Dread flooded Serenna’s entire body.He intends to make me train until I’m not a burden anymore.Her fingers went numb, splayed on the cold stone.Why doesn’t he reject this connection between us and just be done with me?
Vesryn clenched his jaw before flicking his wrist. Serenna’s neck pinched from swinging too quickly to face the wraith. The creature shot toward her like an arrow. Serenna scrambled to her feet, reeling backward.
“Vesryn!” she pleaded, a strangled squeal as the monster reached her, claws slashing, smashing her to the ground.
The prince hauled the wraith back to the wall again with a push of force. “Dead,” he drawled.
Serenna scurried to stand, legs kicking under her as she steadied herself. Her eyes widened, assessing the flaps of lacerated skin on her arms. Dark blood welled from the deep cuts, dripping down her fingertips, splashing on the floor.
She didn’t feel it.
Gaping at the prince, Serenna realized he rendered her impervious to the pain, absorbing the feeling of her injuries through the bond.
Guilt flickered in Vesryn’s face before he erased his features,becoming as expressionless as stone. He bared his teeth, biting out his words. “Fight. Back.”
Serenna drew herself up, quivering with unease, betraying her attempt at confidence. Overwhelmed by the beast’s attack, her heart mauled the confines of her ribs. Serenna dashed a glance at the wraith, ensuring Vesryn still had it secured.
She faced the prince, digging her nails into her palms. “I can’t—”
The wraith crashed into her.
Anger replaced Serenna’s terror as Vesryn hauled the creature back to the wall with another magical punch.He’s doing this until I’m desensitized to these monsters like he is.
Serenna wobbled to her feet, livid at the prince and with herself for being unable to fend off one mindless wraith on her own. Ironically, her magic finally roared to life—rending summoned by fury.
Vesryn shot her an exasperated look, clicking his tongue as her shadows raced along the floor. “You’re not using rending.”
With a surprised gasp, Serenna staggered. A tide of Essence engulfed her through the bond. Every muscle locked in bewilderment, a rope drawn taught. Her access to rending vanished, snuffed out like a flame.
“That’smypower!” Serenna grappled with Vesryn through the nexus linking them, straining to reclaim her ability, wrestling him in a battle of wills.I should’ve known he could do something like this since he summoned my magic for me during the assault.
Conceding that she wouldn’t outmaneuver him, Serenna sucked in air at the loss. Her skin prickled with alarm that the prince had this much control over her—even without fully accepting their bond.Yet another aspect of Essence that he’s withheld from me. What more can be done with the bond that I’m not aware of?
“What am I supposed to do?” Serenna seethed, indignation eroding her dismay. “Let that wraith assault me until I bleed to death?” Vesryn’s silence only incensed her further.
The stress of the week was catching up to her, unraveling her like a spool of thread. She’d spent the previous days fretting over Velinya’s absence and anxious that the wraith would return in force. Ayla’s taunting—giving voice to Serenna’s trepidation that she wasn’t worthy enough for a place in the realm—had only frayed her to the point of snapping.
Bitterness welled inside of her, flooding out in a deluge of words. “Would you—for once—just tell me what you want?” Serenna’s jaw clicked shut before she carelessly unleashed anything else.
Vesryn’s unblinking gaze bored into hers. “You’re going to learn how to summon your magic without tapping into your emotions.”
“Like you’re so in control of yours at the moment!” Serenna assumed his unbridled irritation was only feeding hers.
A muscle in Vesryn’s jaw jumped as he squared his stance. “Use force or shielding.”
“You can’t be bothered to teach mehowto use my power without my feelings?” Serenna glared at the prince, pointing a bloody finger at him. “You’re the one who’s been twisting my emotions this entire time to pry my abilities out!”
A pulse of magic directed across the room was Vesryn’s only response. Spinning around, Serenna gritted her teeth as the wraith sprinted toward her. Its victorious snarl at freedom echoed in the chambers, colliding into her from every direction.
Time ticked by with each of its footsteps, red eyes burning, bare feet slapping stone. Serenna breathed in deeply, then exhaled her frustration and severed her thoughts. Blocking her awareness of the prince, she slammed iron gates over her mind, caging every emotion.
Serenna snatched at her magic. A spark of Essence blazed to life, gleaming as it spiraled around her hands like starlight. She heaved her force talent out of her Well.
Striking out, blue tendrils thrashed from her fingertips. Serenna trussed the wraith in a vice-like grip, halting its crazed charge. The monster’s limbs twitched as it combatted her power, but it didn’t gain any ground.
With a shriek, Serenna swung her other hand toward the prince. Releasing a shock wave of force, pressure exploded from her palm, reverberating against the stone walls. Shards of rock clattered to the floor, sending debris ricocheting across the chamber in a thin layer of dust.
Unsurprisingly, Vesryn had tossed a shield around himself. An aggravating smirk tugged at his lips when he unraveled his barrier. “I’m nearly impressed that you wielded two channels of power at once, despite directing one at me.” Unsheathing his belt knife, the prince idly began flipping and catching the dagger.
