A Fey New World (The Godhunter #32) - Amy Sumida Page 0,94

must be united. You can't make offers like that to the humans without consulting me first. When you challenge me like that, it weakens us and makes me very angry.”

“As angry as when you slaughtered them?” I whispered.

“I will not allow attacks to go unpunished,” he said firmly. “I cannot. To do so would be to show weakness at the worst time. The beginning is important, Vervain. It is now that we establish the tone of our entire rule.”

“And your tone tells me that what I want means nothing.”

Azrael's jaw clenched and his eyes flashed but he took a deep breath and calmed himself. “The magic surged forth over the world on its own. I swear it.”

“But you could have called it back.”

“No, I could not!” he roared furiously. “Do you think I would be asking you how to do it if I could?”

I flinched back.

Azrael's wings drooped as he panted, “I'm sorry, my beloved.” He reached out a hand to me. “I don't want you to see me as powerless.”

“Powerless?” I whispered. “Is that what this is about? You're pounding your chest like a gorilla to show off for me?”

Azrael grimaced. “I'm hardly a gorilla.”

“You're acting like one.”

“You are my mate; I must show you that I can protect and provide for you,” he argued.

“No, Az.” I took his hand. “You've already got me. The time for such posturing is long past and it never would have impressed me anyway. I fell in love with your heart, not your power.”

“Carus,” Azrael whispered and pulled me into an embrace. His wings curled down around us. “I'm so sorry.”

“You truly had no control over the magic?”

He flinched but answered, “No. I told you before; I only direct the magic.”

“You do more than direct it,” I insisted.

“Yes, I control the portion that flows through me; that much I am responsible for,” he leaned back to answer. “But I can't hold all of the magic, Vervain. As a Dragon-Sidhe, you control fire but you don't control the entire element. You can call it to you and direct it with your will but you are not its master. You could never contain or control the entire element. The very idea is ridiculous. And yet, for some reason, you think that I can do that very thing for not one but all of the elements. Blaming me for what the magic has done is like blaming you for a forest fire in Africa.”

“Perhaps,” I conceded. “But I could put out a forest fire in Africa.”

“You are deliberately being difficult now,” he grumbled. “This is not the scale of a forest fire. This is the entire world on fire. Could you put that out?”

I grimaced. “I suppose not.”

“The magic responded to the attack in its own way and refused to listen when I tried to summon it back. It was as if their violence caused an explosive reaction in the magic that, once triggered, couldn't be stopped.”

Even though I'd been suspicious of Az before, his explanation wasn't so farfetched. The magic had responded similarly to violent stimulus before and this whole mess had begun with an explosion. The wild magic was obviously unstable and aggressively defensive. And now that I knew why Azrael had been acting like such an ass, I could accept his behavior as well. He was consumed by primal, ferocious magic and it was making him act like an animal in many ways. But he was still in there and he still loved me. I had to believe that there was a chance to free him.

“You should have told me when we were below the castle,” I chided.

“Yes, I should have,” he admitted. “But do you blame me for wanting to keep it from you? Look at how you've responded.”

“I only responded like this because you kept it from me,” I grumbled.

“I don't think it was only because of that.” He nuzzled my forehead with his. “I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the magic.”

“I'm sorry I blamed you for the world being on fire.”

“I forgive you.” Azrael stepped back, opened his wings, and smiled softly at me. “Now, will you tell me how we can pull back the magic?”

“I don't know if this will allow us to call the magic back, but King Cian suggested that we anchor it,” I said. “That was when there were five locations though. He thought that the Royals of Faerie could each take one location and create a well of their element to set the magic