Unbound: The Cursed Trilogy, Book One by Betty Legend (small books to read .txt) 📕

SELENE

Traveling into the forest, I’m excited about what I’ll see today. The market square isn’t as festive, but it’s still busy with shoppers gathering food and supplies. Griffin leads me farther into the forest, where the trees are thicker and the flowers more prevalent. After walking a while, we come into another clearing, and I’m astonished at the sight. There’s a generous pond, and along the rocks are sparkling tiny creatures with wings. As they move their wings, the sun catches them and they glisten like jewels. Several dive into the water, emerge, flitter to the rocks, and use their tiny, green hands to wipe the water off their iridescent wings.

“What are they doing?”

“Bathing,” Griffin explains.

“They’re adorable!”

My loud voice must carry. One tilts its head, squeaks, then flies around my head and sits on my shoulder. It scratches behind its ear with its lengthy leg, then proceeds to wipe water off its wings and use my shirt as a towel. I can’t stop smiling.

“They’re so cute.”

As I talk, the pixie’s pointy ears perk up.

“Does it understand me?”

“No, they don’t understand English, but they are friendly and playful.”

“What do they do?”

“They spread pixie dust to flowers and create a sweet nectar kind of like honeybees.”

The little pixie squeaks again, perking one ear up and the other down, then flies away. Squatting down, I watch the pixie’s bathe and zoom around, squeaking as they go. Once finished, they flutter around my head, then zoom into a hole in a tree.

Smiling ear to ear, I remember how I’ve dreamed of a beautiful place like this. As I laugh, my hands glow with turquoise light.

“Griffin, Cyrus, what do I do now?”

Griffin puts his palms out, and his essence swirls above them.

“Touch my hands.”

I place my hands in his and feel an energy pull between us.

“Are you doing that?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“I’m willing my energy to pull at yours, drawing it out.”

“Use your thoughts to control your magic. Will it to do what you want,” Cyrus adds.

“I… I don’t know what I want it to do.”

“That’s okay. Remember what this moment feels like, how it feels to yield the magic. Let go of Griffin’s hands, then try to bring it back.”

Griffin breaks contact, and the pressure in my hands fades and the glow with it.

Looking up at Griffin, Cyrus, the pixie’s tree, and all the glorious flowers and greenery around us, I smile, feeling joy.

Using that emotion, I think of the turquoise glow and watch in fascination as it reappears in my hands. My eyes widen, and I wave them out, then in, the ethereal glow staying with my hands. Griffin moves between my arms, places his hands on my face, and kisses me. My hands wrap around his shoulders as I indulge in the pleasure of his kiss. When he pulls back, the turquoise glow has expanded up my arms.

“So, I do make you happy.”

I roll my eyes at him and smile. “I think you already knew that.”

“I had to be sure.” He flashes me that adorable dimple, and I laugh.

There’s a pained expression on Cyrus’s face when I look at him, leaving me wondering the cause. He quickly erases his expression, rubbing his finger and thumb over his facial hair.

“You did great, Selene. Can you do it again?”

“I’ll try.”

“Close your eyes and think of something that makes you happy.”

When I do, I think of my father telling me bedtime stories, my paintings and how it feels to pass the brushstrokes over the canvas, and the joy of seeing a work completed. Pressure builds all over my body, and when I open my eyes, the turquoise glow is swirling around me like Griffin’s essence when he made love to me.

Overwhelmed by the pressure of the magic and with what I’m capable of, fear seizes me, and the turquoise glow fades away.

Griffin takes my hand. “Don’t be afraid of it. It’s a part of you, just like your talent for painting.”

His words soothe my nerves, and the turquoise glow returns. I imagine the magic surrounding him, bringing him closer, and the bright glow lifts into the air, swirling and traveling chaotically. As it surrounds Griffin, he watches it, then laughs as it forces him forward, bringing him close enough for me to kiss him.

“Seems someone is a quick study.”

“What all can I do with my magic?”

“The options are limitless,” Cyrus answers. “But when it comes to water magic, it’s fluid and moving. That kind of magic moves things and controls them.”

“Interesting. So, where to next?”

“We’ll continue north.” Griffin throws a thumb over his shoulder. “There’s more for you to see.”

Griffin and Cyrus take several steps, and I hold out my hands, imagining the magic surrounding their feet and holding them in place. They jolt in response to the sudden pressure on their feet. They look down at my magic glowing around their ankles, then back at me, their mouths quirked.

“Very quick study,” Cyrus says to Griffin.

Chuckling, I close my palms and release the energy. The glowing swirls evaporate, and Griffin comes back and takes my hand in his.

“Well done.”

We continue on a dirt path through the forest until we reach another clearing with farmhouses and fences. Rushing up to one, I point at the white pony with wings.

“Is that a Pegasus?”

“It’s a descendent of one,” Cyrus tells me, taking the spot next to me along the fence. “Pegasi used to be grand and magnificent, but having to remain in hiding, the species has evolved and bred into a smaller horse with smaller wings. It can’t fly anymore.”

“That’s so sad.”

As the mini-Pegasus trots over to our fence row, Griffin appears at my side with a devotion fruit held out in his palm. The winged horse nibbles it off his hand, then whinnies as though it’s thankful.

Placing my hand out, I wait for it to sniff me. Once it does, it pushes its head into my hand to be petted.

“He likes you.” Cyrus’s sparkling hazel eyes meet mine, and I notice the same kind of shimmer in his eyes