“Is she coming around?”

“I think so.”

“About time, too.”

The last voice convinced me to open my eyes. I knew it was Master Dorian, being an ass as usual.

“There you are.” Lunella let out a breath of relief. “You scared us.”

My hand shook as I lifted it to my forehead. “Scared you?”

Jallina appeared in my field of view. “You smacked your forehead on the ground when you pitched forward.”

Master Dorian folded his arms over his massive chest. “Idiot.”

“That doesn’t help anyone, Dorian,” Tymon said.

He swept a large hand at me. “She’s fine. I’m—”

Master Dorian didn’t finish his thought. Instead, he looked fuzzy, distant. He tipped his head up and stared at the ceiling for a moment.

A slow, strange smile slid over his face, the kind brought on by a memory. Something pleasant. His face turned wistful and a little sad.

I looked at Tymon, who shrugged.

“Master Dorian?” Tymon asked.

He snapped back to the present, but a touch of the memory stayed with him and softened his features. “I’m going.” Spinning on his heel, he marched out.

I was confused until I turned my head to watch him leave.

Magnificent view of his ass…

I groaned.

“Would you like something for the pain?” Jallina asked, reaching for her purse.

If only that were the reason that I was groaning. Waving her off, I looked back up the ceiling. “What happened after I passed out?”

Jallina put her bag down. “I made… the others leave, and sent my sister to find help at the temple.”

“I answered the door.” Tymon sat down, “luckily. We were able to contain this to just Lunella, Jallina and Jennila. Dorian doesn’t know the full story, but we had to tell him something when he found us pulling into the stable with the horse and carriage.”

Jallina took my hand. “I am sorry, Kimber. I didn’t want to tell them about this. But I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t leave a temple master passed out in a horse—”

I groaned. “Did I really fall into horseshit?”

“You missed by a hair’s breadth,” she admitted, biting her lips.

I giggled. My head hurt when I did, but I giggled anyway. My first semi-public preview as Breaker of the Spine, and I almost landed in a pile of horseshit.

“Please, tell me Master Dorian didn’t hear that part?”

“NO!” Lunella gasped, her own laugh cutting through her word. “No, no. Lord, no. He thinks you tripped while you were out having an ill-advised drink with the sisters.”

I let out a breath. “Thank gods.” I glanced around. “Where’s Elex?”

“He went to bed after seeing you were safe.” Jallina smiled and patted my hand. “He said he’s been working entirely too long and needed sleep.”

Lunella placed a hand on Jallina’s shoulder. “Thank you, my dear. Please, it’s time for you to go home. Your mate is waiting for you, and you need sleep.”

Jallina nodded. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

Before she could pull her hand away, I squeezed it. “Wait. You and…”

Her eyes lit up, and soul-deep happiness leapt to light there. “We were inspired by you and Elex breaking down the wall. It’s been amazing.”

My eyes narrowed, considering her. “Mates…or…”

“Soul mates.”

I squealed and yanked her into an awkward hug. “Oh, yay! Yay! Will you have a Sealing Ceremony?”

“Yes, and I expect you to stand with me.”

“Of course!”

Tymon took Jallina’s elbow and led her to the door. “I’ll take you home. We’ll tie my horse to the back of the carriage, and I’ll ride back.”

The two of them chatted as they headed out the door, leaving Lunella and me alone.

The temple master inclined her head. “Are you truly all right?”

“I am. I would not have been able to stop that tremor if Jallina and Drez hadn’t been there.” I gasped and slapped a hand on my mouth. I hadn’t meant to say his name. I didn’t want to give him away.

A small laugh escaped Lunella. “Don’t worry, Kimber. No one is going to find out who they are from me. They are good people, and you are smart for asking them to report to you. Most of us here have long lost contact with loved ones and friends. We shouldn’t have, but—”

“Drez and Jallina are two of my and Elex’s oldest friends. I don’t feel right asking them for this, but at the same time, I don’t know how else to remain a part of the city.”

“You’re a smart woman, Kimber.” Lunella sat at the end of the infirmary bed. “Now. What in the name of the God’s green garden happened? Jallina kept saying you didn’t have enough power to use your magic.”

“I didn’t…” My forehead wrinkled. “It was the strangest thing. I could feel the magic, and I could feel what I needed to do, but the strength just wasn’t there. As soon as both Drez and Jallina connected with me, it was all there. I mean, do I need a booster or something? But how would I have been able to stop the other one early this week without help?”

Lunella cocked her head. “Jallina said you felt like you didn’t have power when she touched you.”

After I tossed the covers back, I swung my feet over the side of the bed. “I know that power and magic are different, but why wouldn’t I have enough power to use the magic? That doesn’t make sense—”

“After a massive expenditure of power, you have to restore your strength.” She handed me a robe and pair of slippers.

I put the slippers on the floor and slid my feet in. “No, I get that. And I’ve been taking care of myself. Healthy meals, plenty of rest, lots of fresh air—”

She twisted her head to look at me. “Sex.”

“What? Jallina said something about that too…”

“You can be starving and exhausted and suffocating, but if you’ve had sex recently, your power is strong.” Lunella’s eyes went wide. “Wait. You mean you don’t know your power in magic is fueled by sex?”

I stared at her, blank but confused. “What do you mean?”

Lunella scrubbed a hand down her face. “Your parents did you no favors by having you signed out of your defensive magic classes. You really don’t know the power and sex connection?”

“Apparently not…”

Looking around, Lunella shook her head. “Not here. Oh, gods, not here. We don’t need anyone to know you don’t know this. Let’s… let’s talk on the roof garden.”

She offered her hand, and I took it, pulling myself off the bed. I tugged the robe around me, and Lunella led me out of the infirmary through the dorms to a stairwell in the backmost corner of the building.

The roof garden still had morning dew on the plants. It was a glistening sight in the newly risen sun.

But Lunella led me away from the door. She aimed for a bench as far away from the entrance as we could get and finally sat down with me.

A quiet moment passed before she started to speak.

“Our ability to see magic is independent of our strength to use it. How much of the magic’s intrusion into our world you can see determines how strong you can be with the magic. From what Vitas has told me, you see everything painted with it, dripping and contoured with the colors. That you had to work to keep it away.”

I simply nodded.

With a pinch of the bridge of her nose, Lunella let out a sigh. “Your parents should never have pulled you from classes. There were things in there you needed to know. It’s the first place we gauge power and ability. Everyone in S’Kir has magic. It’s only to what degree that we need to know. Once you advance out of the placement classes, you are taught according to your potential ability. Your strength.

“Kimber, do you know why the advanced defense class is taught the last half of the last year of your secondary schooling?”

This time, I shook my head in the negative.

“Because we don’t want a bunch of undisciplined, untaught, untried, horny, hormonal teenagers fucking each other’s brains out through secondary school.”

I coughed. “Excuse me?”

“Your magic is inherent; your power comes from sex.” She drew her hand across the roof. “Why do you think we all pair up? Why do you think Elex was allowed to move in with you? Did you think Villea and Asterioth were Neves’ servants? Sex, Kimber. Without it, all we can do is little local things.”

A wave of dizziness swept over me. How had I never known this? No one had said a thing to me about having sex to increase my power in the magic.

I’d been living as a virtual celibate for the past sixty years.

I blinked a few times. “So, I was able to stop the tremors earlier in the week because…”

“Because you were out on the balcony watching the couple have sex. . . and having sex yourself. And last night you couldn’t because—”

“Wait. How did you know about the garden?” The blood drained from my face.

She grinned. “Because I was on Tymon’s balcony getting myself some as well. They are fun to watch. I don’t know who they are, but once a month, usually on the full moon, they go out there and have a really good fuck in the dark.”

“Isn’t that… intrusive to watch?”

Quirking her lip, she gave me a smile. “Didn’t stop you.” She waved off my statement. “No. It’s voyeurism. They like to take the chance that someone will see them. It’s a turn on. Missionary is boring when you need your power restored constantly.”

“Sweet savior, I had no idea.”

“I wish I’d known you didn’t know. I would have explained it a lot sooner.”

“I was still able to stop the tremor last night— Oh. Shit. Because Jallina and Drez had lent me their power.”

Her wordless nod confirmed my statement.

“Do I have to return the power to them?”

“No. I’m sure Jallina will be mostly naked as soon as she’s in the door, looking for a little power restoration from her mate.”

“I used up the power from both of them…”

“And what remained of yours,” Lunella cautioned. “You need to find Elex, and you need to get that boy naked and horizontal. Quickly. You cannot go without power—we just don’t know when the tremors will start.”

I turned to her. “But…yes, we do. It’s the project Elex has been working on for the past few months. It’s a way to tell when the mountain will shake.”

Lunella’s jaw dropped open. “What?”

 

*  *  *

 

“So, as you can see, while the device is still in its infant stages, we have been getting readings from the small tremors that happen almost constantly, to the peaks that jump up before one of the big shakes.”

The professor was proud as a peacock as he walked around the massive machine with me, and Lunella, Master Dorian, and Mistress Ophelia following him.

Elex was standing in the corner by the controls. His countenance was dark, brooding, and tired.

He was constantly tired.

I walked over to where he stood and placed a hand on his shoulder, and he almost tossed me off.

“Elex…”

Turning his scowl on me, I could see exhausted anger that fell away when he realized it was me.

“Elex, please. If this is too much for you, please leave the position. The professor seems like a nice guy, but you’re completely exhausted. We haven’t touched each other in a week…”

“Is that all you’re thinking about? My dick?”

“Don’t do that. I’m not only thinking about your dick. I miss you in the bed. I miss you in the apartments. You’re not at training with me, and now you’re behind on that, as well. If this is going to take you away from everything we have at the temple—”

His hand hit the console, and he stormed off out of the room. I let out a breath and hurried after him.

“Elex! Goddamn it. Come on.”

He jerked to a halt and spun on me. “This is my life, Kimber. This is what I have spent my life learning about, developing, trying to create. I can’t just walk away from it when you suddenly get elevated. Do you just want a kept man? Would you like it if I—”

“Stop.” I whipped the word at him harshly. The click of my shoes on the tiles in the room was smart and sharp. “Do you regret sleeping with me? If you want out of this relationship, go. Tell me now. We aren’t mated. We aren’t committed in any way. I’m standing here telling you I miss you in my days, and you immediately accuse me of trying to hold you back. Don’t you dare. If you don’t want in, then get out.”

Elex walked to the wall and sank back against it. I watched him with my arms folded, waiting.

He held a hand out a moment later, and I accepted his invitation, putting my hand in his.

“Kimber, I’m sorry. I’m just…wound tight. This is my research coming to life.”

“Elex, I would never keep you from the university and your research. But if we’re going to have a relationship, I can’t be the only one there.”

He sighed and twined our fingers.

I leaned in. “I also miss your cock.”

The laugh echoed through the hallway, and he smiled. “So you do just want me for my penis.”

“Well, your tongue, too.” I grinned.

His palm was warm on my cheek. “All right, Kimber. Head home with the others. I’ll be home, but probably late. I can’t promise no more late nights, but I will do my best to get home to you.”

I kissed his palm and nuzzled my cheek against him. “Good,” I purred. “I’ll wait for you. Naked.” 

This was new for me, being so boldly sexual. But, if that’s where my power came from, and I was Breaker of the Spine, I needed to power up. And often.

Being shy about sex had to be a thing of my past.

It was kind of fun, but I needed practice.

I felt as seductive as a yam.

I headed back to the lab, leaving Elex standing in the hall watching me. I swung my hips a little bit as I walked, and I heard a low groan behind me.

Maybe Elex was attracted to dirty-talking yams.

But my little bit of confidence was shattered when he fell asleep mid-sex.

Again.