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I stopped dead in my tracks, hands raised against the rain, my heart thudding as I unstrapped my mask and tossed it to the side. “I’m not going to hurt you, Rayna. I promise.”
“No.” Her head shook again, frantic. “I know you won’t hurt me. I’ve always known. But now I’m afraid I’ll hurt you. I… I can’t control it.”
“Control what?”
I couldn’t read her mind to find out what third power she’d been branded with. Her mental blockade was airtight, refusing to budge, and I didn’t want to frighten her any further by tearing it down against her will.
Rayna closed her eyes and curled her hands into fists.
“No. No. No. I can’t, Coen. You’ve got to leave before—”
An invisible hook grabbed me by the middle and threw me sideways.
“No!” she shrieked.
I crashed into an ironbark with enough force to rattle my teeth and knew instantly. Object Summoning. My little hurricane was now a Wild Whisperer, Mind Manipulator, and Object Summoner, and the three magics were eating her alive.
“I’m sorry,” she sobbed against the wail of wind. “I’m sorry, Coen. You have to leave. I don’t know how to control it. You have to leave.”
My eyes flashed open. I pushed myself back onto my feet, clamping down on a grimace as pain echoed through me. She was going to be okay because I wouldn’t tolerate any other alternative.
Rayna was mine. This overdose of power could not have her.
“Do it again,” I challenged, facing her once again. “Get it out of your system.”
“What?” She panted in my direction. “No. I don’t want to hurt you.”
Too late. Seeing her like this was one of the most painful things I’d ever experienced. I would rather break every bone in my body.
In fact, I was prepared to.
“Do it again,” I repeated, taking another step toward her.
She shook her head, but that invisible hook tossed me sideways again, its force just as strong as Sasha and Sylvie’s, overpowering my Walking magic.
I slammed into another ironbark, pushed myself back onto my feet, and took yet another step toward her, now halfway across the glade with the wind and rain tearing at the air between us. It didn’t matter. Nothing could stop me from getting to her.
“Again,” I said, beckoning with a finger.
It happened over and over. Every time, Rayna shook her head, trying to suppress her new power only for that hook to grab me around the middle and toss me this way and that. And every time, I took another stand, another step in her direction.
Until we were mere paces apart. Until my eyes traced every drenched curl, every freckle dotted with rain, every tremble of her lips up close. Her outline didn’t waver or blur around the edges like it did in our minds. Every detail was sharp and real, raw and beautiful.
“Breathe for me,” I said finally, not daring to touch her yet, but gripping her eyes in mine until her pupils stilled. “That’s it. In and out, in and out. Perfect. Just like that.”
The heaving of her chest slowed. The entire world slowed, condensing into just the two of us as we stared at each other—not mind-to-mind but in the flesh—for the first time in what felt like a torturous eternity.
“Coen,” she whimpered.
“Hey.” Slowly, carefully, I lifted a hand and cupped her face, the contact between us like a burst of starlight in my veins. She sucked in a breath as I began to massage my thumb along her rain-slick jaw. “You’re okay. You’re doing so well.”
A tear crawled down her cheek, and I used my other hand to wipe it away.
“I’m a monster,” she whispered.
“No, Rayna.” I shook my head. “You were just scared and alone and didn’t have a proper outlet. But you don’t have to be scared anymore. I’m here.”
She blinked at me, as if truly processing my presence for the first time. Her eyes traveled down the length of me and back up again, pupils expanding, cheeks flushing. Around us, the rain had dwindled, the thunder ebbing away.
