“Don’t worry,” Trina says. “You’re both a lot better at this than me, so there doesn’t have to be any competition here.”
“Aw, you’ll get there, Auntie Trina,” Cassie says, hurrying over to hug Trina. “I believe in you!”
“Thanks, kiddo,” Trina replies, wrapping her arms around the little girl and snuggling her to her chest. The warm smile that breaks across Trina’s face seems to make everythingaround her brighter, and time almost stops as I watch the sunlight flickering over her, the gentle breeze lifting her hair into drifting waves.
I wish I could make her smile like that.
“Okay, let’s do this,” Sadie says, clapping her hands. Cassie moves out of the way and Trina squares her shoulders, facing up to Sadie.
“Just like we did before,” Sadie says, holding out her hands with her palms facing Trina. “Tell me what you feel.”
Trina raises her hands and puts her palms up, almost but not quite touching Sadie’s. Sadie closes her eyes, and I feel something—a ripple of magnetism that makes my hair stand on end. I see Trina straighten up and look around, then back at her hands.
“I felt something,” Trina says. “But it came from you. Absolutely nothing came from me.”
“You didn’t feel anything?” Sadie asks, disappointed. “Did your fingers tingle, or feel warm? Did you have a sense of clarity in your mind?”
“No, and no,” Trina says, shaking her head.
“It’s okay,” Cassie says, jumping between them and grabbing Trina’s hands. “There’s magic in you. I can tell!”
She bounces up and down, and Trina gets up to dance with her. I watch her laugh and spin around with Cassie until they fall into a breathless heap, both of them gasping and giggling. The cold knot behind my ribs tightens even further, and an emotion I can’t identify rises in my throat.
I’ve never seen her so happy.
I feel like an asshole for taking that away from her, and it’s only seeing the dramatic shift from what she looked like with me this morning compared to how she looks now that has made it clear to me. When she gets up from the grass and walks back over to Sadie, I’m almost mesmerized by the sight of her, and I don’t know if it’s the bright sunlight or Trina’s dazzling smile that’s making my eyes hurt.
Heat rises inside me, and it quickly overcomes any other emotions. Even though I’ve been captivated by her beauty since the night I took her from her home, suddenly I’m seeing more than just her looks, as if I’m staring into the warmth of her soul. As if up until now, she’s been hiding it from me.
Suddenly, I hear a footstep behind me, and I whirl around with my fists up, my heart pounding crazily in my throat.
“Whoa, there, big fella,” Rhys says. “We come in peace.”
“Rhys?” I ask. “Shane? What are you guys doing here?”
“I came to check in with Sadie,” Rhys answers. “And Shane was just tagging along so we could go pick up his car.”
“It didn’t break down again, did it?” I ask, laughing.
“It did,” Rhys said. “I wish there were an organization I could call. The poor thing is dying of neglect.”
“I’m not a car guy, okay?” Shane grumbles. “We aren’t all savvy like you.”
“Most of us still know to put coolant in it,” I say, giving him a light punch on the shoulder.
“So, how’s it going?” Rhys asks, nodding towards the clearing.
“Oh, I have no idea,” I say. “I only just got here, and I don’t know anything about magic.”
“Neither do I, really,” Rhys says. “I’m not sure how any of this is meant to work, but I hope for the sake of your pack, Trina feels some kind of change today.”
“Hey!”
Cassie charges towards us, leaping into her dad’s arms. Rhys catches her easily and spins around, making an exaggerated roar.
“Got you!” he yells.
“No, I got you!” she squeals.
