her eyebrows and tried to feel this power that supposedly lived within her, her spark. She felt the same as she always did. Or did she? Something tickled at the edge of her consciousness, an awareness she wasn’t sure she’d felt before.
No, that wasn’t exactly right. She’d felt it one time before. Earlier that day when she and Solan had confirmed their Match was real. Was that the barrier he was talking about? Could she feel his power? She tried to test it with her mind, focusing on it until it became clearer, but the more she focused, the harder it was to tell.
She opened her eyes and found Solan staring at her. “Can you feel it?”
“Sort of.” She didn’t want to fail. Not when they were this close. But lying wouldn’t improve matters at all.
“When I reach for your spark, you’ll feel it. Are you ready?” He was giving her one last chance to back out, and Lena could appreciate that. But she wasn’t walking away.
“Do it.” She braced herself, but he didn’t touch her. Not physically. His own eyes drooped closed and after a moment she felt a brush of something against that barrier she’d almost seen. He was testing it, pressing against the wall. It tickled.
Lena fidgeted and then made herself stop. She had more discipline than that. But it did feel weird and she didn’t like it.
He pressed even harder against the bond and her instinct was to fight. She didn’t want anyone inside her, not in her mind, not like that. But that was the whole point. They had to reach into one another to make this thing work.
She stopped resisting.
The barrier didn’t suddenly fall, but Lena could feel Solan more solidly. She breathed deep and tried to let him in, but nothing she did seemed to help.
And then he was there between one breath and the next. The barrier hadn’t dissolved, but he was inside her mind, reaching for her power, and tugging it back towards himself.
Lena acted on instinct, following him. She didn’t know if she’d be able to break that barrier between them on her own. By following him she didn’t have to.
His mind, his power, wherever she was, was different than her own. The hues were darker and the shapes deeper, undiscovered. She wanted to wander, to find the crevasses all around and see what secrets she could uncover.
But that wasn’t why she was here. And Lena was worried that if she stuck around for too long she wouldn’t be able to find her way back out. Finding what she was looking for was no trouble. Assuming Solan’s spark was the blue, glowy thing right in front of her.
Did she have something similar inside herself? Why hadn’t she seen it?
She reached a hand in and tried not to wonder if it was really her hand or some strange projection.
The second her fingers touched his power, something tugged in her chest and she was being whisked back towards the barrier. She held tight to the power she’d latched onto, knowing the bond wouldn’t be complete if she didn’t take it with her. And once his power touched the barrier, it shimmered and dissolved.
She expected some rush, some intermingling of their sparks, but her power stayed on her side, and his stayed with him. She reached for it anyway and knew she could call on it at any time.
Lena opened her eyes and stumbled back when she saw how big Solan’s wings had grown.
Wind rustled behind her, not a weight, not exactly, but an awareness. Lena glanced over her shoulder and got an impression of electric green and red, just like Solan’s wings. She wished there was a mirror in the room. She wanted to see for herself.
Solan’s eyes glowed, lightning flashing bright and seductive.
She vaguely remembered their agreement, but with power, his and hers, fizzing in her veins it was impossible to hold to the deal they’d made. She stepped up close and reached out until her fingers traced over his wings, the power crackling around them. From the feel of the electricity, she knew it should hurt. She was sure he could make it hurt, but from the way he was looking at her, she knew he didn’t want to hurt her.
Would she taste his spark in his kiss?
She wanted to find out. She was drunk on power and sudden desire. She leaned in, unable to pull herself back. Solan’s fingers landed on her waist, squeezing tight, right there with her.
This