10
Gabriel
“You’re late,”Ryu complained as I walked in the door, but there was the usual good-natured sparkle in his dark eyes. “Were you and Dante up to naughty activitiesagain?”
“When aren’t we?” I replied with a roll ofmyeyes.
He chuckled. He offered me a cup of tea, as he always did. “He’s not here today,ishe?”
“No. He went baby clothes shopping with Ruby,” I told him. “Ruby insisted on going with him, lest he pick out something ugly. And probably so that he doesn’t buy one million outfitsatonce.”
Ryu nodded. “Yes, it was good of Ruby to do that. Dante would probably try to secretly dress up your baby in outfits that his favorite bookcharacterswear.”
“Tell me about it,” I said with a playful groan. “He’s already probably thinking of how to name the baby after a book protagonist orsomething.”
We had a laugh at Dante’s expense, then Ryu clapped his hands together. “So. Have you been practicing your magic skills at home?” heasked.
I shrugged. “As much as I can. Like the breathing exercises and trying to notice it around me andstuff.”
All of my training so far had been basics, but before the weekend Ryu had mentioned wanting to teach me more advanced skills soon. Ever since Dante had told me about his omega-father, my drive to learn magic had intensified. I wanted to be strong in my own right, like he said. But I also wanted Dante to be reassured that I could defendmyself.
“Good,” Ryu said. “You’ve done well so far for a shifter who wasn’t raised among magic, and doesn’t have the natural gift that dragons do. I want to try and see if you can dip your feet into elementalmagic.”
“What’s that?” Iasked.
“It’s your natural elemental affinity. Dante’s is fire, and mine is water. That’s why fire magic comes easily to him, and water to me.” He looked me over and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “If I had to guess, I would think as a wolf your natural element would be earth.Maybeair.”
I rubbed my arm. Sensing energies and being able to see the barrier was one thing, but what Ryu was talking about seemed like it was on a whole other level. “Can I evendomagiclikethat?”
“I’ve heard of a few non-dragons being able to do elemental magic, yes,” Ryu said. He smiled. “And we’ll never know until we try. What doyousay?”
I nodded. “Let’sdoit.”
Ryu disappeared into the back room and returned with a pot of soil. He reached out and put a single seed in my hand and gestured to the dirt. I blinked,confused.
“What am I supposed to do?” Iasked.
“Plant the seed, and try to feel the energy of the soil,” he saidsolemnly.
I did as he said, burying the seed deep into the pottedearth.
Closing my eyes and shutting out the world, I tried to focus on the soil surrounding the seed. I sensed clay, mulch, moisture… and life within the seed itself. I thought of my own baby, growing inside me the way the seed was growing within the soil. I poured my feelings into the pot in my hands while imagining the growth of both my baby and the seed. I channeled hope, love and kindnessuntil-
Ryu gasped. “Oh,Gabriel!”
It broke my concentration. My eyes snappedopen. “What?”
“Look!” Ryu gestured down. When I looked at the soil, I gasped too. Poking out of the top layer of soil was a tiny greensprout.
“Did I do that?” I askedincredulously.
Ryu’s eyes were wide. “Yes! It wasamazing!”
I couldn’t believe it. “Are you sure you didn’t exchange the pots or something when my eyes wereclosed?”
Ryu chuckled. “No, I promise. This wasallyou.”
I stared at the baby sprout, feeling overwhelming affection for a plant, of all things. It must have been thehormones.
