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Resuming her hunt for the wordghiotte,she found one example, bookmarked it, and moved on to the next.
Idly, Dante curled his fingers and unfurled them in her palm, sending lightning bolts up her arm.
Was this a joke? A test? How was she supposed to read under these circumstances?
Dante leaned closer to the page, brows drawn in concentration, and his thumb began tracing lazy circles on her wrist.
Alessa’s book might have burst into flames for how well she could read it now.
“Careful,” Dante said, only half paying attention. “You’re putting out surges over there.”
She snatched her hand back and stood, fumbling to catch her chair before it tipped backward. “We should get going. Can’t be the last ones there.”
In the training room, Dante watched from his usual spot on the wall. Checking his knives, shifting his gaze away when the Fontes reacted from pain. She recognized his tells now. He was more uncomfortable as a witness than he’d been when he was on the receiving end.
Kaleb skulked over, and Alessa touched his palms, searchinghis face for any sign it was different this time. His expression cycled between dread, confusion, and skepticism, but he didn’t yank his hands away.
Dante dipped his chin in a subtle nod of encouragement.
“What’s the deal?” Kaleb asked. “Why is it better this time?”
Only Kaleb would be equally annoyed when she didn’t hurt him.
Alessa shrugged. “Practice?”
Now came the hard part.
“I’m going to try to tap into your power this time.”
A deep inhale, breathing life into her gift, and Alessa’s hair drifted up in an electrified cloud, crackling with Kaleb’s power.
He yanked free.
“Sorry,” Alessa said, but she couldn’t hide her delight. Kaleb was frowning, not screaming. Progress.
She refrained from celebrating, but by the final round, she was sure of it. She was getting better. She could harness the urge faster and more completely, until she felt more like a ship’s captain and less like a prisoner roped to the mast.
“Today went well, right?” Alessa said when the lesson was over, standing on one foot to put her shoes on outside the training room.
Dante grunted an affirmative.
Glancing up at him, she lost her balance. With her finger hooked on the back of the slipper, she couldn’t put her foot down, so she threw her free hand out to catch herself but misjudged the distance and smacked it against the wall instead. Wincing, she examined her throbbing knuckle.
Dante dropped to a crouch with an exasperated sigh and curled her fingers over his hand. Discomfort flickered acrosshis face, but his expression cleared as the last of her pain vanished.
“There.Tryto be careful,” he said. “And don’t scowl at me forfixingyou.”
“You said it didn’t hurt anymore!”
“Itdoesn’t. Unless you’re injured. When you use my power, I feelthat.” He seemed to realize he was still holding her hand and dropped it.
“Oh. Right. That makes sense. In that case, help me up.” She raised her arms, and Dante hauled her to her feet. “Touching is a start, but I need tousetheir gifts, too. You saw what happened with Kaleb.”
Dante smirked.
She wagged a finger at him. “Not nice.”
“I keep telling you I’m not a nice person.”
