I was not, however, expecting the water to turn to ice, and I managed to yank my hand away just in time. Stupid power! What a time for it to act up.

Douglas grinned and sped toward me. I whirled to the side in a burst of speed and called on my power. I wasn’t fast enough to evade him, and he grabbed my right arm painfully. Lurching toward the fountain, I ducked to avoid the large icicles hanging from the second tier. Several broke and shattered on the icy surface. Instinct drove me and I grabbed for a long shard of ice, as Douglas jerked me toward him. I let momentum carry me to him and power the strike to his chest.

He shrieked and released me to grab at the icicle protruding from his chest. It took him several seconds to realize it was ice and not silver buried in his heart. His eyes gleamed with triumph when he looked at me. “Nice try, but ice can’t hurt me.”

“Maybe not, but this can.” I grabbed the end of the icicle and sent my power into it. The ice was a perfect conductor, amplifying my power and carrying it straight to the vamhir demon. Douglas didn’t even have time to scream before his heart and demon exploded in his chest. I jumped back as he fell across his dead girlfriend.

“Death by icicle. Very creative.”

I whirled on Eldeorin who stood a few feet away. “You left me! You... you asshole! I could have been killed.”

“Language, Cousin,” he reproached mildly. “I did not leave you. I was merely observing your training.”

“Training? You made me face off against two vampires without any warning. What kind of training is that?”

He raised an eyebrow and waved at the bodies. “The effective kind.”

I crossed my arms. “I got lucky.”

“Nonsense. You performed admirably. I am very proud of you.”

The retort that was on the tip of my tongue died. “You are?”

“Yes. You did well, Cousin.” He gave me a bright smile. “You separated them and took them both out very quickly, and you did it without your Mohiri weapons. The ice was ingenious.”

I decided not to mention that the ice had been an accident.

Eldeorin inclined his head toward the dead vampires. “That was an impressive display of power. How do you feel now?”

I took a moment to do a self-check, and I was pleasantly surprised to find the pressure that had been building inside me for weeks was gone. Also gone were the anxiety and the fear that I would slip and lose control of my power. For the first time since I’d awakened from the healing sleep, my power felt normal, manageable. I told Eldeorin how it felt and he nodded.

“You needed to release your magic without holding back out of fear of hurting your friends. I think you will find your next training with Aine will be better.” He looked quite pleased with himself. “Now, shall we go home? I’m sure your warrior is waiting for your return.”

I pointed to the dead vampires. “Shouldn’t we get rid of them?”

“No. We’ll leave them so the people can see the vampires are dead and their village is safe.” He walked over to me. “If I take you home looking like that, your warrior is not going to be happy.”

“Like what?” I looked down at my clothes and found then splattered with vampire blood. “Exploding vampires is a messy business.”

“So it would seem.” Eldeorin waved a hand and the blood vanished. “Next time we’ll work on your technique.”

“Next time?” My question went unanswered as he took my hand and the village disappeared. A few seconds later, we arrived in my bedroom at the mansion.

“Home sweet home.” Eldeorin wrapped me in a loose hug and kissed my cheek. “Sleep well, Cousin. I will see you soon.”

“I really wish he’d stop doing that,” I grumbled when he disappeared again.

A glance at the clock beside my bed told me I’d been gone no more than forty minutes. It didn’t seem real that I had travelled to Mexico, killed two vampires, and freed a village in less than an hour.

I threw my coat on a chair and went to look for Nikolas. I could only imagine the mood he was in right now. Not that I blamed him. I’d be angry too if some faerie took him away right in front of my eyes.

Voices carried to me from the living room when I reached the top of the stairs.

“They could be anywhere,” Nikolas bit out, leaving no doubt that he was royally pissed.

“He won’t let anything happen to her,” Chris replied calmly.

Nikolas appeared at the bottom of the stairs before I started down them. “Are you okay?” he asked harshly as I descended the stairs.

I gave him a reassuring smile. “Better than okay.”

When I reached him he took my face in his hands. His eyes searched mine and what he saw must have satisfied him. “Where did he take you?” he asked in a softer tone.

I hesitated, unsure what to tell him. I didn’t want to keep secrets from him, but he would freak if he knew what had happened. Based on Eldeorin’s comments, there were going to be more training sessions like this one, and I didn’t want Nikolas worrying every time Eldeorin took me away.

“We went to a place where there were no people around, and he helped me release my power. He said I needed to let it out without worrying about hurting you guys.”

Nikolas dropped his hands. “Did it help?”

“Yes. I almost feel like my old self again.” I laid a hand on his chest. “I’m sorry if you were worried.”

The anger drained from his expression. “You don’t have to apologize.” His hand grazed my cheek and his gaze held mine. It was as if the last forty minutes hadn’t happened, and we were out in the driveway again, returning from our date.