The Valley of Lies (Lightkeepers #1)

Chapter THIRTY-THREE: Liss

The abandoned quarry was a valley carved from stone. Liss stood at its center, waiting for her heart to slow its hazardous rhythm. Gray dust covered her shoes and throat and everything in between. Zan lingered at long-range, his back to the tumbled stones they'd climbed down together before she'd asked him to stay back. If this was the epoch of her magic-wielding career, a day she would remember forever, she'd do what she could to prevent hurting him again.

It was overwhelming to harbor such fear and wondrous excitement all tangled together. She supposed the only way to unravel the growing knot of anxiety in her stomach was to get a handle on her power.

"Stay calm and start slow." These had been Zan's instructions before she'd left him at the quarry wall. They'd come out here immediately after separating from Brisa, skipping a tour of camp because of Liss' eagerness to prove herself. "Try to sense your luniya without touching the ground."

"Okay, Zander. Stay here, and I'll give it a shot."

"Right... Sorry."

It was unexpectedly endearing, the way his nose had wrinkled, his gaze darting over her head to where Reis stood on the hill above them. If the older Fex brother hadn't been there, she might have asked him to explain his eyes right then and there.

"If it helps," he'd said, "only people I don't like get to call me that."

"Does that mean you like me? I was starting to worry you were hiding dark secrets."

Liss had chosen that moment to walk away, hiding her trembling hands inside her cloak and wondering what possessed her to say such things. First the bad joke about the river, and then this–? Was she losing it?

She trusted Zan. Really, she did, even though the nagging voice in her head–Dev's voice–urged otherwise. It wasn't like he'd tricked her. She was glad he'd given her his nickname, if that's what he preferred to be called. But there was more to Zan than he let on, and if she was going to risk her life on a quest with him, didn't she at least deserve to know why his eyes changed colors?

Tonight. There would be time to talk alone later. She'd make sure of it. Whatever he wanted to know about her clan and her assumptions about the Fexes, she would tell him. Maybe he'd open up to her in return. But that would all have to wait. There was a more pressing matter to attend to–her magic.

It was still there, the gentlest of tingles, like a whisper of golden light in the back of her mind. It was so much less threatening than the churning waves she'd experienced yesterday. What could she do with it, though? The quarry bed was a barren landscape of straggly weeds and pulverized stone.

Luckily, Zan was far enough away that she felt safe closing her eyes and concentrating. Luniya. Sunlight magic. The description fit the sensation perfectly, as if the heat of the sun itself were channeling through her.

"Good job!" Zan hollered, his voice bouncing off the high stone walls. She would have heard him even if he'd spoken softly, but she welcomed his enthusiastic encouragement.

Had it happened again–was her hair glowing? Like last time, she was afraid to look in case it would stop.

The soles of her feet itched, and her palms grew hot. It wasn't the same burning heat she'd felt in the mountain crevice when she'd hurt herself with a rune, but it was similar enough that she dared to open an eye to investigate. Tiny glowing balls of light, like miniature stars, hovered above her outstretched hands.

What were they–? What was she supposed to do with them?

She lifted her arms and the glowing orbs rose in tandem, never quite touching her hands. They looked benign, but she knew better. They were likely a version of the power she'd inadvertently thrust at Zan.