chapter Twenty-Two
Colm kept his pace even as he led the way downstairs. He hoped she hadn’t seen their tension. He ran his hand through his hair and tried to ease the strain out of his shoulders. She hadn’t gone to her haven. Of all the problems he’d thought they might have with her, that wasn’t one of them. The magic should have sent her straight to the place they’d created.
The explanation they’d given her was plausible, but there were so many unknowns with her. Was it the strange magic within her that stopped it? He knew she was his mate. He didn’t have a doubt about that. He’d tasted it, but maybe the fact that she wasn’t fully claimed had something to do with it. They needed to find the chatar. That place was for Cami’s protection. The haven was an area to find pleasure with their mate as well as her refuge, but he wanted the peace of mind of her having that completely separate place to shelter when there was danger.
They made their way to the chatar’s library. They didn’t have any answers for this. Hopefully, he did. Although they weren’t under attack, the false Ardin had hurt her already. She was in danger. She didn’t have what they wanted and they’d try to do it again. He wanted her to have that haven in case the two men managed to get close to her. She needed somewhere they wouldn’t be able to follow her. Until they worked through whatever was keeping her out of her haven, that wouldn’t be possible.
The chatar opened the door for them when they knocked and stepped back almost immediately. Maybe he’d seen something on their faces. Colm was just glad he didn’t ask any questions. He didn’t want to get into any explanations out here. After the door closed behind them, he walked over and took one of the chairs at the long table. Vin glided over to the table and sat. He put his hand on the book in front of him and simply looked at them, waiting.
“She didn’t go to her haven.” Linc put his elbows on the table and rolled his shoulders, but little of the tension left his body.
Vin straightened in his chair and frowned. “You tried to send her there and she didn’t go. Was there any kind of magical reaction that you could tell?”
“No magic that we could tell, but she felt it and knew that something was supposed to happen.” Colm thought back to what had happened. Normally, that type of magic was so light that it was almost unnoticeable unless there was a drastic change, which there would have been if she actually went to their haven.
“She could tell.” Vin nodded. He tapped his fingers on the page under his hand for a moment. “I think everything should work out eventually.”
“How long will it take until we can make sure she has somewhere safe to go? What happened?” Colm didn’t want her to be so exposed and vulnerable. He knew he wouldn’t be able to relax until she was able to escape to that place if danger approached.
“I don’t know. I think part of the difficulty is because you haven’t fully claimed her, but there’s also her magic. While she’s not the only woman with a high level of magic, most of them grew up with it and learned to control it. It scares her.” Vin grimaced and shut the book carefully.
“You think her magic might have something to do with the reason we couldn’t send her to her haven?” Linc tilted his head and frowned.
Colm got up and paced, unable to stay still as the agitation built. “How are we supposed to work around that? We can’t do anything to her magic. She’s learning to control it, but even that’s going to take time.”
“I’m not saying you should do anything about her magic. If I’m right, it’s something that she unconsciously does anytime she encounters magic. In a way, just as someone who’s been hit flinches whenever a hand is lifted, she instinctively tries to shield herself. Her nervousness and fear are probably causing it. You’re going to have to get her accustomed to your magic.” Vin shrugged and leaned back in the chair. “Even if you do nothing, it will eventually work itself out.”
“Not soon enough. Laed and Kynar are after her.” Linc muttered and shoved back from the table. He stalked to the door and back to the table. “Get her accustomed to our magic. It isn’t going to be easy. As big a step as she took today, she’s not ready to fully trust us. I think that’s what you really mean.”
Colm held back a growl, but couldn’t stop his hands from clenching into fists. She didn’t trust them or even her own magic. He couldn’t really blame her after what happened to her.
“She’ll have to trust your magic. Do you think you can get her to accept the touch of your magic? Once she relaxes enough to accept that, you should be able to get her there. I can’t be sure if she’ll be able to go there herself if she’s nervous or afraid. This precise situation hasn’t happened before. The only other time that I know of where a female didn’t go to her haven, she knew magic and she blocked it herself.” Vin rose from his chair and strode over to Colm. He gently grasped Colm’s shoulder.
“She’s afraid of losing control of her own magic. It’s not going to be easy to get her trust our magic.” Colm took a deep breath. He wasn’t going to give up, but he knew that she was going to have a few problems relaxing around magic.
“Show her that magic can be fun and that she doesn’t have to hold onto her magic so tightly. Let her know how much pleasure she can have from it. You might try it one at a time at first. Teach her to reciprocate. It will give her more control over her power,” Vin offered with a smile.
Colm looked at Linc as the chatar’s words hit him. Show her that she can have pleasure from magic. He was an idiot. He should have thought of that. It might help her relax around their magic. At the very least, she’d learn the feel of it. They’d have to discuss how to go about introducing her to it, but it was a starting point. He didn’t want to wait too long, but knew they’d have to wait until later tonight.
Linc nodded and smiled. Colm could tell he was already thinking of ways to introduce her to the sexy side of magic. Colm had some definite ideas about that himself, but they could discuss it later.