"Thank you," I said.
"Go ahead," she said.
I looked at the candles. "Just like that? Just light them?"
"You're a mage with a fire affinity. You don't just light them, you command them," she said.
I wasn't feeling very much in command of anything at the moment, but those candles were starting to feel like a taunt. Like they were judging me. And I had just about enough of that for today.
Reaching within, I felt for the spark of my magic. It came to me quicker now that it was easier to recognize. It was as if the time spent without it had helped me to realize what I'd missed. I suppose it had always been there with me, even when I didn't know what it was. It wasn't until it was stripped from me that I even knew what to look for.
Pulling from that source, I went on instinct, reaching my right hand out in front of me toward the candles. I wanted them all to light up. Not explode, just flicker on.
Tempering the urge to throw everything I had at the candles, I held my breath, holding back on the magic and sending a small portion of it. Somehow, I was able to control it better now.
The candles in front of me flickered to life, a dozen dancing flames winking back at me all at once.
I dropped my hand and laughed at the sight. It was amazing that something so simple sent such a huge rush of joy through me.
"Well, it seems that you've found your magic. And you've gained some control." Professor Halifax stood behind the candles, looking down at them. Then she looked up at me. "You didn't by chance find a partner you bonded with, did you?"
More questions about my sex life? "Maybe."
"You must have more fae blood than I gave you credit for," she said. "I know you were raised human, where talking about these things seems taboo, but it's normal for us. Most mages don't form mating bonds, that's the fae side that's bonding with someone else."
"What does that have to do with my magic?" I asked.
"Aside from helping it find its way back to you, mating bonds are a unique kind of magic in their own right. When you open that source of magic, you strengthen your base magic. In your case, your elemental mage magic."
"What if I have more than one mate?" I asked.
She lifted an eyebrow. "Then I'd say you are about to become a very, very powerful mage."
I thought back to Dr. Green and Ms. Obscura discussing the practice trials. "Do you think I can pass the practice trials?"
"If you work on your magic over the next few weeks, it's possible you'd be ready to pass the actual trials," she said.
"In weeks?" I was surprised that she thought I could learn that quickly.
"You have an advantage that others don't with your time magic," she said. "And before you object, hear me out. Learning to use it in subtle ways is going to help you learn to not accidentally unleash it. You have to be able to tame it and control it."
"How?"
She sighed. "I suppose you'll have to keep working with me. But this can't go anywhere else. Nobody can know."
"What if I get caught?" I wasn't keen on risking a trip to prison. "I've got a parole officer breathing down my neck."
"Like I said, you either learn how to control it in small, undetectable ways, or you eventually lose control and end up in prison anyway."
When she put it like that, it didn't sound like I had much of a choice. "What am I supposed to tell people?"
She shrugged. "That's your call." She walked toward the door and opened it, holding it for me. "I'll see you tomorrow after dinner, Ms. Winters."
During our short session, I went from thrilled that my magic was back to crushed and overwhelmed. There were so many things to consider and so many ways this could go wrong.
I walked down the hall, absorbed in my own thoughts. What was I going to tell Luka or Ben? What would I tell the twins? They'd all want to know. Then there was Makayla who'd been cheering me on the whole time. And Violet and all the shifters I ate lunch with. They'd all want to know about my magic and wonder why I was still in sessions.
Professor Halifax had a point, though. I had no control of the time magic. While I'd somehow developed at least enough control of fire to not light myself on fire, I didn't have any clue how to tap into the time magic, let alone control it.