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“No, I just needed to focus on the feeling and figure out exactly how to do it.”
“How did you do it?” I finally give into the need to touch her and drop my hand to the back of her neck. She sags into my touch and a possessive satisfaction rumbles through me.
“It was almost instinctual. I could feel magic building under my skin. It wanted to go to the injury to heal, so I let it.”
“Do you feel tired at all?”
“No, but it was so minor. I’m sure if it was something bigger, it would be draining, but this wasn’t.
“Do you want to try again?” Miri nods toward her lap full of stuff.
“Actually…” Lena turns toward me and raises her brows.
“I’ll try to do some shadow stuff, if Davis makes it rain in his bedroom again.”
“Fuck off,” Davis says, but there’s an undercurrent of laughter.
Stepping back from the couch, I stretch my arms over my head and then shake them out.
“Dude, you’re doing magic, not preparing for your Olympic swim trials.” Ruby snorts and then curses when Lena throws a pillow at her that hits her face.
“Thanks Luna.” I wink at her and her cheeks flush pink. “So, I actually have no idea what to do.” I shrug at everyone watching me, feeling uncharacteristically self-conscious.
Lena gets up off the couch and stands in front of me. “The book that described shadow magic explained it as being able to harness shadows and manipulate them. Supposedly, you can use them to shroud yourself. It even talked about traveling through the shadows, but let’s start smaller than that. Why don’t you try calling the shadows to you? Maybe go into a darker corner?” The look on Lena’s face tells me she’s as clueless as I am on this.
“Might as well.” I cross the room until I’m in the corner where Ezra’s still sleeping. “Everyone, try to keep your mouths shut for a few minutes. I know it’ll be harder for some of you,”—I point my stare at Ruby—“than others, but I need to concentrate.”
I don’t really meditate, and I’ve never done yoga. I’m thinking those are skills that would come in handy right about now. It’s not the first time I’m attempting something without having any idea of what I’m doing. Letting my eyes slide close, I focus on my breathing, counting the seconds as I inhale and then exhale, just for something to center my thoughts. I can still hear Ezra breathing, someone shifting on the couch, fabric rustling, but after the fifth breath, something shifts. The sounds all become amplified, as if I can pinpoint where exactly in the room the air vent is rustling the curtain. I can hear the brush of Davis’s fingers over Miri’s shoulder, and Ruby playing with a strand of her hair. Everything is magnified and so specific.
Holding onto that feeling, I search for the shadows, as if they’re as tangible as the books on the shelves and the rugs on the floor. I believe it with every fiber of my being, as I call them to me, wanting them to cloak me, to hide me.
“Holy shit.” Davis’s loud curse breaks through my concentration and has my eyes snapping open. Everyone in the room, save Ezra, is gaping at me, stunned looks plastered to their faces.
“Did it work?”
“You just disappeared,” Ruby practically shouts at me.
Ezra jackknifes up, his head whipping back and forth to survey the room. “What I’d miss?”
