Chapter 15: Secrets Revealed

Adam stood at the center of the stable, not moving, his eyes closed. The air was thick with the scent of hay and damp earth, and somewhere nearby, he heard rats skittering across the floor, scratching and gnawing at things he couldn’t see. He pushed the distractions out of his mind and steadied his breathing. He felt alright today, better than alright, the exhaustion from yesterday had completely faded from his body. When he first woke up this morning, he was surprised, he had thought it would take two or three days of rest to fully recover, at the very least. That was what the healers and everyone else believed, but he felt fine today, no different from how he felt days ago, before all the chaos, even Katryn and her mother had noted that his bruises were almost entirely gone. He had simply told them he was a fast healer, and they seemed to accept it. But deep down in his mind, he wondered if his quick recovery had anything to do with this power he had now ... with that entity.

Shelving those thoughts for another time, Adam focused on the present, forcing his mind to remain calm. As soon as he’d realized that his body had recovered, there was only one thing he wanted to try, and he had rushed down to the stable, giving an excuse that he wanted to do a little work. Katryn and her mother had been reluctant to allow him, but he’d insisted, and now he was here. He figured he had an hour, maybe two, before Katryn came to check on him, but that was enough time for him to try out what he wanted to do.

Adam raised his hand and drew another breath. At first, nothing happened. Then he felt it, the familiar heat that had taken root inside his chest since the night of the explosion, pulsing with every beat of his heart. His breath slowed as he focused on it, reaching for it.

He wasn’t sure how he knew what to do, but his body understood it, just like it knew how to move, blink, and breathe. Adam allowed that instinct to guide him. He poured all of his focus into the effort, drawing the power upward. It surged from his chest, flowing down his arms and gathering in his palm. His fingers twitched, and just as he opened his eyes he saw the air around his hand began to shudder, then with a sharp whoosh, black flames burst out, floating just above his palm, curling and writhing like living shadows.

He did it ... he could fucking use magic.

Adam knew he had it in him, he constantly felt it, but he’d worried that it might be difficult to draw the power out a second time. That first time, it had been instinctive, fueled by his pain, rage, and hatred. But he was clear-headed now, and his emotions were steady and calm, yet he could still use it at will. That was good to know. He would hate it if he needed to constantly be in a heightened emotional state to use his power, but that didn’t seem to be an issue. Now, all he needed was to gain a complete understanding of it.

Adam stared at the flames for a moment. It was obvious at a glance that they weren’t normal, they didn’t flicker with orange or red, they didn’t cast light at all. Could this even be called fire? Fire, by name, emits light, this was completely devoid of light. It was a kind of flame he never once thought could exist, just pitch-black. He felt a gentle heat from it, yet his skin didn’t burn, but he knew that didn’t mean it was harmless, he still remembered the shaved-head knight that had burned to death in that room, no, the knight he had burned to death in that room. The fire floated over his hand, perfectly steady, as though it belonged there, dancing along his fingers without harming him ... it did belong there.

He did a few tests, shifting his hand, the flames followed, responding to the smallest shift of his wrist. When he broke his focus and clenched his fist, it shrank and vanished as suddenly as it had formed. He focused on summoning it again, and the flame surged back to life, quicker, darker, and far stronger than before. He didn’t try to shoot them from his palm—he knew he probably could—but he couldn’t risk burning down the stable.

He dispersed the flames again and stared down at his hand in thought. A part of him felt thrilled by this new development, but the more sensible part knew to be cautious. How exactly he’d gotten this power, and what had given it to him was still a mystery. According to most people here, magic was a blessing bestowed upon individuals by the gods, or deities of this world, called the Divine. So which one had blessed him? He had a strong sense that it was the ancient presence he’d felt, but what was it? And as he wasn’t from this world, would there be a price to pay? A price he might not be willing to pay? And why had he been given this power in the first place? Was he meant to do something with it?

And even putting those questions aside, Adam knew there were other reasons to be careful. Just because he could use magic now didn’t make him invincible. He thought back to the fight in that warehouse, how Elsa had slaughtered all those men. He didn’t intend for them to become enemies, but if they got in a fight he wondered whether he would stand a chance at all. The answer came to him quickly, no. The mere memory of her summoning that massive, seemingly impenetrable shield of light out of thin air was enough to shatter any illusion that his attacks could reach her, let alone harm her. He supposed that was what it meant to be a Gold-Rank knight. Julius was one as well, so it was probably safe to assume that this power, as it was right now, wouldn’t pose a threat to the man either.

There might be other abilities residing inside him besides black fire, powers he had yet to uncover, and he could likely grow far stronger than he was now—this power he felt was only a fraction of what had surged through him before the explosion. But even so, he didn’t think it would make him all-powerful. He would have to be careful if, or when, he ever found himself in a fight. Not only because his power might fall short, but because it would also be easy to grow dependent on it. Even though it was only a brief musing about his chances in a fight against Elsa or Julius, he’d still considered fighting them head on just because he had magic now, a thought that would never have crossed his mind if he was still mundane. He had to be careful, he couldn’t allow himself to fall into that trap. His mind was still his greatest strength, he needed to remember that now more than ever.

The day he forgot that and relied only on magic might be his end.

Tightening his jaw, Adam raised his hand again and continued running more tests with the flames. Several minutes went by, and he felt his exhaustion climbing back up, but he only stopped after proving to himself that he had control of the fire down pat. He could summon it at will, shape it, dismiss it, even scale its intensity without losing control. Adam closed and opened his fists twice, as if testing his grip, then he let his hand fall down to his side. That was enough for now. Pushing more wouldn’t teach him anything new, only tempt him into recklessness. The stable was still intact, and he wanted to keep it that way.

Adam let out a weary breath and sank onto a nearby crate, wiping his brow. He still remembered what he’d read in Lorelei’s late husband’s book—that magic was costly, that it demanded energy—but he hadn’t expected that summoning fire alone would exhaust him so quickly. From what he’d noticed while chopping wood all those days ago, even during sex with Katryn, he’d thought he had plenty of energy, like Elsa ... a large “fuel tank.”

Maybe he hadn’t recovered as much as he believed...

Was that why the power surging through him now felt so much weaker than it had that night? Or was there something else at play? He wanted to feel it again while his mind was clear, to see what he might be capable of, whether he could control it better. Maybe he should ask Elsa, she might help him understand why it had diminished this much. But that would mean revealing his hand completely, was he ready to do that? He hadn’t decided.

“What are you doing here?” a woman’s voice asked suddenly.

Speak of the devil. Adam looked up to find Elsa standing close to the entrance, her gaze fixed on him. She wasn’t wearing her armor today, just plain clothes, fitted dark pants and a loose gray shirt. It was simple, practical, the sort of clothing anyone could wear, man or woman. Still, Adam was caught completely off guard by it. He’d never seen her like this before, outside of her armor, and the change softened her in a way he hadn’t expected. She looked more relaxed, less intense, but still so incredibly beautiful it boggled his mind. His eyes lingered before he could stop them, drifting lower to the womanly curves of her waist, something he’d never noticed, never been allowed to notice, until this moment.

As he took in the sight of her, the conversation he’d had with Katryn yesterday raced back into his mind. She believed Elsa had feelings for him, and after he’d thought it through more, a part of him was tempted to agree, it was the only way to make sense of her kindness and care for him. But how had it even happened? He hadn’t done anything special, or said anything particularly clever or charming that might have swept her off her feet. He thought he was handsome, but was that it? Did she like him just for how he looked?