Page 41 of Sent To A Fantasy World and Now All the Men Want Me 7

I downed it in one go.

And then gagged. “You lied to me. That tasted like flowers and soap. Not soothing at all. Blech. It’s still on my tongue. I need to wash out my mou…”

A heaviness came over my body, slowly pressing down on every muscle and bone.

She smirked. “Feel better?”

Everything seemed to move in slow motion. I nodded to her before looking at Briar and smiling. I blinked. My lids weighed a ton.

“Essence of lavender, chamomile, some honey, and a touch of calming magic,” Phantasia told Briar as she placed her hand on my head. “I can give you the potion formula should you ever wish to use it on him too. See how calm he is now?”

Briar laughed.

I got the feeling I was being teased, but I felt too awesome to care. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been so relaxed, not even last night when drunk. This was on another level. Hell, Salem could come flying over and land on my head, flapping his monstrous wings and threatening me with his pointy beak of doom, and I wouldn’t have a care in the world.

“Allow me to begin.” Phantasia kept her hand on the top of my head and closed her eyes. Warmth seeped from her palm, and an odd sensation traveled from my scalp and down my body, settling in my feet.

I wiggled my toes. The weighted pressure around me was like a comforting blanket.

“Raw magic flows through your veins, little human,” Phantasia said, her eyes still closed. “Stronger than anything I’ve ever felt.”

“That’s what Reign told him.” Briar watched her work, arms crossed and one hand lifted to his mouth. “He sensed Evan’s magic even when his powers were still dormant.”

“I can see why. The magic sings in his blood. A constant hum just waiting to be unleashed.” She opened her eyes and examined my face. “But there’s a block preventing it from doing so.”

“A block?” Briar asked.

The demon nodded. “To put it simply, whether conscious of it or not, Evan is resisting his powers. Fighting against them. That resistance has caused a barrier within his mind, holding them at bay.”

“I see.” Briar looked at me and softly smiled. “And you call our captain stubborn.”

“Question.” I raised my hand. Or tried to. I was so relaxed that my muscles felt like they were full of lead. “Is it possible for me to just… keep the lid on the magical chest closed? Maybe slap the lock back into place. Add a second padlock for backup.”

“No,” Phantasia answered, lightly probing my temples with her fingertips. “You won’t be able to suppress this level of power forever. There will come a day when you reach your threshold, and these powers will break through your mental barrier and surge forward. I suggest not waiting for that day to come.”

“Why not?” I asked.

“The more you try to bury them, the more unstable they’ll be when the lid to that chest is finally pried open.” She withdrew her hands from me and placed them on her hips instead. “And I promise that when it does, it will be much greater than a mere explosion of flames in the throne room hearth.”

“Understood.” I swallowed hard, feeling a tinge of anxiety return. The potion must be wearing off. “So, resistance really is futile.”

Because of course it was. Fate wouldn’t give me an awesome loophole like that.

“I regret to say that seems to be the case.” Briar rested his hand at my nape and lightly massaged. I loved how he always touched me when close, almost like it was done subconsciously. “But you won’t do this alone. We’ll all be by your side.”

“You better.” I smiled. It felt a bit lopsided.

“As will I,” Phantasia told me. “Starting with me helping you remove that mental barrier keeping your powers subdued.”

“Will it hurt?” I asked as another tingle of anxiety poked at my chest. Yep. The Evan-calming potion was definitely wearing off. Mentally, anyway. My muscles hadn’t gotten the memo yet and still felt sluggish.

“Physically, no.” She patted my head before stepping over to the cabinet of curiosities, aka, the place where all the jars of unknown substances were kept. “However, it can be quite taxing for the mind and heart. Agonizing, in some cases.”

“How so?” Briar’s hold on me tightened.

“Emotions play a vital role in how magic manifests,” she explained as she dug around inside the cabinet. “Fears. Trauma. Grief. Only by facing what he’s repressed can he truly gain enlightenment and harness his powers. It will require Evan to look inside his own mind and explore all the dark places he’s buried deep down.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound fun,” I said as a fresh wave of nerves went rampant in my belly. “Are we, um, doing that now?”