Kael flashed her his dimples. “Much.”
Effie rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Lucian, who managed to successfully hide his amusement behind a look of polite inquiry.
“What would you like to know?”
“You told me once that the Triumvirates’ runes help contain their power. If a Guardian’s power is the same thing, shouldn’t I have runes, too?”
“What makes you think you don’t?”
Effie held out her clearly unmarked arms, looking from them back to the Guardians. “Wouldn’t I like . . . feel them or something?”
Lucian gave her one of his enigmatic smiles. “What do you remember of the transformation?”
Her brows dipped as she thought back. “Not much, really. The sense of floating and then you telling me to fill the vessel—I’m guessing my body was the literal vessel.”
Lucian gestured to himself and then each of the other Guardians in turn. “Our physical forms are a manifestation of how we remember ourselves before the change.”
“So I don’t really look like this anymore?” Effie asked with a frown as she looked down at her body.
“You do, because that is the form that you chose,” Nord interjected.
“I’m sorry, was that supposed to be an explanation?” Effie asked, her voice deceptively sweet.
Lucian was still laughing when he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “What do Guardians do, Effie?”
She blinked up at him, feeling like she was back in school and had just found out there was a test she’d forgotten to study for. “Uh . . . guard?”
Kael folded in two, his laughter coming in snorts. “She’s not wrong,” he said.
Effie crossed her arms. “You know, when you guys referred to me as your little sister, I didn’t realize that meant I had actually acquired a bunch of annoying older brothers.” Despite the peevish cast of her voice, the thought actually warmed her. It was nice to have a family in more than name.
Lucian tugged on the end of one of her curls. “You better not be referring to me.”
She raised a brow. “You may not be brotherly, but you are certainly annoying.”
“As long as we have that sorted,” he replied with a wink that had her stomach turning to jelly.
“I wasn’t trying to be vague,” Nord said, once he managed to stop laughing. “Nor was Lucian, believe it or not.”
“That’s a first.”
Nord gave her an indulgent smile. “I think you’re confusing us with our alter egos.”
“Is there really that much of a difference?”
Between one breath and the next, Nord transformed into Mirror Two, his body lengthening and navy runes breaking out along his pale flesh. “You tell me.”
Effie blinked up into the twin pools of black that had once been his eyes, her heart beating erratically in her chest. “Mother’s tits, I’d forgotten how unsettling you three were.”
“Even me?” Lucian’s question rang through her mind.
Effie spared him a glance, her expression softening. “I didn’t notice the surface as much with Smoke. He was just my friend.”
Lucian’s eyes grew heated, but there wasn’t a chance to say more.
Nord released his illusion and shrugged. “You have to admit it’s an effective visage.”
Effie shook her head. Effective really wasn’t the word she’d use.
“When we are reborn into our power, there’s a moment when we exist outside of any physical trappings. That was the feeling of floating you experienced. As the final part of our transition we choose the form that will contain our power, our body, if you will. Naturally, we return to what we know, although it is possible that we can make modifications—transformation is at the heart of our power, after all.”
Her head was starting to hurt. “So did any of you make modifications?”
The men shook their heads.
“Why mess with perfection?” Kael asked, unable to keep a straight face.
Effie let a ripple of begrudging amusement flicker through their link as she asked, “Can I really change my appearance?”
“Don’t go getting any ideas,” Lucian said in her mind, his eyes narrowing.
“You can create the illusion of any form you choose, and that is what everyone else would see, but the core elements of who you are will never change,” Nord said.
“So you’re saying I’ll always be short?” she asked, making a face.
Lucian laughed. “Don’t be so disappointed. I happen to think you’re the perfect size.”
Effie gifted him with a smile. “But what does any of this have to do with runes?”
“All magic leaves a trace, even ours. Our runes are the evidence of our transformation from human to Guardian.”
“Although,” Kael interjected, “they have the added benefit of allowing us to maintain a physical form.”
The image of locks on a chest appeared in her mind, and for a second she wasn’t sure if the analogy was her own, or gifted to her from one of her fellow Guardians. “I guess you were telling the truth when you told me the runes contained your power,” Effie murmured, glancing back to Lucian.
“I may not have always been able to tell you the entire truth, but I did my best to never outright lie,” he said with a small smile.
She stared at her completely human-looking arm, giving it a little shake. “So where are they?”
Lucian ran a tanned finger down her arm. “Use your power and see.”
It took a second for his words to register over the tingles racing up her skin. Blinking a few times to clear her mind, Effie closed her eyes and inhaled. When she opened them once more, the world was bathed in shimmering gold.
Lucian moved to stand behind her. He wasn’t touching her, but his body radiated heat, which enveloped her as he leaned forward to whisper in her ear. It was distracting enough that her vision flickered, the world of light momentary replaced with its mundane counterpart.
“You’re not helping,” she muttered, fighting for focus.
“Yes, I am,” he purred. “You’re just not concentrating.”
More tingles followed his words. Will I ever stop being so affected by him? she wondered, sucking in a shaky breath.
“I hope not,” he replied, startling her.
“I really need to learn to control that better.” Lucian’s low chuckles caused her stomach to clench. “Ass.”
He only laughed harder and ran his palms down each of her arms. “Focus, fledgling.”
This time she was able to mostly ignore his presence as she looked around the room with her Guardian-enhanced vision. Now the breathless feeling in her chest was caused by the beauty that filled her eyes and not the man standing behind her. Nord and Kael glowed like twin beacons from their post by the door. She couldn’t help but smile as her eyes moved over them.
It was incredible, this ability. The world was not comprised of shapes and colors, but of pure, radiating light. Even so, she could discern each individual item in the room. The threads of life that ran through objects such as the bookcase or bed might be dim in comparison, but they were no less spectacular for it. It was the difference between the white-hot blaze of the sun during midday, or the almost silvery glow of the moon at night, and every shade in between.