“Do not worry. I have not pried.”I can feel her laughter vibrating inside me. It’s an odd feeling.“Too much.”
Define too much?I onlythinkthe words, testing whether or not she can hear me inside my own head.
“Enough to know who you are. Where you come from. And where you are now.”
“Oh, is that all?”I tap my foot on the ground, feeling more than aggravated by this invasion of privacy, an invasion I didn’t even realize was happening.
“And that, maybe, you’re not all too honest with yourself about your feelings where the prince is concerned.”
“It’s rude to spy.” I cross my arms, my teeth grinding at the knowledge that Theo had just said the very same thing to me.
“Says the girl who ogled the prince while hidden behind a vent.”
My fists clench, mainly because she has a point, but also because I wasnotogling him.
“You have nothing to fear from me, Fire Wielder. I have simply been trying to communicate with you. I did not mean to see things you did not wish for me to see, and I can teach you how to shield your mind so that others cannot do the same. My only request is that you do not lock me out. At least, not entirely.”
“Why?”
“To be truthful, I’ve never actually communicated with a Pyroflame before, and I find myself quite curious about this connection we’ve formed.”
“Really?” I ask, a bit surprised. Essentari may be rare, but I still expect to meet others who are like me, or at the very least, communicate telepathically with them. “Where are you from?”
“It doesn’t matter where I’m from. It only matters where I am.”She hums, and it’s truly a beautiful sound.
“Okay,” I say, my voice growing more annoyed by the second. “Where are you?”
“On my way to you.”
Chapter 19
Serafina
My fingers glide through my wet hair as I continue to work the soap through my slick strands, focusing on not just how good it feels but also on Nyxa’s current lesson.
“How will you ever learn to properly shield your mind if you keep allowing yourself to get so distracted?”
I let out a short laugh.
“I needed a shower, Nyxa. This is called multitasking.”I stop touching my scalp but refuse to get out of the warm water. “Okay, so repeat step number two.”
“Step number two?”She gasps, as if I couldn’t have insulted her more. “We wereon step three.”
Hmm, I suppose we were.
Step one: Focus on feeling your mind as an object. Visualize it with edges, as something that can be physically grasped.
Step two…shit.
What was step two?
“Serafina!”she reprimands.“This is important!”
“Okay, okay. I’m sorry. You’re right. Multitasking was a bad idea.”
I turn off the water, grab the towel hanging on the hook, and start patting my hair dry.
“Step two,”she huffs, “is to reinforce those edges. Now that you can touch them, how can you strengthen them?”
