“Hurt you?” I echoed in concern.
“Yes. Direct your magic at me. Don’t worry; I won’t let the shadows actually hurt me.”
I reached for the darkness again. It surged faster this time, a black flood sliding across the floor. I sent the shadows toward him with intent sharpened to a point. They touched his leg and drifted over him without resistance.
Zane yawned. I tried again, lashing out with more force, buthe only shook his head. Frustration tightened my hands into fists. The shadow recoiled, slinking back to the corner.
A scratching at the window pulled my attention. Avoiding the light, Finn let the rats in, though only four remained.
“Let’s finish up before we deal with them.” Zane nodded at the rodents. “I want you to try something else. Imagine your bones turning to soot and your blood to smoke. Become a part of the shadows.”
I stepped back and held the image he’d described in my mind. The ground seemed to surge upward to meet me. The power coiled around me, thinning my flesh until I felt incorporeal.
I pushed forward. My form smeared across the floor in a blur of ink, but the shape wavered like a flame in the wind. Halfway to the door, I lost my hold on the magic. I tore back into reality behind Finn, falling to my knees.
Finn jumped, nearly tripping over his rats.Terrifying, he signed.
The power drained away, leaving my limbs trembling, and my vision pricked with stars. I pressed my palms into my closed eyelids. “It’s a start.”
Zane knelt beside me, his exhale brushing my ear. “You’re so damn sexy using my magic. Once you catch your breath, we’ll try another trick of mine.”
My gaze flicked toward the bed.
Zane grinned and licked his lips. “Not that kind of trick.”
He held my hand as the trembling ebbed away. When I was ready, we stood together. “To move through the shadows—” Zane pointed from corner to corner. “—first, you must visualize where you want to go.”
Using what I had learned, I moved to stand in thedarkness in one corner and slipped into it. I tried to move to the other corner, but the magic just wouldn’t do it. I pushed harder, but it remained unyielding.
My body reformed, breath slamming back into my lungs. “I…can’t.” I stayed still until the room stopped spinning.
Zane rested his hand on my shoulder. “That’s enough for now. You’ve shown that you can turn into shadows and manipulate them. You’ll be able to travel through the darkness and weaponize it with practice.”
I sighed in disappointment. I needed mastery of his abilities as soon as possible, but there were clear limitations. As I crossed the room, each step dragged as if the air had thickened around me. I picked up my cup of tea with unsteady hands and sank into the nearest chair.
“Finn, what did the rats see?” I sipped the cooled brew.
Finn gathered his inkpot and quill, then bent over my crude map. The rodents squeaked and chattered around him. Under his hand, the simple box I drew transformed into a two-story manor, complete with a servants’ entrance to the east, a main entrance facing south, and a side door to the west. Iron gates marked every approach.
The rats erupted into chaos, squeaking loudly and batting at each other with their paws. Finn watched them, his lips twisting as he adjusted a mark. The largest rat let out a shrill cry.
“Fine,” he muttered, redrawing the line. The rodent’s whiskers twitched.
Finn pulled a wedge of cheese from the platter, broke it into chunks, and tossed the pieces at the rats, who snatched them before vanishing through the gap in the window frame. Twilight bruised the sky outside, deepening the shadowsin the room. Only the largest rodent remained, settling on its haunches and nibbling its prize.
He is our guide inside.Finn turned the map toward us.Two guards at the servants’ door with halberds. Two mastiffs with them. Four guards at each of the other entrances.
“Service entrance it is,” Zane said. “We need a distraction for the other guards.”
Finn’s eyes brightened.Birds. I can send two flocks to create chaos.
“How long can you keep them distracted?” I asked.
Long enough.
I traced our route one last time. “Zane handles the shadows at the servants’ entrance. Finn, you calm the dogs and send the birds. I’ll nullify the guards’ magic.” I looked at them both. “We move fast when the sun sets. Get in, kill her, and get out before the distraction fails.”
Silence settled over us as I rested, the afternoon thinning toward evening. I finished my cooled tea; the trembling in my hands was finally gone. When I stood, the power still sat strange beneath my skin, but my legs held firm. I peeked out the window as the sun touched the horizon. “Let’s move.”
