“We’re in the meadow.”
“Wherever you are is my home, Thayla.”
I blink repeatedly, then finally tilt my head up to meet his gaze.
“I missed you too,” I whisper.
I bite my bottom lip and clench my fist to stop myself from either kissing or tracing his adorable dimple. His smiles are so rare and every one he gives me, I swear, I imprint on my brain.
“Are you ready?” he asks as he tucks a piece of hair behind my ear.
Ready to go home and jump in bed with all of them?
Yes, yes, I am.
Too bad that isn’t what he means.
“Yeah. I think so.”
He nods, then gestures toward the sacred hot spring. We aren’t getting in, but I guess we’re going to take up the same spot we sat in when they taught me about my power of Seduction.
I shake my hands out at my sides and roll my neck before dropping to my ass between them.
They tower over me in this position.
“Well, are you all going to sit down or what?”
Kyzen’s the first to sink to the ground and his smile disarms me.
“There’s nothing to be nervous about. You don’t have to do anything today but listen and learn if that’s what you want.”
I exhale as the other three sit and my lips flap together.
“I’d rather master it all right now.”
“I know that’s your desire but—”
“Hell yeah, little burden. That’s the delusional kind of confidence I live by. You got this.”
Amick cuts his eyes at Riven, either for interrupting him or feeding into my unrealistic expectations. Whichever, it makes me laugh. The sound eventually morphs into a huff.
“I can’t help but be nervous. I realize and understand I’ve put my powers in this weird little box inside of me. Like I know they’re there. I appreciate that they burst out when I need them to and they listen to me when I need to starshoot shit and whatnot but…because of everything that keeps happening, I continue to go back and forth about them.
“I have accepted them. I don’t deny that anymore and because of that, one minute my decision is firm. I want to learn about them and master them. Then shit hits the fan and I’m like, never mind. If I gain control over them, I become more of a commodity for evil assholes. It’s a real mind fuck that I can’t seem to get over. My indecision is actually ridiculous and really embarrassing.”
“It isn’t either of those things. You’ve got to give yourself some grace. You’ve gone thirty years without power, and they aren’t needed now twenty-four seven. None of us use our power just to use it. There’s always a purpose behind the command to call them forward. You’re going to learn those purposes as you go. Then, once you learn to identify, control, and command it on your own, they’re going to work even more in your favor.”
Kyzen grips my knee and I give him a tight smile.
Of course he’s right, but I still fear I’ll never know when or what power to use.
I think that’s my biggest mental block.
There are too damn many to worry about.
“Let’s jump on in before I overthink it.”
“Very well. There are notes and explanations for your power of Seduction and Chaos, but I figured since we’ve already extensively practiced your Seduction and you seem to have gained a better understanding of your Chaos, we’d move on to one of the others. If you have questions on those, though, we can address them as we go.”
