Once we’ve ebbed back into silence, he gives me a measured look, like he’s trying to decide whether to say something or not.

“Go ahead, Raze,” I say with a sigh, a grin still twitching the corners of my mouth. “I’m not completely clueless. I can tell you’re thinking something.”

He still hesitates, lips quirking like he can’t decide whether he’s amused or not. Just when I think he’s going to ignore me, he says, “You really can’t control it?”

I stare into the fire until my eyes start to water, mouth pressed tightly shut. A crack in the distance draws my eyes up to the faint silhouettes of Isolde and Olani, attacking each other furiously.

“You’re...very good,” Raze says, more genuinely than he’s ever spoken to me before. “It flows through you so easily.”

I tilt my head. “What does?”

He seems surprised. “Magic. It... What do you know about it?”

My eyes slide over to him then, glowering. Paired with the shine reflecting off them, I imagine it’s a very spooky effect. “I don’t really need to be insulted, you know.”

“No! I didn’t mean...” He reaches out and touches my arm gently. I jerk away immediately. “I was actually asking.”

“You just really sound like such an ass, Raze. Without even trying.” I mean it, but a smile still finds its way briefly onto my face.

He scoffs, but I swear so rarely that he can’t help the surprised delight creeping over his face. “Yes, and you’d never do anything to offend anyone.”

This actually does feel like friendly teasing. I don’t know where to go from there. In the silence, I scoot closer to the fire, hands held out to warm my stiff fingers.

“Enchanters aren’t the source of our own magic,” Raze says abruptly. “Just so you know. We’re just able to...sort of...channel power. It comes from the faerie realms. Seelie or Unseelie. Depends which well you prefer to draw from.”

“Oh.” I keep staring at my fingertips, outlined by blazing orange light. I can almost imagine my left palm burning like a brand, even though I know it isn’t any hotter than the other hand. “Good to know.”

“Yours seems to come from the Seelie Realm naturally, but it’s like your pull is so strong, both realms want to answer at once,” he adds. I think I detect a hint of envy in his voice, but that can’t be right. “There’s only a certain amount of power anyone can draw on before they start to strain themselves, stealing magic they aren’t meant to have. That’s when the really nasty prices usually kick in. But you... It’s like...it jumps to meet you, before you even have to call.”

How could he possibly know that’s what it feels like? “That’s right,” I say, surprised. “It’s awful. I don’t know...what I’m capable of. And it’s terrifying.”

A line of golden firelight cups Raze’s face, outlining the soft, round form of his broad shoulders and torso, flickering in unison with his expression before he speaks. “I could teach you a little,” he offers. “At least, the theory of it.”