My training session with Magnus took place in the Academy's combat arena, a circular stone chamber deep underground. Ice covered every surface, and my breath misted in the frigid air.
"Why are we down here?" I asked, wrapping my arms around myself for warmth.
"Because when you lose control of spirit magic, things tend to explode," Magnus replied matter-of-factly. "The ice will contain any… incidents."
"That's reassuring."
He stepped closer, and I caught my breath at the intensity in his pale eyes. "I'm going to teach you about barriers, Luna. How to build them, how to maintain them, and how to tear them down when necessary."
"Okay," I said, trying to ignore how his proximity made my heart race even as the cold made me shiver.
"Close your eyes. Feel for your power, but don't let it out. Just… hold it."
I did as he instructed, immediately sensing the spirit magic humming under my skin. It wanted to reach out, to connect with everything around me, but I tried to hold it back.
"Good," Magnus murmured, and I felt him step even closer. "Now, imagine building walls around it. Ice walls, solid and unbreakable."
His hand touched my shoulder, and I gasped as his ice magic flowed into me—not cold, but cool and calming and incredibly intimate. I could feel his power intertwining with mine, teaching me how to shape barriers from pure will.
"Like this?" I asked, imagining crystalline walls forming around my spirit magic.
"Perfect," he breathed, and his voice was rough with something that wasn't just magical strain.
When I opened my eyes, he was standing so close I could see flecks of silver in his ice-blue irises. For a moment, we just stared at each other, and I wondered what it would feel like to kiss lips that would probably taste like winter storms.
"Magnus," I whispered.
He leaned closer, his hand coming up to cup my cheek, and I shivered at the contrast between his cold touch and the heat building inside me.
"You're extraordinary," he said softly. "And terrifying."
"Terrifying?"
"Because you make me want things I shouldn't want," he admitted. "Things that could get us both in trouble."
"What kind of trouble?"
Instead of answering, he kissed me.
His lips were cold but gentle, and kissing him was like being caught in a beautiful blizzard. Magic sparked between us—his ice and my spirit power creating something entirely new. Frost spread across the floor around us in intricate patterns, beautiful and wild.
When we broke apart, we were both breathing hard.
"That kind of trouble," he said ruefully.
Before I could respond, the arena door burst open and Zephyr stormed in, literally. Wind whipped around him, and his eyes were flashing with electricity.
"The wards around the Academy just spiked," he announced, then stopped short when he saw Magnus and me standing close together, surrounded by magical frost patterns. "What the hell happened here?"
"Training exercise," Magnus said smoothly, stepping back but not before I caught the satisfied look in his eyes.
Zephyr looked skeptical. "Training exercise? It looked like—"
"Like what?" I asked innocently.
His storm-gray eyes narrowed. "Like you two were about to set something on fire. Or freeze it solid. I couldn't tell which."
"Maybe both," I said, and was rewarded by Magnus's quiet laugh.
Zephyr stared at me for a long moment, then shook his head. "You're going to be the death of all of us, aren't you?"
"Probably," I agreed cheerfully.
He muttered something under his breath that sounded like a curse in a language I didn't recognize, but I caught the fond exasperation in his tone.
"Come on," he said finally. "If we're done with ice sculpture, it's time for your storm magic lesson."
As Magnus and I followed him out of the arena, I caught sight of our reflection in an ice-covered wall. We looked like we belonged together—light and dark, fire and ice, mortal and immortal.
The thought should have scared me.
Instead, it felt like coming home.