But I forced myself to concentrate on my magic only, not on his proximity.Filter through it. Sort it out.
But it was like wading through a tub of water of three different colors that all swirled together and had become one, and somehow, I was supposed to separate the fluid into three separate buckets. Only thing, I had no buckets. Just the large tub.
Still, despite that crutch, I tried and tried and tried.
I had no idea how long Kole and I stayed out under the night sky as he coaxed and encouraged me. His patience seemed never-ending, but I finally admitted defeat after who knew how long.
“I can’t, at least, not tonight. I’m sorry, but this is proving much more difficult than I hoped it would be.” I opened my eyes, and my breath sucked in.
The warrior stood right in front of me, his chest so near that all I would have to do was lean forward, and we would be touching.
A glow filled his irises despite my total and complete failure at this.
My stomach flipped. “I am a horrible student, it seems.”
“Not at all, and no need to apologize.” His voice was deep, slightly husky, and it made my entire body vibrate to attention. “It would have been a miracle if you’d learned how to do it tonight, but I have no doubt that eventually you will.”
“Really?” I laughed self-consciously. “Because, what you’re asking seems impossible.”
“It might feel that way, but keep working on it. Once you’re able to fully separate your mental magic from the others, mistphasing should be possible.”
I nodded, then offered him a grateful smile. “Thank you for trying to teach me.”
“We can continue working on it in the coming days.”
His willingness to keep helping me sent a bolt of pleasure down my spine, but I also knew our time together was finite. Once I found the Stone, I would be racing back to Whiteolf to save my uncle, and Kole would be continuing on with Imperial Warrior business.
A pang of remorse filled me, but he was right. We had a few more days until then, and I might as well make the most of it.
To avoid havingto enter the enclosure through the small opening again, Kole mistphased us back inside our makeshift cave.
As before, he held me closely for the mistphase, and once we materialized, my fingers were gripping him anew.
Warmth from the dying fire brushed us, and Kole gazed down at me, his eyes hooded as our chests hovered only inches away from one another. He was sohard. And sostillbeneath my grip.
Out of nowhere, his hand ran up my back, caressing me,but his touch was light enough that it could have been unintentional, yet something rose in his aura. Something delicious and inviting, and I could have sworn that the same faint glow pulsed in his eyes as it had outside.
Everything inside me wanted to sink into him, and that strange feeling in my chest returned. I shifted forward, my core beginning to burn withwant, but just as fast, Kole blurred away from me to the other side of the cave and gripped his wrist.
The separation from him was so abrupt that a chill seeped through my body. One second, he’d been in front of me, and the next, he was gone.
Brow furrowing, I looked at where he held his arm, but I hadn’t detected that strange magic again on his wrist, yet he was glowering and eyeing it again, almost as if anticipating his magic to rise.
It struck me that whatever that magic was, it was irksome to him, and it seemed likely that such magic came from another Solis affinity that he’d chosen not to share yet.
I ran a shaky hand through my hair. All in all, this struck me as a time when it was best to give Kole his space.
“I, uh, I think I might read before bed.” I kneeled by my bag and shoved my arm down the length of it, and when myfingers landed on my romance novel, I pulled it out.
I’d packed it on a whim, not thinking I would actually have time to read it, but suddenly, I was so grateful that I had. I was too keyed up to sleep, and since Kole was currently scowling at the fire, and at his wrist, alternating between the two, it appeared he was no longer in the mood to talk. In other words, reading seemed like the perfect way to wind down.
Turning on my side, I lay down on the bed and thumbed through the pages. I’d been midway through the book, the romance building and the stakes heightening. Given all that had happened with my uncle, it’d been over three weeks since I’d picked it up, but I remembered each detail with startling clarity.
Heavy energy pulsed into my back. Kole didn’t say a word, but he dropped down behind me on his side of our makeshift bed, and the covers dipped. He lay as still as a stone, his energy palpable, but at least, he wasn’t glowering at the fire anymore.
Despite his throbbing energy, I began to read, and by using the dying firelight and my sight sensory magic, the words were crisp and bright.
I scanned each page and soon got lost in the story. Amazingly, my ability to completely get enraptured in books took over, and before I knew it, I was living through the eyes of the heroine. The dying fire in the cave melted away, and the rigid warrior at my back fell to the great beyond.
