“Your Majesty,” he scoffed, laughing, “If that’s the pain I have to go through to kiss you, then, no offence, but I’ve got better things to do with my time.”
I laughed. “Good. So do I.”
“Yes, you’ve got a whole lot of reading to do now.”
“That, I do.” I held the book up, laying it on the bed after, my thoughtful gaze falling on its leather binding.
“How’s your hand?” Jason asked softly.
“It’s okay.” I unfolded my fingers as he took it in his and traced a line down my palm.
“I didn’t do it, you know?” he said.
“Do what?”
He drew my palm to his lips and kissed it. “I didn’t heat that stone.”
“I know.” I smiled. “I’m sorry I thought you did.”
“Don’t apologise, Ara.” He left my hand in his lap, still holding it. “As soon as the pain stops, I’ll figure out how you did what you did, and then we’ll get started on mastering it.”
“Without David’s approval, huh?”
“He has no say in this.” His green eyes bore into mine with stern appeal. “You’re showing signs of a power he knows nothing about. Husband or not, he can’t stop me from helping you.”
“When he finds out what happened, I’m not sure he will.”
“Well, I hope not. Because you melted that stone, Ara. I was in agony, never hurt so much in all my life, but I still saw you tip the water and sand remains away.”
I looked down at my hand, reliving that moment. “Do you think that’s another power? Melting things?”
“No.” He closed his eyes and readjusted his head on the pillow. “I think your blue light heated the stone—almost like a reverse fulgurite.”
“What’s that?”
“Ever seen what lightning does to sand?”
I shook my head.
“It strikes the ground at such a high temperature for such a short time that, when it retracts again, the ground cools quickly and the sand turns to glass. I think maybe you heated the stone enough to basically melt it back to sand again.”
“Whoa. That would have to be pretty hot, right?”
“As hot as lightning. About three-thousand-two-hundred-and-seventy degrees Fahrenheit to be exact.”
“But you’re not sure yet if that’s what it was?”
“Not yet.” He winced, scrunching his eyes tight. “But I will figure it out, Ara. I promise you.”
When I looked up from the journal, his eyes were open again, swearing that promise to me with all his heart.
“Okay.” I leaned over and planted a kiss to his cheek. “Get some rest, Jase. I’ll see ya later.”
“Later, Ara,” he said, and I closed his door behind me, shaking my head as a smile passed my lips for a moment. I knew I needed to go up and speak to Arthur about all this now. I knew he wouldn’t just walk away, amazed by it all. But I needed to tell someone more important first.
“You did what!” David’s shock came right through the phone line and made me grin.
“I . . . it just broke, David. Like, just snapped in half.”
“Ara.” I heard him sigh. “I took a tour through the Vampiric Institute of Science a few years back—saw the Brokemon Test.”
“The what now?”
“The Bro…it’s a demonstration, really, more than a test, where they pit vampire against machine. And these were powerful machines, Ara. They’d lay the vampire’s arm under it and attempt to break the bone. The test was conclusive each time, sweetheart; One hundred per cent conclusive. The machines always failed. Now, I’m not trying to undermine you here, but are you sure it broke?”
I just laughed to myself a little. “You can talk to Arthur, if you want.”
“I. . .” He went quiet for a second. “Damn, Ara.”
My smile grew.
“That’s amazing.”
“That’s what everyone says,” I chirped.
“Everyone? Who else have you told?”
“Just you. I mean, Arthur and Falcon know, and obviously, Jason, but no one else.”
David went quiet again. “He’s okay, though, right?”
“Yeah. He’s healed now. It only took about six hours.”
“Six hours? Why didn’t you call me the second it happened, Ara? If that much time has passed—”
“I did. But we haven’t been able to get hold of you. No service in the dungeons, remember?”
“Right. Sorry. Didn’t think of that.”
I laughed. “Now you’re just starting to sound like me.”
“Well, rather than sound like you, can I have your power, please?” he said, and I giggled. “That’s not fair. You’re not supposed to be cooler than me.”
“Well, maybe you’ll get some wicked new talent soon. You’ve only been officially sworn in on the Stone for two weeks.”
“Very true. I guess I have a whole month worth of a lifetime to find out, right?” he said.
My shoulders sunk. “It would’ve been nice to see how powerful you became after another century.”
“Yes. But, perhaps I’ll pass that power down to my daughter.”
I laid a hand across my belly, thinking about what Eve said. And a part of me wondered if maybe, in some small way, she meant that our child held the key to saving David. “I did that pregnancy test.”
“And?” I heard the smile in his voice.
“It was negative.”
A long moment of silence followed before his deep, whispery voice came down the line, distorted with a bit of static. “I’m sorry.”
“There’s always next time, right?”
“Right,” he said in an almost quick, insincere manner. “Now, what were you doing, exactly, when you broke my baby brother’s arm?”
I laughed. “I was running away so I wouldn’t have to kiss him.”
My ability to silence him surfaced again. “Okay, I’m going to assume there’s quite a story behind that.”
“There is.” I sat down on my bed and crossed my legs. “Remember when I threw that guy at training the other day?”
“Yeah.”
“Jase said it wasn’t my blue light that did it. It was telekinesis.”
“Telekinesis?”
“Mm-hm. Apparently I can snap bones with, too.”