I’d discover where she hoped to go soon.
“You could also use shadows to form a weapon,” I said. “Andwith the right amount of power, it could cut nearly as well as a sharp blade. You could use shadows to block light or absorb energy from someone else.”
Her face stilled and wild panic swept through her eyes. “I'm not draining anyone of their power. Never.”
“You never know when you might—”
“Never. Do you hear me, Lore?Never.”
“Tell me who,” I growled, suspecting herfather'sinvolvement here again.
“As I said, we eliminated that threat already.”
I paused for a tick of time, resisting my urge to form fists, to find a way to raise one particular dead fae king only so I could kill him again. I'd make it special. Even his soul would never forget. “You could use shadows to clean the air. Make the shadows of beasts obey your command.”
“You’re saying I only need to ask the shadows politely, and they’ll do all this for me?”
“Power, Wildfire. It's about giving them the power only you can command and they crave, and in exchange, persuading them to grant you what you need.”
Her posture loosened. “Show me how to call them and give them what they crave.”
“Don't ask for anything you don't truly need and be prepared to pay their price if what you need is vital.”
“My friend's powerful. So is my brother. They don't appear to suffer from using power.”
“I assume you speak of the friend who envisions a well of power for her to tap. Your magic appears subtly different. Ibelieve you'll need to pull in power from around you and use that instead, like we do here.”
“No well brimming with magic?” She sighed. “Somehow, having even a bucket of power at my disposal seems easier than finding it in the air around me. With a bucket, you can scoop it up. In the air? I’ll have to figure out how to gather it then offer it to a shadow to get what I need.”
“Which is why you must practice. Those who wield shadow magic are rare.”
“How rare?”
“I only know of one person who can do so.”
She huffed. “Then maybe they need to be the one teaching me, not you.”
“You willnotbe looking elsewhere for training,” I snarled, shoving off the wall and dropping my fists to my sides. “OnlyIwill train you.” Her lashes flickered at the challenge in my voice, but I held her gaze steady.
“You're not the very fates themselves, Lore,” she said. “There are others out there who are better than you at a lot of things.”
I stomped over and gripped her shoulders, though loosely, and stared into her eyes. “There is no one out there who’s better than me.”
“No touch, remember? I don’t recall begging.” She shrugged me off and eased away. “There’s no one else out there with your ego, either, but you need to set that aside—ifyou can—or I won’t work with you.”
A growl ripped through me. “I’ll try.”
Her mouth curved into a delicious smile. “You nearly broke it, but it wasn’t a true favor.”
“It’s almost the same thing.”
“Except it isn’t.”
I shrugged, not committing to anything. “Look at shadow wielding as if you’re making a trade, and the skill will serve you well.”
“The obsidian stone’s glow also suggested I could use nullification. What does that entail?”
“That skill is also very rare. I don’t know anyone who can wield that magic.”
