He cheated, easily building a shield while keeping up a storm of water until she collapsed back onto the seat, laughing. He couldn’t help smiling again.
When the laughter subsided, she eyed him closely. “I really created this pool, didn’t I? No help from you.” She made it a statement, but there was a question in her mind.
“No help from me. Now, when you decide to take to the air, there will be help and you’ll be very careful to do exactly as I say and follow my instructions to the letter.” He meant it. Absolutely. Then she nodded, her eyes going wide, and all sorts of ideas on instructions came into his head, making his cock jerk. He dropped his hand to the growing length, fisting it casually beneath the water.
Her gaze followed the movement of his hand. “Do you think I could do that? Fly?”
“Why not? I think you are going to be able to do more than most of us can, even when you are fully converted. I think your mage blood will remain just as Lycan blood does.”
“A mage is more human than any other species,” Julija pointed out. “I don’t think of us as being more powerful. We’re well versed in the arts, both dark and light, but we appear and are the most human.”
“Simply because you cannot shift into another form?” Her reasoning eluded him.
“We live among humans, side by side. Our children grow up in the cities and towns. Most mages have married humans and turned their backs on their gifts.”
“This does not mean that mages are any more human than Carpathians. Perhaps it is easier for you to assimilate into their society, but you have to have your own doctors, right?”
She nodded. “Not that I ever went to one.” She ducked her head. “Especially after Barnabas. You can see the ugly scars on me if I don’t build an illusion.”
He dropped his hand from his cock, unfamiliar fury building in his gut. He didn’t like it. The emotion was disturbing in its intensity and the fact that he was a very dangerous individual.
“First, Julija, don’t do that.” He reached across the distance between them and lifted her chin. Her eyes met his and he felt the impact right through the swirling heat and anger churning in his belly. “You have no reason to be ashamed. That is part of their conditioning. They humiliated you and did their best to find a way to bend you to their will. They were not successful. You remember that. You stood your ground. You didn’t harm an innocent.”
Isai allowed his admiration to show in his voice as well as his expression. He detested that her family had done these things to her, deliberately undermined her confidence and misled her so she had no idea who she was or even what she was.
“You, sívamet, are odam wäke emni. In case you are not up on your Carpathian, it means ‘mistress of illusion.’ You are amazing when it comes to illusion, but it is because your illusions are very real, thanks to the Carpathian in you. They do not have to know you have become aware of that little detail. They are going to come at you and you will be able to defend yourself against any attack because you are both. Do you understand me, Julija? You are . . . extraordinary.”
Her eyes met his with a hint of shyness. That surprised him. His woman wasn’t shy.
“You make me feel extraordinary. I don’t know if I can do all the things you think I can, but I’m willing to learn, if you’re willing to teach me.”
“You know more than you think you do. There’s one more thing we have to get out of the way before we go any further.”
“Two,” she contradicted.
He studied her face. “Two then. You go first.”
“I want to know what your tattoo says. You said that belongs to your lifemate.”
His heart gave a funny little stutter at the mixture of defiance, challenge and possession spilling into her voice. “Only to my lifemate. These words etched into my back are my vow to you.”
He remembered every scar deliberately made on his body and how many times it had to be done to overcome the earth’s healing. The brethren had found that once the cut was deep enough, if they inserted the black color even deeper, the design would last on their skin. The creed of the brethren in the monastery flowed in their ancient Carpathian