“If you don’t block this, I’m making you run laps for the rest of the afternoon,” he warns, and then addswith a smirk, “After, of course, you’ve spilled your deepest, darkest secrets.”
His last comment has my hackles rising, just as he tosses a small ball of destructive energy my way. He’s making sure it’s a visible target, and I appreciate the gesture.
It flies toward me, but I don’t make a move to dodge. Instead, I focus on loosening my grip over my power, letting more of it build up in my hand. The energy is searing hot to the touch, but I don’t pull it back. I don’t even try to throw it.
Sin’s eyes widen when he realizes my plan. “Kitten, don’t!”
But he’s too late. The ball of destructive power is already in front of me, and like the idiot I am, I catch it.
Instinctively, I flinch. I’m expecting to lose my hand, but instead, the red energy fizzles out the moment it touches my power.
Sin is already on me, his horrified eyes taking in every part of me as he searches for injuries. “It didn’t hurt you,” he finally says, turning my palm in his hand.
I grin. “Didn’t even tickle.”
He returns my smile, looking like he’s just won the lottery before apparating back a dozen steps. “Alright, kitten. Let’s see what you’ve got.”
With that, he throws another ball of power at me. This one is faster, and my power surges forth to meet it.
His power dissipates before it ever touches me. Sweat dots my brow from the effort it’s taking to keep the storm locked inside of me, but it does nothing to dampen my excitement.
“Is this you trying? You’re a little slow,” I tease, and a crackling bolt of my power snaps toward him.
Sin’s face lights up, even as he dissipates the threat. “Not even close. Should I stop playing with my food?” He asks, tilting his head to the side.
I smirk, ignoring the different kind of heat that pulses through me. “You might have forgotten, since you’re so old, but usually, if a predator wants to eat his prey, he has to catch it first.”
His eyes flash, and I silently cheer at my comeback. It only lasts a second, though, because in the next heartbeat, he stops holding back. His blows start coming harder and faster. But the more I loosen my grip over my power, the more easily I extinguish his hits.
I’m so focused on my task that I don’t realize how fuzzy my vision is getting. I diffuse another blast of his power, and suddenly the world wavers.
Sin pauses, feeling the shift at the same time I do.
The momentary pause is all it takes for my hyperfocus to break, and suddenly, I feel the way I’ve been burning myself from the inside out.
My control slips.
“Kitten!” Sin yells, but already, the energy crackling along my skin is fracturing, and jagged bolts lash out.
My ears start to ring, and I barely register the red-tinted shield that Sin creates around us. I’m trying to pull back the power, but another surge rips out from me, and this time, it’s met by a blinding flash of red.
Our energies collide, only instead of dissipating, they tangle, spiraling into a lavender storm as each fights for dominance.
Pain continues to rip through me, searing over every fragment of my soul, sharpening the edges. Exhaustion starts to weigh my mind down, and my thoughts drift under the strain.
Distantly, I hear Sin cussing and yelling my name. My gaze shifts, but instead of seeing him, my focus narrows to something above him.
The wards.
Flashbacks of being stuck in the prison and being stuck in my room play through my mind, and rage ignites somewhere deep within me.
I’m in a cage again.
I don’t like cages.
It takes barely a thought before Sin’s energy is completely extinguished. But just as I redirect my energy to the wards, something slams into me and tackles me to the ground. Another bubble encases us, and my power crackles against it.
This shield is stronger than anything else he’s used, but it’s still a fucking cage. I push more of my energy into it, feeling the destructive energy bend.
