“Oh that.” He frowns, remembering. “They were changing colors. Brown, blue, red. You said it was from your lust demon awakening for the first time.” He leans in and nuzzles my neck. “Did I mention how much I liked red?”
I laugh. “That you did.” Last night during our walk, we’d take breaks and kiss for a while before one of us would say ‘taking it slowly.’ Over time, it turned into (what else) a competition to see how fast Lincoln could get my ‘eyes to spark.’ Hottie Prince pain-in-my-butt. “No less than six times, as I recall.”
He purses his lips. “As long as I’m consistent, that’s what matters.” He looks at me out of his right eye. “Is that why you came here, to ask me that?”
I fidget against the wall. “No, I came here to show you something.”
Lincoln’s face creases with concern. “Okay. What is it?”
My stomach ties into knots. “What if I were different from who you thought I was?”
His voice stays calm, his face unreadable. “Like how, different?”
“What if I became someone who was a risk, a target?” Nervous energy zings through my body. I have the perverse desire to kick a hole in the feasting hall table. “Someone who needs to disappear for a very long time.”
Lincoln moves closer, wrapping his long arms around me. “And you’re afraid of what exactly?”
I close my eyes and snuggle into his shoulder, inhaling his scent of forest pine and leather. My body relaxes. This is what I’ve needed all day long. Here, with him holding me, I feel like I can say anything. “We’ve already got a lot stacked against us, Lincoln. Maybe you’re better off with someone like Adair.”
“Really?” He kisses the top of my head, gently. “Did you know Adair thinks Simia demons are cute?”
I roll my eyes. “You’re lying.”
“I wish.” He slides one hand up my back. “You’re hiding your eyes again, Myla.”
Damn, he is a good hunter.
His fingers entwine with the back of my hood, slowly pulling it away from my face. “I already told you. I like it when your eyes turn red.”
I grit my teeth and steel my shoulders. It takes everything I have just to keep my gaze level with his. Once he understands what I really am, this could be over, big time.
Lincoln’s forehead furrows. “Your eyes are blue.” His mouth thins to an angry line. “Did someone from the House of Striga cast a spell on you? So help me, I’ll—”
“No, it’s not that.”
He cups my face in his hands, his features drawn with worry. “Are you sick?”
“No, nothing like that either.” I open my mouth, ready to tell him I’m the Scala Heir. What comes out is a fragment of the truth. “My father is an angel named Xavier.”
Lincoln’s mismatched eyes stretch wide. “The archangel Xavier? I studied him at the citadel. Greatest warrior in history. Legend says he never loved anything but battle.”
I let out a high-pitched humph. “Until he met my mother.”
“I can see that. If she’s anything like you.” The Prince eyes me carefully for a minute, his face creasing with confusion. “I don’t understand. That would make you—” He swallows. “That’s impossible.”
“I thought so too.” I bite my lips together. How do you convince your kind-of boyfriend that you’re a one-of-a-kind soul-swapping super being?
Only one way, really.
Inhaling deeply, I close my eyes and call the igni to return. At first, their music is tinkling and distant in my mind, then quickly growing rich and loud. Child-like laughter rings in my ears; my mouth quirks with a smile. Having them return is like welcoming an old friend home.
I raise my right palm to shoulder-height and open my eyes. In my mind I know Lincoln is near, but he seems blocked behind a white haze. The skin on my face cools; my irises glow bright blue. Igni materialize around my hand, appearing even faster this time than when I called them in my house. The tiny lightning bolts swirl about my palm before arcing to the ceiling in one great geyser. Once they hit the wooden rafters, the igni bounce and tumble to the floor like so many snowflakes, disappearing before they touch the ground.
I focus on Lincoln. When the haze around him clears, I find he’s standing a few yards away, his face still as stone. I meet his gaze. “Possible or not, I am the next Scala.”
“Myla, I—”
I raise both hands at him, palms forward. “No, I need to say something first. Now that my Scala powers are active, I have to go into hiding. I don’t know when I’ll resurface, if ever. Walker told me about all the things stacked up against us…How the Earl wants you to marry Adair. And I heard what you said to Kamal and Horus before. Unifying the lesser Houses? You’ve got enough to worry about without adding me to the list.” I hug my elbows. Here comes the yucky part. “What I’m saying is, if you want to see someone else, that’s okay with me.” I roll my eyes. What am I saying? “Not that we’re really dating in the first place.”
I’d face-palm myself if it didn’t make me look dumber. That was about the worst speech in the history of ever.