”

  The double meaning blazed in his eyes, promising those many things. Delicious, erotic things. “Put your hand in mine.”

  She did, palm gliding across his, building heat. The tingle of her kyrra revved faster this time, as if the path were becoming familiar. She gasped at the sensual humming of her cells.

  “You’re improving. Your body’s awakening to your power.” He nodded his approval. “Now think of sending some of it my way.”

  “Just…think it?”

  “Yes. Your mind controls your body. Tell your body, and it will listen.”

  Jilian tossed him a skeptical look, then closed her eyes. Just think it. As if life were that easy.

  And the sensuous nature of kyrra was certainly its own kind of diversion. How could anyone think straight when lit like an oversexed light bulb?

  She shook her head, rattling the images away. Concentrate. Think of sending him this energy. Through our linked hands, Jil, not his other parts.

  Okay, she had an energy in her body, a power. She imagined the energy as a spark, a light in every cell forming the full-body glow she felt. What if she could make that light go toward him? She pictured some of the light-sparks migrating toward his hand like a single stream of headlights crossing a bridge.

  Peeking at his face, she saw that his eyes were closed and he had a look of stern concentration.

  Figures. Maybe I am a failure at this. “Is anything happening?” she whispered.

  He opened his eyes and growled. “It won’t unless you keep trying.” But his smile erased any sting. “Come now, please continue. I’d like to kiss you before my feet disintegrate.”

  Great, just what I need, another distraction. Her gaze strayed to his lips, then she squinched her eyes shut.

  Maybe she needed to make more of the light go toward him. Instead of a single-lane bridge, she envisioned a pipe. A trickle of lights dripped into the pipe. Then she pictured the trickle growing into a steady stream. Though if a stream, why not a river?

  “Whoa!” Alvarr broke the connection and wrung his hand. He looked at her with wary respect. “All right, I think you have the basics—maybe too well.”

  “Did I hurt you?”

  “More of a surprise. You sent more kyrra at once than I expected. It needs to be…hmm.” He curved his arms in the air as if hugging someone. “Think of my intake as a barrel that must be filled with wine. You don’t want the wine to flow in too slowly, because it would take too long to fill the barrel. But you don’t want so much that it overflows the barrel, or splashes back out.”

  Nodding, she took a deep breath.

  “Jilian, you’re doing well. Really. I’m impressed.”

  Pleased, she smiled. “How long would it usually take a Source to learn this?”

  “I’m not sure. Normally, there is a test of power at birth. Sources are brought up to exercise and tune their skills.”

  Her eyes widened. “Good grief, do children grow up feeling this way, too?”

  “Heh. This…particularly sensual aspect seems to be one that arises at puberty, along with the usual teenage issues.”

  “How is it that you know what a Source needs to do? Since they’re all gone, you can’t have worked with one before.” She gave jealous thanks for that.

  “I’ve been a student of mage lore since I was four.” He gave a modest shrug. “The skills of Sources have always interested me, particularly since my FriendMother was one of the strongest, and the last.” His lips warmed into another devastating smile. “The last until you.”

  She grinned and hugged her knees. My mother and I—now we have another connection, even if I’m not with her. She was a Source, too, and the last one, until me.

  The last…

  “Alvarr, what happened to the dark mage who killed the Sources? Was he caught?”

  His face turned aside, a troubled expression settling on his brow.

  A chill brushed her spine. “Alvarr?”

  When he didn’t speak, she laid a hand on his forearm to pull him back to her. “Who is the dark mage?”

  Reluctantly, his eyes met hers, but there was no comfort to be found in his gaze. His nostrils flared as he spoke. “It was Bhruic.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Jilian shot to her feet and stared at Alvarr, hand raised to block him. “Bhruic? The man you want me to help you fight is the one who assassinated everyone with my powers?”

  He leaned toward her and spoke in a low voice. “I’ll be with you, Jilian. I’ll protect you.”

  “How, when no one could do that for the other Sources? When you’re so powerless that you need my help?”

  He straightened his spine and his eyes glittered in the candlelight. “I am a mage of Teganne. You have the kyrra, and I have the skill. By sharing our talents, we’ll defeat him.”

  “You can’t be sure of that. I’ve just started to learn about this power inside me. I don’t know how to give you the energy to heal your burned feet. How do you expec
t me to defeat a homicidal madman? He would have killed my mother, and at least she knew how to use her abilities!”

  “The key is working together. I’ve watched Bhruic for years. I know what he’s likely to do, the way his mind works. I’d defeat him myself if I had enough kyrra. Right now I don’t.”

  “Yep, you had more before you spent it to come find my mother. And yet even before then, you and all your mages combined hadn’t managed to beat him.”

  His gaze hardened and his jaw clenched tight.

  Bull’s-eye. But she could take no pleasure from the shot and instead pivoted away, her mind reeling. Up against Bhruic, untrained, and with a guy who can’t stand upright!

  “You’re a Source, Jilian. You were born for this. Born to partner with a mage. Born to partner with me.”

  She whirled back to him in outrage. “And you know that how? You didn’t realize I existed until days ago. Besides, I don’t believe in fate.”

  “I do.” His quiet words were as immovable as the walls of the cave. “Fate is never fickle, even if we don’t always know the reasons. You were drawn here for this. Fate chose you. Not your mother, Jilian. You.”

  “You chose me,” she snapped, “and by mistake.”

  But he simply looked at her. Something about him, some quiet faith, made him seem as solid and true as the rock that surrounded them.

  A sliver of hope punctured her despair.

  Reluctantly, she noted the determined set of his shoulders, the strong line of his jaw, the courage in his eyes.

  Alvarr wasn’t a ruler in name only who pranced around wearing a shiny hat. He was a true leader, with bravery to spare when hers waned. He’d taken on the goroth to ensure her safety and had protected her with his very life. No one else had ever been willing to do that for her except her mother.

  His silver eyes drew her gaze. They tugged at the deep and hidden places in her soul and somehow urged her to trust him, just as she had in the healing room when she’d first told him who she was. She hadn’t known him then, but now she’d viewed his honor and his strength first-hand. She’d seen the heart of him.

  Gazing silently into those eyes, she sat down on the cold cave floor and placed her hand in his.

  Alvarr started to speak, but she shushed him. “Let’s just try again.”

  She’d think of a smaller pipe this time, maybe five inches in diameter. And a stream of light, neither a trickle nor a river.

  She concentrated on sending light—the sparkle, the energy—to him. The thrum inside her changed, growing softer and deeper.

  Jilian caught an echo from his energy, as if his power spoke to hers.

  “Yes,” he whispered. “That’s it.”

  The rhythm of the hum sang in her bones, and she sighed in pleasure.

  Then she risked a quick glance at his feet, wondering if this bliss was actually aiding the patient. Awed, she saw the blisters at the tips of Alvarr’s toes shrinking and the redness fading to normal skin. She was helping to power a miracle.

  She tore her gaze from the evidence and tried to return to her imagery.

  “You peeked, didn’t you.”

  She smiled and kept her eyes closed. “Yeah. Wanted to see my handiwork.”

  He chuckled. “Our handiwork. Neither of us could do this alone, but together we conquer.”

  After a few more minutes, Alvarr broke the contact and the hum ceased. “It’s done.” He pulled his feet closer for inspection and grinned. “See what you did?” he said, ignoring his previous words.

  She touched his toes. They were cool, no blisters, no redness. Healed skin. Then she fingered the site of her own arrow wound.

  “Does that still hurt?” he asked, concerned.

  “No. But we could have mended it much quicker, couldn’t we?”

  He laughed, and the corners of his eyes crinkled sexily, melting her into butter. “Perhaps, if we’d known how strong you are. But you weren’t in good shape after you were wounded. It’s probably best that someone else ministered to you.”

  Then his chest rose with a deep breath, and his smile disappeared. “Jilian…I’m sorry. I brought you to Teganne without your consent, and as soon as you arrived you were almost killed. I even blamed you for not helping me against Bhruic’s men, though I’d forced you into the situation. You had every right to hate me.”

  She sat back, the elation draining out of her. It wasn’t that she didn’t deserve an apology… But that no longer seemed to matter. She tilted her head, watching him. “Maybe Fate did choose.” A slow smile rose to her mouth. “And of course I don’t hate you. Though you’ve tried my patience many times.” She raised a brow in mock rebuke and enjoyed the wry twist of his lips before she continued. “Thank you for seeing it from my eyes at long last. That’s…sweet. And thoughtful. If you’re not careful, I might start to like you.” Her mouth twitched. “But thank you even more for helping me get the starlace. My mother means so much to me. She’s all I have.”

  “Is she, Jilian?” he asked softly. “Because you have us now, too, here in Teganne. Your mother’s people. Your people.”

  Instant denial rose to her throat, but she pushed it back and sought for the right words to explain how she felt.

  He forestalled her with an upheld palm. “I understand. You’re a loving daughter and you’ll do whatever you can to help Sara. She must be a wonderful woman to have raised someone like you. In truth, I’m envious. I wish I’d known her as my FriendMother while I grew up. And that you’d been here with her all along.”

  A jumble of feelings rolled through her—pleasure at his compliments, a yearning for the community he was offering, and love for her amazing mother. “I wish she’d been able to help you as she’d promised. Especially when you lost your parents.”

  “Fortunately, I had my great-uncle Thoren, and Rokad and Bran and Varene.” His voice quieted to a whisper. “And Mother Fate, in all her wisdom, taught me a very important lesson. All we ever have is today.” His finger glided to her lips, touching gently, and the tingle began again.

  Closing her eyes, she released herself to the vibration and to his touch. Her thoughts dissolved, leaving only sensation. Her tongue slipped out to taste his finger.

  Her half-lidded eyes opened to Alvarr’s gaze; he watched her as if bewitched.

  “How, Jilian?” His voice hoarsened. “How have you done this to me?” His finger slid from her mouth, trailed along her cheek, then curved behind her neck. His palm cradled her head and urged her closer as he leaned in to meet her, desire flaring in his eyes.

  They paused a hair’s breadth from each other.

  The scent and heat of his skin flowed over her. His breath came hot against her mouth, and as she gazed at him, her lips parted, wanting.

  He groaned and pulled her in, hot and deep. She sighed, releasing herself. One of her hands curled around the back of his neck and the other flattened against his taut chest, where his heart pounded beneath her palm.

  His hands roamed and stroked, heightening her hunger. They explored each other’s mouths…licking, nibbling, tasting. She gently tugged his lower lip with her teeth and made his breath catch.

  When she parted her lashes, he gazed into her eyes, soul to soul, and lowered her down to the cave floor.

  The contact of their bodies, the aching glide of his broad chest against her breasts, melted her bones into liquid fire.

  With fevered hands she tugged at his shirt and released it from the waistband of his leggings. Her palms flattened on the warm skin of his muscled back. She tangled her legs in his, yearning for more, more.

  His lips left hers only to brush along her neck, nuzzling her in sensuous caresses. Shifting his hips in an erotic pattern, he pressed against her through their clothing. Jilian moaned and matched his rhythm.

  Inside! I want him inside me… She grasped his shirt again. “Take it off.”

  He grinned at her commanding tone and raised himself just long enough to yank his tunic over his head and toss it to the floor. Th
e candle threw flickering light over the hard planes of his chest and stomach. Staring at his muscled frame, her breathing grew shallow.

  “Your turn,” he growled. Shivers skittered through her.

  With a sensuous, slow tug on the chain around her neck, he drew the pendant from between her breasts. It slid along her skin, warming it, and when the pendant was free of her tunic, he let it fall over her shoulder.

  He reached for the top button of her tunic and undid it with agonizing leisure, then paused to kiss her exposed skin. His groan against her breasts rumbled through her, setting her fingertips on edge, nails clutching his back.

  Releasing the next button, he followed it with a kiss and another nibble. He moved that way from neck to navel, stoking the blaze.

  At the last button, he paused, skimmed halfway back up and gazed into her eyes. “Touching you…breathing your scent…feels better than I’d imagined. And I’d imagined much.” In the glow of the candle, he drew her nipple into his mouth.

  Oh God.

  His kisses and nips formed a spiral trail around her nipple, then down into the valley between her breasts, and up to the other nipple. She arched her back, raising herself into his mouth.

  “This floor can’t be comfortable…” he whispered. “Let me fix it for you.” He took her nipple into his mouth again and the hum in her body increased. “Send me power, Jilian.”

  Craving more of the hum, the erotic joy, she imagined light pouring into the pipe…and the cool roughness of the cave floor disappeared. Instead, she lay on a feather pallet with silken ivory sheets. The craggy roof danced in the light of a hundred candles set around the periphery of the cavern.

  “How—?” she asked, laughing in delight. “No, never mind.” Reaching behind his neck, she drew his mouth to hers. “It’s magic. And so are you.”

  He closed in, his body fitting snugly against her. Jilian wriggled, reveling in the feel of him. They moved together, rolling and writhing, until she felt she would burst. She tugged at the cord tied at his waist.

  At that he held still. As he watched her untie him, a bolt of hot lust leapt from beneath his skin and rippled through her, stealing the air from her lungs. He slid his leggings off and glided down her body, his mouth searing her.