Sun Broken (The Wild Hunt #11) - Yasmine Galenorn Page 0,26

for the rare times you decide you need their abilities—that’s not going to work in the long run.”

“So, what do I do? Besides getting kinky in the bedroom?” I tried to smile, but inside, my thoughts were churning as violently as the ocean around us.

“You begin working more with water magic. You stop labeling your powers. You need to just integrate them and quit thinking of it as though you’re changing clothes. You need to wear one outfit, not keep changing between three. I’m going to ask Marilee to start teaching you how to control and strengthen your magical abilities with water. You perform haphazard spells as it stands right now, but you need to be able to call up a storm when needed, to learn how to breathe underwater. All that will require concentrated work.”

I stared at her. “You mean I can actually learn to cast spells like that? I thought my magical abilities were limited.”

“They are, right now, because you keep them separate from yourself. But let your father’s blood be second nature in your body when you’re fighting, and let your mother’s blood be second nature when magic and sex are concerned. Neither are set apart from you. Do you understand?” She shook her head, her hair flowing around her shoulders. “You are to be a priestess of mine some day, you know. You may be pledged to me now, but I’m training you to be one of my priestesses.”

That was news as well.

“I didn’t really know. I wasn’t sure what to call myself,” I said, stammering.

“Well, now you do know. So I’ll be increasing your time with Marilee to twice a week, as long as you don’t have any cases with the Wild Hunt taking precedence. You’ll meet with her and start an intensive immersion in water magic.” She stopped, then laughed. “I made a joke, didn’t I?”

I laughed with her even though I felt shell-shocked. This meeting certainly hadn’t gone the way I had thought it would. I wasn’t sure what I had expected, but this entire line of conversation had definitely not been it.

“And once you’re proficient, you’ll begin training as my priestess.” She frowned for a moment, then said, “I suppose that’s it. Yes, I think we’ve covered just about everything. Oh, except this business with Callan. Herne mentioned your reaction. Please understand, when I command you to attend parley, that’s final. I know you don’t like interacting with Saílle and Névé, but you’re going to have to get used to it. Do you understand? No more whining about it—at least not to my son and definitely not to Cernunnos and me.”

Even though she was smiling, I could feel the bite behind it. Dutifully chastised, I nodded. “I understand. I’m sorry.”

“We all have to deal with people we find unpleasant. Even the gods. And with Typhon bearing down, I’m certain that’s going to increase, at least for Cernunnos, Herne, and me.”

“He’s almost awake, isn’t he?” I shuddered, staring at the boiling sky. The wind had picked up and it was blowing spray from the roiling ocean across the boulder, chilling me to the core.

“Yes, he is. I predict he’ll be in his full power by Litha…perhaps not till Lughnasadh if we’re lucky. But even now, the dead are feeling his presence and responding. And I fear he’ll be sending out emissaries soon, as his consciousness surfaces. Think of it like a great behemoth rising from the ocean depths. Even if he’s still underwater, the ripples from his movements are already having an effect.”

I glanced at the water, watching it foam and break against the trunks of the trees. “Are you scared?” I asked after a moment.

She paused, then lightly placed her hand on my arm. “Yes, child. I’m frightened. And so are all the others. Typhon is one of the great Titans. He’s the Father of Dragons, and he is both magnificent and terrifying. He cares for nothing but his children.”

“Children?” I cocked my head. “Who are his children?”

“Think for a moment. He is truly the father of dragons. His wife vanished into the mists—we have no idea where she is, but the pair engendered the dragons of the world. And so they lurk, living between realms, waiting for their father. When he begins to break through, the dragons will once again return to your realm.”

I froze. I knew that dragons existed, but I had always thought they were few and far between, and that they abjured the mortal world. “You mean, they