“You can have my magic,” Selly said, shyly tugging on his elbow.
Gabriel gazed at her in some surprise.Did she even know what she was offering?Patting her hand, he smiled gently.“Maybe someday.”
Her wide brown eyes narrowed.“It’s mine to give, isn’t it?You used the magic when we were in the mist.Let me help you this time, too.”
She still sounded off, more like a child than a grown woman, but he recognized the determination in her posture.She seemed sane, seemed to know what she was offering—and had surprised him by remembering that moment in the mist.Still, he looked to Asa.The healer nodded.“It’s good for her to release magic.I can’t quite get a handle on it to transmute for healing.That water and moon magic is so odd.If you can use it, that will benefit you both.”
“Are you sure?”he asked Selly tenderly.
She nodded vigorously.“I am part of House Phel, too,” she said very seriously.Jadren, standing nearby, watched her with an inscrutable look on his face.
It was true that Selly was as much a member of House Phel as he was.Enfolding her hand in both of his, Gabriel reached for her magic, finding part of himself tense with apprehension.But this was nothing like the previous time, when her stagnant magic overwhelmed him, swept him up, and dragged him under to drown.Selly’s magic was like his, and also not like.Pure water and pristine moonlight, deep as a mountain lake and brilliant as the full moon on a clear night.He drank her magic in, the transition to his own magic without flaw or hesitation.Where Nic was his mirror, compensating for what he lacked, Selly was like another face of himself.No wonder the Byssan sisters made such an effective team.
A spirit popped up just then, closely followed by the sound of running feet as Alise burst into the room.“They’ve been spotted!Hunters hard on their heels.”She bared her teeth in a flesh-eating smile, disconcerting in her youthful face.She was all Elal in that moment, determined to win at all costs.Spirits swirled visibly around her, emitting a high-pitched keen of battle rage.
“We’re ready,” Gabriel replied.“Let’s give them a solid House Phel welcome.”