Aodhan cocked his head, studying her with the interest of a research scientist presented with a puzzling piece of data. “It’s not that much of a change.”
“My eyes are glowing!”
“They’ll settle down. Transient bioluminescence is a common occurrence after significant expenditure of magic.”
She tore her gaze away from her own reflection, staring at him. “What? You’re saying that I did all this?”
“Not entirely.” Aodhan fingered a blossom thoughtfully. “From the residual psychic signature—and, of course, the dual colors of these roses—it would seem that our magics intermingled.”
“Our magics?” She shook her head, certain that she must have misunderstood him. “I’m not a mage!”
“Of course not.” Aodhan tapped his wand against the floating mirror, making it dissolve into fading sparkles. “Clearly, you are a sorcerer.”
“What?”
“Or a sorceress, if you prefer.” He shrugged. “Though personally, I’ve always found such gender-specific terms somewhat old-fashioned.”
Cathy closed her eyes, counting to five. When she opened them, nothing had changed. The roses were still there, and Aodhan had apparently still lost his mind. He’d put his wand away and was now straightening his robes, looking as unruffled as if his bedroom burst into magical blooms every morning.
“Perhaps you could explain,” she said, with what she felt was admirable calm given that the entire world had gone utterly mad, “exactly what difference there is between a mage and a sorcerer.”
“Books, in essence.” Aodhan fastened the hidden clasps at the front of his robes, hiding the chiseled expanse of his chest once more. “A mage studies magic. Our power comes from understanding and applying fundamental theories. In contrast, a sorcerer is magic. Literally, a source of raw power, born with an innate talent. Generally less versatile than mages, but considerably stronger within their particular domain. They’re generally aligned to a specific element. In your case, that would appear to be earth. The power of creation and growth.”
She stared at him. “That’s ridiculous. I’m just an ordinary person. I’ve never done anything like this before!”
“I suspect that in the human world, your power was buried too deeply for you to even be aware that you had it. Linking our auras the way that we did must have woken it up. I provided a channel, so your magic was finally able to break free.”
Cathy looked down at the magical binding around her wrist. Maybe it was her imagination, but she could have sworn it had crept further up her arm. If she squinted, the intricate lines even looked something like stylized briars with tightly furled rosebuds.
“Why roses, anyway?” she asked.
“I don’t know.” He arched an eyebrow. “Do you like roses?”
“I…” She bit her lip. “I’ve always loved them. I used to be a horticulturist, working on cross-breeding flowers to produce stronger strains. Roses were my specialty.”
“Well, there you are then.” Aodhan frowned a little, as though something had just occurred to him. “Wait. ‘Used’ to be a horticulturist? Why would you give up something so clearly fundamental to your soul?”
“I had to change career after Kevin was born. The hours were too long, and the work too unpredictable. It wasn’t compatible with being a single parent.” She shook her head, baffled as to why he’d asked. “But that’s not important. What are we going to do about all these flowers?”
Aodhan’s gaze lingered on her for a moment before he returned his attention to the problem at hand. “Well, lovely as they are, I have to say that they’re making it damned inconvenient to get to the bathroom. Since I don’t keep a hacksaw under my pillow, perhaps you would be so kind as to clear a path?”
Cathy looked helplessly round at the thicket she’d made. “Can’t you get rid of them with your magic?”
Aodhan clicked his tongue. “I could attempt to transform these back into energy, but to be honest I’d rather not work fairly major magic before my first cup of tea. And it’s always cursed tricky to undo someone else’s spell. Let’s see what you can do first. Here, this might help.”
He held out a hand to her—his left hand, with the glowing green mark around the wrist. Her mark.
After a second of hesitation, Cathy took his hand. As their fingers touched, the bonds around both their wrists pulsed. A quick, searing tingle shot through her whole body. She gasped, and there were suddenly a lot more roses.
“Excellent,” Aodhan said without a hint of irony. His fingers tightened on hers. “That proves that it is your magic. Therefore, you can control it. Try again. Just like that, only the exact opposite.”
Cathy swallowed, trying to ignore the heat of his touch. She closed her eyes, desperately summoning up the least sexy mental images she could conjure. Tax returns. The horrible dental hygiene models at work. Her ex-husband—
“Very good,” she heard Aodhan say. “See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”
Cathy cracked open an eye, and discovered that the roses had disappeared, stems and all. Only a faint, lingering trace of their honeyed scent showed they had ever been there in the first place.
She quickly released Aodhan’s hand before she could accidentally fill the room with something even worse. “This kind of thing won’t keep happening after you undo the spell linking our auras, right? I’ll go back to my normal self?”