Luna pats my leg, and I take another sip of coffee.
“I think you should call her up and pencil in a time to start slow. It’s a huge adjustment for you, having active powers, but who better to help than a fellow witch? She knows exactly what you’re going through. You said it yourself.”
Blowing a breath out of my nose, I give her a small smile. “I guess you’re right, oh wise one.”
Luna flips hair over her shoulder with a grin. “I might not be as crusty as Valen and Zavier, but I do know a thing or two in my young age.” She sticks her tongue out and crinkles her nose.
I almost laugh at her verbiage choice ofyoung ageas an immortal being. But I guess considering she was turned in the early 2000s, that does make her young as far as vampires go.
“It would make me feel better if I could channel these powers into something helpful. Right now, we’re sitting ducks. If I recreated what I did in the tunnel but more controlled, I think we’d have a fighting chance, but who knows if that’s even possible. The bottom line is Valen is still being hunted by the sick fucks who held him captive, and I want to be able to protect him.” I sigh and down the last of the contents in my cup. I’ll feel caffeine jitters later at work. Or maybe it’s because a plan is formulating in my head and I feel more inspired and energized than I have in days. I can’t keep burying my head in the figurative sand. If I’m going to help my mate, I have to be proactive.
Luna hums thoughtfully.
“You know what? I do think I’m going to call Jade.” I snap my fingers and point at Luna who gazes back, confused. “She has all kinds of spell books and tomes in her shop. There’s got to be something I can find to help there.” I know Valen wouldn’t sit back and let something happen to me. I need to be proactive and stop wallowing.
Blue eyes watch me warily from across the table. “Please be careful. Talking with Jade is one thing, but magic isn’t something you want to mess around with when you aren’t ready, especially advanced spells.”
“Pfft. I’m always careful.” I wave a hand and smile.
Bells jingle against the door as I step into Jade’s stationery store after work. I drove myself this morning so I’d have the car but still texted Valen to let him know I wouldn’t be home right away. He’s such a worry wart that if I don’t, I know he’ll come looking, and now there’s no telling who or what might be looking forhim, so I’d rather he not be out on his own.
Jade’s helping a customer at the counter, so I peruse the store until she’s done. A few others mill about, and it makes me happy that her store does well for itself. Nowadays with everything at our fingertips and going digital, I imagine selling stationery is tough.
“Hey, girl,” Jade calls, walking over to me. She rocks an all-black ensemble from top to bottom and her dark hair flows over her shoulder in a glossy curtain. “I felt your power when you walked in the door, but standing this close, it’s electric.”
Picking up my hair and rubbing it between my fingers like I can touch the energy, I frown. “Really? I don’t know if I like that. I don’t feel yours.”
“You’ll learn to mask it.” She gives my arm a reassuring squeeze and nods her head to the back room. “Come on.”
We make our way to the back room, and I pointedly ignore Liam, who tries to wave at me from where he stocks a shelf.
“I’m glad you’re finally ready to talk. Letting your powers sit without learning to control them can be dangerous if you let it go on too long.” She gives me a pointed look and then flits around the room, looking for a specific book. I eye the others on the shelves. There are so many of them that surely there must be answers in one of them.
“I’m sorry for being a coward. I got hung up on hurting Celine in the process of unlocking my powers, and then I remembered what happened to you with your mom, and it got all jumbled in my head.” Jade gives me an empathetic glance and motions me over to a table in the center of the room.
Weboth kneel on pillowy cushions, and she lays out her pile of books. She opens one, and we both cough at the dust that flies out.
“Been a while since I cracked open one of these bad boys,” she comments and flips through until she finds the page she’s looking for. “Aha, here it is.” She turns it toward me so I can see it.
My brow furrows at the odd diagrams and arrows pointing in different directions. “What am I looking at? Are we cracking some code?”
“In a way,” Jade replies. “It’s a set of exercises to go through to help you control yourself. It’s a lot of mental motions but a few physical too. It’ll feel silly at first, but I promise it does help.” A faraway look enters her eye. “After Mom, it’s what helped me get on track, so I can attest to it.”
My stomach sours at her comment, and I reach for her hand. I understand what she’s feeling now more than ever.
“I’m not into the sappy shit, but thank you,” she laughs and blows out a breath. “Okay, let’s start with this one. Picture the ball of power and use your mind to manipulate where it moves. It might resist at first, but you have to stay open and work with it.”
From there, we go through the list of exercises, and she’s right, I do feel silly. At first nothing is happening, and my frustration turns into my power working against me. Jade is a great teacher and gives constructive criticism without berating me for not knowing what I’m doing. Slowly but surely, I figure things out. By the end of the lesson, I’m feeling less shaky and more in tune with the glowing core of my body. When I don’t think about it as destructive, it helps me work in tandem, and the prickly tingle is much more comfortable as it radiates through my limbs.
“Just like that,” Jade praises, and I open my eyes to see a wide grin across her face.
A phone rings in the stationery side of the store, and she calls for Liam to pick it up. When he doesn’t, she jogs out of the room to grab it while grumbling about not being able to find good help.
The little devil on my shoulder starts speaking in my ear, and I glance around the corner to find Jade deep in conversation. She’s facing the other way, so I duck back into the witchy side and dart over to the rows of books. Not having a fully fleshed out plan, I start to open random ones and take pictures of the spells. Every few seconds I check to make sure she isn’t coming back and snag as many photos as I can.
What are you doing, Ava?
I chide myself for being sneaky, but I know if I told Jade I wanted to practice more advanced spells, she’d say no. That’s a smart answer and one I should heed, but I’m desperate to help Valen. Who knows when those goons will show back up to try and haul him back to their dungeon lab. I’m terrified that if he gets taken, I’ll never get him back. I have to be ready.Somethingin these books has to work, but I don’t have the patience to work my way up to them, and frankly, we don’t have the time.
